I had to post a picture of Andy, post-bath.

Cute, right? He hates baths, so I’m surprised he’s even looking at me.

Spoke too soon. He actually broke out of the cage

then peed all over the place.

I think I’ve hit frustration level.

I spoke to Andy’s previous owner this morning, and while he seems like a nice guy, he was a little fast and loose with the people at Town Lake Animal Center when he surrendered Andy. It seems that his mother had become unable to care for Andy due to some health reasons of her own, but also because Andy was unable to use the potty appropriately. Basically, his hind legs and age make it difficult for him to posture correctly when he makes, so he will often just do the best he can wherever he can. Obviously, this means I can’t let him have unfettered access to the house, especially if I’m going to sell it this summer. But I also can’t have him living in my bathroom forever.

At the advice of my vet, I decided to set up a hospice-like situation for Andy.

After work, I went to PetCo and got Andy a kennel. It seemed the best thing to do for him. I gussied it up and made it into (I hope) a serviceable and comfortable place to live. The idea is that when I’m not around, he’ll live there, but when I am, I’ll let him out to hang with the other cats. This way he’ll have the ability to socialize, accidents will be contained, and clean-ups should be easier.

I’ll also get my bathroom back.

Here’s how the first evening is going:

This is a pretty good example of how he’s doing. A few minutes before I filmed this, he got right out of the kennel without a problem.

Today, a friends of mine who works with animal rescue sent me a Craigslist link about a cat named Andy at Town Lake Animal Center. Her email read simply “ADOPT HIM”. When I clicked on the link, the ad read as follows:

This loving orange tabby boy is dependent on humans to help him, but is still responsible for himself. He gets where he wants to go, uses his back legs when he can, and most of all, he wants to connect with people. He gives headbutts, purrs continuously, and is clearly missing his safe home and owner. Even in the scary shelter he shows a lot of independence and the ability to move out of harm’s way.

Andy is a 9-year old orange tabby and white lovecat. Severely injured during a dog attack 8 years ago, he has limited use of his rear legs. His owner left him at TLAC Monday because she hurt her back and can’t keep him.

If you meet Andy, your heart will strengthen, not break. He is loving, trusting, and the shelter staff gave him the highest friendliness ratings. He is easy to pick up and carry around.

Can you save Andy’s life? He was put on the euthanasia list and now has one day to find a home or rescue placement.

And don’t ask me what it was about the words or the picture; I don’t know. But he’s mine. I pick him up tomorrow at 3. He’s adorable, isn’t he?

I’m fostering two dogs for Lucky Mutts (my neighbor lady works for them and she caught me early one morning with a request to help out while my brain was still asleep) and I have to say they’re adorable. I’ve named them Mitzi and Felicia. They are Shepherd/Blue Heeler mutts (and I say that with love).

Mitzi is the blonde. She is definitely the big sister in the relationship. Everything she does, Felicia follows along. Mitzi and Hogan get along like gangbusters. They roughhouse for a while, then they den under the coffee table for a cuddle until one of them wants to play again. Mitzi is a headstrong little girl, but comes running when you call her name.





Felicia LOVES to cuddle! She’s not a wild spirit like her sister, and even though she’ll play with the other dogs for a while, she always ends sitting in my lap or trying to become part of the couch. Felicia knows how to fetch and shake. Well, she’s getting a hang of them, in any case. Both ladies are being crate trained and have it down (more or less; someone had a small accident tonight).

Tonight I let myself sit down to watch some TV (the last two nights I’ve been too nervous and vigilant to relax much) and captured an overload of cuteness. If you watch closely, you can see Hogan ignoring me (he’s a bit jealous of the newcomers).

I’ve decided to get Oliver.

Yesterday, I took Hogan to TLAC for a meet and greet with Oliver. I know that I had been torn between him and Leo, but in the end I really wanted Oliver more. Leo was cute and all, but I knew a family would snatch him up right away (UPDATE: someone did). I’m not saying I feel bad for Oliver or that this is a pity adoption, but his shyness and other problems really remind me of Hogan a year ago. Hogan wasn’t “damaged” per se, but he had a lot of problems that we’ve worked pretty hard to overcome and some that I’ve just chalked up to “personality”.

