Dog Trading - (Making a Good Thing Out of a Bad Thing)

 About 11 months ago we fostered and/or adopted a dog we named Hugo. He was a little puppy at the time, and he came to us by virtue of someone believing he was abused and used as a bait dog. We took him in and had him examined by a vet. He was just over 8 weeks old when we got him. He was missing his left ear.  

    When we took him to the vet, Dr. Crosby (Sr.) told us that Hugo was born without his ear, he was not deaf or injured and we set out to find him a good home immediately. He was going to be a bigger dog; we knew he had Shepherd and Rottweiler in there somewhere, and he was going to need a backyard, which we didn't have. Fast forward 8 months and we really needed to find him a good home. He was actually beginning to misbehave in public so we couldn't take him with us to the various stores Laura wanted him to go to. 

    Laura has been looking for an emotional support dog for a couple of years; two dogs around Hugo's size and of similar breeding simply didn't work out; they didn't pass the tests. Hugo was no exception. He needed a good home! We tried the shelters, we tried the rescues, we put him on all the sites. NO ONE wanted him. It became desperate to be honest with you.

    We finally called (last resort) our own animal shelter in OKC and asked them to pick him up, because he had two separate incidents when he became outwardly aggressive or protective really, when dogs that were off their leashes came toward him and Laura when they were walking. Mind you, those dogs were NOT on their leashes and Hugo was, but he somewhat injured Laura when she tried to get him to heel; he wasn't interested in doing so, and he even nabbed one of the small dogs and could have done real damage if Laura hadn't physically intervened.

    Well, we had no choice.  We couldn't lose our living arrangement over a dog no matter how much people continue to say we could have stood our ground. That philosophy only works in books, on television, etc...but not in real life. We were told if the dog wasn't removed from the house we couldn't renew our lease. NOT fair, but true. Did the other dog owners get into trouble? NO..because they are tiny dogs. Not fair, but true.

    When they came to pick Hugo up today, the shelter worker evaluated him and gave him an 8-out-of-10; meaning, he would be eligible for adoption, not to be put down. You can't know the joy we felt over that news. He'll be neutered, vaccinated, evaluated again, and put up for adoption next week. Well, the really good news is, when we went to the same shelter today to get another dog for Laura, we told all the workers about Hugo, and everyone we told made a point to say they'd go love on him, feed him treats, call him Hugo, and see what they could do to get him a good home. (Even if one of them ended up with him, which is what I'm hoping.)

    God is good. That's my point. God is so so so so GOOD!  We went to the shelter today with hopes of finding a smaller female dog to hang out with Ginger, but to be Laura's emotional support dog. We found her.  I adopted her, and she'll be Laura's dog; her name is Ino. (It was Gabby) She is a mix-breed with some sort of Whippet or Italian Greyhound type dog as well as Chihuahua. She's about 5-8 months old and was part of a small pack that was found abandoned in a warehouse on the SE side of town.

    We can't take her home yet - she will need to be vaccinated and spayed. She is ours though. We have signed the papers and she and her three siblings who were all spoken for, will be given their medical treatments this coming up week and she'll come home with us very soon. Ginger can't wait. We told her. We also told her about Hugo, but I don't think she quite understands.

    I'm pretty worn out from the emotions of the day, to be honest. I'm eating terrible food; I cried all morning, and then stomped my foot down and told the world about what happened to Hugo. It's not right! There are laws to protect us, but no one seems to abide by them unless you have money to fight it; which most people don't. At least we know he'll be fine. We wanted him to have a good home before - and he will now.

Again, God is so good!  Ino will be loved....very very loved.

Photo Credit: Me