From his very humble beginnings in China as the runt of the litter, riddled with illness and unwanted by everyone including his mama, by all measures, Thor should not have even lived let alone be now enjoying life in Seattle.  Rescued by a kind expat who found him in the Shanghai stable where she rode horses, he was given a second chance at life.  However, she almost immediately faced a life crisis of her own when she had to leave China quickly due to personal issues.  She reached out via our apartment complex’s Shimao Riviera Facebook group that Thom belonged to and improbably we became foster parents to a Chinese rescue dog in July 2014.

Thom quickly started taking Thor to the vet to do whatever it took to nurse the little one pounder back to health.  I had been in the U.S. on business and came home to meet the little ball of fur that would steal our hearts despite all the odds against him.  Sequestered inside for the first few months as he got his shots, we were finally able to take him outside at about four months old.  Teaching him to climb stairs was vastly amusing and the look on his fuzzy face when he met his first cat, who promptly hissed at him, was priceless.  Of course when we found out that we were repatriating to the U.S. in October, we knew Thor had to come too.  Though we feared what a transatlantic flight experience would be like with a puppy, we prayed heavily and, miraculously, he silently sat underneath the seat and was perfect the whole trip to the point we were poking him to see if he was still alive he was so quiet.  Amazing!

Not that Thor is always perfect.  Last week, as we transitioned from our temporary apartment to our new digs in Seattle, he went through a “I’ll piss on Thom”  rampage every day as his teeny tiny bladder needs what feels like constant attention vs. his older brother, Izaak, who only needs walked a couple times a day.  Thor’s more of a “walk me every two hours or I’ll piss on you” type of dog.  Thom especially hopes his bladder grows stronger quickly as he ages but, in the meantime, water is regulated and walks are frequent.  He is just getting old enough to be fixed so, on Valentine’s Day as is our custom on this romantic day with our dogs, we will take him to the vet to be changed forever.  Maybe that will help?  Here’s hoping!

Thor’s brother, Izaak, our eight year old Vizsla who stayed with our daughter while we were living in China, has become his new chew toy and constant partner in crime.  Izaak has taught Thor to raid our trash cans.  They also just love to chew on toilet paper right off the roll-yum, yum.  Thor can only dream of getting big enough to eat off the kitchen counters and drink out of the toilets like Izaak can do if left unmonitored.   They love chasing each other, lapping the apartment.  Our neighbor below us doesn’t find it nearly as fun and pounds on his ceiling (with a broom??)  to show his displeasure.   Too bad grumpy person–dogs just LOVE to have fun and while Thor at four pounds doesn’t sound like the thundering herd, Izaak topping out at 50+ pounds probably does sounds like a small pony galloping around.   So sorry!  Thor has also become the consummate sock stealer and only needs a second left alone to take off and hide under the couch to chew on his ill gotten goods.  Our pet sitter, Madeline, found out the hard way as she must have left the dynamic duo alone for a few minutes, in which time Thor stole her socks while Izaak collapsed on our bed/pillows for a quick nap-check out this tag team of devious dogs below.  P.S.  Izaak chose Thom’s pillow to park his ass and I got doggy drool on my pillow.  Ahhhh, being a pet owner is fun.