Trip to the Pound

Izzy, German shepherd of last month, has a new home. She was a beautiful puppy but all my energy and time had gone into training and managing her, and bandaging the resulting wounds. I had designated an area on the bathroom counter for the bandages, band aids and peroxide I needed daily. That last morning, while resisting me and trying to assert her dominance, her tooth sliced my finger open. It was the last straw. She went back to the breeder who had graciously given her to me. I felt like a failure.

Lesson learned: know what you want and need from a dog and know what kind of dog would fit into your family routine. You can’t expect to turn a dog’s breeding of hundreds of years into something it is not. Izzy taught me that I am a small dog person. At my age all I want is easy and cuddly. So I decided that I would look for a small dog, ideally not a puppy (I’m done with the potty training).

I started dropping into the different rescue organizations and events around town on and off for a few weeks with no success. Then, during one of Fresno’s hot summer evenings, I got an overwhelming feeling to go to the SPCA. One dog, who looked lost, forlorn and about 5 or 6 years old, was listed as a Pomeranian mix. It was wrong. It was a Lhasa Apso, a breed I’ve had in my home for 40 years.

I got mixed feelings. He was not excited (it’s the pound, hello, full of bouncing, barking dogs) and he seemed old, despondent and uninterested so I left. But, next morning I awoke with the feeling I needed to go back and give him more of a chance and take a better look at him. I walked him outside, away from the noisy kennel. He was good on leash, tail up, responding to my lead. But he didn’t seem interested in me. I noticed that his tail started wagging at the young girls walking by who help take care of the dogs in the kennels. They acknowledged him and he responded to them.

I reminded myself that the adult Lhasa does not warm up to people easily. They are a cautious breed (once used in the temples of Tibet as inside dogs to evaluate visitors motives; whether friend or foe). So I sat and communed with him for a while and finally decided to take him home.

Buddy!

He’s a dear, mellow, non Alpha dog. All he wants to do is sit next to me and be a buddy. He loves his walks and he’s coming out of his shell now that we are changing his diet and giving him boundaries. The vet said he is about 3 years old and he is beginning to look it. He’s more energetic and trusting each day.

He had a breakthrough after his bath this week (he actually stood there quietly while I bathed him, something that has never happened with any of my other Lhasas) when I finished lightly drying him off outside and he started racing around the yard like a crazy dog (typical small dog behavior). He got so excited I had to calm him down. I think his pound experience was hard on him but he is coming around and loving life right now. Me too.