Dog Lovers!

[ICTJOCK]

So a fantastic Thursday to all!    So how many of you are dog lovers and wake up with the love and admiration of your canine comopanion(s)?

A beagle lover here.    "Scout-Scout"  gives good wishes.    It was a late night and he is giving me a little comfort!

[+ poolboy48220]

I'm with you. I was always a dog person but when we adopted 8 years ago it changed my life. She arrived Sunday and was wary and barking at me, by Tuesday she was sleeping in my (now "our") bed. 

When I hire now I do outcall because she doesn't like being shut out of the bedroom. 

Edited August 17, 2023 by poolboy48220

[+ Charlie]

A number of years ago in New York, I hired an escort whose jealous French Bulldog kept trying to join us. When we finished, he got between us in the bed to prevent any further hanky-panky. Luckily, I am a dog lover, but I am not into threesomes.

[ICTJOCK]

47 minutes ago, Charlie said:

A number of years ago in New York, I hired an escort whose jealous French Bulldog kept trying to join us. When we finished, he got between us in the bed to prevent any further hanky-panky. Luckily, I am a dog lover, but I am not into threesomes.

LOL,   Interesting story there.    I'm sure my beagles would like to join,  but they are always secured if I have visitors of that nature!

[+ purplekow]

AT one point I had seven rescues of all shapes sizes and colors.  Now just the sisters, two rescue pit bulls and the old lady who I have had for 8 years.  All were adopted at the behest of an escort who rescues dogs.  

[samhexum]

 

Pet-friendly NYC homes pay $250 extra in monthly rent, study says

A data study performed by Zumper to determine the most pet-friendly cities across the United States saw New York City rank 95th out of 100 cities on the list.  The only cities in the study to score lower than New York City were Jersey City, N.J., Anaheim, Calif., Santa Ana, Calif. and Urban Honolulu, Hawaii.

The low ranking in the study was thanks in large part to the conclusion reached that determined residents who reside in pet-friendly homes in New York City pay an average of $250 extra in rent each month.  and that's if you can find one that allows pets.

 

Edited August 17, 2023 by samhexum
for absolutely NO @%!*ING reason at all!

[jeezifonly]

We are animal lovers - had cats for years, and later transitioned to dogs, for past 16, now.

Both are hilarious and love 💕to love🤩🥰

[+ BobPS]

7 hours ago, Charlie said:

A number of years ago in New York, I hired an escort whose jealous French Bulldog kept trying to join us. When we finished, he got between us in the bed to prevent any further hanky-panky. Luckily, I am a dog lover, but I am not into threesomes.

 

7 hours ago, Charlie said:

A number of years ago in New York, I hired an escort whose jealous French Bulldog kept trying to join us. When we finished, he got between us in the bed to prevent any further hanky-panky. Luckily, I am a dog lover, but I am not into threesomes.

By chance , was that escort's first name Tom and did he live near 33rd and 3rd?

[+ BobPS]

I’m a dog lover. This is my little girl. 

[+ Charlie]

30 minutes ago, BobPS said:

 

By chance , was that escort's first name Tom and did he live near 33rd and 3rd?

Why, yes!

[+ BobPS]

54 minutes ago, Charlie said:

Why, yes!

Small world! I met the dog in 2009. He was  the first French bulldog I ever saw in person. I did not meet Tom. When I met the dog, I was in the apartment because Tom was away, and was allowing another provider, David SF to use the  apartment. 

[+ Charlie]

13 hours ago, BobPS said:

Small world! I met the dog in 2009. He was  the first French bulldog I ever saw in person. I did not meet Tom. When I met the dog, I was in the apartment because Tom was away, and was allowing another provider, David SF to use the  apartment. 

Small world indeed! I have met DavidSF socially, but I didn't know he had any connection to Tom.

[+ Just Sayin]

I love these interconnections!

