Henry's New Life

Maggie and I met Henry and his mom Kat at the dog run for the second time today. He has a great new life.

First and most important, Henry is still a delicate flower. He's terrified not only of thunder and lightning, which we knew, but he's also of it on TV. When a TV program had a storm on it, he shook and hid. Also, at the dog run recently a man with a big camera with a flash took Henry's picture. Henry tucked his tail, whimpered, and curled up near the gate. He had to go home. Clearly he believes that the camera steals your soul - or that the flash is a disciple of lightning. When he gets mad at his mom and dad, he stages protests. For example, he got scolded for going through the trash, and he took his bowl of food from the kitchen into the living room and throw the food from the bowl out onto the floor.

He doesn't like to go out after 7:30. He goes to sleep downstairs at 7:30 and if his parents want him to go outside after that, they have to catch him while he's changing positions. At 9:30 he goes upstairs to go to bed in earnest.

There's a parrot that lives on his street, and he hasn't seen it yet, but has heard it speak to him from the window as they walk by. He doesn't know what to make of that. He loves to run. It's great to see him at the dog run, running with the other dogs, barking at them to play with him. He has the deepest, loudest bark. Really impressive. All the dogs on his street go to this dog run (Wiggly Field) at the same time every day, so he gets to run a lot. He gets a 30 minute walk followed by 30 minutes of playing ball in the house each morning and evening. His mom takes him out when she wakes up at 6, then his dad takes him out again at 11, because their schedules are staggered, so he never has to wait too long to go out.

We're not sure if his reluctance to do his business at night comes from the storms that were so frequent his first week at his new home. Kat told me (last time) that the first night of a storm, she crawled into the bathtub and sat there with him and pulled the shower curtain shut to show him he was safe. She brings a little hand towel wherever they go to clean up the slobber that he often generates. He's slobbered up the walls a bit by shaking his head and spreading it like Hooch from Turner & Hooch. Kat isn't taking him to her parents next weekend when she has to go for the day because she wants him to feel secure, and not at all afraid that he might get left there, at a party with a lot of kids and people and confusion.

Bottom line: this boy has a great life. He's still incredibly fetching - people at the dog run seem to be taken with him - they ask questions and give him compliments all the time. No pictures, please.

He's Gone and I Want Him Back

I've just taken Henry to his new home, and I'm worried. Really sad. I wanted to keep him. I hate to have left him there. I wonder if I made the wrong decision. He may not fit into their lifestyle. He doesn't have other dogs there, and doesn't have a fenced yard - they'll have to take him to the dog parks in order to get him exercise, though there's one closer to them than there is to me. It makes me so sad to dump him off and not be able to explain to him why or ask him what he wants. I'm worried he'll be lonely. I'm really worried I'll never see him again - he'll be their dog now. And I feel like I love him more than anybody else could. Maybe it won't work out with them (the rescue group sets up the first week as a trial period) and that will mean that he needs to live with me forever. I think that's almost what I'm hoping for at this point. I could take it as a sign. Even though it's hard for me to have him and it feels like too much, I want to be able to determine the type of life he leads and I want to get to see him and I want him to know he isn't forgotten. And most of all I think it's so incredibly unfair that dogs get no choice in this life. We have too much power over them. Maggie is going to be on serious cuddle duty tonight.

Adoption Application for Henry

Took Henry to the adoption event today, and a young couple was pretty taken with him. If you ask me, they made up their mind pretty quickly. But they were so nice. She's a librarian, he's a bookseller, they're homebodies (their application says), and they came in looking for a medium sized adult dog but they think of him as medium because her last dog was 95 pounds.

Anyway, home visit is tomorrow, and if it goes well he'll go to them for a one-week trial. Now we're home and sad/tired. Wish us luck.

