Well here it is. The first official post to the blog of Finn, the 3 legged wonder dog. Now im sure you're all thinking, what makes your dog so special? well i will tell you. Poor Finn (originally named Barfy, then Colt) was born on a reserve and was left to his own devises. Then one day, around his birthday, someone shot him with a shot gun. No one really knows why, some people speculated he was the victim of a drive by shooting, others that he was actually intented to be put down. I dunno, i guess i lean more towards the intentional shooting. But either way, the gunshot destroyed the distal end of his radius/ulna which connects to his tarsals. Thus he lost his leg. So now he is as my friend tory refers to him, a tripod. The adoption process at the human society was amazing. It was lengthy and thorough, and sometimes a little scary; i was convinced they would say no to us after we had fallen in love with him. But now here we are, one day after bringing him home and it was certainly a lot less traumatic than i thought it was going to be. Finn sat patiently in the taxi, watching the world roll by. He got out of the taxi and promptly had a little pee, i was so worried he would pee in the car! we took him to the side door of our house and he got his first glimpse of his new backyard. The backyard curves around the side of the house were it opens up to a large yard cross cut by a large flower bed and short, shallow stairs. Finn was happy. He stared around at his new kingdom and promptly flopped to the ground and rolled like a big goof. We have to be really careful with Finn and his activity level since he tested positive for heartworm and had undergone the treatment, but the level of joy he had rolling and enthusiasm as he grabbed and ate the snow - made you forget he was a dog with health concerns. It was heart breaking tearing him away from that. But that took us to our first real challenge.
He was afraid to come into the house. no coxing or distraction could get him in. Eventually i just resigned myself to carry him in, all the time worried about how we train him out of this fear. Multiple pee breaks over the evening though and a supply of liver treats has already taught him good things come from the inside! Once inside though he was fine! he padded around the house, exploring the living room, kitchen and his new bedroom. He was calm and quiet - i was so worried he would explode with his new found freedom from his dog run. but he didnt. he was just content to quietly explore and smell his new surroundings. When he had enough wondering, he started to cry a little. my mother and i feared that he was heart broken from being taken from the only home he really knew, and i do think that there is a level of that for him, but he just wanted someone to be with him. Once i sat down on the floor he came and curled up beside me and had a little nap. He cried a couple of times throughout the evening, but he seemed content when we just talked around him and stroked his back. When we first brought our first dog, Woody home, it was a nightmare. I loved woody very much don't get me wrong, but geez woody didn't take to the new situation very well at first. He cried and howled he soiled his crate - the first and last time we crated him at night - he paced and was slightly frantic. Finn quietly curled up on the blanket i gave him and just went to sleep. i know he woke up a couple times, because every time he moved, i woke up and checked on him, but a couple reassuring words and he went back to sleep! Second big hurled conquered with ease. The next big phase in his integration is the meeting of the cats.
He got a quick taste of my mom's cat Bugsy, Bugsy refused to stay in my mom's bedroom and stormed downstairs to sit on his couch. Finn was curious, but he was no fool. He kept a good distance from Bugsy, but he was very curious and just watched him for awhile. Then Bugsy started the growling which led to a bit of a bark off with Finn, but still Finn seemed quite content to bark at Bugsy from a distance, and lying down beside me. I think he may have encountered cats in the past and he remembered...
All and all, in one night Finn has adjusted remarkably to his new situation. The only major thing we need to work on is his walking, he does walk on the leash like an angel, but he has a tendency to jump helicopters in the air at the end of his leash which he can't do until he's stronger and healthier! but gosh when he is gets his clean bill of health he is going to be a playful, energetic dog, but i have a sneaking suspicion he is going to learn fast and he's going to keep us on our toes as we come up with creative ways to keep him entertained while keeping his activity contained.
Yesterday was such a bittersweet day. It was so wonderful to get Finn officially and bring him home, but it really underscored the lose we had of woody's death. Woody always loved other dogs and it would have been ideal to get a friend for him to keep him company and to play with him. Finn would have been the perfect friend for woody, and though i dont think woody is gone, its not the same. I wish so much that woody was waiting for us when we got home and that he and finn - minus finns heartworm of course - could go frolic in the snow. i hope that though woody is gone, he will be looking out for us and for finn and hopefully not being too jealous of finn!
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