My Life as a Good Dog – Tommy, Part 1
I was just a pup when I went to live with my first family. They were a young couple and didnt know much, starting their life in an old double-wide trailer. We lived at the edge of things, in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. My family didnt pay much attention to me. They tied me to a tree, and I didnt even have a dog house to sit in when it rained. I was just a little thing, but no one came out to see me when I cried. I had food and water, and all I wanted to do was run freebut my family didnt want that. I had to stay tied to the tree, all day. I was lucky that there were birds and squirrels around; I watched them all day. No one talked to me much. No one played with me much. There werent any toys, so I played with rocks. I was very lonely!
Then, one day, the man and the woman left and came back with a new baby! Oh, it was so cute! I wanted to play with the baby, but, even after a long time, all the man would do is let me sniff its hands. I licked the babys face, and it laughed and laughed! But the man took the baby inside and washed it off. I didnt understand.
Since no one talked to me much, I couldnt really understand what the woman said when she came out to bring me food and water. She would pet me occasionally nowa brief pat. I ducked my head when she did, because the man hit me if I barked. My head was sore, so I was afraid to let her pet me. I was hungry for so much more than food! I needed something, but I didnt know, exactly, what.
As the baby grew, it began to walk! I got to see the baby for a little bit, every day. The woman brought the baby outside, and let it walk around. I think it was a girl, but I was never allowed to get close enough to really see. The baby laughed and waved at me, and I wagged my tail. Then the man would come to the door and make them come inside, leaving me outside all alone.
I never got to ride in the red truck, but it looked like fun! I wondered where my family went, when they got in the red truck and drove away. I sat and watched them leave, but they always came back eventually.
The man never left the house anymore, except with the woman and the babyI guess he had lost his job, because my food at night got to be less and less. Finally, one day, there wasnt any food at all. My ribs were sticking out, and the rope had burned my neck. I was getting weak.
All the next day, I watched the man and woman load their red truck with things from the trailer. No one came over to fill my water dish, and no one talked to me. I watched them as they got ready to leave. Would they take me with them? Would they find food for me?
Finally, the man brought me a bucket of water. He said, Sorry, Spike, but you cant go. And then, he got into the truck with the woman and the baby, and left.
I waited a long time for them to come back. I drank all my water, and there was no more. It didnt rain, so I couldnt lick the puddles. I waited some more. I was getting weaker and weaker, waiting for them to come back. I was so hungry and lonely! Would they come back?
Three days after they left, another big red truck pulled up in the drivewaywas that my family? I wagged and wagged, but it wasnt my family. A nice man got out. I was happy to see him, even if he wasnt my family! He untied me and put me in the back of his truck, in a large cage. I hated the cageit smelled of fear. I was scared, too! Where was this man taking me? What was going to happen to me? Had I done something wrong?
We drove a long way. When we got to the shelter, the man took me out of the cage in the truck, and took me inside. I got a glimpse of the shelter on the outside. It was a small, low building next to a creek. It smelled bad, and there were so many dogs and cats there! And again, I could smell fear.
There were dogs whose eyes were hopeless. No one had come to adopt them, and they had given up. There were dogs that were over excited, too many other dogs in one place! They barked and barked and barked. I didnt bark. The man had hit me on the head when I barked, so I didnt bark at all. I was bewildered. Where was my family? After drinking all the water I could hold, I sat in a corner, by myself, six other dogs in the cage with me.
Then, it began to rain outside. I could see the rain, and smell it through the open window, the fresh smell competing with the fear smell inside. It was cold, too. Then, I could smell a bad thing. I didnt know what it was, but it smelled muddy and musty. I watched from my corner, as muddy water slowly crept into the cage. The water was cold, and I had to stand up, to keep my body out of the water. All seven of us stood up all night. We couldnt lie down because we would freeze. So, we stood for two days with no food, and the only water to drink was the muddy water that covered the floor. No one came.
Finally, someone came. A man and a woman waded through the water, and took us out, one by one, and put us in cages in the back of a truck. There were three dogs in the small cage with me. It was dark, and we couldnt see much. We were afraid. We shivered in the cold.
We drove a long, long way, and then, finally, we came to a different shelter. This, too, was a long, low building, much nicer, and there was no flood water there. Someone had finally rescued us! We went inside to the new cage and there was water and a little food there. With so many of us in the same cage, we didnt have much to eat, but we had plenty of clean water, and a dry place to sit. I was there for two weeks. I finally came to realize that my family was not coming for me. It broke my heart! My tail drooped, and my back arched in fear. What would happen to me now? Who could love a big old dog that ate too much?
One day, I was put into a cage with the other dogs that were to be put down, and although I didnt really understand what that meant, the other dogs knew it was a sentence of death. I somehow knew it, too. None of us were fed that night, because the shelter people dont waste dog food on dead dogs. I sat up all night, jammed in with the other dogs, thinking of my family, and wondering where they were. There were so many of us, there was no room to lie down.
I was so very afraid.
Stay tuned for more of Tommys Story, Part 2
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I'll post a picture of our Tommy when I get home from work... He's such a sweetie!
We've been able to piece together most of his story, by Tommy's actions and reactions. It took him a long time to understand what we were saying, and he still likes to play with rocks, picking them up and dropping them. He doesn't know how to play with regular dog toys. Poor boy was starved for about everything he needed.
We figured out his name was Spike by the way he reacted to the name. (A friend of ours had a little mini dobie named Spike. When we called Spike, Tommy came running, all excited! But, by that time, his name was Tommy, and he knew his name...) We know that his family must have had a baby, because Tommy adores babies!
Oh my Dowser, the poor little guy. I'm pulling for him all the way. I know that he'll be adopted but I have to help him fight on the way to his ''forever home''...
Brand new avatar! I love it!
Bless his heart-- he's had a hard life. The look of sadness in his eyes will probably always be with him, and he stresses when we leave him for any length of time. He loves to go camping, and knows, (I hope), that we love him very much. He still gets that look on his face sometimes, as if to say, who ARE these people?
Thanks Dowser, the painting that is my avatar is entitled ''Broken Promises''.
Yup, Annie stresses, and so does Wiki when we leave for a length time.
Happy to hear that Tommy is adjusting. Annie had that sad look for a long time, but now she ischanging and you see a much happier dog. Tommy will be as well Dowser.
I don't know if that look will ever leave his eyes. We've had him, now, for almost 2 years, and he still looks sad, sometimes. He is still hesitant about telling uswhat he wants. He still won't bark much, and I have to be very careful about patting his head.
But he's stout and healthy! I love him! He's my Good Boy!
''But he's stout and healthy! I love him! He's my Good Boy''...And that's what counts, soon he'll be less afraid.
I think he's settled in about as much as he can. He eats UP being loved on, and is happy about it-- but I don't think he will ever forget being ignored for so long. Nor will he ever learn how to play with toys. I have bought him all kinds of toys and he just looks at them. But, when I give him a nice, rounded rock to play with, he is in 7th heaven! LOL!