Rescue Journal

Moving Saul

Alison  ·  Aug. 10, 2006

The best part of meeting new animals is getting to know them. Unlike humans, getting to know an animal is more consistent, like peeling an onion, they stay their basic selves thru all of their layers. This is opposed to getting to know humans who can change from, watermelon to crabapple to peach to lime depending on who we want to be on any given day, we mostly keep our real selves hidden inside the whole fruit basket, and really, with the blending of flavours, we are hard to define. I think getting to know an animal is easier because an animal stays who they really are, they just become deeper.

Anyway...moving Saul is no easy task. And getting to know him well enough to get him to move when we need him to, has been a challenge. That dog can fly out a gate in the blink of an eye. Or, he can slowly struggle to his feet, potter a few steps and lay back down. Even worse, he can lay there and look at you, and all the begging, and tugging, and promises in the world are not moving him an inch. Saul moves when it is convenient for him to move, and he goes wherever he feels like going and that is the end of that story. He has picked the three smallest places in the house for his own, the laundry area (which means climbing over a polar bear to switch the loads,) my bedroom, (which entails squeezing along the bottom of the bed to get in or out of it,) or the bathroom, (which is just not going to happen anymore.) Saul is as big as a ride on mower, and the bathroom barely qualifies as a closet.

We have finally discovered that Saul is open to negotiation, find the right food and he will cooperate fully. Dog treats only work if he was contemplating moving anyway, cheese slices work most of the time, and sausages are the big guns that he just cannot refuse. Saul is a food hound, and he is an elite food hound to boot. He now knows we have pizza, and cheese slices and sausages and he is not settling for too much less. He lays there mellow and placid as an overstuffed bear skin rug and waits for the interesting treats to arrive; unless a gate is open, then he is up and off to see the world without the necessary snack.

Comments

Jean

LOL - After the difficulty Nicole and I had getting Saul to come inside the house for his haircut Monday night, I could not BELIEVE the speed at which the bear raced to the open gate on Wednesday!

His choice of resting areas reminds me of a joke my daughter used to like when she was about six years old:
"Where does a 500 pound gorilla sleep?" "Anywhere he wants to!"

If he likes small spaces, it could be he's used to a doghouse. Maybe we need to set up a "den" for him in the dog room - a child's playhouse, perhaps?