I came home Monday around 7pm to see a piece of paper folded and tucked into my door jamb - just my door - nobody else's. That can be a bad sign. But the result was worse than expected. It said "Three Day Notice of Default" Basically I had 3 days to cure the default of "dog incessantly barking during the day" or they would sue me, take back the apartment, keep my deposit, and I would still owe rent through the end of the lease.
I walked in the door and Henry was actually incessantly barking. The office closes at 6, so I had all night to worry about it. I panicked. I called Dad, who has always been my backup, in case I couldn't keep Henry. I told him the basics, we talked it through a little bit, and he said he would talk to Jeanie (his partner) about their keeping Henry for a bit.
While I was on the phone with someone or another about this situation, I was walking Maggie and Henry on their extenda leashes. Henry got all tangled up in some hedges and his harness started slipping back down his body. I was trying to get the harness back on him without alarming the neighbor on whose porch I was almost standing, and I dropped Maggie's leash handle. I looked up at some point when Henry was totally sans harness, and Maggie was 20 feet away lunging and barking and growling at a beagle, while the beagle's owner was trying to keep her away and restrain his own dog, who was trying to respond. This is the husband/partner of the woman who inspired a nastygram I got (nothing like this one) about having Maggie off leash.
I came home, found out I was out of all pet food, and saw little 1/2 inch lines of blood all over the carpet. Someone was bleeding. After some investigation, it proved to be Maggie's fingernail, the end of which was bright red and would NOT stop bleeding. I tried bandaging it twice to no avail. She was growling at me, licking it off, etc. At the same time I was on the phone with my dad, who was telling me in a roundabout way (since Jeanie was right there) that in fact he could not take Henry even temporarily. With 25 minutes to go before the pet supply store (15 minutes away) closed, I went to go get styptic powder/gel/whatever and pet food, and called Meg, who has had the neighbor-complaint-about-barking-dog thing in the past. She talked me through it all, gave me some good points for how to structure the conversation with the leasing office the next morning, and encouraged me to go in person.
I went into work, checked my schedule, and got my computer, and decided to go in late on Tuesday so I could deal with this in person. Monday was a bad night. Oh, and my pants ripped. I had walked the dogs (and done everything else) in my work clothes, and my slacks had an L-shaped rip right in the fabric on the shin. This no doubt had happened when I was trying to get Henry back on leash.
Tuesday Conversation
I walked into my apartment office and the person who sent the note said "Don't worry too much about that." They were going to work with me. There have been a lot of pet complaints and they are sending these 3 day notices for all pet complaints. When they sent them they didn't even know if my dog had in fact been the barker - that's just what the neighbor had said. They agreed to call me if the barking happened again. And I said I thought I could minimize the barking by keeping Henry out of the room that he barks in the most. I also decided to check into day care as an option - to get him "temperament tested" (the one day evaluation they do before they make you a regular client) at the day care place so that if I ever had to drop him off on zero notice, I could. So that was better, but I was wiped out all day Tuesday. I was able to drag myself to the talk and book-signing by Gene Baur of Farm Sanctuary. It did me some good and he talked (after I asked) about how he keeps his spirits up to keep doing his work in the face of so much discouragement. And that helped a little.
Colette told me of her vision of Maggie, Henry and me moving to a house and letting Henry bark all he wants. I do love him.
No Room at Any Inn
Does everyone appreciate the biblical reference? I am in the Bible Belt Now.
It is damn hard to get a dog a home. Monday was strike out after strike out. I was trying. Dad was trying. Responses ranged from 2-4 people who listened to the story and tried to think of ways to help to organizations whose answer was basically "talk to the hand."
Possibilities Starting to Develop
Last night, Athens Canine Rescue came through and told me that I could bring him to participate in the adoption event this Saturday. They hadn't got back to me for like a day (long response time for them) because they were asking all the board members if it would be okay. This was a huge relief and also horrible - I have seen all these adoption events at pet supply stores where people just take the cutest dog home. And Henry needs someone who gets his houndiness. But then I looked at their website and it alleviated my fears - they have a pretty good adoption process, it looks like based on their website. So it was just about being sad about the prospect of giving him up.
Today ACR said they also believe they have a foster home for Henry starting Sunday. Which makes me so sad I can hardly think about it. But I am so glad that some people have come through to make room for this guy - he's such a special guy.
A Good Report Card
Today also I took Maggie and Henry to daycare for a "temperament test" for Henry. Henry needed to go so I could have an emergency option; Maggie just went to show Henry it was nothing to be alarmed about. And my boy passed with FLYING COLORS.
Check out his report card. Notice the stickers and the "Exemplary" rating. You probably can't read it - it says: Henry had all the ladies following him around. Grace, Gaby, Zoe & Becca were in love with him. Henry is the type of guy we enjoy having in play group. He's just so mellow and easy going. Thank you for bringing Henry to Pawtropolis. We love him and hope to see him again soon!I am going to make a little flyer about him for Saturday, and I think I'll make this the back page of it.
I Love Henry
I'm really sad about the idea of losing him. But I'm hopeful we can find him a good home.
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