The Land of Misfit Toys!

When my house is overrun with homeless mutts, I like to call it The Land of Misfit Toys! Some of you know that almost 2 weeks ago, I took it a sad little Monster, who we found out was named "Who-Done-It" (we call him Hootie for now).

He was outside of a house next door to a place one of my baby-investors owns.  We were walking by and this little rodent dog was barking and growling at Steffany and me like he wanted to murder us. Later, we found out that this little guy's family was evicted and left him. He was so afraid! His family was gone, his stuff was on the street corner, and he was left ALL ALONE to guard it all. He was SO VERY AFRAID, but was trying so hard to defend his home. Poor little guy.  :(

We chatted with the owner and found out that animal control had been called. Knowing this little monster dog would be put to sleep immediately (since he was horrible), we tried to catch him. Catching a scared, tiny dog is tricky at best. Steffany hid next to a hole in the fence and when he ran though, she GRABBED him! I ran around the house to see her holding him with a fist full of cheek fur in each hand. He was hissing like a snake and trying to bite her. We wrapped him in a curtain and took him back to my house.

He took up residence in my bathroom. I was allowed to sit of the tub and be near him, but it I tried to touch him he would growl, or run and hide behind the toilet. I know it is sad, but I had to get a picture, because it is also HILARIOUS!

That night, I called my vet to get a quote for a neuter. Side note: Denver Pet Urgent Care is AWESOME they are an after hours vet with the same prices as a regular vet. Now, a night owl like me loves being able to go to the vet anytime before midnight. I called and the receptionist told me they were slow and offered that he could come to the vet right then. I figured that it was already the worst day of his life, may as well make it REALLY bad and off to the VET we went! He did not like the kennel or the car ride, but somehow, he fell in LOVE with the vet tech with dreadlocks... I mean IN LOVE. He was calm and would let her hold him. It made me happy to see a glimpse of him being a well-adjusted mutt. To be fair, when he fell in love with her, he was still pretty drunky-monkey on neuter drugs.  

He got shots, and neutered and came home wearing the cone of shame. 

We spent 2 days with him in our house before Tait and I had to go to a family reunion.  We left Hootie, and our other 2 mutts at home with Steffany.

Then, while 500 miles away I got a phone call! "Brittney, the other dog those people owned keeps coming back around, but he is a NICE dog, do you want him too?"

I called Steffany and back she went to pick up doggy #2. Now while dog #1 was quite neglected and mistreated, dog #2 was LOVED. 

Since we were getting too many dogs to call them New Dog and Newer Dog, Steffany called him Victor (for eviction dog). He is a SNUGGLE-a-HOLIC (who is refusing to seek treatment). His only problems were small: 

#1 He needed to be neutered and get shots = DONE!

#2 He needed to learn that being away from humans for a few minutes is not horrible abuse. Therefore, there is no need to bark and whine and cry like you are being murdered. He has proven really easy to train (I thought it would be much worse). We wait until he stops yowling before we left him in the house and spray him with a water bottle when he whines in the house. 

#3 He was fed too much people food! Which gave him some nasty tarter on this teeth. He is currently on a diet of dry dog food (which he doesn't like very much at all) and has a wide variety of bones to help clean his teeth. I am IMPRESSED by the difference it has made already! 

Public Service Announcement: Don't give your dog people food, even a little bit of people food. It gives them nasty tartar, which leads to their teeth rotting and needing to be pulled, and heart problems. 

While Hootie is still working on his "people skills" he is improving with great strides. It is my belief that most nasty dogs (and people) are the ones who are the most afraid. Hootie is in one of my favorite parts of the dog-rehab game right now. He is learning that I will not hurt him, and might actually be his FRIEND! He gets excited when I call his name and wags his fluffy little tail. He comes up to me, but gets tense when I touch him, then gets calmer. He still goes totally ridged when I pick him up, but at least he no longer tries to bite me. He is a longer term project puppy. 

BUT, Victor is pretty much ready for his FOREVER HOME! Here is his bio (below) if you think you could be a wonderful FOREVER home for Victor, please email me. 

Note: He does NOT know the name Victor (it is honestly a dorky dog name). Most often I call him Conehead since he is still stuck in the Cone of Shame.  He is sure the stitches from his neuter are made of BBQ Sauce so he will be on Cone-land for the full 2 weeks.