Pilot
How much of a coincidence could it have been? I kicked the kids out of the house this morning," TV off! Get outside and play! Out! Out!"
Lorien kept stalling, but eventually went out with Gatlin and Addie. All the while, someone in trouble was headed towards our neighborhood.
He was making his way into another shade patch to rest when Lorien spotted him. She didn't even bother to ask; she got the leash and went to bring him home. As soon as I saw his skin, I shooed everyone away. From the color of it, and how much of it could be seen, it could only be one thing: mange. We kept him on the kitchen steps while I looked online for a confirmation, and maybe a home remedy. From what I was reading it had to be mange. Poor baby. Nothing can be done without a vet. There was no way we were calling the local shelter. In that kind of shape, they would likely not want put the money and time into him. He would probably be put down.
I set about washing him with the conditioning cat shampoo we had left from our recently stolen kittens, and thought that maybe he was just some sort of mutt. Maybe he wasn't sick after all....maybe it was just his breed. But then I see his tail, and it must be mange. I just couldn't figure out his breed! All he has is this wirey hair. He seems to have lost about 85% of it, and really needs a vet. Art comes out and talks to him before going in to work. There is no way this dog is leaving our family. We are keeping him for sure. I think it's a puppy; his paws are huge.
I call around and cannot get ahold of any type of society or shelter that does mercy work. We just got back from a 3 week vacation, and live on a budget to begin with. We are right in the middle of gas and groceries crisis. Financially, he couldn't have come at a worse time.
We think that he was hurt by his previous owner. He is scared of the broom, and when I walk by with the hammer, he cowers and tries to disappear. Sure looks like a puppy to me. Doesn't play with chew toys, but I think he is exhausted. When I go to him, he licks and wants to chew my hand, but doesn't--he is wonderful.
I found a vet who will start treatment for around 140.00, which may as well be 140,000.00 right now! But we figured we may have enough stuff in the shed to have a yard sale, so we're going to go for it! This poor baby--I wonder if he knows how bad we want to hug and love him to death? Lorien wanted to call him "Rocky", because of his past. But I don't want to name him yet. Something not right. What if he's really sick, and can't be helped? I don't want to get too attatched.
When he wags his tail, it doesn't go back and forth. It goes in circles, like the propeller on a plane. And I noticed a yellow patch of hair left on his ear. Could this possibly be a Golden Retriever? Or a Yellow Lab?
I wonder if he can feel how much everyone here wants to love him. We moved to North Carolina about a year and a half ago, and lost our Chesapeake Bay Retriever/Lab mix in the process. Right before we moved, she left, and never came back. We can barely talk about her. And in the spring a beagle showed up here, but he was a biter, and chased anything with a motor, and almost caused motorcycle accidents, and almost hurt our neighbor who just had open heart surgury. He was a danger to the neighborhood, and family. So we are all of us pretty tender right now.
I keep thinking about that spinning tail. There is something so wonderful about his happy tail. We decided to call him Pilot, this sweet sick gentle baby.
Lorien kept stalling, but eventually went out with Gatlin and Addie. All the while, someone in trouble was headed towards our neighborhood.
He was making his way into another shade patch to rest when Lorien spotted him. She didn't even bother to ask; she got the leash and went to bring him home. As soon as I saw his skin, I shooed everyone away. From the color of it, and how much of it could be seen, it could only be one thing: mange. We kept him on the kitchen steps while I looked online for a confirmation, and maybe a home remedy. From what I was reading it had to be mange. Poor baby. Nothing can be done without a vet. There was no way we were calling the local shelter. In that kind of shape, they would likely not want put the money and time into him. He would probably be put down.
I set about washing him with the conditioning cat shampoo we had left from our recently stolen kittens, and thought that maybe he was just some sort of mutt. Maybe he wasn't sick after all....maybe it was just his breed. But then I see his tail, and it must be mange. I just couldn't figure out his breed! All he has is this wirey hair. He seems to have lost about 85% of it, and really needs a vet. Art comes out and talks to him before going in to work. There is no way this dog is leaving our family. We are keeping him for sure. I think it's a puppy; his paws are huge.
I call around and cannot get ahold of any type of society or shelter that does mercy work. We just got back from a 3 week vacation, and live on a budget to begin with. We are right in the middle of gas and groceries crisis. Financially, he couldn't have come at a worse time.
We think that he was hurt by his previous owner. He is scared of the broom, and when I walk by with the hammer, he cowers and tries to disappear. Sure looks like a puppy to me. Doesn't play with chew toys, but I think he is exhausted. When I go to him, he licks and wants to chew my hand, but doesn't--he is wonderful.
I found a vet who will start treatment for around 140.00, which may as well be 140,000.00 right now! But we figured we may have enough stuff in the shed to have a yard sale, so we're going to go for it! This poor baby--I wonder if he knows how bad we want to hug and love him to death? Lorien wanted to call him "Rocky", because of his past. But I don't want to name him yet. Something not right. What if he's really sick, and can't be helped? I don't want to get too attatched.
When he wags his tail, it doesn't go back and forth. It goes in circles, like the propeller on a plane. And I noticed a yellow patch of hair left on his ear. Could this possibly be a Golden Retriever? Or a Yellow Lab?
I wonder if he can feel how much everyone here wants to love him. We moved to North Carolina about a year and a half ago, and lost our Chesapeake Bay Retriever/Lab mix in the process. Right before we moved, she left, and never came back. We can barely talk about her. And in the spring a beagle showed up here, but he was a biter, and chased anything with a motor, and almost caused motorcycle accidents, and almost hurt our neighbor who just had open heart surgury. He was a danger to the neighborhood, and family. So we are all of us pretty tender right now.
I keep thinking about that spinning tail. There is something so wonderful about his happy tail. We decided to call him Pilot, this sweet sick gentle baby.
posted by Chinpaca at 8:21 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home