Have You Had A Dream Dog You Always Wanted?
I found him. Oops, I found my dream dog, a standard French poodle.
He had a lame name, Simon. Oh, you’re right. It probably was for Simone, the French version.
I had been referred to the PetFinder.com website and there was this rag tag poodle named Simon. I called the Humane Society in Tifton, GA. Where was that city? I had to see if the dog was still there. Simon was.
The Society was just about to do all the testing for heartworm, any illnesses and to neuter him. They would know about the heartworm in 2 days.
I waited breathlessly for the results.
Two days and I was on that phone, “Well?” No heartworm and he had already been neutered. “Whew,” my heart stopped racing.
“I’ll be down to Tifton on January 19, 2004.” I raced out to buy a crate to carry Simon back to Spartanburg. I got his bowl, bed, leash etc. and there was $200 spent right away. That beat the cost of $200 for a cleaned up standard poodle. I next made an appointment for Simon at the groomer as he would have to be cleaned up before he was going to be able to live indoors with me.
I was allergic to dogs so I have to be aware of which dog I can have. I had a choice of 5 breeds. I wanted a big dog, only one was big, the French poodle.
I posted the picture of Simon at the Ladies Only of Spartanburg Fitness Center, where I worked. I told everyone, “I was going to get Simon on the 19th and would not be there.”
Everyone was excited about my future dog. “He looked so big,” so many said. Since it was going to be only “Simon” and me, I didn’t care. He was my standard poodle.
The day arrived. I left around 8:30 a.m. and arrived to meet Simon around 1:00 pm. The ladies bought out a very bewildered Simon. He allowed me to pet him. Yes, he was as dirty as his picture. I think he smelled a little. The benefit of my poor smeller.
I paid $60 for Simon and someone said, “he is so lucky to have you get him.” That’s when the name Simon went out the window and in came Lucky Louie as the new name for my new dog. Had to keep some of the French!
Getting him in the car was our first barrier. The staff and I found out right away the crate was too small for him, big but not big enough for movement. He got in and I felt he was at least safe for the drive back to Spartanburg.
Off we went! Lucky said nothing.
I got him out of the car at a rest area after passing through Atlanta so he could stretch his legs. Or rather because of the carpets I had put on the car seat, he fell out of the car. Lucky did not want to get back into the car when it was time to go. I had to lift him up and push him into the crate.
“Is this what I have to look forward to, picking Lucky up to get him in the car?”
I stopped off at the Spartanburg PetSmart to see Lucky’s future dog trainer, Rob, who gave me some tips on getting Lucky in and out of the car. That worked wonderfully the next day.
That night Lucky howled and cried in his crate. He could stand up and he touched the top with his back. Rob said Lucky smelled really bad (I couldn’t smell it much). I had to leave him on the enclosed porch until he was groomed. I put a blanket over his crate so he felt safer and quieted down for the night.
The next day, Lucky was scheduled for his grooming at 8:00 am and would be kept all day as I had to work. It would have been his first day without other animals around so this proved best.
I went to the groomer’s place after work to pick up my big dog. What came out of the shop was this skinny, tall white dog with his cowboy scarf hanging loose around his neck. I asked if this was Lucky. I was assured that it was. That he had been all hair when he arrived. He was too dirty and matted to keep any of it. He had a crewcut. He looked great I told him and he seemed to relax. He wanted to go and we did.
What would the training do for both of us?
To Be Continued….
Patricia Lewis
www.bloggal@wordpress.com
