Down to two dogs. One, Beulah, a border collie/lab mix and the smartest dog I ever owned is 7 years old this year. The other, Scarlett, a dachshund that my wife insisted we buy from an Amish fellow who I was working horses with was 15 and on her way out as well. I say "was 15" because she died on New Year's Day. It was time. She had lost a whole bunch of weight in the last few weeks. She had been blind in one eye for the last couple years and her hearing was mostly gone....although she always heard food being poured in the bowl. My wife and I discussed putting her down for the last week. She went all on her own which was nice because she saved me from having to do it for her. She also waited until my wife was not at home and, although the frost is pretty deep, I was able to get her buried before she returned. While we were both sad, we knew this was coming and it was easy to accept. Much easier than Rascal. It was time.
Two days before this, my wife and I went to town, to stock up on supplies and go out to supper. We are lucky in that with my folks, we have willing babysitters for the dogs if we are gone over night. We had discussed trying to find another dog as a companion for Beulah and because we knew that Scarlett was not going to be around much longer. We had both even spent a bit of time on-line looking. We had settled on another Border Collie mix or another herding dog such as a Blue Heeler but really hadn't decided. Since we were in town overnight, our chores were done and we had some time to kill before supper we decided to take a walk through the local Humane Society.
This is never easy for my wife and she is generally crying before we get to the second kennel. We rarely donate money to the Humane Society because I don't agree with their politics surrounding hunting, but the work they do with dogs is top notch and it is a rare occasion that we don't go to town and buy a couple 50 pound bags of dog chow to drop off at their kennel. We adopted a beagle for my parents from the Humane Society about 4 years ago.
In any case, we are walking up and down the rows. Surprisingly, there are not many dogs... maybe 35, although the gal at the desk said they were expecting 200 from Alabama by the end of the month. Most of the dogs were Pit Bulls. All greeted you with tails wagging and sad eyes. As we came to the last row of kennels, one was empty, but had a tag describing a Blue Heeler Mix...I kneeled down and peered into the door to the inner kennel and there shivering was a small black and blue brindle bugger that would not make eye contact. When I whistled and called she turned her head away from us. "Karlie, very shy and timid" the tag said. My wife and I went to the front desk to ask about her. Six months old, from a puppy mill in Alabama (they have a relationship with the Alabama Humane Society). Adopted out once and returned after only 2 weeks. Very shy and non social, terrified of small children. Not aggressive. "Can we see her?" we asked. We went out to the kennel and waited for one of the handlers to come. Karlie was in the outer kennel this time and immediately tried to go back in to the inner kennel when she saw us. The handler was in the inner kennel and when she got to the door, Karlie saw her and immediately lay down and urinated on the floor, obviously terrified. This is no reflection on the handler though who was very gentle and understanding and obviously good with the animals. She managed to drag Karlie out of the kennel and once on the leash, she walked very reluctantly with her tail very much between her legs to one of the visitation rooms where she promptly lay down and would not move. My wife and I got down on the floor with her and all the petting and soft talking could not get her to look at us or raise her head. I left my wife with her to go ask some more questions. She had whip worms and had been through two treatments and would need a third. She came from Alabama with two sisters who had already been adopted. The family that returned her had a 5 year old child. The paperwork said she was partially house trained and had had no accidents in the previous adopter's house. The handlers had not been able to get her out of her shell. She got along well with both the dogs and cats, but was very submissive.
OK...this dog is likely a handful and not in the normal way you would think of a handful. I went back to the visiting room and Karlie is in my wife's lap...urine soaked fur and all. "Did she climb up there herself?" I asked. "No, I pulled her into my lap." She is calm and not shaking in terror, but still completely submissive and virtually a limp noodle in my wife's lap. She still will not make eye contact. We try to get her to stand and she crouches down, tail between her legs. We call for the handler and ask if we can take her outside on a leash. As we are doing this, we meet a couple and their young child...roughly 4 or 5 in the hall of the kennel. Karlie instantly crouches and urinates as the child comes forward. Luckily the parents are smart enough to see what is happening and turn him around and walk in the other direction. Outside, Karlie is a bit better, and is suddenly a bit more alive when we meet another one of the handlers with one of the dogs on an exercise walk. Potential, but still I am apprehensive. My wife is ready to take her home, but I know that this is not a situation to take lightly. This dog will take lots of work. More work than some of the rubber band dogs that she wanted to take home on other trips. But, we have Beulah, a smart, outgoing, patient, fun dog that would be an excellent mentor.
Karlie is back in her kennel and we decide that we will put down a $30 hold on her, and talk about it over supper. If we decide that we don't want her, the worst will be that we are out the $30. Still, trying to make a decision based on logic and not emotion will be difficult. Very difficult.