Henry and Maggie Spy a Bunny

The Bunny

Maggie and I have seen bunnies a few times around the apartments, and when we've been with Henry we've come across bunny smells (I assume that's what they were - a spot where Henry went nuts and I saw rabbit droppings). But tonight's the first time I've seen him see a bunny. I should mention that on our first walk tonight we basically just flushed kitties out of shrubbery. Only one actual sighting of a kitty fleeing, but he was really on the scent, and did a great job patrolling the area. Tonight on the last walk, when he saw a bunny it was almost like he saw a cat. He perked up, started to run for it, and then barked his head off when he couldn't get there. The barking I don't completely get - it's not a good hunting technique, it seems to me. Whatever happened to sneaking up on the prey. It was a cute juvenile bunny, and I'm glad the dogs were on leashes. We have Henry till Sunday. There's another adoption event tomorrow and his new foster mom has another commitment (volunteering at a new farmers' market opening in Athens). Wish us luck.

The Book

The Art of Racing in the Rain is completely drawing me in. But it's hard to read. No one with a sick or old dog should read it. They tell you right up front it's the last night of this dog's life. It's hard to read that part, think about our dogs not living as long as we do, think about the way they get put down.

Back with Stacey, his Foster Mom

Henry went back to see Stacey, his foster mom, tonight. I was getting sad before handing him off. Once my dad tried to take him and Maggie for a walk, and he wouldn't go without me, so I was kind of wondering how it would be. But when Stacey came, he was so happy to see her, jumping up and giving her kisses. He showed off by going into my room and barking and by doing his hilarious playing - he has taken to the tree of squirrels that Sammy D. gave Maggie for Xmas. He pulled out all the squirrels and the fish egg (ok that was from another toy), and runs around the house squeaking it (the fish egg) and dropping it and falling all over himself to pick it up again as FAST as possible. Stacey came in and hung out for a bit, and brought me a rescue group tee shirt. She told me they have turned down a couple of applications on him (or steered people a bit differently.) Someone was interested in 3 dogs - a puppy, a jack russell, or Henry. They decided this person didn't know what they wanted and needed to decide that first. Just like looking for a job. I'm getting him again Friday after work and taking him to the adoption event on Saturday, so I'm glad to be having this Henry time. When it was time to leave, Henry went with her with no more than a quick glance to see if we were coming along (and we weren't). It was really good to see. Anyway, it's all feeling better.

Walking and the Ball

Walking

Henry gravitates toward the hedges and the underbrush - he's a hunter. He's always looking for the places that the small animals hide. Maggie usually walks in the middle of a field. She's looking to see who needs bossing around, who's threatening her territory. Henry doesn't care. It's all about where the small animals might be hiding. He's good, too.

The Ball

He likes to get the ball now. He and Maggie steal the red rubber ball when the other one isn't looking. Then they run around and gloat and gnaw on it. He is so pleased with himself when he gets it. He was doing laps around the apartment a second ago. Of course Maggie does not really see this is a game - it's super-serious to her and she growls at Henry when she is closer to the ball but he's going for it.

Filled Out

He's filled out a bit - looks very handsome, not so gaunt. In the pictures, you could never really see how much his ribs stuck out, but in person it was really evident. Everyone would comment on it when they met him.

That's it for us. Have a good night, folks.

xo
s

A Little Better

Okay, things are a little better. Henry has settled in and so have I. We went for a walk - it was still light outside and nice (not too hot). We avoided all the poison ivy and ran into our neighbor (somewhere in the complex) Lonnie who has a real affinity for Henry. He was so glad to see him again, and is looking to move into a house at the end of June. He's really interested in our guy here at that time. But it's not just that. Henry is relaxing, rolling around and putting his belly up, Maggie's sitting on my lap and growling at him, I cooked and they both begged. It got to be a nice normal night here. Henry really liked Obama's speech tonight. No wait, that was me. Can't wait for this guy to have a permanent home and not get shuffled around everywhere - and I hope it's with someone who will let Maggie and me come visit a lot.