In the end, I want a dog I feel a rapport with, and that’s Oliver.

The meet-and-greet didn’t go as well as anticipated. Knowing how Hogan reacts to other dogs (he’s a pest), I thought that he would be all up in Oliver’s face, and Oliver would just shut down not vice versa. Surprising, eh?Sarah (whom I adore!) had an assistant bring Oliver to the meeting room. I wasn’t allowed to hold either dogs’ leash because I’m biased towards my own dog and would maybe give wrong signals to both of them (as I understand it). Hogan started off whining and impatient as always, but when he and Oliver got to play without their leashes Oliver was the one who wouldn’t leave Hogan alone even though Hogan was giving clear “I’m ignoring you; go away!” signals. Who knew that Hogan learned where to draw a line? Eventually, Oliver jumped on Hogan, who in turn fell over and landed on Oliver. Oliver than gave this exaggerated pain response (he yelped and limped over to the trainer even though he wasn’t hurt at all) which drove Hogan back to me.

Sarah was concerned, so she called in the animal behaviorist on staff (how cool of a job would that be?) to observe their interactions. After a few minutes and one more little yelp, I got the verdict: they weren’t a good match. Oliver was too socially immature to be with another dog and not eventually escalate something trivial into an all-out fight. However, that wasn’t the final word. With training and time, it would be possible for Hogan and Oliver to get along but I would gave to be the one to show them how I want them to do that.

No problem. I got Hogan up and running. I felt certain that I could make Oliver a part of the family. Except. The timing was bad. Next Tuesday I go to Columbus for a few days with Scully and to begin training Oliver and the cats, Oliver and me and Oliver and Hogan and Oliver and Hogan and me then interrupt it would be bad. The behaviorist left, as did Oliver (funny aside, Hogan opened the meeting room door and ran after him. It was damn cute and rather touching.) so Sarah and I could have a talk. She told me that Oliver would require a huge investment of time and energy, but that he could be a good pet and companion. I told her about Hogan’s problems and she said that if that were true, then I should be proud that he had turned out to be “such a gem”. She gave me until close of business today to make a decision.

I didn’t tell her about the trip.

I spent today figuring out what to do, then when I was almost finished grading, I decided the best thing to do was to let Oliver go. TLAC closes at 7, but I didn’t finish grading until 5:55. I hauled ass out of Epoch and got to TLAC in about 20 minutes (not bad for rush hour traffic!). Sarah was there and I told her my decision: to release the hold on Oliver and let him be available for adoption again. I told her about my having to leave and that interrupting training would be negative no matter what I managed to do in a week. If Oliver (who for some reason, I’ve been calling “Clarence” in my head) were to be adopted, I’d be sad for me but happy for him. However, if he were still around when I returned from Ohio, then I adopt him. Sarah completely understood, but I had an other question: “How much time does he have until he’s put down?”

Imagine how relieved I felt when Sarah told me that TLAC is a no-kill shelter. Once animals enter the adoption program they only leave when they’re adopted or are moved to another shelter.

So, it seems I may have another dog in a week. And with any luck I’ll have a job, too. Fingers crossed for me, please?

My pussydog Hogan is a sub looking for a masterful Alpha. Seriously. He was obviously part of a pack before I got him (I also suspect he was raised by Hispanic lesbian construction workers who drove a pickup), and being on is own now is not his idea of a good time. He will cry to get the attention of other dogs or cats or people or birds or whomever he feels is ignoring him. This horror is that because he’s a pit bull his aggressive friendliness is interpreted as aggression full stop. People cross the street to get away from him; cats scurry for cover (which makes him think they want to play and the chase is on!); and other dogs bark at him like bullies do to the socially awkward 4th grader on the playground.

Poor little guy.

