I have mentioned before that my 90 year old neighbor adopted him from the city pound...not the SPCA (there is a big difference that I will address in a moment). She really loved Diego, but she became too fragile to care for him and her family moved her from Dallas to Austin. Diego had been with her for about six or seven months. She hated leaving him behind...nobody in Austin would take him. Gary and I decided that because he was a playmate of Paley's...Diego often came over for play dates...and the fact that we took him with Paley to the groomers because our neighbor couldn't really drive anymore that WE would take him. I just couldn't see the poor guy getting dumped yet again.
Diego is not my kind of dog (well...at least not if I had an initial choice). He is a weird mix of all sorts of dogs. He looks like he has some poodle in him...a bit of westie...and a few other breeds thrown in for good measure. He TRULY looks like one of those sad bug eyed dogs you see in the SPCA commercials. He has a terrible under bite....which actually makes it look like he is smiling all the time.
Diego missed our neighbor a lot when she left. He would gaze into her yard and when any noise came from next door he would go nuts. Still, he loved Paley and stuck by her side. However, within a few months he seemed to forget our neighbor. She has visited us twice from Austin...even stayed in our house once...and he payed her a little attention and then moved on to his regular routine....he wouldn't even sleep with her.
At first I wondered if Gary and I had made a mistake. Our elderly schnauzer, Roman was still alive and Diego bullied him (Roman is dead now).....he chased and tortured Astrid.....and worst still..he had a horrible habit of going outside and then coming in and pooping on the floor within minutes.
Diego took some work. Dogs view people as other dogs from what I have read. They figure out who is the Alpha and follow directions from him. Guess what...with the pets I am definitely the Alpha dog. The dogs love Gary more than me...but they don't listen to him. They do what I say on command..only because of the tone of my voice. I would never abuse or hit an animal. Still...they know that "now" and "no" mean something when I say it. (Don't feel too bad that they love Gary more...Astrid the cat prefers me and did from day one).
It only took two times catching Diego pooping on my floor before that stopped. He got some very stern words and immediately put outside. He has never...in six months done it again (apparently he did it every day at my neighbors house when she had him). As for Astrid the cat...he got sick of being chased and bothered and bit Diego on the nose. Diego avoids Astrid now at all costs.
So...the upside. Diego is the sweetest dog!!! He loves attention. Belly rubs are the highlight of his day. He adores squeezing in between Gary and I on the sofa. He sleeps at the end of the bed with Paley right beside him (they are inseparable). He's so ugly that he's cute. He never tries to dig out or escape (a problem we have had with Paley because she wants to visit the neighbor dogs...our fence is now lined with cinder blocks on one side).
We will never know what Diego went through before our neighbor adopted him. It is quite obvious to Gary and I that he was abused...and possibly badly. If we make too fast of a move he jumps out of his skin and backs away terrified. You have to get down on the floor with him and love on him so he feels better. At that moment...this weird little dog looks at you with so much love and devotion. He's genuinely surprised that nobody is going to hit or hurt him. I hate to admit it, but I really love Diego. He's a good dog and shows true appreciation for his better circumstances.
Now...about the city pound. Dogs and cats have a VERY limited time there. Many of them...especially the ugly ones get about 24-48 hours before they are put down. The SPCA gets more money...so the pets there have more time. In this economy, SO many people are just dumping their pets off at shelters because they can't afford the upkeep of a pet...or they have lost a home and are moving somewhere that doesn't take pets.
Give the city pound a thought when you are looking for a new pet. My neighbor was told that Diego had exactly 4.5 hours before they were going to put him down.
4.5 hours and a sweet, kind, loving dog with a wonderful little soul would have been gone. It breaks my heart to think about it. Our lives would be different without him. He's our baby now and we love him. Only 4.5 hours. Our neighbor just barely saved him.
Gary and I have always had pure bred dogs....but we are now committed to never getting an animal unless it comes FIRST from the pound and if not there then a shelter. We give money to both...trying to give those poor animals just a bit more time. Please commit yourself to adopting only from pounds/shelters...and consider giving just a bit of money a month to one of them....you might keep an animal alive for just 4.5 more hours.
Yours, Bratprince
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