Yesterday, we had a small visitor about an hour before our movers made it to our house.
He's a stray that's been living round our neighborhood for the past few days, but not really at our house. I fed him, tried to coax him into the garage, learned he was absolutely terrified by the garage door, and watched him lay in the snow and shake like he was having a siezure.
So, we got some old flannel sheets from the "rag" bin and put them on the spot he was laying on so he'd be warmer. We succeeded, and he stopped shaking. He's a friendly guy, but spent most of the day not wanting to be touched. He'd come up to you and smell you, but if you went to touch him he'd take off. It was down in single digits last night and I was seriously starting to fear for his life.
But, with a bit of pepperoni and a little help from one of our movers, we got him into the car. Where he, of course, preceeded to freak out for about 15 minutes before deciding that it was warm in there, panting happily, wagging his tail, and finally sprawling out on the backseat for a nap. Of course, I had already spent all morning calling rescue groups looking for a place to take him. Especially now that he was in my car.
Knowing he needed a leash, I hopped into the backseat with him and made friends for 2 seconds before slipping a leash over his head, which he was fine with. He immediately tried like hell to get his head as far behind me as he could, sticking it between my back and the seat, because he was as scared as could be. And it was all over.
This dog was not going to a shelter.
After the movers got all our stuff out of the garage, we pulled the car in and let him out to roam. We have floor sample tiles lining around the cars in the garage so that we don't slip on water. Here, we discovered he's scared to not walk on the carpet. We also decided he loves to be pet but in a "oh em gee please don't hurt me" kind of way.
Again, I spent the remainder of the afternoon looking for rescue groups while my husband concocted ways in his head that we could keep the dog since we're moving
tomorrow. Which, unfortunately, is just not logical or possible. No rescue group can take him.
I spent an hour dragging him out of the garage to go out last night, where I discovered that he doesn't understand leashes, and then another hour dragging him back IN to the garage because the carpet doesn't extend all the way to the driveway and he was scared of the garage flooring. Haha!
He really is a sweetheart, but needs some TLC to know that humans really aren't evil. This afternoon, I'll have to take him to an SPCA around here. I found the best one I could and it's on the other side of town, but it's the only one I know of that only euthanizes if they get too vicious or too sick. It's his best chance.
And, I mean...just look at his face. He deserves a chance.
