Dill Eclair Groves

I realized I did a special post for our "first born" hound, Lavender, but Dill never got one of her own. So, here it is. The story of our sweet Dill.


Once Emily and I were both working 9-5, Lavender had a lot more alone time than she was used to. She just seemed sad all the time, and we felt terrible for leaving her alone for 8 hours a day. We had moved to a larger apartment, and decided that we both wanted and could afford adding a second dog to our family.

We started searching around all the shelters in the area (and there are a lot of them!) for another hound to catch our eye. We stumbled across an animal sanctuary called Caring for Creatures. This sanctuary is at the end of a long gravel road in the middle of rural Virginia--we didn't even know if our GPS was taking us to a real place when we turned down the road. What we discovered was an almost completely outdoors sanctuary. Caring for Creatures takes in animals that have had rough pasts. Most of their animals are being rehabilitated to find their forever homes, whether they have had trauma, health issues, or behavioral problems. They do some incredible things for these animals that most people would pass on.

We had read about one hound in particular that, based on her online profile, we thought sounded like a good match for Lavender. She was quiet, a little shy, and learning how to be a loved pet. Her story sounded a lot like Lavender's, plus her name was Rosie (a name that we thought would always be cute to pair with Lavender). When we arrived to CFC, they told us that Rosie was currently in the care of a foster family and wasn't at the sanctuary. While we waited for a chance to speak with her foster mom (who happened to be volunteering that day), they gave us a tour of the pens and introduced to a few other hounds.

We walked into one of the pens with two hounds. One of them went crazy and was running and barking all over the place. The other, a filthy freckled-face with big brown eyes came right up to us with a puppy look on her face and asking for pets. "Annie" had us hooked.

The Face that Won us Over

Because CFC was a pretty far drive from where we live in Cville, we brought Lavender along in case there was a potential adoptee to be tested for compatibility. We took Lavender and "Annie" to their play yard to see if they would get along. In typical hound nature, all they wanted to do was sniff down the entire place without even acknowledging each other.

We then went to the office to learn more about "Annie"'s back story. She was originally discovered by another area non-profit that helps owners provide adequate shelter for outdoor dogs. She had been tied to a tree in the woods for most of her life. When she was found, she appeared to have some blunt force trauma to her face. Her jaw was all kinds of messed up, and they were able to convince the owner to surrender her so she could receive the medical attention she so desperately needed. She had some pretty intensive surgery on her face, which removed most of the teeth on one side of her face and helped to set her bottom jaw back in place. I'll save you the gruesome photos they gave us from that surgery, but trust me when I say it was pretty intense. She still has a big knot on the bottom of her jaw and her tongue hangs out of the side of her face.

Dopey Dilly

Really, all this sweet hound needed was someone to show her a comfy, cozy home with endless amounts of love. We were the perfect match for that. Although the adoption process usually doesn't happen on the same day, we lucked out that our vet is open 7 days a week and able to provide a glowing reference on the spot. They felt good about the potential for relationship between "Annie" and Lavender, and allowed us to adopt her then and there to save us a trip back out from Cville.

Our First Family Photo

Happy to be going home. 

It took us the entire trip back to Cville to come up with her name. As much as we loved Rosie, it just didn't fit her. We finally landed on Dill Eclair Groves, both fitting to her and coordinating with her sister. We realized in hindsight, they also fit in the song "Lavender Blue (Dilly Dilly)," which is connected to Disney. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTjdZYTjBGI

Lavender and Dill are now the best of friends, and practically inseparable. They both look for each other if they are out of sight on a walk. They cuddle and wrestle. They give each other kisses and love nibbles. It's like they were destined to be together. The best part is that they make each other happy, which helps us worry less when they're home alone during work hours.

Dill is one of the sweetest dogs I've ever met. She loves to be in the house, curled up on the cooshiest surface she can find, head on a pillow and covered in a blanket. She certainly takes advantage of the fact that she is no longer living tied to a tree. She struggled a bit with potty training, which is completely understandable for a dog that has never lived in a house. She has a hilarious, raspy wail that comes out when we come home. She will not let you stop petting her; she'll put her paw on you and give you an "excuse me?" look, and if that doesn't work, she'll move in as close to you as she can get. She's not a fan of the perceived threat that comes with screaming/loud noises in her space, so excited kids and adults make her nervous. She loves to chase squirrels and is obsessed with any and every dog she sees.

"Excuse me, why did you stop petting me to write a blog post?"

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