Saturday, January 24, 2009

Adopted a dog from BCFFA today

Today was the day that Science Diet dog food by Hills got together with various pounds and animal shelters and gave away 10 pets to the first 10 people who qualified to adopt them.

My local shelter, Burke County Friends for Animals, started their process Thursday, two days early! I didn't find out about that until Friday. I called them as soon as they opened up and was able to go down there because they had one free adoption left. I started out looking at all the dogs they had. The noise was deafening the minute the door to the kennel was open. It was like all the dogs were saying, "Pick me! I am the cute one! I am the most loveable! Take me home! I'll be a good dog for you!"

I looked left and all they had there were smaller dogs. Not what I wanted. So I concentrated on the right side of the kennel at the medium to large breed dogs. I saw one poor dog who just stood there among the din being very quiet. He just looked at me with these big, brown, soulful eyes. I asked a few questions about him. What breed? How old? Is he good with cats? Is he good with small children. How long has he been here? The answers intrigued me. Yes he is good with children. He is four years old. He is a hound. Lets test him with cats right now. He has been here at BCFFA for 5 months and his name is Jethro.

Well, when it came to cats, he just sniffed them and didn't bother them one bit. I got to see him action with children today when I picked him up and he was great. He walks on a leash.

We brought Jethro home and let him wander around the house for a little while. I got his food and water bowls set up, although he has yet to even touch them. I think he waiting for another dog to come bully him out of his share of food.

Jethro hasn't played with any of his toys yet.

He is also very good with my cat, Misfit. She is the bully. She is the one who is going around hissing and pitching a fit. She will eventually get used to him and want to play with him.

Jethro is rather thin for an American Black and Tab Coon Hound. Since he wasn't the dominate dog at the shelter, I am sure he was bullied out of his share of food. He will eat if Tracy or I actually put the food in front of him on the floor. I have gotten him to eat some dog food, a hamburger and a Milkbone Treat. Now if only he would go to the bathroom again. He did earlier, but hasn't for several hours now and we have had him outside several times.

You can tell he is all hound. Just look at those ears!! He spent most of time outdoors with his nose to the ground chasing after all the new scents. We gave him a bath right after we got home to get the smell of the kennel off him and to get rid of all the grease on his hair. We used baby shampoo on him and he just sat there and let us bath him with no problem.

I think it will take him several days to really get used to us and to trust that he isn't going to go back to the shelter and then he will settle into a good routine. Lots of patience and love is what this boy needs.

In all fairness, I don't think Tracy was too happy about me getting a dog, but what he doesn't realize is that with him gone on the road all the time, I feel like I need a companion other than a persnickety cat. Plus, once Jethro has warmed up to us and gotten used to the house and yard, he will alert me when me someone is around. I am happy and that is what is really matters. I am an animal lover and need to have my pets around. They are more than pets, they become my family!

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