When my silver lady lab, Sasha, died a while back, my wife and I took her early death pretty hard (see Sasha's Gone). As a result, we had vehemently proclaimed, "no more damned dogs."

We fibbed. :-)

The tale behind the change of heart.....

After Sasha died, the gal at the Arizona Labrador and Giant Breed Rescue {ALGBR} organization who had facilitated Sasha's adoption for us asked me if I would consider being a foster home. I told her we would eventually.

So about two weeks ago she called and asked if I would foster a chocolate lab named Hershey until ALGBR found a permanent home for him. Obviously, before I agreed I asked lots of questions and as usual expressed my dislike for male dogs, even though I've had a couple before.

Turns out Hershey was originally turned over to ALGBR for adoption about a year ago. He was five years old then. So he went into a foster home -- one with many younger kids and two other labs -- a yellow and a black. After a few weeks, the foster family decided to keep him, perhaps because Hershey completed the set, so to speak.

Anyway, that relationship lasted until a couple weeks ago when Hershey grabbed a cookie out of the hand of the 9-yr. old son and accidentally grabbed a finger but didn't even break the skin. The boy is autistic, however. As a result, every time he saw the dog, the kid had screaming fits. Hershey was thus relegated to spending his hours in the laundry room whenever the boy was home. It wasn't the ideal life, especially for a dog like Hershey.

Sooooo...the family rightly decided to return Hershey back to ALGBR for another adoption to someone who could provide a better home environment.

I was somewhat concerned how Hershey would react among all my various taxidermy items -- skins, skulls, etc. laying about the house -- that he would have ready access to. I also don't allow dogs on the furniture, especially the leather stuff in our family room. After I spoke with Holley, the lady of the family, I was finally satisfied Hershey would be fine; she assured me he doesn't chew things other than food and doesn't "do" furniture or beds.

His downside: he supposedly would eat anything he could find on the kitchen counters, floor or whatever, and he barked a lot, especially when he wanted to eat, play, heard noises outside, etc. They even used a bark collar on him. Still, I agreed to take him in until he was adopted.

So on a Sunday a bit over a week ago, Holley brought him to my house. As I watched her walk Hershey up the driveway, I thought she had a black bear on the leash. He's big; she told me he weighed 108 lbs. So in they came and Hershey immediately came to me for a friendly greeting.

At that point, Holley said he probably might need to go out. I removed his leash and had him follow me to the dogie door. He had never used one before. I held open the flap, he went out, did his business and came back in through the door. I never had to show him again.

Next, he went over to Sasha's kennel, grabbed her Kong toy, brought it to me and dropped it at my feet. He then walked off and sat down, waiting for me to toss it to him. He caught it in mid-air, just like Sasha always did.

So he moved in and quickly adapted. That night, he met my wife at the door when she came home from work. I had told her we might be getting him, but she didn't know he would be there that day. She didn't really have a problem with it, yet was surprised to see this monster waiting to greet her.

To date, although we have been careful when defrosting steaks and stuff, he has not even looked at "bait" food we purposely leave on the counter. And I'd bet he hasn't barked more than four or five times since he's been here.

He's highly obedient and knows sit, stay, down, heel and come. He'll walk without a leash and readily climbs into the back seat of my Durango to go for a ride. Within two days, I taught him to "kennel" when we eat dinner. He stays in it with the door open now until I finish eating, get him a treat or two and sit on the sofa in the family room. When I say "OK," he walks over, sits and gives me a paw to get the treats. Best of all, he even listens to Ellen.

After three days here, I quickly assayed Hershey as the perfect gentleman. I just as quickly decided I wouldn't mind keeping him, even with my dislike for male pups. BUT...I wasn't too sure Ellen would agree to this part since she was reluctant to even do the foster home bit. Thus, I had to wait for the right time to even think about mentioning it.


And now for the rest of the story....

Last Weds. night, I was sitting on the family room couch, and my wife was sitting in the recliner a few feet away. Hershey was sitting next to her on the floor with his head on the arm of the recliner. Ellen was petting him, and Hershey was eating it up. She looked at him and said, "Hershey, you're such a super boy."

