You've come a long way, baby!

This past weekend I did something that I've been meaning to do for a long time: I sent a thank you letter to the Oregon Humane Society.

Our girl Suzie came to us from OHS. She was one of over 500 dogs rescued from an animal hoarder in eastern Oregon in January of 2003. OHS was one of several shelters that took some of the dogs, and Suzie was one of their worst cases. She was emaciated, completely feral and utterly terrified, and not afraid to use her teeth to defend herself. She was sent home with a very capable foster family and lived with them for several months. In the meantime, I just couldn’t stop looking at the photo on their website of the cute little brown Suzie dog, who looked so much like Sadie, the dog I had as a child.

In August of 2003 I finally emailed Suzie's foster mom, D, for details. She cautioned me that Suzie was a special case and would probably never be a dog you could take for a walk or a car ride, much less share a couch with. I assured her my whole goal would be to provide Suzie with food and shelter, but that I really didn't expect anything in return. Once D was certain I understood what I was in for, we brought her home. When we turned her loose in the back yard, she immediately crawled under the garden shed and stayed there - for a week. I think she snuck out at night for food and water, but we didn't see her.

Gradually, over time, Suzie started to explore her new surroundings. We left the back door to the house open and just went about our business. If we so much as looked in her direction, Suzie would panic and head for the furthest corner of the yard, so we just ignored her. By Christmas time, she was even venturing into our living room, where she determined that the couch was the best place to hang out when no one was looking.

About a year after we adopted Suzie, we moved. The new house had a tall cedar privacy fence around the yard, which we thought would be sufficient, but Suzie had a very hard time adjusting to the new digs. Whenever we would leave, even though she had our other dog to keep her company, she would panic and either eat a hole through the fence, or just jump it. (Both of these are pretty amazing accomplishments for a 25 pound little brown dog!) I spoke with the OHS animal behaviorist on a couple of occasions... we weren't sure we would ever get her settled in, but we built a new, taller, less chewable fence and just kept hoping, and it finally happened.

Last Christmas, we went on a week-long ski trip and left Suzie and our other dog home with a house sitter. Suzie took that opportunity to eat an entire wad of used Swiffer cleaning cloths, which were covered in dust and dog hair. Unfortunately, since she's such a stoic little thing and she always goes on a hunger strike when we are gone, we didn't realize for several days that she had a problem. When we returned home and she still refused to eat, we took her to the vet. I knew she was very, very sick when she didn't try to escape when I picked her up, and then she rode on my lap for a half an hour in the car without complaint. She had never tolerated any handling before, much less that much attention.

Suzie went a total of 17 days without food before her blockage was diagnosed and she had emergency surgery to remove it. Her weight dropped by almost 11 pounds. She then started having grand mal seizures and had five of them in two days. We really thought we were going to lose her! Fortunately, the very capable doctors at Dove Lewis Animal Hospital and Scappoose Animal Hospital were able to nurse her back to health. After her near-death experience, Suzie is a new dog. Wherever we go, she goes with us. She is friendly and talkative and always up for a chin scratch, a walk through the neighborhood or a car ride. She loves to go to the beach with us, and on our last trip there she took it upon herself to greet everyone else we passed. The dog who once hid under our shed is now off getting back scratches from strangers! She is funny and clever and sassy and far too smart... probably the smartest dog I've ever known. I swear the dog can speak English!

When we first brought Suzie home after we adopted her, my whole goal was to keep her safe and well fed. Nobody really expected that she would ever be a "happy" dog. But thanks to the good people at OHS, and one fantastic foster mom who put up with a crazy brown dog for months, and also to the very capable staff at Dove Lewis and Scappoose Animal Hospital, we have a happy, healthy brown dog to share our days with. She still has her moments and her little quirks, but I wouldn't trade her for the world.