Kebba
09-24-2004, 06:28 AM
One month ago today we brought Henry home from a shelter in Maine.
Six days prior to that we were on our way from North Conway, NH to Portland, Maine. Just a day trip over - nothing in particular planned. On the drive over we passed a very well known animal shelter. As we passed it DP (dear partner) asked if I wanted to go in. I nodded my head silently but we kept driving. A minute or two later she hooked a u-turn and we were on our way back to the shelter.
We looked around some, the shelter is good sized and on that day was home to around 40 dogs and lots and lots of cats. I heard a loud "Uh Oh"!, and turned to see DP peering into a cage. I immediately knew that she had found someone special.
There sat Henry, formerly known as Hughy. Big, black, beautiful lab. He had what I call "big dumb lab head" - nice and big. That was the first time I ever saw him do the "bunny hop". All four legs off of the ground at the same time ....almost like pogo stick. Up and down, up and down.
After looking at him for less than a minute I called over to one of the volunteers and said "I want this dog. Why is he here? Is he available for adoption?" They didn't have much information on him, he was found along the side of the road and was officially labled a stray. He'd been held for 10 days, as is the law, and this was the 11th day. He was free for adoption, pending a vet check-up and neuturing.
Because they had no health records, thus no shot records, we couldn't interact with him outside of the cage. And Jackson couldn't meet with him. But we knew that this dog was meant to be ours. All of the conversations about waiting to get another dog flew out the window. We had to have him.
So, we completed an application and said goodbye to Henry. We were told that as long as our application checked out ok that we would be able to bring him home within a week or so. A few days later we had the OK and we brought Jackson over to meet with Henry - the big test. If Jackson didn't give his ok, we would probably pass on Henry.
Luckily for all involved, the meeting was a success. They boys got along great. Jackson likes few things more than to be chased and Henry was happy to oblige. We took photos and made arrangements to bring him home. The shelter normally asks for a $20 deposit but I told them I wanted Henry to be paid in full so they knew that there was no doubt this boy was ours. We made arrangements to pick him up on the following Tuesday.
That Tuesday I made the three hour drive up to pick him up. I had his new collar and leash, along with a new toy for him and some treats. At home we had a new bed for him.
As I walked into the shelter I smiled broadly and said, "I'm here to take Henry home!". The manager of the shelter looked up at me strangely and said, "You aren't going to believe this. His owners called last night."
A sick feeling washed over me and I felt a little weak-kneed. "What do you mean? Where the hell have they been for the past two weeks?!"
Shaking her head she said, simply, "they don't want him".
I couldn't believe it. Who could not want this sweet boy? What kind of a person lets their pet run away??? I can understand some extenuating circumstance that would cause a pet to be surrendered ..... but letting your pet just walk away from you? And not going to look for it? I've got a few different names for people like that, none of which will pass the censors.
Anyway, turns out that Henry ("Toby" was his original name) had run away almost three weeks prior, but they had just called the shelter the night before to say that their dog was missing. Ugh.
After the remaining paperwork was signed, they brought Henry out to me - beautiful in his new collar. We went for a little walk, shared a hug and started the ride back.
He was timid during the first part of the ride - sitting in the way back of the SUV. I had the seats folded down so he had plenty of room, but he was curled up close to the back. After an hour or so he go curious and sat closer to the front. He panted heavily and seemed uneasy. All of that went away when we got to our house.
DP had Jackson in the backyard. Henry and I came around the back of the house and it was instant madness. Henry bunny-hopped - Jackson ran in circles - chaos.
And it's been chaos and love ever since. Henry gets along great with everyone. The cats come to him when they need those hard to reach areas cleaned. Jackson comes to him for mammoth tug-o-war sessions. Henry loves to cuddle, but is a massive bed hog. He doesn't understand that your supposed to lay with your head up and feet down on the bed .... he likes to lay across. And believe me, he is an absolute LOAD to move.
He drools like a maniac, he is the messiest water drinker I have ever seen. He farts worse than I thought possible.
But he is a love and I couldn't imagine our lives without him. We have decided that his new birthday is August 24.