Suddenly my brain went "BINGO!" -- the opening I had waited for. I quickly jumped into it. }>

"You know," I said, "even though I don't care for male dogs, we really ought to think about keeping him."

At that point, I expected one of two replies. Either she might say, "No way. I said no more dogs," or "Well, let's think about it for a while." Instead, I got, "But he's so mellow and good."

Ellen's tone was akin to her almost begging me to reconsider the male dog bit. I knew it was a done deal.

The next day I called the gal at ALGBR and told her we wanted to keep Hershey. She was ecstatic because she had met him when he originally came to ALGBR and thought he was a great dog. So she set up an appointment for a visit to the organization's vet to make sure Hershey was in good shape. Other than a minor ear infection and his weight -- now at 114 lbs. -- every thing tested perfect. Thyroid levels normal, no heartworm, etc.

We are currently in the process of an official adoption. Now we have to work on getting his weight down to the 87 lbs. he was a year ago.


Meet Hershey.........

Lucky you and Lucky Hershey..!!

Congrats

I think he adopted you. You and your wife probably couldn't be luckier. If he loves you, you'll be a lucky couple. Of course, he probably needs another 4-legged friend to keep him company when you're at work?

Congratulations. Great story...although it wasn't hard to see where it was headed after reading the first paragraph or two!

Good for you! My wife and i recently lost her Lab cross and I too said no more dogs. That lasted about a month and now we have two, another Lab cross from a rescue and a Norwegian Elkhound pup that i had to have.

Our house has never seemed more like a home!

Congrats on your knew household member! To say he is over weight is an under statement. To many snacks and no regulated exercise is my guess.

We feed our dogs once a day only, no snacks. They get 2 to 3 hours of exercise per day 6 days a week. We also take them 4-wheeling to give them a change of scenery. Good Luck!

So far, so good guys. He is still the perfect gentleman with no issues coming to light as of now.

Blue Dog,

You hit the nail on the head.

There were four kids under 10 in the previous household, and Holley told me they constantly fed Hershey leftover cereal, etc. Plus, he often ate the food the other two labs left in their dishes. So it stands to reason he went from 87 lbs. to 114 in a year.

Keeping him penned up in the laundry room over the last few weeks didn't help much either. That's probably why she thought he was 108 rather than 114 lbs.

I have had him on a diet since he arrived, and I try to exercise him outside daily, usually very early in the morning since it's hitting 100 here every day.

Yeah that hot weather is a real killer on over weight hunting dogs. I added another kids swimming pool yesterday for our crew in the compound. Now we have a total of 5 with a used pool from last year as a liner......their claws will put hole in them without a liner. Those dogs run like crazy for 2 laps and then hit the pools for a minute and start all over again chasing birds.

I think God will forgive a lie like this!
Peter.

quote:

Posted 18 June 2011 23:20 Hide Post
I think God will forgive a lie like this!
Peter.

or even encourage it

So far, so good.

If someone had cloned Sasha, other then the color and sex tools, Hershey would have been the result. His moods, temperament and willingness to please have all been outstanding.

We spent last Sat. in the pines near Flagstaff with a bunch of friends enjoying the cool air and a great pot luck lunch. There were about 20 adults, several kids of all ages and at least six other dogs. Hershey loved it all, especially the ability to run free.

When we arrived at 9 a.m., he immediatly bailed out of my Durango and made friends with all the canines. Then he made the rounds of the adults and kids. About ½-hr. later, he found a tennis ball and spent the next several hours getting anyone he could recruit to play catch with him. I never once had to discipline him for wandering away from the main gathering.

It would be an understatement to say he got some exercise. By the time we left at 3, he was totally exhausted and slept during the entire 2-hr. drive home. I fed him at home, and he crashed for the night.

All in all, he acted terrific in the strange surroundings, and everyone commented on his mellow personality and his excellent behavior.

Now I need to get him a tennis ball.

That's a great thing you did, Tony! Like someone said earlier, I think Hershey adopted you! I know you and Ellen with love him more than anyone else that would have adopted him. Keep us up to speed on his weight loss!

Oh, and I love when labs start getting the white hair on their muzzle. Shows that they are getting "mature."

Bowkill

Congrats. He looks a lot like my old man before he left to hunt in a different realm.

Good for you, Tony.