"My
husband and I thought we had it made in our little house with our two
Labbies. Both our Yellow Lab, Huckleberry, and our Black Lab, Bettis,
had been born in the country and handpicked at just eight weeks old.
Huckleberry came into our unsuspecting and naive dog-less lives like a
hurricane, eating and chewing everything in sight. She slept only when
her little body finally couldn’t go anymore, and then she’d drop like a
narcoleptic. Puppy school helped to train her…and us.
"Huckleberry came with us to get our second dog. She picked Bettis,
who happened to be the biggest dog in the litter. A rapidly growing,
gentle giant just happy to be petted, Bettis became Huckleberry’s main
attraction, taking some of the heat off us exhausted new doggie parents.
These two dogs never have known hardship: just twice daily walks;
ongoing training; trips to the dog park, the beach, and the river;
doggie swimming pools in the backyard; and endless chewies, pettings,
and love. Any behavioral issues that came up were only the result of
growing pains.
"We had considered getting a third dog after a few foster dogs had
come and gone. Then a little, brown tornado flew into our path. Tahoe, a
six-month-old Brown Labbie with a curly tail, arrived as a nervous,
little foster dog from Multnomah County Animal Shelter. We weren’t sure
if Bettis, now a good 50 pounds bigger than Tahoe, was going to accept
another boy in the house. But Bettis let Tahoe know, in the ways that
dogs do, that Tahoe was the lowest on the totem pole, but he would
happily be Tahoe’s big brother. Within two hours of his arrival, we
decided Tahoe was the missing piece to our family puzzle. We adopted him
within a week, and thus began the long journey to help him overcome his
past.
"In the shelter, Tahoe was so ridden with anxiety that they thought
it best he go to a foster home. His fear did not allow him to sleep more
than five minutes; he’d jump up at any noise, crying and looking out
the window—presumably for the owner who never returned. When we’d go
outside, he’d dive bomb the windows, desperately trying to get out so he
wouldn’t be left again. He ate so fast that we had to start feeding him
in a muffin tray with water-coated food to slow him down. He stole
apples and bread off the counters if he was hungry and pulled on the
leash like a wild boar when we walked.
"However, as days turned into weeks and weeks into months, Tahoe
caught the hang of our routine, and little by little, he calmed down. He
stopped crying when he saw us go outside and instead just nervously
paced back and forth in the window until we came back in. Finally he’d
sleep by the window with one eye open as we hung outside for a bit. He
became a good little walker, hardly pulling on his leash, and he told us
when he was ready to sleep like a big boy with his brother and sister
on dog beds instead of in his crate.
"The biggest milestone came a couple years later when he started
wagging his tail. Not a big deal for most dogs but for Tahoe a
breakthrough. He was finally relaxed enough to have time to be happy.
Day by day, his tail wags became bigger, more confident, and more
frequent. He even discovered the tennis ball that had been flying past
him for a year as his sister endlessly chased it. He learned to retrieve
the ball and how to catch it. After being unsure of our doggie pool, he
tentatively got in and started splashing around. His favorite thing,
though, has always been to cuddle up with us in the morning. He flops
next to us and rolls over on his back for a belly rub while gently
licking our faces, secure in knowing a walk and then breakfast comes
next.
"Over the next years, the three dogs became inseparable. Huckleberry
kept busy raising her two little brothers and bossing them around.
Bettis was thrilled to nurture his big sister and brother, always
reminding Tahoe that he was the upper classman. Tahoe loved being the
baby and has always been eager to please us all. We took full pleasure
in watching them grow up and seeing how close their bonds became.
"Tahoe is an old man now and reveling in his golden years. His
brother and sister passed on a few years ago and he has since come full
circle. He is a survivor and his little heart is so full of love, and he
knows he is safe, part of our pack, and in his forever home. We feel
privileged to have celebrated all of Tahoe’s incremental achievements
(like tail wagging), but we are especially excited to say, “Happy 13th
Birthday" to our sweet old man!!! We are grateful for the opportunity
MCAS gave us to adopt Tahoe and give him a life where he has been so
deeply loved."
