Here’s what Sabrina heard when she answered a call from a nearby Vet’s office: We have a faun-colored Doberman found running loose! He seems healthy, but no tag, no chip.
There’s method to this madness. The Vet’s know we love Doberman’s, have a big house and soft hearts, so Sabrina drove out to their office.
One look told her this was not a Dobie, but a Weimariner, a faun colored, short-haired dog originally bred to hunt boar and bear.
This one was sixty pounds, and estimated to be six months old. He would prove to be a big dog, as the adult male Weimariner tops out at eighty pounds, and this one hadn’t blown out the candle on his first cake yet!
Sabrina bought him home. Virginia state law says if he’s not wearing a tag, he belongs to you after ten days. We made an agreement with the vet that they and we would put out notices: Lost Dog. We received no responses.
Over the two weeks or so we fostered him, he gradually fell into the rhythms and connectedness which characterize our home. He certainly seemed to be emerging as ‘Sabrina’s Dog’ [a great choice!] He would not leave her side. Even in the car, as she drove, ‘Fisher’ would stand up in the back seat and put a paw lovingly on her shoulder. He adapted well to our dogs, cats and us.
I gave him a nickname, “Newby” for obvious reasons. Then, one day, he espied our Koi pond in the back yard. Fascinated by the flashes of white and gold, he decided to join them! Into the pond he went; Sabrina had to pull him to safety. From then on, his name was “Fisher.”
Then, as domestic animal’s behavior so often does, he began to change, which, in this case included warming up to me. I was taking a nap in a recliner chair one afternoon, and awoke to find him sleeping contentedly on my lap. From that time on, he would find an empty, two-legged person’s lap, and appropriate it, be it Sabrina or Lucky became irrelevant; it was an unclaimed lap, and thus ‘free’ for homesteading. [He does so hate waste!] He was now and truly a family dog.
But there was a problem; one of the our oldest Dobies is sick, requiring a lot of love and attention; and it would be easy for our attention to him be diverted to the novelty, the winsomeness, and the unbearable cuteness of a joyous puppy.
We have a friend who is a vet, loves dogs, and recently lost one of her two Dobies. We pondered for some time, then decided to get our friend and Fisher together to see how they would get on.
It was a love-fest! She, her remaining dog, and Fisher had a blowout! Fisher immediately began to play with the other dog, to lick our friend’s face, and generally begin bonding.
When it came time to leave, Sabrina turned and called out to Fisher. As she walked away, Fisher never left his new owner’s side; he wouldn’t budge. [I should add that Sabrina has twice since seen and petted Fisher. He responded joyously. He was happy to see Sabrina; he remembered her, but he had chosen… he had chosen.]
Sabrina and I believe there is a difference between gifting and loaning. If you find a ten dollar bill on the street, and, walking forward, you find someone who needs it more that you, you give it to them. The ten dollars was not yours to own, it was merely yours to hold.
Same thing with Fisher…
Several days later, we received a picture of our friend and her two dogs. I don’t know if you are among those who think a dog can smile, but on Fisher’s face was a grin of pure ecstasy; and although the experience was bitter-sweet for us, that picture made the gift-giving easier to bear.
Look for Lucky’s three latest books on Amazon: Reflections, Cemone’s Trilogy, and Perish The Thought!
SEE SABRINA’S WILDLIFE WEBSITE: FACEBOOK.COM/SWVA WILDLIFE
