Tony's Story (Monday)

This weekend was stressful, weird and amazing.

Saturday morning, Sharky told us to get ready right after breakfast because he wanted to go walk around the Mega Adoption event at the fairgrounds, hosted by Jax Humane Society (JHS) and other shelters. He told us that we were just going there to look and to see how it all worked. He even emphatically stated that 3 heartbeats were in the car on the way there and there would be 3 on the way home.

We got there not long after it opened. We had to enter through the cat room which made me cry. Got into the dog room, and the noises and the smells were almost overwhelming. It did get to be a bit much and I had to munch on Altoids to stop from throwing up.

We walked through once, made a complete circuit. I saw a lot of dogs that looked interesting. (I did not look at any howling, or with notes that said "only dog", "no cats", or "no kids".) We stopped back in the lobby where I took a bathroom break. We decided to go back and look at two dogs that had caught our eye.

Sharky had seen a hound dog mix named Buddy but when we walked around, we couldn't find him - he had probably already been adopted.

I had seen Elliot. He was a smallish white boxer mix, 50 lbs, and about 4 years of age. He was completely oblivious to the other dogs, very calm, and the only one in the whole place who truly gave me eye contact when I greeted him. The first time I saw him, a volunteer gave me the whole "He's telling you to bring him home" and I gave him a look and told him I was barely keeping it together as it was without him pressuring me like that. He took it the right way, thankfully, and patted me on the arm and said he understood. When we came back, another volunteer was there and she put him on a slip-leash and we all went outside to see him in a different environment. He didn't really pay attention, was very distracted by the grass and the sun and all the other dogs out there. He was very friendly and I thought he appeared to be well behaved.

Went back inside and I went to the JHS booth and another volunteer looked him up for me. He was a transfer from the pound, was neutered, heartworm positive, had kennel cough and had dental surgery. Other than a note that he was sweet, there was no more info.

We decided to go get something to eat and go home. I was very sad but understood. Had a brief bite at a Krystal's downtown. Didn't eat much, my stomach was very upset.

Then, after we were home a bit, Sharky and Petunia went to lay down in their respective rooms and I went on Facebook. The first damn thing that popped up was a JHS post that said "This is my harrumph face. I was a TV star yesterday, and today I still don't have a home. :-( Please come adopt me. I will love you forever. -Elliott" I shared it to Sharky's page then went in the bathroom and vomited. Then I cried.

Sharky came out and said we were going back. We raced to the bank (the Mega Adoption took cash or check only) and then back down to the fairgrounds. I had prepared myself in case he was gone, because the FB post had blown up with people writing they were interested in him. He was still there. Sharky stayed at his cage and I went back to the JHS tent and did all the paperwork. All his heartworm treatment was covered by "Doc Tony" an animal loving lawyer here in town that does a lot of good work with the various shelters. The volunteer put a slip-leash on him and walked him to the front for us.

OK, he pulled through the parking lot and was uber-excited by everything - but it wasn't more than I could handle. Petunia fixed a towel in the back seat and he jumped right on in. Rode in the car like a champ, like he's been doing it his whole life.

On the way home, we realized that we didn't have a collar or leash or food. Sharky remembered a Pet Supermarket on Roosevelt near the recruiting stations so we went there first. Elliot was such a good boy and behaved wonderfully in the store. (Poor Gabby dog would have gone beserk.) He sniffed but didn't touch anything that wasn't his. We got a collar, a leash, and a harness to walk him with. Also grabbed a bag of dry food, 2 cans, and a little bag of treats. Sharky wanted to buy him dishes, but I insisted we save the money and just use Gabby's old ones. They were still in good shape, just dusty from 2 years of storage.

On the way home, we decided to change his name. He did not respond to Elliot at all. I even asked if he was deaf (just in case) but was told no - he had no name when he was transferred to JHS from the pound and only had it for a couple of weeks. Petunia loved the name Tony and we decided it fit him better. He also started to respond to it right away. So his official name now is Tony Elliot.

Sunday morning, we got up, took him out (no accidents), gave him medicine and fed him, and then I put on his harness and took him for a walk. He is the perfect walking dog. He doesn't pull and while he does sniff, he does so while walking. He only stops to pee and he does that super fast. He saw other dogs and walkers and ignored them, even when barked at. He didn't bat an eye at the stray cat next door or any birds or lizards.

As for our cats? Well... When he first walked in the door, Lucie-loo walked right up to him and kissed him on the nose. She's decided since that she is not thrilled with him and is primarily hanging out between our bedroom and Petunia's. He went up to her later on and she smacked him hard, cutting the very top of his nose. (I put neosporin on it but he licked it off. Cannot even see it today.) Rosie goes all Halloween Kitty when she sees him, but doesn't hiss or howl - just meeps. Kinda funny. She's also going back and forth between the two bedrooms. He did chase her at one point, but he responds well to "NO". Rupert is in the back bedroom on his Mount Box. He hasn't been down as far as I know.  The cat food is on a tray table near the back bedroom. Petunia saw with her own eyes that the two girls ate this morning when I walked Tony. Its out of sight so Rupert can get to it without worrying.

It just takes time, that's all. Took them a week to get used to Daisey - as soon as they did, she left. LOL

He slept the first night partially in the hallway and then I found him on the couch in the morning. Last night, he slept almost the whole night with his head on an old pillow I gave him in the living room. If you tell him, he'll get on the couch, but only for a moment and then gets right back off. Guess he wasn't a couch dog? When we are sitting on the couch, he lays in Gabby's old spot - right up against the couch at it's foot. Really cute.

Tony wasn't very affectionate towards Sharky on Saturday, basically ignored him. I think what did the trick was him giving the medicine on Sunday morning. Between that and the food, he now views Sharky as a caregiver and is affectionate. Perhaps he didn't have a male in his life before?

All in all, my instincts were right again. I confessed to Sharky that Saturday morning, before I woke, I dreamt of a white dog - not a main character in the dream but a background figure. Kind of prescient, if you ask me, since I lean towards brown, blue or brindle and females. A white male dog is pretty much NOT what we were looking for. LOL