[BuffaloKyle]

I'm very allergic to cats and dogs so I can't own one because even though I can take allergy pills and be fine I still don't want to be having to take them everyday just to have a dog. My sister has a black lab so I get to enjoy one whenever I want and spoil with treats and toys.

[Lazarus]

My 11 year old beagle died unexpectedly in 2022. It was the worst day of my life. I miss him every day. 

[+ sync]

I ceased dog ownership after my third loss.  I lost two to automobile strikes and the third one to cancer.  The consuming grief from the third loss solidified my decision to forego any future dog ownership. My encounters with the dogs of neighbors sustain me for the present.

[+ Just Sayin]

1 hour ago, sync said:

I ceased dog ownership after my third loss.  I lost two to automobile strikes and the third one to cancer.  The consuming grief from the third loss solidified my decision to forego any future dog ownership. My encounters with the dogs of neighbors sustain me for the present.

would you ever consider fostering a dog?  our shelters here are overflowing and foster humans are needed

[+ sync]

17 minutes ago, Just Sayin said:

would you ever consider fostering a dog?  our shelters here are overflowing and foster humans are needed

That is a beautiful thought, but I just know I would bond and have to face the eventual inevitable separation be it to another owner or demise.

[56harrisond]

[ICTJOCK]

Very cute for sure

[+ BobPS]

Both of them!

[+ poolboy48220]

This showed up in my facebook feed today:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQO_pKYioeI

[Hen]

[samhexum]

@ICTJOCK said:  A beagle lover here.   "Scout-Scout"  gives good wishes. 

BELLAIRE, Mich. − He’d had enough of being at the animal shelter, so Scout the dog climbed over one tall fence and then another, crossed a busy highway in the darkness, entered the automatic doors of a nursing home down the road, walked unnoticed into the lobby, hopped onto a couch, curled into a ball and quietly went to sleep for the night.

An astonished nurse there found him the next morning. She called Antrim County Animal Control, whose shelter happens to be just down the road. And they discovered that he'd escaped from there the night before.

Scout was a stray mutt. He had no identity, no history. The shelter staff gave him his new name, but otherwise they knew nothing about him, though they noticed he had the distinct demeanor of an abused dog. Somebody apparently once shot him too, with BBs or birdshot, because his jowl still had some kind of round pellets embedded in it. You couldn’t see them, but you could feel them if he let you touch him.

The sheriff came and took him back to the shelter.

 

Scout the dog sits on the couch in the lobby of Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility on Thursday, July 13, 2023. It's the spot where staff found him after he escaped from a nearby animal shelter.

But a few nights later there was Scout, back on that same couch in the nursing home lobby. Somehow he again scaled a 10-foot chain-link fence, then a 6-foot solid privacy fence, crossed a highway without getting run over, entered the front door unnoticed, jumped onto the same couch as before and made himself at home for the night.

A call was placed again. He was brought back to the shelter again.

Just a couple of nights after that, Scout was back on the couch for the third time. And the staff had a decision to make.

Lost and found

Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility is a long-term medical care residence about an hour northeast of Traverse City. It cares mostly for seniors, some of whom have terminal illnesses, or dementia, or simply nowhere else to go or nobody to look after them. There are 82 beds split between several smaller households.

For some reason, this is the place Scout the dog decided to make his home.

“I’m a person who looks at outward signs, and if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be,” said Marna Robertson, 57, the nursing home’s administrator. “He did that one time, two times, three times, and obviously that’s something that you should pay attention to. And I asked the staff, ‘Well, he wants to be here. Would anybody like to have a dog?’”

 

Scout walks past residents of Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility in Bellaire on Thursday, July 13, 2023.

The staff formally adopted him. Suddenly the nursing home had its own pet. And the residents were delighted.

“I think it reminds them of being home,” said Rhonda Thomczak, 49, the administrative assistant at Glacier Hill, the household where Scout was first discovered. “When you’re home you have your pets, and you don’t get to have that here. Having a dog around makes it feel like home.”

