Welcome to our family, Kane.

Sophie with Kane

We are overjoyed to announce the arrival of Kane to our family.


Earlier this month, I wrote about the (to me) surprising thoroughness of the adoption process and that we were hoping to adopt Kane. One of the rescue agency's biggest concerns was Kane's energy level. He's a black Lab-Border collie mix -- a very intelligent, hard-working, energetic combination -- and would need an environment that offered lots of physical and intellectual stimulation.

We gave three references (including our veterinarian). One of them got back to us to say that she had answered their question about whether she felt Kane would get enough exercise by noting that Stephen had, that very day, run about 4 km of the way to work. Stephen definitely has the energy for this kind of dog.

The amount of activity he will get with me alone would probably not be enough to keep him happy and healthy, but will be enough to keep me happier and healthier.

On Wednesday night, we finally met Kane, along with two big-hearted women.

Kim, the founder of Friendly Giants Dog Rescue.

Kane's foster pet-parent, Sophie.

I was so nervous before meeting them that I scurried to tidy the house, take down the Christmas tree, get dinner on the table, and freshen my make-up. I was anxious that they might not think we would be able to handle this young pup (he's only 11 months old).

We were not the only family who had applied to adopt Kane, so the competitive side of me also was a little inflamed.

I was also concerned about how Kane would integrate with our cat, Elly (who had been quite scared of Scooter), and whether this big puppy would be an uncontrollable bouncy bundle of fur.

But we were so pleasantly surprised. As soon as he entered the house, Kane became calmly curious. You could tell he was eager to investigate, but he did not try to pull Sophie around the house. He didn't sniff our crotches or try to jump up on anyone for affection.

Kane had obviously really bonded with Sophie. He was happy to make friends with the rest of us, but by the end of the evening he gravitated more toward her.

Peter joined us, and Kane took an immediate liking to him -- Peter's was the first face that Kane licked that evening. (I got a kiss or two later.) I don't think Peter particularly enjoyed the licks, but he did appreciate the gentleness of this dog and even admitted later that Kane might be able to completely change his mind about pets. (Peter has never particularly enjoyed any of our pets, especially after a dreadful run-in with Elly, but has tolerated them and treated them all very well.)

And then came Elly.

Check out the tail -- it's HUGE!

For the first hour that Kane was in the house, Elly perched on the stairs barely watching him. It was so cute -- at first all you could see was one ear and one eye. I wish I'd taken a picture! (We kept Kane to the main floor of the house, which is our plan going forward.) Eventually, she made her way downstairs and crept gingerly into the living room.

Kane was just so eager to go play with her, but obeyed when we directed him to lie down. He even (eventually) relaxed enough to accept a couple of good belly rubs!

Whenever the two made eye contact, Elly growled, but she mostly stayed hidden behind the couch. I was worried that Elly was permanently afraid of dogs and wouldn't even try to build a relationship with Kane, but the fact that she came downstairs to "join the fun" shows me that she is amenable to getting to know Kane.

And I'm quite confident that Kane sees Elly as a potential playmate, not as prey or competition for our affection.

Our blind date lasted two and a half hours. By the end of it, we were ready to adopt him, and Kim and Sophie agreed that we would be a good home for him. So we said goodnight and agreed that on Friday Kane would become part of our family.

And it was only as we were saying goodbye that I realized I hadn't even offered these two wonderful women a glass of water! Some hostess. (I had gotten a big bowl of water for Kane, however, so I guess my priorities weren't all off.)

Can't wait for him to come home!

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Following are the description and accompanying photos that Friendly Giants Dog Rescue provided for Kane. It proved very accurate, and I really appreciated how thorough this description was.

Dog Breed: Lab/Border Collie [Mix]

Dog Description: Kane is a 10-month old Border Collie/Lab mix. He is a sweet and playful pup, intelligent and a quick learner. He is house trained and crate trained. He may whine for a couple minutes when he first goes into his crate, but settles very quickly. He does very well being left in it when we are away for the day.

Kane knows his name, “sit,” “down,” and “shake a paw” and has demonstrated decent recall in the backyard. He is always eager to please people and is very food motivated, therefore he thoroughly enjoys the obedience training we are doing with him and is progressing well at learning more.

We are always working with him on his manners, and he is quickly learning limits around people and the rules of the house. When he first arrived in our care he would jump up on us when we first entered a room, but by ignoring him until he sits and is calm, he is quickly learning to pull in his energy and act respectful. [Wynn Anne's note: He did not do any jumping when meeting our family.]

He is a medium- to high-energy dog (it is currently hard for us to tell his true energy level, as most of the time he has been with us he has been recovering from his neuter surgery so he has some pent up energy built up)! He loves to go on walks, and currently uses a harness, but he could benefit from some training on how to walk well. He loves playing with other dogs, and is always friendly. We look forward to getting Kane to the local dog park once he is fully recovered from his surgery. He enjoys playing with sticks in the yard, and various chew toys in the house.

He can be a tiny bit nervous around new people, but quickly warms up to them, therefore Kane will need his forever home to be aware of this and continue his socialization.

Kane is overall good around cats. Initially he did not even acknowledge our cat, but now (we assume because of his pent up post-neuter energy) he will chase our cat, but only to try and play with it. He has never shown any signs of aggression.

We have not seen how Kane interacts with children, but he was with younger children in his previous home before coming into Friendly Giant’s care, so we assume he is good with them.

Kane is still a puppy, but with training, and a family who will provide him with plenty of exercise he will be a great, obedient dog, giving his forever family tons of attention and love.

Good with Cats?: Yes, good with cats.
Good with other Dogs?: Yes, good with other dogs.
Good with Kids?: Yes, good with children.
House Trained?: YES
Have special needs?: NO