Thus, I’ve decided to get Hogan a companion dog. However, because I also have cats, I’d like to get a dog that can be friends with the cats, too. Yeah, that’s asking a lot, but if the companion dog were a puppy, he could learn how to dominate Hogan (the 3 month old Chow mix next door has already figured out how to do that, so how hard can it be?) AND be dominated by the cats. That narrows the field of candidates considerably, I should say.

Going to Town Lake Animal Center is like getting a tetanus shot on Christmas Day. The staff there is wonderful, but looking at all the dogs and cats in their pens and knowing that some of them are not going to be alive at the end of the week makes me wonder how immured they are from their charges. If I worked there I’d certainly have more than one dog and three cats. That or I be an hysterical basketcase. Whichever. On my visit yesterday, I found two dogs that I completely fell in love with (if I were being totally honest I’d say I fell in love with several dogs, but only two matched my criteria). For your (and my) consideration:





Leo, Prisoner #A507794. I didn’t get to play with Leo because his pen was locked. Apparently, puppies need less contact with the outside world than grown-up dogs – something about catching diseases. I know he’ll get adopted right away because.. well, jeez, just look at him! Isn’t he just delicious??





Oliver, Prisoner #A506636. Oliver was brought in a few weeks ago with his sister, who was subsequently adopted. According to Sara, the adoptor screening lady (who was a doll), Oliver has been lost ever since. She told me that he “stops, drops and rolls” whenever there’s a loud noise or another dog barks at him. Literally, he gets into Chinese fire drill position and refuses to move until his episode is over. Before we spoke, I hadn’t even seen Oliver, but Sara convinced me to go visit him. Awwh! What a sweetie he was!! I took him to a private walking area, let him off the leash and hung out for about 20 minutes. We played fetch, and I gave him a few treats, but after a few minutes all he wanted to do was sit down and lean against me, which we did for a few minutes before leaving the pen.

Then some weirdness happened.

There was this guy taking his dog (a pit bull – which is not and indictment against pit bulls! Lord knows I love those little guys!) back to her cage at the same time I was taking Oliver back to his. We must have gotten too close or something, because the pit growled at Oliver, who then dropped to the ground and hid his face between my legs. The dude moved on, but even after a minute or so of waiting and with some treat-baiting, Oliver refused to get up and walk with me. I was content to wait, but I felt a bit foolish because I didn’t know what to do to make him move, if indeed there was anything to be done.

Then Mr. Pit Bull Walker came over and asked, “Why isn’t he moving?”

I replied, “I think he’s scared. He apparently does this a lot.”

So, the guy grabbed Oliver by the scruff of the neck and lifted him to his feet, saying, “He’s not scared. Look at his tail. he’s just being stubborn.”

I was a bit confused at this point because while I’ve moved my cats that way, I was uncertain if that was the right thing to do to a dog who obviously has a problem. But, is it better to let him have his episode or show him a bit of discipline? Without knowing the dog better, I wasn’t sure which was the right thing to do.

Right then, a woman from the office started walking towards us. I smiled and said, “I was told he might do this. What’s the best thing to do?” Whereupon she yelled, “STOP!” and I felt the leash tug on my wrist. I turned to look at Oliver and see this Dickwad pulling Oliver (unwillingly) across the lawn by the leash, with it more or less choking him. The woman was on us by now and I felt like this guy had ruined my chances to get this dog or any dog again, ever. She screamed politely at him, “That is not the way to handle a dog!” he tried to give her some lip about that’s what dogs’ mothers do, but she ignored him and picked up Oliver and took him to his cage.

The woman was very nice to me and said that Oliver had some walking-on-a-leash issues, and I explained that Sara had already told me that. Then all I felt was humiliated, like I had done something horrible by not knowing how to control the situation with Oliver. She was very reassuring and said that Sara doesn’t recommend animals to people unless she’s sure they’d be a match. Then all I felt was about an inch tall, like I’d failed a test, which it wasn’t and I know that intellectually.

Lord only knows what people with babies go through every day.

Anyway, that’s when I left the shelter. I have to get Zaph and Rose’s update vaccination papers, but after that I can adopt whomever.

Uh.. it seems like I’ve already made up my mind, doesn’t it?