Scout has free rein here at Glacier Hill, which houses about 20 seniors. He wanders the halls at will, lies down wherever he wishes and visits residents whenever the mood strikes him. He learned how to get into their rooms by jumping up and using his paw to pull down on door handles. And he knows which residents keep dog biscuits in their walkers to give to him.

“To each and every one of them, it’s their dog,” said Jenni Martinek, 49, the nursing home’s household coordinator, in whose office Scout has his bed and his toys.

'We woof you!'

Earlier this year, the nurses held a fundraiser in Scout’s honor. They put his photo on social media and asked for donations to the animal shelter that brought him in off the street, and thus to them. Hundreds of dollars came in from strangers who heard how he got there. Someone even came by just to meet this dog they saw online. And in February, he was named Resident of the Month. “We woof you!” said the poster announcing the honor, written by the staff. “Thank you for adopting us!”

 

Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility resident Butch Craig, 80, gives a bone to Scout after shaking his paw on Thursday, July 13, 2023.

It was just after lunch on a summer weekday, and Scout was making his rounds to see his favorite residents. He visited Butch Craig’s room, where the 80-year-old creates arts and crafts that are displayed along his windowsill. Scout comes here for biscuits, which he then buries in Craig’s chair for later use.

The dog then walked down the hall to see Bob Shumaker, whose room he enters in the middle of the night to wake the sleeping 84-year-old by pressing his wet snout against Shumaker’s sleeping face. It was startling at first, but now Shumaker likes it, so he pretends to be asleep while Scout repeats the snout press until Shumaker gives him a biscuit.

Scout made his way to the living room, just outside the dining area, where he found Shumaker’s sister, Shirley Sawyer, 82, who now lives under the same roof as her brother, just like they did as kids. And like the others he visited before, her face lit up when she saw him. “He’ll always let you pet him and lets you talk to him if you need someone to talk to,” she said, petting the dog. “It’s very nice.”

 

Scout found his forever home at Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility in Bellaire.

Where ever did you come from, pup?

But Scout is still a mystery. Nobody knows where he came from, what his original name was, how he wound up a stray that was picked up and brought to the county shelter. And nobody knows what bad things happened to him. “All they knew is he was abused,” Martinek said. “He was just very scared.”

Even now, his walk still has the slight hint of a cower, and his tail stays a little lowered even when it’s wagging. He’s frightened by loud noises. He’s leery in general of men who don’t live there. Even jangling keys get him nervous for some reason. And his expression is softly somber.

But most of all, nobody knows why he wanted to be here so badly.

“You know, it’s really hard to say,” Robertson said. “Maybe he felt like it was a safe environment. He certainly has a penchant for the elders. He’s very in tune with what they need, especially our very vulnerable population. If they have dementia or if they’re dying he knows that, and he will go and be with them and comfort them. He must’ve just felt like he needed to be here.”

Self-appointed protector

Indeed, as soon as he was given a home, he appointed himself its protector.

“He’s always watching, making sure everybody’s OK,” Martinek said. “If somebody is in the passing process, he’s in and out of the room, checking on them. He’ll even want to climb in bed with them.”

“He can sense that,” added Stephanie Elsey, 42, the facility’s clinical care coordinator. “We’ve had a few in the past whose room he won’t leave. We had a resident that when he was passing away, Scout wouldn’t leave his room. He makes a good nursing home dog. He knows his job and he’s good at what he does.”

 

Cheryl Patton, director of nursing at Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility, pets Scout as he makes his way around the facility in Bellaire with clinical care coordinator Stephanie Elsey on Thursday, July 13, 2023. "He makes a good nursing home dog," Elsey said. "He knows his job and hes good at what he does."

Scout came home with Martinek one time, the night the facility held a loud disaster drill that they knew would scare him. “I thought he’d climb in bed with me and sleep, but he laid in front of my bedroom door, one eye open, watching to make sure I was safe all night long, ‘cause he was protecting,” she said. “He was so exhausted by the time he came back here.”

