The new dog

We have a new dog.  This was not our intention.  Arlis's brother's neighbor pretty much abandoned it.  It has been fixed, trained well, housebroken, and is very friendly and boring.  That's great b/c I don't want an energetic little puppy to train.  He came with the name Goober, and I don't believe in changing animals' names unless required.  (We once got a dog named Roxy.  He called her Roxy cotton b/c of her white tipped tail that looked like cotton....Right.  We changed that name)  So, he asks if we want a dog.  No thank you.  But he just came up to us and was so wonderful and lovable.  Arlis opened the van door and he jumped in like we were his family.  He was good when we visited his sister's house.  He was a good boy when we left him in the car for an hour at Wal-Mart on the way home.  He came in, ate, drank, laid down and slept with Marcus.

  I tried not to mother him, so he could be Marcus's dog.  He sleeps with him, follows him around the house, and lays down at his feet during school.  He's older, at least 8, so we have tried to prepare Marcus for the inevitable.  He had on a collar.  A training collar with spikes going into his neck.  What horrible person would do this??

The first thing we did was buy him a real collar and replace it. That day from Wal-Mart!  Then, we made him a bed, and fed, and fed, and fed him.  We got him Fri, and TODAY is the first time he acted unstarved.  We took him to the vet this morning for rabies and got flea stuff to be safe, and dewormer too, in case it wasn't neglect, but worms that caused him to lose so much weight.  As you can see above, he's just about gained back to normal.  While at the vet, however, he peed on the "Caution wet floor" sign, peed on the vet's exam table, and weighed in at 90 pounds.  He also does NOT like his dewormer!!  It's an oral suspension.  I gave him 1mL out of 9, and he ran to Arlis and hid his head under his arm.  Poor thing! 

What's really nice is he comes and goes as he pleases b/c he doesn't bother the chickens or ducks at all.  He helps to herd them, but is afraid of the cows.  The resident pets are getting used to him, and enjoy his company.  It's like he was meant to be with us....weird.