On Dogs....

As if 6 dogs are not enough, we are now fostering...possibly keeping yet another little lost soul who has wandered into our lives.

It amazes me how troubled people are with their pets. Many people can not even cope with having ONE dog. Being a big dog-lover, I can not understand it at all. I have fostered a decent amount of dogs (nothing compared to many other GREAT animal people I have met lately, who foster a lot more than I do), but enough to know that many of these rescued, second-hand dogs are the best! I often wonder why in the world people give up these precious family members. It makes me mad. Especially since a small handful of responsible and caring people end up having to care for, foster and house many unwanted animals that other ignorant, selfish, irresponsible and impatient people have dumped and abused.

All of our dogs have come to us with a story...one that I will never know for sure. But, they have all come to us as abused, neglected, given-up-on, but blessed souls, that we are so happy to have met. It amazes me how resilent and forgiving dogs are. They are truly angels.

Most people know that an Alcoholic would not be dumb enough to go into a bar and expect to not have a drink, would he/she? But, alas...I was dumb enough to end up going into the APL on Sunday with Ken and the kids...for a "fun" Sunday outing to "visit" the dogs in the shelter there. Me...a dog-aholic! We were at church (St. Augustine's) on Sunday, which is literally walking distance from the pound. After church, we actually had nothing planned for once and the kids really wanted to go check out the pound. I had promised them that sometime, we'd check it out, so why not today? I knew we would not get a dog...at least I thought my will-power was stronger.

I did not make it past the 4th or 5th cage!
Jeremy was a little ahead of us, and I heard him saying, "Mom...come check out this strange dog. She looks soooo FREAKY with these weird eyes! What's wrong with her?"

So, I walked ahead to see this "weird dog" and there she was! POLLY! A mangy, skinny, depressed looking pooch, with one blue eye, one brown eye and a shaved patch on her head. She wasn't even barking, like many of the others...she was just sitting back on her mat, quietly, looking very sad, scared and hopeless. On her cage, there was a sign, "Please adopt me! I've been here way too long. Reduced Fee- only $40.00"

Being concerned about this dog, I ended up talking with one of the volunteer workers there, who said that Polly had been there since last Oct/Nov and had really passed up her "time" there. She was a transfer last Nov from Ashtabula's pound (who knows how long she had been in Ashtabula's pound!), and had ended up at the APL. They were giving her one last shot at being adopted with the "sale price". They said she had really given up hope on life, and had entered a state of depression, not even barking or looking at people anymore, and just sitting on her mat, in a sad state. The volunteer said that people would always pass her up in her cage because she was odd looking, appeared too quiet and depressed and did not "jump out" in a friendly fashion to catch anyone's attention, but they said she is really a very good, well behaved dog (as most rescued dogs are!).

OK, that did it. "Bring that dog out of her cage and let me look at her, I say!" The kids were also not helping, by saying things like, "MOM...We can't let her stay in this place...we've got to help her!" One of my favorite quotes from Kateri (who had tears in her eyes), was "Mom, she looks like a good listener."

So, we got her out of the cage, walked her around and took her to a quieter room to be alone with her and get a good look at her. I noticed right away that her tail had been chopped off...no not docked like a Rott or Doberman...it was hacked off and about 1/4 of it was left hanging...a sad looking state. She was the sorriest, saddest looking dog I've seen in a long time. She had a shaved patch on her head because they had removed a tumor on her head, which was benign, and healing nicely. Her 2 different color eyes gave her an almost eerie, spiritual and very unique look. I was thinking she'd be very scared and aloof from us, and maybe even aggressive, considering her depressed and fearful state. But, she almost immediately started wagging her tail, licking all of us, trying to sit in our laps (even though she is a fairly big dog...about 45 lbs). It was then that I saw a shimmer of HOPE spark in her eyes, and the depression and sadness was slowly dwindling away faster than she could lick us. HOW could we ever put her back in that cage now?? Yes, I am a dog-sucker! Ken looked at me, "Why did we come here...I should have known this would happen!!"

There was no going back then...we were taking her home! As soon as we spent about 10 minutes with her (decision was made after about 1 minute), I started filling out the paperwork, paying the pound staff and we were off. It all happened so quickly.

Polly was so happy to be going outside with us and settled down nicely in the van on the way home. She was shaking slightly, but overall very calm. Once home, she met all the other 6 dogs and did fairly well with all of them. A little touch and go with Penny and Mia, with a few growls, but no fights, although I am still keeping a close eye on all of them, ready to jump in if a fight were to break out. The thing that amazes me most is that Polly is so WELL BEHAVED!! She is totally housebroken...no accidents at all, does not jump, does not chew or destroy things, barks at a minimum, is super-great with all the kids (very gentle and submissive to them) and is overall a sweet little lady. She can not use the stairs at all though. We had to teach her to use the stairs...and now she can go up them, but still has trouble coming down them. The vet at the pound estimated her age to be about 2 yrs old, but judging from her calmness, I am thinking maybe she is a little older, but who knows. I am still debating whether we are keeping her or fostering her to find her a home. I just really wanted to get her OUT of the pound and think of options afterwards. She is still a little shy here and confused about being in a home atmosphere. After all, she had been in the pound since last Oct/Nov....more than 3 months in a cage, and was a stray before then. Overall, I think she seems pretty darn happy here, well behaved and definitely LOVED by all of us!