That is Henry's story. For now.
Six days prior to that we were on our way from North Conway, NH to Portland, Maine. Just a day trip over - nothing in particular planned. On the drive over we passed a very well known animal shelter. As we passed it DP (dear partner) asked if I wanted to go in. I nodded my head silently but we kept driving. A minute or two later she hooked a u-turn and we were on our way back to the shelter.
We looked around some, the shelter is good sized and on that day was home to around 40 dogs and lots and lots of cats. I heard a loud "Uh Oh"!, and turned to see DP peering into a cage. I immediately knew that she had found someone special.
There sat Henry, formerly known as Hughy. Big, black, beautiful lab. He had what I call "big dumb lab head" - nice and big. That was the first time I ever saw him do the "bunny hop". All four legs off of the ground at the same time ....almost like pogo stick. Up and down, up and down.
After looking at him for less than a minute I called over to one of the volunteers and said "I want this dog. Why is he here? Is he available for adoption?" They didn't have much information on him, he was found along the side of the road and was officially labled a stray. He'd been held for 10 days, as is the law, and this was the 11th day. He was free for adoption, pending a vet check-up and neuturing.
Because they had no health records, thus no shot records, we couldn't interact with him outside of the cage. And Jackson couldn't meet with him. But we knew that this dog was meant to be ours. All of the conversations about waiting to get another dog flew out the window. We had to have him.
So, we completed an application and said goodbye to Henry. We were told that as long as our application checked out ok that we would be able to bring him home within a week or so. A few days later we had the OK and we brought Jackson over to meet with Henry - the big test. If Jackson didn't give his ok, we would probably pass on Henry.
Luckily for all involved, the meeting was a success. They boys got along great. Jackson likes few things more than to be chased and Henry was happy to oblige. We took photos and made arrangements to bring him home. The shelter normally asks for a $20 deposit but I told them I wanted Henry to be paid in full so they knew that there was no doubt this boy was ours. We made arrangements to pick him up on the following Tuesday.
That Tuesday I made the three hour drive up to pick him up. I had his new collar and leash, along with a new toy for him and some treats. At home we had a new bed for him.
As I walked into the shelter I smiled broadly and said, "I'm here to take Henry home!". The manager of the shelter looked up at me strangely and said, "You aren't going to believe this. His owners called last night."
A sick feeling washed over me and I felt a little weak-kneed. "What do you mean? Where the hell have they been for the past two weeks?!"
Shaking her head she said, simply, "they don't want him".
I couldn't believe it. Who could not want this sweet boy? What kind of a person lets their pet run away??? I can understand some extenuating circumstance that would cause a pet to be surrendered ..... but letting your pet just walk away from you? And not going to look for it? I've got a few different names for people like that, none of which will pass the censors.
Anyway, turns out that Henry ("Toby" was his original name) had run away almost three weeks prior, but they had just called the shelter the night before to say that their dog was missing. Ugh.
After the remaining paperwork was signed, they brought Henry out to me - beautiful in his new collar. We went for a little walk, shared a hug and started the ride back.
He was timid during the first part of the ride - sitting in the way back of the SUV. I had the seats folded down so he had plenty of room, but he was curled up close to the back. After an hour or so he go curious and sat closer to the front. He panted heavily and seemed uneasy. All of that went away when we got to our house.
DP had Jackson in the backyard. Henry and I came around the back of the house and it was instant madness. Henry bunny-hopped - Jackson ran in circles - chaos.
And it's been chaos and love ever since. Henry gets along great with everyone. The cats come to him when they need those hard to reach areas cleaned. Jackson comes to him for mammoth tug-o-war sessions. Henry loves to cuddle, but is a massive bed hog. He doesn't understand that your supposed to lay with your head up and feet down on the bed .... he likes to lay across. And believe me, he is an absolute LOAD to move.
He drools like a maniac, he is the messiest water drinker I have ever seen. He farts worse than I thought possible.
But he is a love and I couldn't imagine our lives without him. We have decided that his new birthday is August 24.
That is Henry's story. For now.