|
Below is the first picture of Alexis after her bath.
We have a new foster dog at our house. Alexis (Alex for short)
was in the shelter, she had been surrendered at age 9 to the pound. Her family was moving and did not want to take her along.
She was devastated, she had tried to be a good dog, she sat when told, she walked on the leash without pulling, she did not
take food from the table. She even fetched tennis balls when ever someone would throw them. But at age 9, she was placed in
doggy jail, by her own family! She was confused, scared, and her entire world was gone. Nine years of being a best friend,
a buddy and a member of a family, all gone in moments. Instead she found herself on a cold concrete floor surrounded by chain
link fence, barking dogs and people that did not have time to give her a tummy rub or a head pat. Golden's love with all of
their heart, now that heart was broken. This is the reality of abandoning an older dog.
We don't know the circumstances that caused this to happen, but it happens too often. A disposable society does not
have room for the totally unqualified love of a dog for his human family. A family buys new drapes and wants a new dog that
matches them. Sometimes it is for a good reason, an older couple have to move to a nursing home. A widower has health problems
that make it impossible to walk or exercise a younger dog. But too many have no reason, the dog is abandoned just because
the family seeks change.
When Alexis arrived from the kennels, the humans took special care in introducing us. To introduce
Bella, Alexis and I, my family took all three of us for a walk in the park together, keeping a tight grip on the leashes to
make sure we were all right together. After an introduction on neutral ground, we were turned loose in the house, then taken
to the back yard. I jumped into the pool to show Alexis the water, she followed me right in and immediately panicked. Her
surrender papers said she was an apartment dog, she obviously had never been in deep water before. She scrambled out and then
looked back to see what had happened. I thought she was scared of me and for a moment after I came out of the water, we had a brief tiff. Now I know she had never been
in water before and following me in blindly scared her.
|
 |
|
