Our church is at a YMCA and this past Sunday when we arrived at church we saw a cute little dog in the fenced in area of the YMCA. I mentioned to Mr. Hunt that maybe it was someones that worked there and just brought him to work. As we were walking into the church he came running down the hallway with someone chasing after him. Then I realized he didn't have a collar.
We went about our business at church and it wasn't until after church was let out that we learned that he was a stray that was found wandering around the YMCA that morning. All the little kids were petting him through the fence and he seemed like a very nice dog. Mr. Hunt asked him to sit, shake, and lay down and he knew them all. This made us think that even though he didn't have a collar on, he was definitely someones dog. Also, he wasn't that dirty and Mr. Hunt made a great evaluation that he was walking along the sidewalk and not all over the grass. That's a sure sign of a domesticated dog.
As everyone was leaving, Mr. Hunt and I started to feel bad for him. How long was he out there? Was he hungry? What were the YMCA people going to do with him once all the church people were gone? Mr. Hunt went inside and asked what they had done so far and they mentioned calling Animal Control, but they were closed since it was a Sunday. We knew then that we should probably take him home with us to at least feed him.
We left our number at the YMCA in case someone came to look for him and brought him home. He got along with River and Hannah great! They loved having a friend to play with in the backyard. He ate in front of them without guarding his food and he was all around a great dog. In the meantime we put ads up online about him and looked at other ads for lost dogs and we didn't get anything.
This picture is funny because he was so excited to be around us that we couldn't get him to sit still for a picture. He wanted so bad to go inside, so he would sit at the door a look right in when Mr. Hunt or I went inside. So this is how Mr. Hunt got such a good picture for the ads online.
We named him Cash for the time being. We weren't sure how long we would have him so we needed a name and Cash was what we called him.
We left him outside for the day because we didn't know anything about him and didn't want him to make our dogs sick or bring in bugs or anything. Then that evening it started to thunder, so we had to bring him in. We brought him in and let him lay on the dog bed that River and Hannah never use. He LOVED it. He fell right to sleep and seemed like a felt right at home.
Once we were ready for bed, we transferred the dog bed to Hannah's crate and put him in there for the night. He cried/barked for the first hour he was in there and then he was quiet. Then at about 4am he was awake again and was up crying/barking for the rest of the morning. I thought Mr. Hunt was going to lose, but he didn't. I was surprised! I kept wanting to check on him but I didn't want him to learn that crying and barking meant that I would come check on him so I left him out there alone. When I finally got up around 7:45 I was given a little surprise. He had ripped the entire bed into little pieces. I'm not shocked though, poor guy had no clue where he was.
All day Monday he played so well again with River and Hannah, but Mr. Hunt and I knew that we needed to do something different for that night. I had planned to take him to the vet for a microchip check on Tuesday so we were definitely going to have him for one more night. Then if we still couldn't find his owners, my parents and Davis were considering taking him back with them when they come to see Jane. I asked Davis what he would name him if he got to bring him home and he wanted to name his next dog Dexter. So we started calling him Dexter instead of Cash. That way once they came in a few weeks, he would know his name.
Once Mr. Hunt got home we decided that if he was going to stay another night and possibly a few weeks, he needed a bath. He was such a good dog during his bath, and I think he liked it.
This also meant that he could finally lay up on the couch. We weren't letting him up on the couch at first since we didn't know how dirty he was. Poor guy was so confused why River and Hannah were allowed up, but he wasn't. Once again though, he was so good. We only told him once that he wasn't allowed and he didn't try to ever get back on. After the bath though, I patted the couch to show him he could get up. He jumped right up and curled up in a ball and was in heaven.
He looks kind of sad here, but trust me, he was happy to be up there.
Then we made the decision to let him sleep in the room with us that night. We knew one thing though was that he COULD NOT get on our bed. Our bed is already full with River and Hannah and my big ole tummy. So I put a blanket down next to Mr. Hunt's side and brought him in. I showed him where to lay down and he did. He did try to jump up on the bed twice, but we corrected it and he didn't try again the entire night. Once again, we were so surprised at his obedience.
Then Tuesday I took him to the vet. I was starting to have a feeling that this poor dog was let loose since it seemed like nobody was looking for him and since he didn't have a collar, so the last thing I expected was for him to have a microchip, but to my surprise...HE DID! This is when I got happy and sad at the same time. I was happy that he had a home and hopefully was going back, but sad because we started to really like this little guy.
Long story short, they found his owners. I wish I could have seen them or talked to them, but I had to just leave Dexter there at the Pet Smart and his owners were coming to get him. The only information I got was that they just adopted him a week ago and he got loose on Sunday. I was happy to know that he didn't spend any nights out in the cold, but I'm still confused. Why would you not have a collar for your newly adopted dog? I understand that he may have slipped out of it, but it seems like you would be more cautious with a dog you just adopted. I guess they did good with the microchip.
Once I got back into my car to leave I started to cry. (I'm blaming being 9 months pregnant) I didn't cry because I left him there, I cried for him. I felt so bad. He was probably so confused. Who knows where he had been before he was adopted a week ago, but the vet said that he was 4 or 5 years old. So for 4 or 5 years, who knows where he was. Then he got adopted and given the name Rider for a week. He somehow escaped and we found him. We took him in (yet another family to get used to), and called him Cash. Then changed his name to Dexter. Then had to take him back to his first adopted parents (new family again) and be called Rider again. I understand its just a dog, but I just felt so bad for the little guy. He really was the best behaved dog Ive ever come across and he really just wanted to be loved. He would cry or whimper whenever Mr. Hunt or I would walk out of the room.
I really just hope that his real family takes care of him. I hope they don't just leave him outside for him to escape again. I hope it was just an awful accident that he got away the first time. I guess there is nothing I can do now, but pray that he will be loved.
Goodbye Dexter! You will be missed!
On a side note, I'm now a little worried about Hannah and little baby Jane. Hannah really like Dexter and played with him well, but she was JEALOUS! I'm not sure if she was just protecting me since I'm pregnant or if she was truly jealous. If I petted Dexter or talked to him, she would come over and squeeze in between us. She would also give him dirty looks and roll her eyes at him. We've never brought another dog in before, so this was new for her. River just did what we thought he would. He did this with Hannah at first too. He just ignored Dexter. Yes, he played with him too, but most of the time, he just ignored him and pretended he wasn't there. I guess we will see what happens with Jane.
Love,
Jennifer
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