Merry Christmas fellow rescuers!

[CindyM]

I am late but I hope you had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

[oregongsdr111]

How is Bobby doing?/

[Remo]

We still have our moments when he gets a bit worked up, but for the most part, it seems like he has fit right in and has been around forever.

He is such a sweet boy and whenever you enter a room, he greets you with tail wags and kisses.

Here is the story that I wrote about him to submit to the Iams adoption story contest:



The first email message arrived on 12/17/09 – did I know anyone that could take in an eight year old male GSD that was in jeopardy at the Montgomery County Shelter? This note came from one of our rescue volunteers who knows we are suckers for old dogs, or dogs with a sad story. Bobby met both criteria. He was on a rapid decline in the shelter and well on his way to being euthanized. I knew that there was little chance of anyone else adopting Bob, so we took him in knowing that we would probably be adopting him ourselves.


Poor Bobby, who had lived most of his life in a crate on the porch, or down in the basement of his home, is practically blind. His suffers from retinal atrophy and will probably end up completely blind as his condition progresses.


Our last hospice dog, JayDee, who was only supposed to live for a couple of months, fooled everyone and lived for three years. We lost him last Spring and it broke our hearts. But, this meant that spot in our home that we keep reserved for a hospice dog, had opened back up.


So on Christmas Eve we picked up Bobby after he had a trip to the vets to be neutered and to get his shots updated.

At first, Bobby was very hesitant and very aloof with us. He seemed to be in “shut-down” mode. I am sure it is difficult for most dogs to be moved into a foster home, but even more difficult for a dog that is blind. His records indicated that he had to be approached with caution and that he snaps. But, other information on his records indicated that if you just moved slowly with him, he is a nice guy.


We brought him home and attempted to introduce him to the rest of our rescue pack. This consists of the foster dogs Maximus, who was tied to a tree and beaten so severely that his tail had to be amputated, Casey, who had been adopted from our rescue as a puppy and then dumped six years later when her owners moved, and Maximillion who came to us with heartworm infestation and a pair of extremely rotten hips. The permanent dogs include Georgy Girl who lived on a chain and produced many litters of pups prior to her rescue. Georgy Girl is missing half of one of her ears, the other ear appears to have been broken and she had an old injury on her hind leg which as caused a bone to poke out and as we say it, “puts a little hitch in her get-a-long”; and Remo, who was dumped at a shelter, along with his littermates, when he was just a little pup.


Well, let’s just say that the introduction of Bob did NOT go well. The pack here is quite used to new dogs being introduced, but apparently Bob did not get that memo. He immediately launched an attack toward any of the male dogs and would chase them down if necessary in order to start a fight.


Great – I just took in an eight year old, blind dog, who just so happens to be dog aggressive. So we started out by partitioning off the house – Remo upstairs with me, Casey and Bob in the downstairs living room with my sister, and John would stay in the rec room with both Maxes and Georgy Girl. We would make sure everyone else was secured in a room while we would let Bob wander around a bit. We have fostered hundreds of dogs over the years and I can only think of two that we had to return due to dog aggression. By all indications, Bob was going to be number three. With a heavy heart I informed folks that I would probably be returning Bob to the shelter on the day after Christmas. When Saturday morning rolled around, I just could not bring myself to take Bob back to a fate that would certainly mean death in the shelter. So, we tried putting a muzzle on him so that he could not inflict damage on his roommates. After trying very hard, but thankfully unsuccessfully, to remove the muzzle, he settled in. He could walk past the other dogs and other than some growling, things were going well. So now he could hang out with the other dogs and our lives became somewhat easier.


On Thursday morning, John called me at work to tell me that Bob was hanging out with the other dogs, and NOT WEARING A MUZZLE! I think he finally realized that the other dogs would not hurt him so he felt safe enough to stay out of fight mode. So, here we are on New Years Day, Bob has settled in like he has always been here, he now wags his tail, holds his head high, seeks attention and even gives us sweet kisses. We found out that Bob LOVES toys and when he starts playing with his squeaky tennis ball you would think he is a puppy instead of a blind senior citizen.


So in a week’s time, Bob has gone from being an unwanted dog, living in a crate on a porch, to being a much beloved family member here in our crazy rescue home. So, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to our new dog, Bob. He’s a keeper!


And a special thanks to our fellow volunteers who saw Bob’s potential and worked to hard to give him a chance at a new life.

[oregongsdr111]

You and your husband are awesome.

What a great outcome.
Now, the final stage, a new and forever home!!!