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Bette's New Home

Hi Jon,

Just read your update.  Thank you for including us.  I just wanted to let you know that Bette Davis is doing wonderfully.  She seems very happy.

We’ve kept her name, because every time we say it she wags her tail and gets up to look for us.  Since she obviously associates good things with her name, we’re not going to change it.  Quite often when we get dogs, they either don’t respond to their old names, or they respond in a negative manner.  Bette’s response tells us that she only associates happy things with her name, which is a big thumbs up for you.

She is a little doll, and her personality is coming out more that she’s settling in.  Her favorite sleeping place is on a comforter by the love seat in the living room.  It’s near a heater vent, and under the picture window, so she can lie in the sun and be nice and warm.  If we talk to her while she’s sleepy she rolls over onto her back to have her belly rubbed.  She has another blanket that she absolutely loves – she rolls around and growls at it and digs herself a little den.  She gets on very well with other dogs.  At night she sleeps in the big dog bed at the foot of our bed with Groucho and Gladys. They are a pair of 14 year old Brussels Griffons that have been mates for 11 years – they are grandparents together.  Gladys is deaf and blind, and she and Bette spend the better part of the day curled up and sleeping together.  If Bette gets up to go out or is in the living room with us, it won’t be 10 minutes before Gladys is wandering around looking for her.

She is a great eater – in addition to her own food, she will steal the other dogs food.  They eat hard food, so Bette grabs a couple pieces and takes them to the living room where she’ll lie down and gum them.  She’s getting around very well and seems to be a bit of a night owl.  She becomes most active around 11pm when she’ll start wandering around, checking out the room and the other dogs.  She’s only had one accident in the house, and always goes when we take her out.

Overall, she seems to be happy and healthy.  She always perks up when we talk to her and she’s perfectly happy to just lie on the couch and let someone pet her.  She’s so soft – it’s like petting a rabbit.  After looking at those gigantic ears and doing a bit of research, we’re thinking she might possibly be a Papillon mix.  I haven’t found any other breeds with ears like hers.  In any case, whatever her origins, she is a sweet, beautiful little girl and I hope we’ll have her company for a good while yet to come.

Thanks again for rescuing her and for letting us bring her home.

Best Regards,

Andrea

Leaving On A Jet Plane

It was last Thursday morning and I woke up early to prepare for Bette Davis's big day.  It's strange to adapt to a routine and then, one day, it disappears.  I imagine for Betty it was even stranger than for me.  This little five pound creature has been alive for 15+ years and now she was finally heading "home".

I remember walking into the Downey shelter the day that I bailed out Bette.  Rows and rows of dogs were barking, throwing themselves against their kennels to get second chance at life.  I tried my best to keep my composure that day as I looked into the eyes of dozens upon dozens of dogs that probably wouldn't be alive for more than a couple of weeks.  It wasn't until I walked to the very last building that I couldn't hold back my tears.  There in the isolation ward were the oldest of the old...dogs that had lived a decade or more and then were abandoned by their owners. 

I saw Bette Davis in the darkness of her cage; her ears would perk up at the sound of my voice and I asked if I could take her out and hold her.  Her fur was matted and flakes of dry skin were caught in the tangles.  By this time, my eyes were a leaky faucet.  I stared at this pathetically old, sickly creature, wondering how she wound up in such an undignified and scary place.

I payed the impound fee for Bette and she came home with me on the spot.
The rest of her story has been detailed in my blog except for her big day last week.

Bette Davis and I drove to the airport with her sitting on my lap.  I was talking on my cellphone with William (Bette's new dad) while I walked around the airport terminal looking for him.  We found each other and sat down on a bench by the window and Bette popped her head out of her travel bag.  It was love at first site for William; he was ecstatic to hold Bette and meet the dog that he'd flown so far to adopt.  He signed the adoption papers that I require and I kissed Bette on her nose while putting her in William's pet carrier.  She had no clue what was happening or where she was going, but she was very relaxed during the process.  We said our goodbyes and then it was time for her to start the newest chapter of a very long doggy life.

Bette lives in Boise, Idaho with her human parents William and Andrea and she has four other small senior dogs as her best buddies.  She now sleeps curled up with another old dog in a fuzzy pet bed and spends her days lounging around the house and waiting to eat.
((I love you Bette and I know you'll probably be around for 15 more years...it's just your special way))

Are we there yet?