Just Fred

We returned Rosie on Saturday.

But it was not without its dramas.

We found out the week before that you can't surrender a dog to another council area. So this Saturday morning we got up extra early and drove down to the council pound (I had a lunch date with mum at Midday, and the pound closed at midday).

We turn up to discover they didn't have room for Rosie, and when we pointed out that we were told we couldn't surrender a dog to a different council, they suggested a few that would, and also suggested the RSPCA.

Since we had said that Rosie has a tendancy to run off and digs, chances are that she wouldn't be able to be rehomed, and that perhaps being put to sleep might be best. In which case, since they were full, we could go to the vet. That took the wind out of my sails. They acknowledged it was a hard decision to make, but while I am prepared to surrender Rosie with the off chance that she can be rehomed, I was not prepared to simply put her to sleep.

So we went home and looked up the closest RSPCA.

The place was HUGE. I'd never seen such a big dog pound before. Supposedly it's the biggest one in New South Wales.

The surrendering process went pretty smoothly. No judgement from the people behind the counter (as opposed to the local council - "have you tried rehoming? etc etc"

We filled out the forms, and before we knew it, we were handing over the lead.

When it was time to leave, and we started walking away Rosie made an attempt to follow us. That nearly broke my heart. Especially when you think about all the trouble she's been, and how she used to choose not to follow us and go her own way. I turned away. When I looked back for one last time, all I saw was her bottom entering the door as she was being led into a room to be examined. That's the last glimpse of Rosie I ever saw. And I still couldn't look her properly in the eye =(

I hope she makes it and goes to a good home. The RSPCA did say that a digger is harder to rehome, but that she'd stay with them for a few days before anything happened (i.e. being put down). =/ =\ =|

Would it be too morbid of me to go on the RSPCA website and see if she's there available for adoption? In fact, I've just gone to have a quick look. She's not on the website, but then again, it's a huge pound. Perhaps they only put up a select few online?

Husband reckons Rosie isn't a very good domestic pet - i.e. she doesn't go for super affection like Freddie does, and she constantly beats to the sound of her own drum. I still stand stubbornly on the side that she just needs the right owner with a big enough yard that no one will notice that she digs massive craters and gets into all sorts of trouble.

I must say though, going home, it felt like the garden breathed a huge sigh of relief. We can now scrape up all the dirt from her diggings off the pavement path and dump it back into the holes she dug, without having to worry that it will all be in vain when she digs them all out again. Would you believe the footpath was so thick with dirt that there were earthworms underneath when I scraped/dug it up?!

We also planted in a jasmine plant to grow along the back fence, without having to worry about its survival rate. Freddie won't dig it up. Although I do admit to wondering now that Rosie's gone whether or not Freddie will start destroying the garden, or that we'll discover that Rosie was just a front for Freddie when he in fact was the real destroyer. How ironic would that be?

Freddie's been holding up pretty well. I was worried that he would stop eating. Whenever Rosie came back after her jaunts she would growl at Fred and he would stop eating. When she used to jump onto the other side of the fence, she'd growl at him and Freddie would leave his bowl uneaten.

But so far, he's gobbled up everything. We were giving him kangaroo sausages the last few nights, and it's very amusing watching him eat them. Hubby argued that I should cut the sausages up. I pointed out that he was a wolfhound and if anyone doesn't need his food cut up for him, it's a wolfhound. I mean my entire FIST fits in that mouth. Why should he be concerned with a measly sausage?

But I watched him last night as he picked up his sausage and set it beside his bowl. LOL. I think he's a little flummoxed with what a sausage is. He always eats it, but there is always that slight look of confusion before he eats, or at the very least a hesitation. He never gobbles it straight up like Rosie used to. He'd pick it up, put it to the side, and sometimes even eat around it on his dry food first.

Freddie's also spent quite a lot of time with us over this weekend. We gave him a shower when we got home - he was getting a bit too doggy for us. From the moment the word 'shower' was uttered, we got the feeling that he was already onto us. But as per usual, once he got in and realised he couldn't get out, he suffered the shower. We didn't let him out for the rest of the evening, as I refused to let all our hard work (dragging him in, soaping him up, dragging him back under the shower spray, etc etc) go to waste, if he went outside and lay on the wet grass (it had rained all weekend).

Sunday, I gave him a good run around the oval and when we got home let him inside. Which is a treat in itself. I was busy doing some other things, but the minute I sat on the ground he crawled up to me for a cuddle. Later when I went to get up from the couch, I must've gotten up too quickly. There was a big thwump noise as Freddie hit his head on the bottom of the coffee table in his need to look up and see where I was going. Any human who made such a noise would've had a concussion! Not Freddie. He spent most of the evening following me around the house.

He's also outgrown his collar. The last few walks on lead, I've noticed how responsive he is, and I thought perhaps our training had finally gotten through. But when I looked at him last night with his neck bulging out around his collar, I realised perhaps it was simply that he finally felt my pulls because the collar was too tight =/

We took it off, and my next errand is to get him a bigger collar. This will be his third collar. So atm he is going around the yard collar-less.

Overall hubby reckons Freddie seems happier that Rosie's gone. I definately don't notice him moping. If anything he seemed more relaxed as he wandered the yard, picking up his bones to chew on. I always knew that Rosie was dominant and a bit of a bully, but perhaps there was more to it than I realised.

There is definately less stress around the dogs. I don't have to constantly keep an eye on Fred as he does his walk. I used to have to watch Rosie like an eagle, in case she rolled in a smelly patch of dirt. I'd also have to be careful about other dogs, in case she spotted them and bounded up to growl at them and scare the crap out of their owners.

Freddie bounded up to a stranger on his walk last night, but all it got him was a friendly pat. No 'keep your dog on its leash' kind've comment. And once he got his pat, he bounded off again.

While I have to be honest and admit that life is less stressful without Rosie around, I must also admit to feeling a bit sentimental about her departure. I also feel guilty that we couldn't be her Forever Home. My friends tell me that if she's not for you, she's not for you, and pointed out that she might not feel as comfortable/happy with us either. They also point out that we did try - and for two years no less. I'm sorry that we weren't the best owners for her, and I really do hope that she can find better owners. I kept on wondering what it might be like, if she did get adopted and I happened to meet her on the street one day. How bizarre would that be? But then again, I'm just fantasizing. It's a lot harder to voluntarily give a dog up, than to have her taken away from me, be it with her running off and being picked up by the RSPCA, or her being rehomed with my knowledge and consent.