The (Not-So) Talented Mr. Tommy, Part One
At last...we have a new foster dog! His name is Tommy (insert Chris saying "Tommy Tommy Tommy Tommy" in a Philip-Seymour-Hoffman-from-The Talented Mr. Ripley-voice, constantly, probably until the day the dog gets adopted). My camera batteries have died, but here's a picture from his page on the Tails of Hope website:
He slept all the way from Frederick, curled up on the floor behind the driver's seat, only looking up when I had to slow down from 60 to 0 to avoid hitting a groundhog sitting in the middle of the highway (they're the world's most suicidal animal). He seems like a real sweetheart.
So he got home, played in the backyard with Meadow, who is thrilled to have him, as is Misha (well, Misha's cautiously indifferent). Then it was time to go inside, since there was a thunderstorm coming.
No dice. Mr. Ripley doesn't like stairs. At all. Unfortunately, we live in a split foyer home, which means that the only way in and out of the house is by stairs. After a lot of coaxing, he came up to the top floor, drank some water, and explored all the rooms. Then it was time to try the downstairs family room. He ran down the first level, then...got stuck on the front landing. Wouldn't go back up or go all the way down.
He was so anxious about it, I decided to just let him stay there for now. Forcing a dog to do something they're afraid of just makes the fear worse. So he's sleeping on a nice bed with a few chew toys. The landing is about 15 square feet, probably bigger than his cage at the shelter. As soon as he wakes up, I'll feed him, give him some more water, then take him out for potties.
Wish me luck getting him back in the house, and eventually back up the stairs! Always an adventure....
Labels: foster dogs
1 Comments:
That is so great that you take the dogs in until they get adopted. Do you ever find it impossible to let one go?
Posted by:
Lori T at 7/13/2008 7:59 PM
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