Friday, July 09, 2010

Maxim and the puppy

Of the days we spent at my Dad's house, we took his two dogs -- Bobik (Mutt) and Volk (Wolf) -- for many walks.  They love to escape out their pen before you can get their leashes on and make a beeline for the cemetery where they can romp and play til their hearts are content. 

One of these days, Dad and I followed them at a slow pace just talking, looking at gravestones, and enjoying the not-too-scorching weather.  Suddenly, we noticed Volk had something cornered just outside the cemetery and was very excited.  We used this chance to catch him (he's a slippery little bugger) and find out what he was barking at.

It was a puppy.  A little, shaggy, obviously homeless, little Rotweiller mixed puppy. I figured he was about 9 weeks or so, Dad thinks maybe a bit older.  He was shaking from fear, had a hungry look about him, and seemed to have some sort of feces on his back.  I pulled Volk out of the way and the pup ran for me.  He cried and cried and cried -- the relieved cry of someone who is finally out of danger -- and cuddled up to me.  I pet him and cooed a bit, realizing he was the homeless dog we'd seen the day before being chased out of somewhere else. 

The abandoned or homeless dogs and cats are one of my hugest problems with less developed countries.  I know the people are having hard enough times feeding themselves so can't take care of every stray, but also they do not do any neutering (which is the easier of the two options) as find it rather repulsive to think of removing a male's "essence".  The situation will ever be as long as dogs who do have homes also have their bits intact and run about wildly.  But I digress.

The point is, my heart broke for each and every dog and cat I saw in this similar situation, but I knew there was little I could do for the little pup.  We took our dogs and continued on home.  I can't say I was either surprised or upset to see the little pup following us.  He walked between the two dogs (or beside me when they decided to show him a little dominance) and followed us right into the dog pen.  We took him with us to the house to show Tanya.

Dad is forever bringing lost or found dogs to their house, so I knew she wouldn't be surprised.  They had just found a good home not too long ago for a female dog who was heavily with pup.  (I can't find Dad's post for it though.)  I figured they would do the same for this little guy.

While we waited in the court yard for Dad to tell Tanya what I'd done (this time, he was pleased to be able to blame it on someone), Ky came out to help me look after him and feed him.  Since he was so little, we fed him the cat's food and milk.  He ate two helpings and would have gone back for more if we hadn't been concerned that he would get sick or that Kuchma the cat would murder him.

Tanya came outside, took one look at the puppy, and threatened to beat Dad with her broom.  Just then, their neighbour Lucia walked by the gate.  Dad called her in to meet me and then came up with an idea.  Lucia's dog was well into her teens and was not doing well.  Lucia has a 9 year old grandson Maxim who stays with them quite a bit.  It didn't take much convincing.  Within moments, Maxim was over and giving the pup all manners of love.  He looked at Ky before he left and in a quiet voice said "Sank you".

Maxim and the puppy

We went out later and bought some puppy food, a collar, and a leash.  We've also made Dad promise to send us pictures on a regular basis to see how the pup is doing.  I think both the pup and the boy will be very happy.

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Here is Dad's version of the story.

3 comments:

  1. That is such a great story. Can I put this on my good news blog? I love it.

    When I was in Chile there were stray dogs everywhere but it was different. They were just like people. There were the crazies and normals. They traveled around in groups like high school cliques. The groups would have barking standoffs and fights but not like violent, physical fights, more like, yelling fights or maybe singing fights like West Side Story. And people fed them all the time. They were sort of like little dog communities who were whole city's pets.

    Or, at least, that's what I would tell myself.

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  2. That is such a sweet story.

    Chris (who is reading with me) wants me to give you the link to an article from Popular Science, about how Moscow's stray dog population has evolved the ability to master the subway system.

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