u/munizfire

Hi all, I very recently rescued/adopted a very sweet dog. I have yet to choose a name for him; but I would love something LOTR related.

My cat is name Gandalf (well, because he is white and gray, lol). Following that logic, I thought Radagast would be fitting, since the he is brown, and his mane kinda looks like a beard, plus it would continue the Wizards theme. HOWEVER, Radagast doesn't exactly roll off the tongue (sure I could just call him Raggy or something like that, and keep his 'government name' as Radagast.

As a result, I come to you for ideas! Other good options are (but please feel free to suggest more):

- Pippin
- Gimli
- Garbanzo (this one cracks me up, but not LOTR related)

Bonus pictures of him and my cat Gandalf (with a shameless AI addition); as well as Leaves of Lorien I 3D printed for them with their name and my phone number (if a new name convinces me, I could 3D Print a new one)

Hi all,

Yesterday I 'rescued' this gorgeous boi. His previous owner surrendered him for his safety (sad story, but I do agree that it was for the best). He's 5yo and the previous owner reports he is very shy but affectionate. He's also very small, the smallest Sheltie I have ever seen in person (for reference, at 5yo, he's about the same size (maybe smaller) as my mom's was at around 7 months-ish.

Long story short, a client of a friend told her she needed to rehome the Sheltie, and she immediately let me know, since she knows Shelties are my favorite dog breed.

This is my first Sheltie, and the first dog I've had on my own (there were always dogs in my house when I was growing up, so I'm not completely oblivious when it comes to dogs). Also SOMEWHAT familiar with Shelties, as I got one for my mom around 3 years ago, when her older dog passed away.

I'm familiar with the 3/3/3 rule, so I assume in a couple of days he might start to open up (probably a bit longer than 3 days, since the world he has known for his past 30 something years just completely vanished, and he had his little heart broken). Poor thing is scared to death, and has been hiding under the table a solid 98% of the time I have seen him (I don't know how/what he was doing while I was sleeping, but I know he still hasn't used the little bed I got him yesterday (which has a towel his previous owner gave me that apparently he liked a bit). I haven’t seen him eat or drink; but I know he ate a little bit last night; haven’t seen any poop in the backyard (have let him out probably 5-6 times by now, at least 15 mins each time and maybe 2 times for close to an hour; but again, I suspect he’s still pretty shook, and won’t have normal functions for a couple of days.

Every time I walk near the table he's hiding under, he stands up and if I walk too close, he'll slowly walk away; so I'm intentionally avoiding getting to close to him (and will for the next 2-3 days). Is this a good idea? I want to play with him and pet him so bad, lol, but I want to give him some space to decompress by himself.

I asked the previous owner for any Vet/Vaccination/Breeder records, but apparently she doesn't have any. I suspect he's not purebred, but I really don't care (just would more info). I plan on taking him to the vet as early as I can get a non-emergency appointment to do a general check-up. He is currently not neutered, Is 5YO too old to neuter?

He seems to have a substantial amount of tartar build-up, I also plan on taking him to a dog dentist (I will admit this is wild to me, lol); but in the meantime, I'm looking for a good Toothbrush/Toothpaste recommendation.

She gave me a bag of the food he's currently on (Diamond Naturals); but I plan on slowly transitioning him off to something better [My ideal plan would be high value kibble in the morning, then raw diet at night]. Any food recommendations? I assume the Diamond Naturals is not a great option? I plan on start his transition probably a couple of months from now, once he's fully settled in and comfortable with his new reality.

Also, I have a cat (extremely sweet and well tempered), and they seem to at least not hate each other. He is historically good with dogs as long as the dog is not all up in his face, so even though I was ready to do a slower, gradual introduction, I was curious to see if they would casually be ok with each other. So far, there hasn't been any hissing/barking/confrontation/playing between them and most of the times they're laying anywhere from 2-10 feet away from each other, with occasional staring. The cat has spent a lot of time chilling on the table bench directly above where the dog is hiding, but they don't really interact. When I leave the house, I lock the cat in my bedroom (with food/water and litter, obviously) to prevent any potential confrontation while I'm not present. Seeing as the interactions (or lack there-of) have been pretty smooth, can I continue leaving them (attended) in the same areas? Or should I strictly stick to the traditional 'slow-introduction' methods?

TL;DR: Questions have been bolded and italicized.

I'm really excited to have been able to rescue this sweet boy!