This is Otie. Some of you know his story- he's a lucky dog. And he tries to be a good dog. Lately, though, I'm wondering if his luck is starting to run out. For a dog with very few brain cells, he manages to figure out a multitude of ways to drive us completely crazy.
I should start with how Otie came into our lives. We got him a little over a year ago. He was a nine-month-old puppy at the time. It was late December, '05, and I was very pregnant with Ezra- I think I was only a couple days away from my due date. I was in Bangor with my sister Debbie (who was up to visit from Mass), and Ellie- just hanging around, eating bagels (Maine has no idea how to make a good bagel, by the way). My husband, Richard called on my cell, and said he was on his way home from work- a mile or so from home, and found a dog lying on the side of the road. Someone had hit him, then drove away and left him there. He wanted to know what he should do. Noone was home at the house he was in front of. We did a basic assesment of his condition over the phone- he appeared to have a broken leg- maybe two, lots of cuts and "roadrash" as we call it, but was alert and responsive. I told him to scoop him up, and bring him home. Once I got there, we could figure out what to do- I didn't want to bring him to the clinic where I worked until we tried to figure out who his owners were, which animal hospital he goes to, etc .
For those of you who don't know- you generally can't just bring a dog into any vet clinic, even in an emergency, and expect to recieve treatment. Some areas have emergency clinics, which work in a similar way as a human emergency room, but the closest one of those is pretty far away, and expensive too.
Anyway, we got in touch with the animal control officer, who came to our house, saw the dog, then went to see if he could contact the owner. He went to the house we tried earlier. When the person there was told their dog had been hit by a car, and needed medical treatment, their response was: "well, we don't have any money, so just put him down."
I can't tell you how angry that attitude makes me. Unfortunately, it's not rare, either. People get pets that they have no real intention of taking care of. I understand not having a lot of money, but then don't let your dog run free where he is more likely to get injured!! Or better yet, don't get a dog at all unless you are willing to take responsibility for him. They didn't say "we have no money, but we care about him, what options do we have?" No. They just said "put him down" and according to the animal control officer, they acted annoyed that he even bothered them at all. They never even asked how he was, or what his injuries might be. Nice people.
Otie, though, is such a sweetie. And he is extremely friendly, and non-aggressive. Even injured, he let me palpate his broken leg, along with his whole body, and he never so much as growled. He licked me whenever he could. He is great with our kids- they can take food out of his dish while he's eating, crawl all over him, etc. Oh yeah- and he was already housebroken, even though he spent his whole life tied outside to a doghouse (except when he was loose, of course).
To make a long story short, we decided to "temporarily" keep him- take financial responsibilty for him, and when he was better, find him a good home. I really really didn't want a dog. Maybe someday, but not now. We already had Maggie- the Great Pyrinese we inherited when we bought this house, not to mention Maggie's cat, who we unknowingly also inherited , on top of the ones we already had.
Well, temporary somehow became permanent, just as his four legs became three. ( The broken front leg never healed correctly, even with surgery and pins, so it was amputated). The kids love him, and he gets around like any other dog, just with a little extra bounce. Things seemed to be great...
Then we learned why he got hit by a car to begin with. He is an incurable car-chaser. He is determined to be a two-legged dog. He doesn't just run after cars- he comes barreling out of the driveway and attempts to run straight into the front tire. Luckily we live on a dirt road, that also happens to be a dead-end, so we don't get too much traffic...
And there are the skunks. A lot of dogs get skunked, learn what a skunk is all about, and avoid them in the future. The dogs who were blessed with fewer brain cells get skunked, then proceed to chase and corner any skunk they see forever thereafter. We got one of those. Of course, there's the trusty skunk-solution, which is a mixture of peroxide, baking soda, and dish soap, and it works great. The problem is you have to cover the dog with it, and let it soak in for 15-20 minutes before rinsing it off. That's the hard part- keeping him still while completely wet and covered with this stuff. All I can say is- pure hell. Though I guess not as bad as the smell of skunk for 6 weeks.
Why don't we just keep him tied up? Well, he's also a chewer. He has actually chewed through 2 or 3 metal cables to free himself. (And actually, except when a car comes by, he stays on our property). We don't keep him inside overnight anymore because of his chewing. He is especially fond of Eleora's shoes- of course only one shoe from each pair. Another of his favorite things are stuffed animlas. He chews these very methodically- he carefully chews each eye out, one at a time. Makes me wonder if he has psychological issues...
Yes, we constanly have chew toys around for him, and nyla-bones, etc. But he's like a little kid- he somehow knows that other people's stuff is much more interesting.
His newest thing is the newspaper. And this is what really drives me crazy. The newspaper represents the only time I have all day to myself- no kids, no husband, no DOGS. I wake up after Richard leaves for work, but a half-hour or so before the kids get up. It's the only time I can drink a cup of tea without sharing, and read the paper without it being pulled at and colored on. If I'm lucky, I even get to do the sudoku, or the crossword puzzle.
Well, Otie discovered to newspaper delivery guy. He sits out there and waits for him to drive up to the box. As soon as he pulls away, Otie jumps up, grabs the paper, and runs. He"ll drop it for awhile somewhere outside, and if I don't get out there in time to find it, he proceeds to attack it, shake it around, and slowly but surely, shred it to pieces.
I've tried everything- including training him to actually bring it to the door for treats, but nothing has worked. I've contemplated rigging the box to give him a shock as soon as his nose touches it (not really), but he's probably not smart enough to make the connection.
So, this is my newest project- trying to figure out a way to either keep him away from the newspaper altogether, or train him to bring it to the door and leave it alone.
Of course there's the ongoing project of keeping him away from horse poop, deer poop, cat poop... he prefers them to doggy treats any day. Gross. I keep a supply of dewormer in the cabinet....
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated =)
