Welcome, Blossom

The very sad news is Bloomie passed away on the Friday before Memorial Day. I am not ready to write about him yet. It goes without saying that I miss him. Not only do I miss him personally, I also just miss having an old dog. Bloom was very difficult in many ways recently due to his old age, but there is just something so special about a sweet, old dog.

It had only been a few days that he was gone, but I was already feeling the pull, looking at shelter websites. Previously, I had been considering buying a puppy bred for competitions, but after Bloom was gone, all I wanted was an old dog. I was on a website that lists all the government run shelters in this area. I think there are around 117 of them. Too many dogs to count. On this website you can search dogs by breed, but you are at the mercy of someone else to correctly identify your breed. So it is a good idea to search breeds similar to the one you want. For example, I found Pie (a Belgian Malinois) under German Shepherd.

I wasn't sure I was going to adopt a dog, but I had vague notions of perhaps fostering one for my friend who runs a rescue. She specializes in dogs with medical needs (when they are done with the dogs, they no longer have medical needs, they are adopted out as healthy), but an older dog might also be acceptable, since they too are hard to find homes for.

So without a clear purpose, but motivated by missing my Bloom I searched the website. Something, and I have no idea what, caused me to search under standard poodle. I know I didn't want to foster or adopt a standard poodle because they can be HUGE! Taller than Pie. But I looked there anyway and this is what I saw.

If you did not know Bloom, the resemblance is striking. Bloom was also listed as a 10 year old when I adopted him. As soon as I saw the picture and the dog's age, I knew this was MY dog. Not to foster, but to keep. I knew I would name him Blossom.

This was last Wednesday and I was at work. I called the shelter, but I only got ringing. I hung up and called back later. Again, only ringing. Same thing later. This time I waited the ringing out until the system hung up on me. I repeated this two more times. I wanted to call the shelter for more information because they can usually tell you over the phone if the dog is aggressive, and any more information they have on the dog. Since this was the North Central Los Angeles shelter, I wanted to be sure the dog was as nice as I thought he was before I drove down there. Finally, at about one o'clock I got through to a person.

This person was a clerk, and had never interacted with the dog, but she said he was a stray but he had a microchip and his family had not come for him. She told me he was 15 pounds, confirming that he was not a standard poodle. I asked if there was any other information available and she said there was a note... approved for euthanasia, as of the day before. She then transferred me to someone else.

This person was a kennel worker and told me he was a very nice dog and that she liked him a lot, but he had been there for a month and as of yesterday, could be killed at any time. Apparently this literally meant any second because when I asked what time they did the euthanasia, she told me, "It depends how busy they are back there." I told her I was coming for him but it would take me about two hours, and was there anything she could do to make sure he wasn't killed while I was driving? She said there was nothing she could do.

As soon as I got off the phone, I was informed a letter my boss was waiting for was ready for pick up and I had to go to another building and get it and scan it and email it to his personal email address. Of course the scanner is horribly slow! Then I made my escape from work, but I had to buy gas since I would not have made it the 60 miles to the shelter, and there are no gas stations on the way to the freeway. Therefore I had to go out of the way, adding to the time it would take to get there. Finally I was on my way. Would I get there in time? Would I have to push my way to the front of the line?

I arrived at the shelter and ran inside, only to find no one there wanting to adopt animals. Very sad. But that meant I was first in line. I presented my print out of Blossom to the clerk and said, "I want this dog." They brought him out for my inspection and after I confirmed I wanted him, I filled out the paperwork and he was mine! The clerk confirmed he was approved for euthanasia the day before. She was very happy for him, even more so when she saw that he was 10 years old.

He was much smaller than I expected, and very skinny. He does look a lot like Bloom, and like Bloom, is very sweet. He lays on the couch next to me just like Bloom would before he no longer wanted to. (Fancy won't lay next to me, preferring to curl up in a little ball a foot or so away from me.) Blossom walks nicely on the leash, is quiet in the crate, rides well in the car, appears to be housebroken (all my other dogs from the shelter had to be trained!) gets along (ignores) the other dogs, and likes me enough to seek me out in the house and hang out with me. He isn't trained in formal things it appears, and does not play with toys, and at this time is not particularity food motivated, although the hot dogs did receive approval.

We just had his vet exam and the vet declared his teeth the worst she has ever seen. They are extremely nasty, and his breath is so bad you can smell it in the car. At least one tooth is loose. Most likely he will be having surgery to remove the teeth. I don't know if it will be most or all of them, or just the worst ones.

Since I've had him, Blossom has been eating less and less each meal, which is unsatisfactory since I want/ need to fatten him up. I'm even feeding him CANNED dog food. No dog of mine has ever had it so good. But last night and this morning, he didn't eat anything, even after I put chicken broth on it. Is he sick? Is he picky? The vet took blood and urine but at this time had no answers. However, when she offered him Hills Science Diet for Dogs and Cats Who Will Be in Serious Trouble If They Refuse THIS Food, he scarfed it down. OK- that wasn't the exact name of the food, but it is for animals who are convalescing and won't eat anything else. Would it gross you out too much if I tell you I sniffed the food and it actually smelled appealing to me? No, I did not eat it, that would have been gross, but I think it smelled like one of the MREs I've eaten. So I bought 14 of the cans to start with and even though it says you should not feed this food continuously, the vet said we just need to get him to eat for now, and we'll worry about what he is eating later. I hope he continues to eat this food, because I was about to go buy some ground beef, and that would have been a big step since I've never even purchased any for myself.

In conclusion (didn't any of my English teachers tell me not to write 'in conclusion?') I am very happy I happened upon Blossom. I can't have my Bloom back, but until we meet again, Blossom can attempt to fill his shoes. We both benefit from the relationship. Now, all he has to do it eat his food like a good boy, and I can stop worrying about another old dog passing away. That would be very bad.

Hanging out with Craig. He (Blossom) has since been to the groomer and his fur is a little less curly, but not much. As you can see, he is much more grey than he looked in the shelter picture.

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On a different dog note, Pie just wandered out of the room and seconds later I heard whining and scratching sounds, and I had to go rescue her from the dog-swallowing bathroom.