A Year Of Reaper

Who knew an overpriced, bed of a pickup truck pup would become one of my best friends?

How'd Reaper Get Here?

About a year ago, somewhere in someone's backyard in Southwest Florida, a litter of puppies was born. About two months after that, the same litter of puppies was loaded into the bed of a pick up truck on July 9th, 2022 before being sold off one-by-one to whoever stopped for them.

I was one of the people who stopped to look. I didn't need another dog, but I still blame my dad. He said I should look, so I looked. He said Huskies are pretty dogs, so, of course, I looked. I walked away from the bed of the pickup truck where six or so scared, hot, and dirty puppies were because I couldn't justify paying $500 for a puppy who hadn't been to a vet or had any of their shots.

I went home, and I couldn't stop thinking about them. I called some friends, and I like to say one of them talked me into it. But let's be real, I was still thinking about them an hour later, I knew I wanted one.

And so I went back, offered $400, and had my heart set on an all white puppy with beautiful blue eyes. I got half the money in cash and cashapped the rest, only to find out the white puppy I was looking at was a girl. One by one they handed me the remaining boys off the side of the truck, and the first two weren't very interested in me at all. But that third little boy, he grabbed a hold of me and hugged me tight, and just like that he was mine.

That's how Reaper and I found each other. It's not the most responsible way of getting a dog, not by a long shot, but I believe it was weirdly meant to be.

Things Reaper's Taught Me

Being Reaper's mom comes with a lot of things, because he's a thoroughly strange and unique individual. Every dog has the ability to teach us something new about dogs in general, but more importantly, new things about ourselves.

Here are some of the many things Reaper has taught me:

• Reactivity comes in many forms.

• Reactive dogs aren't "bad dogs".

• Some dogs need time and they can sort of "grow out of" their reactivity, others never will. Both options are okay.

• Sometimes the dog finds their person, even when they aren't looking.

• Not every dog is the same, even if they grow up in the same house or are the same breed, and that's okay.

• Love the dog you have.

• It's okay to mourn the loss of the dog you thought you were getting.

My Least Favorite Memories

I remind Reaper on a regular basis how lucky he is that he found me, because boy can he test my patience when he tries (and even when he's not trying). Aside from his reactivity/shyness, the only other quality he has that I dislike is how much he loves to get dirty! He's been called a filthy little muck monster more times than I care to admit.

I took some time and thought about some of my least favorite memories with Reaper, and here's what I came up with:

• Hiding under the recliner most of the time the first week or so when he came home.

• Pooping on the carpet in my room overnight randomly after being perfect for weeks.

• Screaming his head off all night long when I tried to crate him overnight after the aforementioned carpet pooping.

• Escaping from and breaking crates

• Running a quarter of a mile down the street with Grimm and refusing to recall.

• The time he almost bit my dad because dad was trying to put him in the crate.

My Favorite Memories & Traits

As much as he can drive me absolutely insane, I truly love this dog. I didn't know I needed him, but I did. Between Grimm and Reaper, I have two dogs who truly complement each other and me.

Some of the traits and memories I love about Reaper are:

• The way he hugged me when I got him out of the truck.

• Watching him play and blow bubbles in a giant mud puddle after he's been home a couple of weeks.

• Daily after work Reaper kisses.

• Gently touching foreheads, which we call "braincells" since he's theoretically trying to steal my braincells to get smarter.

• Trying (and failing) to catch toys and treats with his front paws instead of his mouth.

• His marbled eyes with the swirls of blue, brown, and green.

• Wicked fast zoomies and cheering, "Go Peepers!"

• Watching him learn to play with other dogs and toys. Yondu has really brought him out of his shell.

• Seeing him bond with Dog Dad, and slowly start to accept my dad and sister too.

• Taking him camping, he's a totally different dog when we're in nature.

Celebrating His 1st Birthday

When I thought about celebrating Reaper's first birthday, I thought about what Reaper likes and where we've been the happiest together. It was kind of fortuitous timing that my sister and I were planning a camping trip around the same time. We decided to rent the entire property so we wouldn't have to deal with the stress of other people or dogs. It also gave us tons of freedom to decide which campsite to take over.

We loaded up the three dogs (Grimm, Kai, and Reaper) and my nephew before hitting the road. Of course we went back to the same AirBnB rental we went to the last time, because we're such creatures of habit. I won't lie; the whole camping experience this time wasn't quite the way I remembered it. Having an extra dog and a kid really changed the experience for me. I'm not saying it was bad, but I probably wouldn't do it like that again. Kai is reactive too, and never really calmed down or settled like Reaper does. Throw in an eight year old boy who doesn't necessarily enjoy listening, and it's just a recipe for a less relaxing experience.

Fun was still part of the agenda though. All of the dogs seem to enjoy nature, even when it's Florida and hot. Campfire roasted hotdogs were a fan favorite. Kai found that chewing his bone in the tent with the fans on him was fabulous. Reaper loved chasing the leaves in the water or the lizards through the brush. Grimm was just happy to be with everyone, but his real happy place was the water.

On Saturday, we celebrated Reaper's birthday with a doggy birthday cake (this is the recipe I used minus the frosting), a birthday party hat and bandana (Amazon Link), and a Happy Birthday Sign (Amazon Link). Reaper really loved the cake... minus the carrots, which he carefully picked his way around. There are too many pictures to go through, so I gave you the highlights.

I just can't believe my little roadside baby is a year old already.

What We're Looking Forward To

Reaper and I will continue to work on our relationship and engaging with each other out in public and around distractions. I'm going to see about getting him involved in some trick training, and really just work on his reactivity/shyness as much as we can this summer.

Thanks for reading this tail, and here's to many more!

Danielle & Reaper