Blogger Notes

Well, it was a tumor, but it wasn't cancer. A couple of weeks ago we noticed a growth under Zero's front leg. Today he had it removed so that we could see definitively what the hell it was. It was a fatty tumor. Thank goodness! He's such a great dog, I can't imagine things around here without him.

I love dogs and thought that a dog would be great for JD as he was growing up. We stopped at a couple shelters to look at dogs, but just could not find the right one.

One day, a feeling came over me. I get these feelings every once in awhile. They are like visions. If they are strong enough, I must act on them, no matter how far-fetched they seem. They almost always turn out to be true. This day, I had a picture of a dog in my head. It was the perfect dog and it was at the local shelter. We hadn't been at the local shelter in a few years. They never have any decent dogs- just a lot of hounds and guard types. But here was this vision compelling me. I asked SSB if he wanted to go, and he said "why not?" He knows that it is futile to resist me.

We walked up and down the aisle looking in all the kennels. Hound after hound was all we could see. Oh, there were a few ancient toy poodles and spaniels, but I wanted a younger dog; they were not the dog that was in my vision.

The woman asked if we wanted to take a coon hound out for a walk. I was sure that it was not the dog for us, but I figured that it would be nice to take the dog out while we were there. It was a friendly dog. She really liked JD. But it was not the dog I came for.

We put her back and as we were walking back down the aisle to leave, disappointed that my vision was false this time, I caught a glimpse of a dog I hadn't noticed before. We had walked by that kennel at least four times and I could have sworn that it had been empty. I turned to look. It was the dog from my vision! I could tell that he had gathered all his courage to get up to the kennel door. He just stared at us quietly.

I asked to take him for a walk. He let me lead him very quietly out the door and into the snow. As soon as we were about 50 feet from the building his attitude seemed to completely change. He sprung into life, knocked me down into the snow, wagging his tail and licking my face incessantly. We all started laughing, knowing that this was our dog.

He had had a hard life. The previous owners had abused him. He had ended up at the shelter when a neighbor called to let the shelter know that he had been left outside for three days and the owners had moved away. Three days in February! If I ever found out who those people were, I'd beat the hell out of them and tie their asses to a post in the middle of winter for three days- buck naked too!

He had some issues due to this hard life and it has been a long, hard battle. He is very dog aggressive which makes it hard to take him for a walk or even have out in the yard. He is very anxious and relieves his anxiety by peeing. Sometimes he even pees on people. It is hard to have anyone over because he complete freaks out at the door then usually pees on them. Yeah, that's not generally socially acceptable.

I often thought that most people would have just brought him back to the shelter, unable to cope with his problems. But I would have had much more issues with chewing, cat harassment, or people aggression than a little bit of piddle on the floor.

He actually is a fabulous dog who knows the rules and can be trusted to follow them even when there is no one watching. We can leave food sit out and he will not touch it. Even if we leave the house. He knows exactly what is his to chew and leaves everything else alone. The cat will tear into the garbage, but Zero would never do that. He will occassionally pull things out and we always know it was him since he will leave it in a neat and clean anal-retentive pile. The butter wrappers clean as a whistle pressed and stacked. The garbage is never knocked over or more than a foot from the can. It really is quite amazing.

He is full of love and loves to be cuddled. I always joke that he would be so happy if I could get a snuggly in his size to carry him around all day. He loves to be touching you, and would really prefer to be sucked to your chest with his head on your shoulder. He knows when you aren't feeling well and will stay with you to comfort you with those worried, soulful eyes.

I was so glad to hear that it was not cancer! What would we do without this little love bug?

Here is a picture of the damage, if you are into that kind of grossness. Just in time for Halloween! But be warned...it is gross. There is a tube sticking out of him to help with drainage so he can heal faster. EW!!!