15 years ago, we were at the dog park, with Casey, our Pittbull X . A local Border Collie Trainer, ( trials), whom we knew fairly well, was there with her pack, and a new to us dog, a dark brown Shepherd..
The trainer was tossing a ball, and the new dog was outrunning all the Collies to the ball, but they would corner him as a pack, and snap at him, until he dropped the ball, then one of the Collies would scoop it up and “win” the game of fetch.
Casey of course would have none of that, she made a beeline for the pack, pushing, shoving and growling the Collies away from the dark brown Shepherd, until they were cowering by their trainer, and the Shepherd got to keep the ball.
The Sheperd was so happy that he got to keep the ball, that he pranced around the park, tossing the ball in the air, occasionally twisting, sprinting, swerving as Casey ran alongside him, ( occasionally giving him body checks). Eventually, the Trainer called Digger, ( that was his name) back to her and made him drop the ball. When she threw it again, Digger paid no attention, as he and Casey had already started playing chase, and wrestling, and dodge. When the got tired, they would collapse in a pile, chewing on each others necks. When Casey got thirsty, she came over to us for a drink from her sportsbottle, and Digger followed, learning almost immediately how to drink from a sportsbottle. When Casey got a treat, Digger got a treat.
As they played together, late into the long spring evening, the Trainer told us that Digger was a foster, that he had been rescued from a shelter, where he had been deemed unadoptable, untrainable and unmanageable, because he spent all his time running along the sides of his kennel, pooping and peeing everywhere. The Humane Society intervened, when he was scheduled to be put down. They figured out that he was highly intelligent, and extremely high energy.
So, they fostered him out, he got to acquire some basic training, but more importantly, he got to burn off some of that energy. After a year, he was adopted out, but it didn’t work out well. The Family that adopted him, lived in a two bedroom apartment, and wanted Digger as a companion for their 8 year old daughter. The Trainer jokingly suggested that the family expected Digger to do their taxes as well. She let us know that Digger was up for adoption again.
My wife asked, and the Trainer told her of the process. First was a 5 day “trial”, to make sure that Digger was a good fit, and if we wanted to make the adoption permenent or not. Then, there were the background checks, the home inspection, the follow up home inspections at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and a year.
As Casey and Digger came trotting back to up, panting, sweating, tired, both necks coated in drool, as the sun was setting, my Wife said tentatively to the Trainer, “maybe we could do a 5 day Trial”.
I laughed my ass off, and got dirty looks from the Wife. Like she, me or Casey was ever going to give up on a dog.
Leads were exchanged, and we took Casey and Digger home for a long, hot, outdoor shower, some treats and to bed.
It’s been a long 5 Day Trial, 13 years worth. it ended today. Digger hasn’t been able to walk on his own for a week now, lost control of his bladder and bowels months ago, it was time, but it doesn’t make it any easier.
The next day, we took Casey and Digger back to the dog park, and people couldn’t believe the change. Turns out that Digger, freshly washed, waxed and detailed, was as black and shiny as a brand new Porsche.
Rather than being a German Shepherd, Digger was a Belgian Shepherd/ Border Collie cross.
Digger quickly learned that our Cats were friends not food, ( Casey taught him that), but he had his issues in the beginning. He was anxious, whining and constantly watching us every moment at home, almost like he was expecting us to snap out a command at any moment. We learned that letting him chew on a squesk toy, ( a Pippi) calmed him down, and that once he had destroyed the squeaker, we calmed down too.
It took a few months to get him to go to bed and sleep, he was always alert, but we learned exhaustion, a full belly and calm reassurance eventually made him settle down. It took two months for me to teach him how to come up on the couch and just snuggle.
And then, there sas coming home every day from work, and finding the furniture in the house, completely rearranged from Casey and Digger's wrestling and Chase sessions.
After two months, while Digger mostly settled in, a new problem arose.
At the crack of dawn, every day, weekends included, Digger would wake up, trot happily to the side of the bed and stick his nose in your face, to see if you were awake yet. If you told him to go back to bed, he would sigh, sadly trot back to his mat, and fuss and whine, eventually settle down, only to come back 20 minutes later.
Eventually, we figured out how to foil his dastardly plan. We called it “puppy in the middle”, Capra would sleep by my chest, Pablo at the foot of the bed, so we would get Digger up on the bed, sandwiched between us, Casey would lie on my legs, we would play “got your nose” with him for a little while, rub his ears while he grunted and groaned, and would all fall back to sleep for an hour or more.
It's been a wonderful and wildly long five days, with many adventures, many lessons learned, wonderfull times, scary times and like I learned from Digger, every moment is treasured. Tomorrow, we will bury him beside Casey, his BFF, with his favorite blankets and pippies.