happy new year

In July, I had to say goodbye to my heart dog…I didn’t think that I would find another dog so soon, just because of how deeply I loved my Kota. I was poking around on Petfinder and AdoptAPet and found a beautiful older lady who had a cyst on her front leg. I was considering adopting her but she found a better suited home. My big thing was not wanting to adopt outside of my state and trying to keep it local because I wanted to be able to meet the dog and also not have to travel too far. I didn’t really understand people adopting out of state when there were plenty of perfectly good dogs available at a closer distance.

I wanted another German Shepherd mix like my old boy. My brother said get a pitbull mix and I was against that…not because of the breed but because I was so set on getting another dog like my Kota. We were bonded from the moment he came home, much to the horror of my husband, who we had originally gotten the dog for. I had my nephews (6 and 10 year olds) look at pictures of dogs, of course they wanted puppies which I was not mentally prepared for. Hundreds of dogs I looked at and read their bios…but then this silly thing popped up in my search. Goofy happy dog missing his back leg.

An amputee…I balked at it…but then I started to think about it over a few days. A dog from out of state, but the adoption fee was paid by an anonymous donor so all I would have to do is pay the transport fee. He was good with cats, kids, and was super chill but was in need of a house with no stairs. My neighbor had built a ramp into my trailer for my old GSD when his legs started to go and it would be perfect for a tripod. And then I started to stalk him on the rescue’s facebook page. He was the most perfect dog for me…mobility issues…check…stubborn like a cat…check…sensitive but friendly…check. He ticked all of the boxes I needed…good with cats, good with dogs, good with kids. I managed to convince my mom and come up with the money to cover his transport fees as well as convince my good friend to drive up to Portland Oregon at 3 am (a 3 hour drive) to pick up this dog who would be incredibly stressed and possibly hate us just by association of riding in a van for 2 days solid. He was on trazadone and still stress panted the entire way. Thankfully the driver knew him quite well from the two years he was at the rescue and said “he will be fine, in a few days…”

I did my research and found the tripawds.com site beforehand and had some idea of what to expect. I already was prepared to start him on acupuncture and had a good food that was high in fiber to help him have easier bowel movements. We had dogs on standby for walks for when he felt ready. The nephews already had came up with a very dignified name for him and were excited to meet him. We were fully prepared!

And then he entered our lives. This scared and stressed dog who managed to settle in within a week. When we got home from our 3 hour drive from Portland to the coast, he marched up the ramp and found the dog bed, barely giving me time to scoop the cat off the bed. He slept for 3 days with a few breaks for food and bathroom business. He immediately bonded with my parents and discovered the front porch and how fun it is to sleep on it and roll around. It was the end of summer and everything was glorious!

Then the rain came…he wasn’t sure how to deal with this constant liquid from the sky but he made one thing certain…no raincoat! Moving forward a few months, he will go outside but on his own terms. If anyone comes over to visit, they had better have a dog with them because he expects a dog with every human. Cold weather, no problem…never mind that he doesn’t have the coat of a GSD or Malamute…he’s got scent trails to check out. And oh, the joys of drinking fresh rain water out of a bucket!!! Heaven!!! We’ve had a few pouty hiccups. Dudley doesn’t like car rides and when we go over to my sister’s house for holiday dinners in my mom’s car, he wears the harness because he needs the handle to get in and out. He isn’t cool with me having more than 2 days off because if I’m home and we sleep in, it means that his friends are coming over for a walk. I work for the school district so I just had a 2 week winter break and he thinks that every day I’m home is a Saturday, which means walk with the boys and Sophie.

He is just the best boy ever. His foster mom actually didn’t want to give him up but she already had her hands full with her rescues and 2 dogs. We keep in touch as well as keeping in touch with the rescue staff. His foster mom said that Dudley is The Ambassador for rescues from the area. Everyone is so happy to see how well Dudley is doing and also so happy to see that he found a good forever home. They had a rough time getting him adopted with the amputation but fortunately we found each other. His amputation was actually a bonus for me because I was already equipped to deal with mobility issues from my previous dog. He doesn’t pull on the leash and walks really well with my mom for short walks during the day. And people drive by and actually slow down because they aren’t sure what is going on with the dog with the funny walk. I love it when I can let him off leash down the slough road across from us. He runs like he’s a lowrider…and he’s just so happy! His big thing that really puts a smile on his face is when he is able to toss leaves and dirt about. And stealing dog beds from the dogs he visits.

My acupuncture vet told me that the next dog that found its way to me would be a dog with special needs. He knows what a sucker I am for a down and out critter 🙂 Our Dudley may have resting “melancholy face” but he is starting to see that he is home for good!

Wishing you all a wonderful beginning to a new year and so thankful I found this community.

Emily and Dudley