Dudley is not the dog I expected when I adopted a street dog who was also a tripawd and pitbull mix from a horrible area outside of Houston Texas. Today he heard the neighbor’s dogs barking and hopped up, tail wagging because we usually do a morning walk on my weekends. We went out and happened to pass by the neighbor’s house where their grandkid (6 year old) was clipping blackberries in the horse pasture. I managed to make verbal contact with my neighbor who said “bring the dude up” and off we went!!!
Never mind that it was Thanksgiving and that they were preparing for family dinner. Dudley wanted to do a property inspection and hang out with his buddies as well as see the kids, etc. He is just the most social dog ever. he wants to say hello to everyone, the horse, the cats, the dogs, the crow, the people…And if you’re cooking food, he is more than content to plop down on the floor in the kitchen. just in case food falls, he is there to catch it.
As of right now, he has moved from his comfy bed to laying right behind me since he got a few smidgens of a locally smoked ham. We are doing the Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday with our family so we did a little something special tonight but once we have our family dinner, it will be all stops out. Dudley will probably go into glutton mode for one night!
One ironic thing is that my neighbors daughter is a vet tech. She made sure to let me know that I need to test him for heartworm 6 months after him coming to Oregon. She also witnessed her first amputation of a limb when she was 10 years old with a local vet. When she met Dudley, the first thing she did was out of instinct, she checked his ears since he’s a floppy eared boy. She didn’t say anything so I assume we are all good 🙂 Dudley has done amazing with her kids, a 1 year old (just smelled the feet) a 3 year old and a 6 year old. He is just the most wonderful happy dog even with all he’s been through.
and just to clarify, I did not expect to welcome such an amazing happy dog into my home. I figured he would need time and space, and he does…but to have the attitude of pure love and joy that he does, I didn’t expect that. We have things to work on and trust to be built but he has such a good foundation to start out with. Our relationship of Mom and Dog needs fine tuning…but he is such a loving happy character!!! He really has the makings of a therapy dog and that is something that I would like to pursue. Just the fact that he is missing a leg and is so good with people opens a lot of areas for him. Like doing some sort of therapy with the senior community. This will be something I will look into for the future.
Awwww what a sweet Thanksgiving day! To be with a dog who surprises you in so many good ways, who loves everyone, WOW! It’s like every day Dudley wakes up and says “Thank you mom, thank you for bringing me here and giving me such a great life.” Plus, there’s all that great community you are surrounded by. So amazing.
He is such a dear sweet boy. And those EYES! OMD! No wonder you fell in love long-distance.
I hope you have a beautiful Saturday Thanksgiving with the family. Dudley is going to LOVE IT!
thanks Jerry!!! He definitely has those eyes…and knows how to use them <3 Yesterday morning he was sniffing the air because someone was cooking bacon for breakfast. I wasn't sure if it was my parents or my neighbors up on the hill. Turns out it was the neighbors and they said he would have been welcome to come up for bacon and coffee. He must have been someone's indoor dog in the first 2 years of his life before he turned up on the streets because he knows how to get comfortable inside. I just love that he is able to be around lots of people and be happy. Right now I'm getting the side eye because he knows he will have to go outside eventually and it is raining.