Talbot's Tale: Family

You have seen the improvement thus far.  He has come quite along quite nicely, wouldn't you say?  He was actually looking forward to meals now.  He was excited to see me or the other dogs, although he wasn't able to socialize until around mid December.  Looking back at previous posts, I realized that I said Talbot was quarantined until January.  Well, to be more precise... he was still in the crate until January, but already socializing.  Sorry about the mix up.

It was at this point that I started to look for a home for Talbot.  I spread the word.  My search began in earnest once Talbot had no more bald patches.  He walked around with a perpetual smile.  He was crate trained and potty trained and (to this day) had no "accidents" in the house.  He was ready to go to a good home.

Here, take a look... would you be interested?

Irresistible, huh!  I mean come on!

Who wouldn't want to take this guy home.

His tail was a virtual perpetual motion machine when people were around.  He got along great with other dogs.  Get him now while he is young, I said.  

I brought the crate inside, but not before giving it a thorough scrubbing, thrice!

I thought about burning a box of incense in there, but as it turned out it wasn't necessary.  If you ever need to get the smell of mange out of a crate, use bleach... lots of bleach.  And be sure to be in a well ventilated area outside.  And please wear goggles and a respirator.  I figured that out the hard way.  So in cleaning the crate, I looked something like this....

Ok, so I didn't actually wear the hat, but I thought it would be cool for effect!  And that towel thingy on my scalp... yeah, I didn't actually wear that either.  :-)

But I digress.

So I get the crate all cleaned up.  After much deliberation I put it in the living room.  I was expecting a real yelp-fest that first night.  

It started right on cue.... 90 seconds after "lights out".  The scratching of the wall, the high pitched yelping which in human translates to "Hey moron, you forgot about me in here!  Hey you.... yeah you I don't wanna be in here!."  After a few stanzas of the canine lament, he changes strategy.  He goes from the "I'm a pathetic wretch"  whimpering, to the "Calling all Canines" to the rescue approach.  Something between a bark and short howl in a pitch just high enough to let all dogs from here to Toronto know that a puppy is desperately needing aid.

So here I am, in my bed, listening to this.  Despite expecting this to happen, I'm still annoyed. Tibet & Pete didn't budge.  Pete slept.  How the hell he could sleep through this racket I will never know, but he slept.  You won't be seeing Pete on the cover of "Rescue Dogs Today" anytime soon.  Tibet, on the other hand, lay there with her jaw on her front paws and her eyes fixed on me.  Uh-huh... yeah you know the look.  Its the same look a dog gives you right before he goes to pee on the rug... the "If you don 't do something about this..." look.

I told her to be expecting this.  She finally sighed and rolled to her side and tried to sleep, but just couldn't.  Pete, on the other hand, was probably chasing rabbits or something.  He was gone.  His paws would twitch every so often, but he didn't wake up.

Too bad, Talbot.  No dogs are coming to your rescue tonight.  I'm not sure how long it took for Talbot to give up, but it really wasn't so bad.  He quit after about 15 minutes.  Seriously, all that drama was in a short amount of time.  (Thankfully!)  So I was impressed. (still annoyed)

Talbot continued the routine the next night, but by the 3rd night, he was quiet after about 15 seconds of pawing at the gate.  I thought he would be mad at me in the mornings, but he wasn't.  He was Talbot.  He was happy to see me. His tail was wagging and he was smiling.  He greeted me first then went to Pete & Tibet.  They all went outside and did their business.  That in itself was kind of amusing.  Maybe one day I'll tell you guys about Brazos, the "Crap eater" as I called him.  Yeah, he was a character... but that's another story.  Back to Talbot...

So he was getting along with Pete & Tibet.  I started taking them on walks.  I was thinking about how easy it would be to find this guy a home.  He's potty trained, gets along well with others, leash trained.  Not to mention he was cute as hell.  Just look above again... see what I mean?  Who wouldn't?  Right...? Well..... not so fast, Speed Racer!

The first time I had friends come over while Talbot was in he house he freaked.  I was not ready for this.  My mother made regular visits.  Remember that she was there from day one... well, two actually... but you get the point.  So he was cool with her.  But not so cool with new people.

Oh boy.  Problem.

Damn! I thought.  He was doing so well.  And he was.  There was a hitch, though.  Call it the fine print.  He was horribly afraid of new people or dogs.  I thought of what he looked like when I found him and rapidly came to the conclusion that he was that way b/c of people in the first place.  Now what?  

So begins the slow process of socializing.  This created a problem when it came to finding a home for him.  I'm cynical by nature.  I half expect things to go wrong.  And unless I'm totally convinced that someone could provide the right home environment for this guy, I wasn't handing him over.  I had to be sure. Especially after all we endured and what he's been through.  Poor guy.  He needed structure and love.  It didn't really strike me at the time... but he was getting that at my house.  That is why he was doing well at home.  Hindsight is always 20/20.

I did what I could to take him out and have more friends come over.  He did improve.  In fact, just recently, when I went to the VHPA reunion,  I had a friend help me out by feeding my critters in my absence.  Chris had never been to my house before.  So a few days before my trip, Chris came by to meet the kids and learn where everything is.  Of course Talbot was nervous, but even to my surprise, he had his head on Chris's lap inside of 20 minutes.  Progress!

Of course Talbot is 3 years old now and has been exposed to numerous animals and people.  He still requires caution, but he is soooooo much better.  Much less nervous around strangers.   Some new dogs he hardly notices.

Well, in case you haven't noticed the obvious here, I kept him.   Yeah, yeah, people who know me say they saw it coming.  Despite my efforts, I kept the rascal.  My mother put a flyer up at the athletic club, I placed an ad in the paper.  I send out emails with pictures at the office to about 200 people.  I really tried.  But for those who believe in fate or providence, here is a story that supports your belief.  :-)  It isn't a bad thing.  He is a good dog.

So, my friends.  Once again I come to the end of a tale... Talbot's Tale.  And now I bid you a fond adieu with some parting shots.... here you go, folks....

Presenting Talbot: Family