Brain Drippings

Zombie Pets

OMG!!! It has been so long since I have blogged anything. *Sigh* My only excuse is that my life is chaotic and everything requires a lot of attention. But enough of my excuses.

Last night Zombie and I were sitting outside and we heard something no one ever wants to hear, a dog being hit by a truck. Needless to say we ran out of the yard to find out how bad it was, what had happened, and if we could help. The person who hit the dog was seriously distressed, an older man who obviously felt traumatized over the event was panicking asking if it was our dog, did we know who it belonged to, where it had gone. Zombie and I played to our strengths…she handled him, I went looking for the dog. In our neighbor’s driveway (they are out of town), we found a young, scared, baby. She is sitting by my feet right now.

She is beautiful, white with three big red spots, and sweet, she hasn’t barked or growled once even though she is obviously uncomfortable. She basically just wants to sit by my feet and accept whatever affection I am willing to give to her. Honestly, it is seriously humbling. I don’t know her story, I am looking for her owners, but if they don’t show up…and Zombie is honestly hoping they don’t cause it was pretty much love at first site for her, she has a home now.

She has thrown up twice and both times it was trash…old bread, wrappers…things you would find on the side of the road – seriously consider what you throw outside of your car and don’t…find a trashcan.

Today I bought her a collar, she didn’t have one, a leash and puppy food – she is only about six months old, she has her canines but not her adult molars. This afternoon Zombie is taking time off work to take her to the vet to have her examined and see if she has a microchip. There is a huge part of me that hopes she does. Not because I want her to go, but because I want her to have been loved. It is fine if she doesn’t, she doesn’t have to go anywhere. The vet will be looking to see if she has a dislocated or broken hip, make sure she doesn’t have worms…a big problem with strays…and treat her for whatever they find (her stomach contents seriously worry me and I can’t help but wonder what else she has eaten).

To me, I would be heartbroken if this were a puppy that I had bought and it had escaped. But, I have had dogs that like to run when the door is opened. You find them and bring them home…I hope that she just ran too fast and that she was in a loving home, not dumped because someone didn’t want to take care of her.

When she first came into the yard, her gums were white. This is a sign on extreme stress in a dog. They are starting to get some color now, but her nose is still dry and she has only eaten a handful of food. She has drank some water and gone pee once. I would imagine that she is still stressed and by the way she walks her leg or hip still hurts…it is at the minimum bruised if not dislocated…I am pretty sure it isn’t broken but only an x-ray will be able to tell for sure. She also looks like she has been bitten by another dog and scrapped her front elbow.

But with all she has gone through, she is gentle and hasn’t nipped or growled at my little snot of a dachshund who has more attitude than any twelve pound dog should. And oddly enough, he isn’t being as big of a snot as I thought he would. Right now he is sitting outside on the deck, shade bathing and hunting flies.

So why am I bringing this up?

First, be responsible for your pets…get them licensed, neutered and microchipped – and register the microchip. Second, as a writer this brings us to where to start a story. Is it important that I know this dog’s backstory or is it just important how she affects our life now?

Just something to think about.

Zombie Tip of the Day:
Run, run, run…and if you can’t run…pray or you will be prey.