Meet Mabel and Morty!
We had wanted a dog for years, but since it couldn’t happen in our former living situation we had to be satisfied with many a doggy YouTube video instead. We finally moved into a place with a yard, but there was so much work to do on the new house we thought we should still wait. “We’ll just look,” we said. And that’s when we found Mortimer at the East Bay SPCA. He was the only dog sitting quietly, looking up with those big brown eyes, waiting his turn for some love.
When we adopted him his coat was dark brown, and when you petted him your hand would come away black because he was so dirty. We were quite surprised after his first bath to discover that he has such a beautiful coat. We were even more surprised after getting to know him that first month—he is so loving and silly and surprisingly gentle for his size. He loves to run as fast as he can (so fast!) but usually poops out after 10–15 minutes and plops down in the shade. He loves sitting up on his hind legs and giving hugs, he loves laying down and cuddling, he loves to be loved. We have loved him ever since that first day and he has returned it tenfold. He has honestly changed our lives and we are so grateful.
And that’s how we thought we’d live, a one pup household…happily ever after. Then along came Mabel.
Our friend had adopted her from a shelter, but the little lady just wasn’t getting along with her other dog. They were having some knock-down, drag-out fights and our friend needed a break. We thought it would be for the weekend, a week tops! But as you can see the pair fell in love—within the first hour! Mabel is a sweet little girl who is always excited to meet new dogs and humans. She loves chasing Morty when he’s running fast. She can’t keep up but she always tries. She loves playing with Morty, sometimes hanging by her mouth from his thick neck skin. She loves licking Morty’s eye boogers and checking his jowls for any treats he may have missed (Morty actually had an acne problem before that has cleared up thanks to Mabel’s frequent licking). She loves crawling under things and squeezing into tight spaces, climbing chair backs, and hopping on tables. She is fearless.
They couldn’t be more different: obviously the size (Morty weighs 67lbs, Mabel weighs 7); Morty likes to relax, Mabel likes to explore; Morty likes the shade, Mabel likes sunshine; Morty likes peanut butter, Mabel doesn’t; Morty hides under the kitchen table if he hears a loud noise, Mabel charges straight towards the source. There are also many things they love to do together: sleeping (90% of their day), playing, learning new tricks (both like to jump through a hoop), walking, and of course snuggling with their humans.