And Buddy makes three!

Just introduced a new dog into a house with two dogs and four cats. Why do I feel like I'm sitting on a powder keg?

Buddy the Bashful

That was me Saturday afternoon. After taking a week off from fostering, followed by another week with our first foster failure of the most fortuitous kind, we picked up a little brown and tan guy named Buddy.

I'd heard the name a time or two around the shelter, but we had not met. I'd also heard that Buddy had a past from which he brought baggage. Nothing vicious, of course. Apparently he had come into this world through the home of an hoarder.

Animal hoarding is keeping "more than the typical number of companion animals" resulting in "inability to provide even minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, shelter and veterinary care," according to the Humane Society of the United States.

Which begs questions like what is the "typical number of companion animals" and "minimal standards" for care. I don't have a concrete answer for either, but I think most rational folks have a fair understanding of both. Hoarders, I'm sure, never start out with an intention to become a hoarder; it just happens that way.

And the irony is that most -- if not all -- hoarders started out with and yet maintain a genuine love for their companion animals.

Cheryl Miller is Director down at the shelter, a job not unlike herding cats. While Buddy was an inmate there, Cheryl took extra time daily to get to know this little guy. Here's her story.

"He came from a hoarding situation," Cheryl said. "He is a Rottweiler-Chihuahua mix," she added, her brows curling into question marks. "Not sure how that happened, but (hoarder) has over 20 of them. She handed over five to us, all very fearful and pretty aggressive toward people.

"Buddy was the only one that even tried to come up to me," Cheryl recalled. "I could tell he wanted me to pet him, but he was scared. So we gave him about a week of us trying every day to get to know him better and for him to even trust us. He never once offered to bite.

"Then, one day, he came up to me, jumped up on me and started licking my hand! So I'm very greatful that Buddy is in foster care now and training for our Rescue Road to Forever."

To be sure, Buddy has a hurdle or two yet to clear before leaving for New York later this month. We have no doubt he will make it. This little guy has come too far to wash out now.

Hmmmm? THREE dogs. FOUR cats? And just exactly, again; WHAT is "typical"? 

The Dog at the End of His Journey

Lazlo, the dog who came to foster and stayed!

Our sometimes annual anniversary road trip all but died on the drawing board Last week. Clearly, Gracie's Curse did not follow her to the whateverafter, for Mom always said, "The surest way to kill a trip is to plan on taking it."

So rather than dining on Gulf Coast seafood in the wake of the latest oil carnage in Galveston Bay, we grabbed a bag of Arbuckle Mountain Original Fried Pies while doing Glen Rose, Texas. Two of the pies actually made it all the way home with us!

Annie, Beano and I were planning a drive down to Freeport, Texas, my birth home, then along the coast to Galveston before winding our way back North. Consequently, we had placed a temporary hold on fostering another transport dog after seeing Sassy, our seventh, off with the Dog Runner Sunday, a week ago.

No one was more thrilled by not having a foster in the house than the resident homeboy Beano. He reveled in his week of being an only dog once again! HE got more treats! HE had ALL the attention!! HE got to take more walks!!!

Truth be told, we all needed a bit of spring break after seven dogs.

Lazlo and the Bean playing TAG!

Back to business as usual, we treked over to the Humane Society of Wichita County to pick out foster #8. That's when things began to go a lot like a Rod Serling short story.

Cheryl down at the shelter had a particular dog, Hazel, in mind for us. Upon arrival, however, a young mother was agonizing over whether or not to adopt Hazel. While we waited for the woman to decide, Beano had a great time running along the fence outside the kennels and getting all the dogs in a tizzy!

The woman opted to take Hazel on trial. 

"Great!" I told Cheryl. "Now show us Lazlo."

We had seen the name in a listing of dogs up for foster for the late April transport. Annie and I both were more than a little curious about this dog with a slavic name. Cheryl was elated that we showed interest in this dog. Seems he had been at the shelter for an exceedingly long time with little interest shown in adopting him.

Part chihuahua and part brindle whoknowswhat, Lazlo is a quiet little guy. He rode most of the way home sitting in my lap (Annie was driving, for a change) and calmly watching the world flash by his window.

Not an hour out from the shelter, Jan Herzog called to tell us Lazlo wasn't medically cleared for the transport program. A trifling matter of a benign skin lesion Doc B. was still treating. We would need to return Lazlo and select another dog.

That did not happen. Since Laz was not cleared for transport, he could be adopted right here in River City. Lazlo, as it turns out, had remained at the shelter for such a long time because Lazlo is Beano's dog! He had been waiting all that time for Beano to show up and claim him.

So Lazlo will not be relocating to New York. Sorry! Helping Hounds! We have initiated adoption proceedings. Lazlo and the Bean will be buddies for the rest of their days.

Annie: That got me a little weepy, right there!

We will be taking the rest of this week off from fostering to give Lazlo a few days to settle in.

Luckily, our next transport date was pushed back a week, so we will be back to the Rescue Road to Forever this coming Saturday in time for the April 29 run.

Speaking of Saturday...

Come out and visit with some dedicated folks and a bunch of worthy animals! Lazlo and Beano will be lookin' for ya!