Happy Tails
Rusty’s Tale
Rusty spent the first nine years of 
his life as a house dog, but in many ways his life was unsatisfactory. His owners kept him in a couple of rooms of their home, while a smaller dog was allowed the freedom to roam anywhere he wanted in the house. Being banished to rooms all by himself in made a young dog nervous, needy and craving of attention. He did what was asked of him, had good potty manners and didn’t make too much of a mess, but the family continued to keep him penned up and didn’t spend much time with him. Finally, after nine long years, the family was moving out of state and didn’t want to take the old dog with them to their new life and Rusty was surrendered to Pet Haven.
His first foster home didn’t work out, as Rusty hadn’t developed polite social skills since he had spent so much of his life alone. He barked for the attention he had rarely gotten. He barked when he was stressed, which was much of the time. His foster mom was told she couldn’t keep him in her townhouse, so Rusty went to a boarding facility. There, he could bark to his hearts content. But he wasn’t getting enough attention and he wasn’t getting the chance to show what kind of dog he really is.
Ann Savage, Pet Haven Intake Coordinator, asked dog volunteer Celayne Jones if she could “just give him a try” to see if how he would do in a home environment. Celayne said she’d give him a chance and brought him home with her. And Rusty barked. He barked when Celayne left the house. He barked when she came back. He barked when his foster sisters, Daisy and LadyBug, barked. He barked when they didn’t. He barked at adoption events when Celayne stopped petting his head. Eager for attention and affection, he seemed to be trying to make up for all the pets and love he hadn’t gotten in the past.
One day, Celayne noticed that he was not barking as much. It coincided with the time she found him sleeping on her sofa. He’d probably never in his life been allowed to be on furniture! The dog snored contentedly, his head on a decorative pillow. He felt secure enough in this household to do the forbidden (to him, in his previous life) and get on the furniture, Daisy and LadyBug having been kind enough to stay off it on this particular day.
Celayne and Rusty went to several adoption days together. People often commented about what a nice dog he was, but didn’t want to adopt an old dog. “We just lost an 11 year-old lab”, they’d say, or “I’d like to know he’ll be around for a long time”. And Celayne felt sorry that such a very nice and loving dog was passed over.
And she foster-failed.
Rusty now can go wherever he chooses in his house, except the laundry room (that’s where the litter boxes are) and he can play with LadyBug and Daisy in a large fenced yard. But he prefers to spend his days on that comfy couch, head on the pillow, dreaming of an unending series of happy dog days to come.