We attended one adoption event in December and then we kinda laid low until after New Year's because I didn't want to start the flood of e-mails and phone calls wanting to schedule meet and greets and the like while getting ready for the holidays. Smart move on my part if I do say so myself. So after having him for about a month and a half, I gave the shelter his pic and sent them some info for petfinder and it never got posted...A few adoption events later, someone took a horrible picture of him and sent it to the shelter and here it is:
For some reason, that made the crowds go wild. I've been getting a pretty regular flow of e-mails about his petfinder page. I think it may also have to do with the fact that he's a golden retriever mix and people are finding him based on his breed. There was a woman who was infatuated and spent an hour with us one day at Petco that I never heard from again, then someone who I knew would love him and be patient with him, but her apartment complex requires a DNA test to confirm that he does not have any bully breeds in his make-up. Then, there was the nightmare. The shelter encouraged me to meet again with a family that we met at Petsmart the week before. They wanted to meet with their dog trainer present and current dogs to see if they would be compatible. I thought, hey, what could happen? The trainer will be present; she'll know what she's doing. You can go ahead an assume that she had no idea what she was doing. We met outside and she said to hang out for a minute, she would go get the family and 2 dogs from inside and we'd take a brisk walk out through a field with the dogs scattered and try to let them sniff once we reached the destination. So we did the walking part and everything was fine. Then we stand and talk for a minute and she takes the 130lb. dog's leash from the father and does her dog trainer thing. She says it would be a good opportunity to let monster dog sniff Shiloh. She lets him advance towards my dog and he does not sniff. He bites. Big time. Meanwhile, trainer lady is face down in the dirt. Shiloh goes to defend himself and I don't really remember what happened next. It was like that slow motion blur kind of thing and the next I remember was sitting over him and the father laying next to him and saying he was sad that it didn't work out. I let him scurry into the car and we headed home a few minutes later.
After we arrive home and I'm still a little shook up, I notice Shi licking the inside of his leg. I thought it was odd, so I get up to see what he's tending to and the whole inside of his leg is covered with blood. Another one of those slow motion, things get blurry event, and we end up at the vet, (not the one the shelter will pay for because both the shelter and that particular vet closed almost 2 hours ago). He needed a few staples, a good cleaning, and some antibiotics and then we were back at home. Since that event, we've become even more close. That dog is my baby. I'll protect and defend him however I can. I wanted to call off of work on Tuesday just to stay home with him. Some people thought that the ordeal would phase him and set him backwards, but so far, I think we're safe. I had to run a quick errand on Tuesday night and he was busting to get out the door with me. I thought maybe he just needed a pee break, but no, when I opened the back of my car, he hopped right in. Nothing would ever happen to him if he never got in the car, but he still does it, with little to no effort every time. Wednesday night we were playing outside and I sit down, legs outstretched in front of me and he immediately lays down between them, belly up and baring all, just staring up at my face. It took him at least a week to look at me initially and now we've built an incredible, trusting bond. I love that dang dog and I'm going to go through a world of hurt when he's gone. I just have to keep it in perspective; he could have been dead without me and he's going to be okay. I have to keep on rescuing and I can't do that if I keep them all.
Here are some photos from over the weeks, most of them pretty recent.
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| On the table after his staples |
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| Earlier in the day |
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