Another Foster Dog Adopted
Almost two weeks ago, come to think of it. She had to drive downtown to the office of a veterinarian who had an agreement with BARK, the dog rescue group to which she volunteered her time. There, she and her little girl, and her daughter's friend who had accompanied them, met the dog. It was a female Border Collie, a tall, lanky, almost-starved dog whose ribcage was painfully prominent. According to sources (The Ingelligence of Dogs: Stanley Koren, UBC) this breed is the most intelligent of all dogs, a sheep-herding dog, a working dog.
This dog had no name. It was found wandering, a stray, a sad household outcast, around Montebello. It had recently given birth, the veterinarian told her. So it was bleeding, and that was a nuisance. But she would cope, she always did. She felt the urge to help, and was determined to do so. The veterinarian technical assistants gushed with gratitude for her willingness to help in this way, and she warmed to their obvious appreciation for what she and other volunteers were doing in agreeing to foster these homeless animals.
On the way home with the dog now named Bella by her daughter (inspired by the name of the place where she had been found), the dog snuggled up with the two young girls, obviously happy to be in the company of people again, and even happier it would seem, to be with children. The girls were equally happy to be with this new dog, despite that her own daughter had no fewer than seven dogs at home, and her daughter's girlfriend had three of her own.
All of the household's resident dogs were calm with the introduction of this poor starving dog. Bella was curious about the cat, but did nothing to upset it, as happened with the last foster dog. Bella followed her daughter around everywhere, wanting to be with her wherever she was, trying to catch the ball that the little girl threw to her girlfriend, out playing together.
Bella thought the food she was offered was pretty good, quite wonderful in fact. She finished it in record time, and looked around for more, and when she was offered more she ate it as swiftly. She had a lot of weight to put on. All of the dogs were offered fruit and vegetable salads after their evening meals, and Bella was offered one of her own. Despite this being an obviously new food experience for her Bella didn't hesitate, and wolfed the salad down as well. And swiftly recognized that this would be her pattern for food consumption for the next while, accepting it gratefully, lavishing on her new protector her gratefulness and exuberant appreciation.
It was a nuisance, having constantly to clean up after Bella, little drops of bright red blood, but she didn't mind all that much. It became more of a nuisance, though, when Bella expressed no interest in the large cushion which was placed out for her beside the upstairs bed and preferred instead to jump into the bed directly, for more emotional warmth and company. This had happened earlier in her daughter's bed and she really didn't need the extra work, having to strip both beds and do laundry before leaving for work.
And don't even ask how upsetting it was when she discovered the appearance of a long, flattish worm in Bella's scat one afternoon. That was a little harder to deal with, and after cleaning it away, she called BARK for reassurance, and the veterinarian for advice. But she dealt with it, just as she dealt with Bella getting into the unfortunate habit of urinating in a certain spot on the living room carpeting.
Her daughter knew that Bella would be with them until such time as a permanent home could be found for her. She knew it because they'd gone through it before, and when the previous foster dog had been given over to a warm-hearted new family who pledged to love him, she was outraged that her mother would so casually 'give away' her new dog. She's ten years old, knows the truth of matter, but emotionally she was unprepared for the parting.
As she was this time. A new home was found for Bella, with a family having two children, another dog, and several rabbits at home. The people, who responded to the BARK web site with the write-up on Bella and the photograph got high marks for adoption desirability. They dropped by, were introduced to Bella, stayed a while to talk and discuss Bella's needs. Then Bella was placed in their vehicle, with their children, and they drove off. And returned a few moments later, having forgotten to take with them the bag containing Bella's belongings: some toys, a collar and leash.
And Bella was gone
posted by Pieface @ Saturday, July 29, 2006
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