The Story of Levi

Welcome to another edition of Furbaby Friday! I introduced you to Lyssa last week (read about her adoption here) and now it’s Levi’s turn. I’ll be honest and tell you that I’ve had “puppy fever” for a few years now. Almost as soon as Lyssa came out of the puppy stage, I wanted another puppy. Not to replace her of course but because puppies are so cute and cuddly and I knew Lyssa would love a playmate. Chris and I were living in California at the time in a small, 1 ½ bedroom townhouse and we both knew we didn’t have space for another dog (even though I didn’t want to admit it). So we agreed that when we moved to a larger house with a yard, we would adopt another dog.

We moved to Texas in April 2016 and started the house hunt almost immediately. It was very important to both of us that we find a house with a big enough yard for multiple dogs to run around in. After a month we found a house that we loved (with a yard) and we closed on it in July 2016. Almost as soon as we moved in, I started whispering in Chris’ ear and reminding him that he promised we would get another dog when we had more space. Now we had more space! I was anxious to add to our family and Chris was on board, so once again, I turned to Petfinder.com to find our new family member. Lyssa can be dominant at times, so we knew we wanted a male dog because we had heard dominant females do better with male playmates. Other than that our only requirement was a young dog because I had my heart set on a puppy. With those two things in mind, I set out on the search!

I had only been looking on Petfinder for a few weeks, when I stumbled across an adorable boxer mix puppy named Kolt.

How could you not fall in love with his blue eyes and giant ears? When I got home that night, I showed his picture to Chris and Chris agreed he was super cute, so we submitted an adoption application. The next day Kolt’s foster mom called me to discuss the possibility of us adopting him. She asked questions about our dog Lyssa, our home, and if we had raised a puppy before, which we had. She said that if we were still interested she would bring the puppy over that night for an introduction, and if the introduction went well he could stay with us for a week to determine if it was going to be a good fit. I was kind of in shock because it was happening very fast and it dawned on me we might have a puppy that night, so I immediately called Chris to get his opinion. He was on board and wanted to meet the puppy, so I told Kolt’s foster mom to bring him over after work.

As soon as Kolt got out of the car, Chris and I were in love. He was exactly what a puppy should be: cute, cuddly, and clumsy. His body was too small for his big paws and ears and he was just adorable. We went on a walk around the neighborhood with Lyssa so the dogs could get to know each other in neutral territory then we took them both to our backyard. Lyssa wasn’t quite sold on the puppy and she did nip him while they were sniffing each other in the yard. He wasn’t seriously hurt and I think that was Lyssa’s way of establishing her dominance. We watched them for awhile and then Chris and I decided we wanted to keep Kolt. We signed the paperwork and agreed we would keep him for a week then make a final decision. Our first order of business was to rename the puppy because I had my heart set on another “L” name for our new family member. We tossed around a few ideas and settled on Levi!

After a week with Levi we knew he was a part of our family, so we officially adopted him on August 24^th, 2016. He has been such a fun addition! He is so goofy and has a very outgoing, but laid back personality. He loves ice cubes and will literally leap over the couch to get to the fridge if someone is getting ice. He is also a talker and howls every time he hears sirens. He hasn’t quite mastered the art of catching a ball but maybe one day. For now his face catches most of the balls we toss in his direction. Levi is incredibly smart, more smart than I initially gave him credit for. One day when Lyssa had a toy he wanted, Levi ran to the bedroom door and barked. Lyssa jumped up, dropped the toy, and ran outside to see what all the fuss was about. As soon as she left the room, Levi grabbed her toy and started playing with it. Smart guy! There was nothing going on or I know he would have gone outside. It was pretty clear he tricked Lyssa so he could get her toy. Goofy dog.

Speaking of Lyssa, in case you’re wondering she has totally accepted Levi and she loves her little brother. They are always together and they play all the time. Lyssa mothers him, cleans him, and teaches him manners. She lets him win when they play and she even lets him steal her toys from her. Most of the time at least. Levi goes wherever she goes and they are quite a pair. I think they would be lost without each other.

We love you little man! You have been the perfect addition to our family! (Even when you eat a whole pan of meatloaf and chew on brand new shoes).