Friday, March 20, 2009

Rounder Part 2

The trip to the truck was like dancing with a grizzly. He lunged, sat back, jumped all around, and grabbed the leash in his teeth and tangled his body in it - if you're going to be dumb, you had better be tough - I thought this to myself, as much for him as me. I had to bodily put him in the truck, and he immediately grabbed the door panel with his teeth. Good thing it was only 20 miles home. It didn't take long to realize he was an escape artist and a noisy one. We rented, packed to move, so couldn't just turn him loose in the house. I put him in a huge plastic crate, and he chewed his way out, so I got him a metal crate. He tried to claw, chew, barked, but couldn't get out, but we had to stop this behavior immediately, or it was going to be a long night. I turned on the TV to a movie, grabbed a chair and put it right next to the crate in case he got into trouble, and sat there without looking at him or talking to him. For 45 minutes he pitched a fit, and then it was over. Once he was quiet and calm, I let him out. That night he went into the crate, which I covered with a blanket for warmth, and he was quiet all night. It was time to move to a new state and new challenges, so we gave him a new name. It's hard to find a home for a rescue dog with a name that hints at bad behavior - Rebel didn't cut it. My husband picked Rounder because of his loose cannon attitude - it was better than Rebel - and certainly fit him.

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