Lucky is such a loving boy. He has gotten to the point where he doesn't crawl around the house with his body crouched and tail down. He hops right into the back room so that he can have breakfast and dinner.(He's learned that he gets to come right back out after eating.) He thinks he's part cat and tries to curl himself up on my head when I sleep. He loves a good hug. He has not had one accident in the house when I am home. Did I mention that while he's outside he romps around like a kangaroo! (Loves the snow:-) I'm sure I'm forgetting plenty, but he's al all around great boy. With all of that being said, I had to ask Ellen to keep him instead of him staying here. I work a lot of hours. Lucky is great with my dogs. He doesn't chew up anything. But I have pet rats. Those he is terribly interested in. I mean, furry, fat, little moving squeaky toys! Just about any dog would want them. (My dogs, luckily, accepted them years ago because I had rats before I had my current dogs and that's been 10 years.) Unfortunately, it seems that Lucky stresses out badly to be left alone in a crate or closed in the back room away from the other dogs.
I didn't have a choice as I feared that he would accidently knock over the cage with curiousity. I don't think he's interested in eating them, just playing with them. Unfortunately with his size (about 45lbs) that would be the last playing that they did. That's always been one of my worst fears, that I would let my guard down and my rats would get hurt. So I've always tried to be diligent about keeping them safe. By the time I would get home after crating him, Lucky was absolutely beside himself. Hence, the request for Ellen to keep him. The crate at her home is in the open where he can easily see the other dogs. He did not seem to stress out while he was there. Sadly, I feel like I've betrayed him. I try to do everything I can to make sure that I help the animals that come into my house in any way I can. I didn't know how to fix this for him and I didn't want to make it worse so I thought it was better that he not stay.
Ugh, when I dropped him off at the adoption, everyone was happy to see him, but he gave me the saddest look when I put him in one of the crates and started to walk away. Ultimate betrayal. Ugh. Now rationally, I know that about 5 minutes after I left, if it took that long, he was interested in the other volunteers, got plenty of attention and went home with the foster dog's dream foster-Ellen! Still can't help but feel bad that I wasn't able to fix the problem.
As I write this, I am sitting here on the couch with my rats rambling around next to me. When there are no fosters, they have the freedom to come out for visits for extended periods of time. My dogs are always just a little bit happier because they don't have to share their stuff and they can settle into their normal routines. I on the other hand, just feel guilt:-(
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