Essex and Cookie, a Tale of Two Tails

Cookie Monster was by far the easiest transition. And I have some idea as to why…

Some of you know, that Jennifer and I sold Essex a few years ago to a very famous author and screen play writer. I withhold his name from you out of respect and consideration of him. Yet, it is important you know his story.

For the sake of this tale, I will call this amazing writer Tolkien.

So, Essex had a tough transition with Mr. Tolkien. I remember dropping him off there and even staying a couple of hours talking to his new owner. Tolkien and I took Essex for a walk around his neighborhood in his small town in Upstate New York.

If I recall, I may have even returned the following day to see how Essex was faring, let him know I was still around.

But it literally took Essex months before he really started to bond with his new family and his new surroundings. And when I saw Essex a year later, he did not want to come near me. It was like he was holding a grudge for abandoning him to a strange family.

This was a little unsettling for me as I love our dogs.

Yet, this tale has a silver lining worthy of a glorious sunset. Just this week, Mr. Tolkien texted me with a photo of himself and Essex in a beautiful forest setting. Tolkien LOVES his dog! And you can tell Essex loves him too.

Tolkien added a caption with the photo, and I quote, “Best dog ever!”

The dog who wanted nothing to do with transitioning to a new life in Upstate New York is now the best dog ever!

Dropping off an adult dog is always the most difficult part of our journey. Adult dogs have a far more difficult time with the transition. As an empath, I feel so much with the dog and the owner both.

Contrary to Essex’s period of transition in New York, I had the pleasure of dropping off Cookie Monster to his new owner in Utah. His owner, Tony, is a man I respect and admire as much as I do Tolkien. And Tony already knew me as I had delivered his female dog “Mani” when she was a puppy just three years ago.

And Mani is, in my opinion, one of the defining reasons why Cookie transitioned so easily. She is his half-sister. From the time I arrived at Tony’s house, Cookie knew the house must be a good place with another doggie much like himself showing him the ropes.

As you know from Jennifer’s recent tale of Cookie, they played a lot together in the back yard those first hours after our arrival. And Cookie allowed everyone in the family to love on him.

No, seriously! He did!

Tony’s wife, their adult daughter, and their daughter’s boyfriend, all had Cookie’s attention on that first day.

I… LOVE THIS!

It is so reassuring to me when I see a dog settle in so quickly. I mean, Cookie and I bonded a lot just in the trip down, just as I did with Essex. We bond!

Then I have to say goodbye.

And that for me is always the hardest part. In a way, I wish they were all still mine. Yet it pleases me more than you will ever know that the greatest act of love I can give our dogs is a loving home elsewhere.

I think that Cookie’s easy transition had a lot to do with his sister Mani. Dogs mentor each other. Dogs show each other that its okay. And whether or not you plan to adopt one of our loving adults, having a dog already with you is a blessing, but certainly not a requirement.

In the end, the reward is the same.

Adopting one of our adults is the most loving thing any of us can do. At first, it is a little like adopting a child. It involves a period of adjustment. But in the end, the bond is unbreakable.

Just ask Essex and Cookie.

See our available adults at: https://direwolfdogs.com/dogs-for-sale/

OH! And we have puppies too!

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Jennifer Stoeckl is the co-founder of the Dire Wolf Project, founder of the DireWolf Guardians American Dirus Dog Training Program, and owner/operator of DireWolf Dogs of Vallecito. She lives in the beautiful inland northwest among the Ponderosa pine forests with her pack of American Dirus dogs.