Yellow Dog

So, yesterday the yellow dog was hit by a car. He left the back yard (I left the gate a bit open and he escaped) and was sniffing around the neighborhood. I was in the shower and then realized that he was gone. I went to the front porch and called him. He came tearing across the street. And was nailed by a mini-van. He continued on and came into the house and went up to his bed. The driver of the mini-van pulled over and apologized and gave me his number to call about the bill. And the mini-van was dented.

So, I took Diesel to the Vet ER. His body was fine. He did have some black grease on his shoulder and haunches where he was hit. He was also smelling nasty. The folks at the hospital said he was in the best condition of any dog that had been hit by a car. And the smell was his anal glands which he expelled. This happens in moments of terrible stress. He was fine, all his vitals were normal. He was prescribed some animal grade IB profin. And I have to watch him and make sure nothing changes. The bill was $120.

So, I called the buy who hit him. I thanked him for stopping and caring. I told him about the pricetag and he said he would stop by. Umm. Anyway, he did stop by. And gave me $50 towards the bill.

I am impressed with people. And my dog. I always think about Diesel v _____. Racoon, cat, bone... whatever. And I always have the oposition winning. But I found out that is not true with Diesel v mini-van. Diesel took it home. I hope he will stop being dumb. Or I will stop being dumb. The whole thing was super scary.

In other news, today I went to Blockbuster to rent a movie. Tired of school and public library films. And when I went up to pay. The lady asked for my member number. I didn't have one. And she was like have you ever had an account. I was like no. She was shocked. So, apparently I am a late bloomer in the Blockbuster world. By the way, there is nothing special about Blockbuster and I cannot believe how many copies of each movie they have on the shelf. This is what makes it different from local, independent stores, no?

Riley RIP

Last Saturday, after a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with Oregonians, good food, good booze, and good times something terrible happened. My friends Greg and Beth and Beth's mom Patrea took Riley on a walk in the woods with Patrea's two other dogs. I stayed at the house and talked with Grandma. In the woods, the group ran into a woman with a dog and a puppy. A fight ensued and during the chaos Patrea's two dogs obeyed and were put under control. Riley did not. Now, I knew he was bad with other dogs and animals. During the month that I had owned him he was always looking for a fight when ever we came across other animals: cats, dogs, ducks, deer, etc. I thought this was so weird considering how cute he was and how good he was with people. I had even taken him to a friend's house and the kids aged 7, 5, 3 rode him around and he was totally fine.

After Patrea's dogs had been called off, Riley continued to attack. (Now all of this is a little unclear because as you all know I was at the house.) Riley had the puppy in his mouth and was killing it. Patrea tried to pull him off, the owner of the puppy was screaming and kicking Riley, and Beth went for the puppy. And then it ended. Beth had a bloody dog bitten hand and the puppy was rushed to the Vet ER.

Back at the house Patrea came in screaming about Riley, a dead puppy, and how I needed to euthanize my dog. WTF. At that moment I was shocked, sad, disappointed, confused. And then Beth came in with her bloody hand and went immediately to the hospital with Patrea.

There I was with Grandma and Greg in Dundee (a small town west of Portland.) I needed to get myself and Riley out of the house. Luckily, Greg was there with his two door sports coup. I had to make the decision of what to do with Riley. As far as I could see I had three choices.

1. Euthanize the dog.
2. Take the dog to Lakeview and have someone who owns a ranch kill the dog.
3. Give the dog to a shelter and tell them what had happened.

All three of these choices sucked for many reasons.

1. Playing god. Being the one to decide whether the dog should live. Paying for the procedure.
2. Although respectful, difficult and I had no way to get back to Lake County any time soon.
3. I think this is irresponsible. The stress this dog had given me and all parties involved was too much and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone. Also, because Riley is so cute and good with people- would they believe me? Would I be blamed for the behavior?

So, after a bit of research Greg and I and Riley headed to Portland to euthanize the dog. It was miserable. It also proved impossible. Because Riley had bitten a human (Beth) he needed to be quarantined for 10 days to ensure he did not have rabies. This is a Oregon law. Now, if Riley had had rabies I would be shocked as would the doctor, the vet, and pretty much everyone involved. The two shelters we went to would not take him off our hands or kill him. I did not want to go to a vet and lie and have him euthanized.

So there we were in the industrial part of Portland after 6 hours of misery and there the dog was in the back seat looking so cute. I had made a terribly hard decision and then could not take action. So, Greg and I decided to get some pizza and beers and talked about other things. During this time we got a phone call confirming the death of the puppy. WTF.

So there I was with a killer dog in Portland on Saturday night. 7 hours from home, no car, nothing. Back to the decision making. We headed back to Dundee and realized that I had two choices: return Riley to the Klamath Falls Shelter where I got him or have a cowboy kill him. I called my boss, Ronne Lindsay, and she said I should return him to the shelter and that they would know what to do with him. I was nervous to do this because I thought the people at the shelter wouldn't believe me or the severity of the situation. As it turned out the woman I spoke to at the shelter when I returned Riley was empathetic and very responsive. She actually teared up while I was crying and telling the story. She said she was going to quarantine Riley and then possibly euthanize him. And she offered me a refund or the option of adopting another dog sometime in the next 6 months. I told her I would think about it.

The whole thing was so weird. It would make a good dark comedy. All of the feelings I had were crazy and I never even imagined a situation this insane. It was so bizarre to be with Riley for about 48 hours after I knew what was going to happen to him. It was hard to distance myself from the dog knowing that what he did was totally beyond his control. He did not mean to kill the puppy. No way. It is just so weird to know that Riley had that hidden in him. And so weird that he didn't seem crazy or dangerous in any way.

So, now I am back in Lakeview and have been since Monday. I am back to square one. No dog. No friends. And my house is cold.

Riley

This is Riley. So cute. That is his bunny. And the other photo is on a hike this morning.
It is about 65 out and I am using the internet on my front lawn. Riley has been exploring the neighborhood, and apparently people do not think he is as cute as I do. The Lakeview police, Officer Boone to be exact just came over and reminded me of the city leash ordinance. I mean common.