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.

Henry's Back!

Henry's back. He seems sad. I'm sad too. Not at all what I envisioned. He wags a little if you talk to him. But basically he came here and he wasn't wagging. He was walking around checking things out - my sofa is gone (getting recovered) and he wasn't sure how that was. He waited by the door a bit. He'll push his droopy head up to me and let me pet him. He'll let me lie down with my face real near him and he flopped my way so I could rub on him.

I'll have to take him to get his stitches removed - they needed to come out last week on Thursday. Wow, it's hard to believe it's only been a week and two days that he's been gone. It's going to be hard when we warm up to each other and let ourselves be happy to see each other and then he goes again. I hope Stacey (foster mom) will decide to travel again soon.

He smells soooooooo soooooooo good. It is pretty depressing at our house right now.

Update

Henry is "still a little out of sorts," so I will get to keep him on Saturday while his new foster mom is out of town. I hope I'll still get to keep him next week while she's gone.

Maggie is fine - she has not been moping at all.

Only Henry and me.

How are you all doing?