On the other hand, there is Tommy…


Well, There’s Tommy. When you adopt rescue dogs, it’s similar to adopting children from orphanages. The people you deal with want them to find good homes. They don’t themselves always know what precise circumstances the orphans came from, and they are to be forgiven on the basis of their general altruism.

We got two new ones a month or so ago. We are happy with them overall, but the picture we got of who they are, even to each other, was not not accurate. They are both evidently younger than the ages quoted to us. They are, surprisingly, not Mixed breeds but likely purebreds both — Border Terrier and Papillon. Websites for both breeds were immediate in confirming our suspicions about this. But on the downside, they are clearly not any kind of a bonded pair. They are living separate lives in our household because given a chance, they attack one another with flashing teeth and claws.

We can live with all that. The Border Terrier living upstairs with my wife and me, Tommy, has had serious Daddy issues. We’re working through that, making progress. But in the first few days he attacked me aggressively for no reason (once overturning the savored HDTV!), and he still objects when I raise my hands above my head to make a point or reinforce an emotional response. I’ve had, conservatively, in my lifetime maybe 30 dogs and have never been attacked. Some man abused this boy. The progress so far has been good. But he’s acquired a well deserved nickname: UNDERDOG.

Tommy Boy. Cute as two buttons. (His eyes.)

In the first few days he could be nice and friendly and affectionate — until I left the room to hit the bathroom. Upon my return he immediately attacked, growling, biting at my ankles, acting as if he didn’t recognize me as the man who had just left the room. That’s been turned back. But he still gets moody and snarly at times and his favorite place to hang out is UNDER the couch we spend much of our time on. Now I can go to the bathroom without getting mugged but when I return I still can hear low growls issuing from under the couch.

Why he deserves the monicker Underdog. We’ll get through this. 

I wish I knew who traumatized him and how. Not that I could do anything about it. But he deserved better. Good news, being younger than we thought, we have more time to make him feel loved regardless. Tommy Boy. A hero terrier still in the making.


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