A visitor rang the doorbell. Scout headed to the door, barked a few times and sat there waiting to see what who was trying to enter. He’s not big and he’s not menacing, but he goes through the motions anyway. “He just kind of knows who belongs or doesn’t,” Martinek said. "So if the doorbell rings he barks to let them know he’s guarding.”

 

'He knows his job and he’s good at what he does'

Later that day, Craig inched his walker down the hallway until he reached Martinek’s office. She was out, and he looked concerned. “I’m supposed to have pizza,” he said to nobody.

Last fall, a friend he’s known since childhood told him that she’d come by on July 13 this year to have a pizza dinner with him. They could go outside, she said, and sit in the sunny courtyard and enjoy pizza together in the fresh air of summer.

 

Scouts lays in the shade and remains on the lookout as Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility resident Bob Shumaker talks with household coordinator Jenny Martinek during an outdoor pizza party for another resident on Thursday, July 13, 2023. “He’s always watching, making sure everybody’s OK,” Martinek said.

On July 13, Craig waited for the doorbell to announce her arrival. The dinner hour came and went, but the friend never showed up. He called her at her downstate home. It turned out she simply forgot her offhand promise to him.

“But he didn’t forget,” said Martinek. “And so he has looked forward to this for months. Months and months. Since before Christmas. And he was devastated.”

The sight of him sitting in his room, alone and downhearted, was too much. “When you spend five days with them you become close with them and they become part of your extended family,” Martinek said of the residents. “And you don’t want to see them hurt.”

Guarding the people he adopted

The very next day, she threw him a pizza party of her own to show him he has friends who don’t forget about him. In fact, she was out getting pizzas when Craig came looking for her. But he didn’t know that. “I’m supposed to have pizza,” he said again, roaming the halls, leaning on his walker. It started looking to him like a repeat of the day before.

This time, though, he wasn’t stood up. Here came Martinek, his favorite nurse, with the pizzas she promised. Here came Shumaker and Sawyer, the brother and sister, who sit with Craig every day in the dining room at lunch, now summoned for the special party. And here came Scout, the dog that knows when someone isn’t feeling great, as if sensing yet again where he was needed the most.

 

Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility household coordinator Jenny Martinek checks on resident Butch Craig, 80, as Scout lurks behind her during a pizza party for Craig and a couple of his friends on Thursday, July 13, 2023.

They all gathered at a table under the shade of a wide umbrella. Scout sat at their feet. Someone offered him a bite of pizza, but he didn’t eat it. Maybe he had too many treats from the residents that day and wasn't hungry, they speculated. Or maybe he was just content to be included in the party with his favorites. Instead, he laid his head down between his paws, resumed his somber expression and went back to guarding the people he adopted.

“I think he knows that this is his home and he is all of ours, so that gives him a sense of security,” Thomczak said. “And I think he just wants to protect that.”

 

Scout sits in a hallway next to Jenny Martinek, household coordinator at Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility in Bellaire, on Thursday, July 13, 2023. After finding the stray dog sleeping on a couch in their lobby, nurses at the facility had to decide what to do with him.

This article originally appeared in Detroit Free Press: Dog repeatedly escapes Michigan shelter, sneaks into nursing home

Edited September 1, 2023 by samhexum
for absolutely NO @%!*ING reason at all!

[+ poolboy48220]

When we moved my father to assisted living, finding a place that would allow his dog Lola (a 90-lb retriever) was an requirement. The residents loved her, and when I visited I'd bring my dog (similar size), and we always spent time in the lobby lounge so residents could see her for a bit. They knew my dog's name but not mine 🙂. The dog requirement limited our choice to just one or two facilities, which is a shame; I understand liability concerns, but the dogs bring so much happiness to the people living there. 

Edited August 31, 2023 by poolboy48220