Late Monday afternoon, we loaded all of Danny's and Johnny's worldly possessions on a trailer and transported them and their things to their new 'home'. They are going to be living with Trinity (at least for now) at her apartment complex in Chanute. The complex is pretty low-budget, aparantly "kept up" only to code with no frills or extras. A gathering of bored but mildly interested neighboring tennants wandered to their porches and yards, beers in hand and dirty faced children in tow, to watch the unloading as if it were a spectator sport. They appeared to be generally low income folks, but a close knit community. I felt uneasily certain that they were all mentally calculating their profits if they should rob Danny and Trin's apartment, as we were unloading some $5000 worth of drum/music equipment and hauling it across the lawn.
As we were finishing up, an emaciated and obviously dehydrated female Boxer dog wandered (staggered) up to us and literally leaned against Brians leg before she collapsed on the ground. Trin shared with us the following story about the dog.
Sunday evening Trins sister was camping/fishing on the riverbank near Chanute. This Boxer wandered into their campsite, covered with dirt, mud, and fleas, sores on her ears, and hair worn off portions of her skinny body. She had been without nutrition for so long that her bones (ribs, hips, backbone) protruded grossly from her hanging skin. Trin recieved a phone call from her sister asking her to come look at the dog. Trin has a large healthy male Boxer pet, therefore her sister thought she might be able to tell if the stray was a 'lost cause' or a saveable dog. The lost dog was well behaved, nice with the children, affectionate and appreciatave of kindness, and appeared (sadly) to be a "dump" animal (or perhaps became lost on a camping or hiking trip). Trin took the dog back to her apartment complex, fed her a bit of food and gave her water. Monday morning she phoned her veternarian in hopes the animal hospital would board the dog while nursing her back to health, and then find her a home. Of course the vet said that they didn't provide that kind of free service to strays. The apartment complex landlord spotted the dog, and promptly called the police to have the animal control officer come remove it from her property. Fortunately, the dog catcher was off sick... but the landlord commented that she would just 'take it out and shoot it' later.
So we're standing there with this poor dog lying at our feet. Brian said "This dog is going to die very soon" in a very matter-of-fact tone of voice. She got back on her feet and started interacting with us, being so sweet and gentle. Johnny excitedly petted her and pulled (actually hung/swung!) on her ears harshly. She didn't even flinch, then licked Johnny on the hand. It was aparant that she had been well socialized and was gentle and loving. Brian is such a soft hearted man... after petting her for a few minutes, he opened his truck door and said "LOAD." The Boxer jumped right in, laid down on the back seat, and promptly fell fast asleep. We had a new friend.
After getting her home, Brian bathed her with flea shampoo, medicated her sores (even the pads of her feet were cracked/torn and bleeding), trimmed her toenails, and put ear mite medicine in her ears. She loved on us affectionately, acting so grateful to have food and shelter and people to snuggle with! She's housebroken, lead broken, walks at heel, and gets along with other animals. She slept with us. We named her Daisy.
We took her to the veternarian Wednesday morning for a health check up. He gave her a clean bill of health and felt that with proper nutrition her coat would grow back in the places she'd rubbed bare and that she would re-gain the weight and muscle mass that she lost while living on the riverbank for so long. They waived the exam fee and did a heartworm blood test free of charge. I was only asked to pay for her vaccinations and wormer medication. Checking with the local Chanute newspaper provided no leads. We were hoping to find a 'lost dog' ad. It's just impossible for me to comprehend anyone having dumped such a GOOD dog as this, so we were hoping that someone might be advertising for her if she had become lost somehow.
She looks so much better already, simply from having 4 days of good hydration with clean fresh water and decent nutrition with high protien dog food. We took her fishing last night, and she had such a great time frolicking in the high grass and wading into the lake-edge water. I'm very pleased with our new family member. She's going to be a good companion! (I hope she feels the same about us.) Life is good.
As we were finishing up, an emaciated and obviously dehydrated female Boxer dog wandered (staggered) up to us and literally leaned against Brians leg before she collapsed on the ground. Trin shared with us the following story about the dog.
Sunday evening Trins sister was camping/fishing on the riverbank near Chanute. This Boxer wandered into their campsite, covered with dirt, mud, and fleas, sores on her ears, and hair worn off portions of her skinny body. She had been without nutrition for so long that her bones (ribs, hips, backbone) protruded grossly from her hanging skin. Trin recieved a phone call from her sister asking her to come look at the dog. Trin has a large healthy male Boxer pet, therefore her sister thought she might be able to tell if the stray was a 'lost cause' or a saveable dog. The lost dog was well behaved, nice with the children, affectionate and appreciatave of kindness, and appeared (sadly) to be a "dump" animal (or perhaps became lost on a camping or hiking trip). Trin took the dog back to her apartment complex, fed her a bit of food and gave her water. Monday morning she phoned her veternarian in hopes the animal hospital would board the dog while nursing her back to health, and then find her a home. Of course the vet said that they didn't provide that kind of free service to strays. The apartment complex landlord spotted the dog, and promptly called the police to have the animal control officer come remove it from her property. Fortunately, the dog catcher was off sick... but the landlord commented that she would just 'take it out and shoot it' later.
So we're standing there with this poor dog lying at our feet. Brian said "This dog is going to die very soon" in a very matter-of-fact tone of voice. She got back on her feet and started interacting with us, being so sweet and gentle. Johnny excitedly petted her and pulled (actually hung/swung!) on her ears harshly. She didn't even flinch, then licked Johnny on the hand. It was aparant that she had been well socialized and was gentle and loving. Brian is such a soft hearted man... after petting her for a few minutes, he opened his truck door and said "LOAD." The Boxer jumped right in, laid down on the back seat, and promptly fell fast asleep. We had a new friend.
After getting her home, Brian bathed her with flea shampoo, medicated her sores (even the pads of her feet were cracked/torn and bleeding), trimmed her toenails, and put ear mite medicine in her ears. She loved on us affectionately, acting so grateful to have food and shelter and people to snuggle with! She's housebroken, lead broken, walks at heel, and gets along with other animals. She slept with us. We named her Daisy.
We took her to the veternarian Wednesday morning for a health check up. He gave her a clean bill of health and felt that with proper nutrition her coat would grow back in the places she'd rubbed bare and that she would re-gain the weight and muscle mass that she lost while living on the riverbank for so long. They waived the exam fee and did a heartworm blood test free of charge. I was only asked to pay for her vaccinations and wormer medication. Checking with the local Chanute newspaper provided no leads. We were hoping to find a 'lost dog' ad. It's just impossible for me to comprehend anyone having dumped such a GOOD dog as this, so we were hoping that someone might be advertising for her if she had become lost somehow.
She looks so much better already, simply from having 4 days of good hydration with clean fresh water and decent nutrition with high protien dog food. We took her fishing last night, and she had such a great time frolicking in the high grass and wading into the lake-edge water. I'm very pleased with our new family member. She's going to be a good companion! (I hope she feels the same about us.) Life is good.
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