The next morning, we go back to the Humane Society and finish the paperwork, pay the rest of the adoption fee and load Karlie in the truck. The seat is covered with a $10 comforter that we picked up from Goodwill because we know it is unlikely that they will have her bathed before we get her. She has a 2 1/2 hour drive to sit between us and get used to us a bit. We stop several times to get some air and each time, she does her business. She has to be lifted into the truck because she will simply try to crawl underneath it if we try to let her get in on her own.
As we drive, we discuss another dilemma. My sister has come home for New Year's while we are out of town and are staying at our house. Both her kids are in high school, but still, 4 more people in the house might be a challenge for Karlie. Well, nothing to be done about it. At the recommendation of the Humane Society, we have purchased a dog crate and will cover it with the comforter and let her stay in it if the people are too much for her.
When we get home, my wife stays in the truck with the dog and I go in and get Beulah, who instantly jumps up into the truck when I open the door. Karlie's tail is wagging. Beulah turns and looks at me as if to say, "What the fuck is this?" and jumps back out of the truck. Karlie is right behind her and I have to grab her dragging leash. Whoah! This is unexpected, but good. We walk around and Karlie does her business. Going into the house goes ok because she is following Beulah, but upon seeing all the people, she promptly goes under the couch. As my wife sets up the crate, I take her to the tub for a very much needed bath. She does surprisingly well and soon she is scrubbed from head to toe and clean as a whistle. I dry her off and carry her out to the crate. Everyone in the room is oohing and aahing about what a sweet girl she is. I put her at the entrance to the crate and she goes right in and lies down and stares at me (eye contact!) with sad eyes. A peanut butter dog biscuit is sniffed, but not taken until I put it on the floor of the crate. I put another at the door and another just outside the door. She lays down with no intention of getting the treats. We leave her alone. As we are having cocktails and a bit of chips and dip she pokes her head out and takes the biscuit that is outside the crate. She sees Beulah lying comfortably not to far away and tentatively comes out of the crate and walks up to her. Her tail is still firmly between her legs and she is nervously glancing at the people who have all suddenly become silent, but she makes it to Beulah and tentatively sniffs and bats a bit at her with her paw. Beulah begins thumping the floor with her tail which scares Karlie back into her crate. The rest of the evening is spent repeating this activity with a smattering of treats. That night, we bring her to bed with us. Again surprisingly, her tail begins to twitch a bit and she snuggles between the two of us. Beulah is on the foot of the bed and not particularly happy, but when we wake up, Karlie is snuggled right up to her. We take her outside and she does her business. As we sit and have coffee, she jumps up on the couch and lies down next to my wife. The day is spent going in and out of her crate, trying to build up the courage to play with Beulah and going outside. She gets lots of quiet attention from everyone and seems to be getting a bit less skittish. She is still timid and obviously scared, especially with fast movement, but it seems like she is making a bit of progress. The only one who wants nothing to do with her is Scarlett and she nips at her when Karlie sniffs her on her dog bed, but I explained the situation with her earlier and this is understandable.
My folks come over for New Year's eve and my dad is smitten. "I could take her home!" he says. Very much out of character, but Karlie sniffs his fingers and her tail twitches a bit when he crouches by her crate. She is back a bit to the scared girl we saw at the kennel, but it has been a busy day.
The next day, New Year's, my sister and her family head for home and my wife has some errands to run. While she is gone, Scarlett dies. Karlie is in her crate when I take Scarlett's little body out to the woods with a pick axe and shovel to bury her. When I come back in, she is lying on the floor with Beulah, who senses something is wrong. I sit down on the couch and Karlie comes over slowly and climbs up with me and lies down. As I pet her, she stretches out and yawns...I realize that this is the first time she has been in the quiet house. It is going to be a long road for her, but she is on it and moving forward.
Yesterday, something scared her and she somehow managed to get under the bed and get stuck. It was no small task to get her out. Today it snowed and she did not know what to think. She did not go very far before she crouched down and would not move without serious coaxing. Her tail was back between her legs. When I finally got her to move she seemed to come around and I let her off the leash. She ran directly to the door of the house and looked back at me as if to say, "hurry up dammit!" I decided to start my old plow truck to let it warm up before I let her in. Maybe she would even want to ride with me while I plowed snow. No dice. The old truck is a bit loud and when I started it, it scared her so bad she wedged herself in between the house and the stack of firewood I have outside the door. I had to take down half the stack to get her out and when I did and opened the door, she bee lined for the couch. Tonight she is lying on the couch stretched out next to my wife and dreaming. I expect getting her to some semblance of normal is going to take months but she will get there. Beulah told me so.
The picture below was from yesterday afternoon. I think she knows she is home. Not much stress shown here.
Some changes are for the good. I think this was one of those. I bought a couple lottery tickets when we were in town. They weren't winners. I think it is possible that Karlie is the one that won the lottery.
