He's the chihuahua that lives in the yard behind my house. Let me first give you a little background history.When Jared and I moved into our house at the end of January, there was no activity at the house behind us. The landlady had told me that a guy lived there, but we never saw him. His car would come and go, but we never saw any life.
Then about three weeks after we moved in, we saw this little guy...
Sidebar: I will mention that I've traditionally been a big dog kind of gal. I grew up with a white boxer and have had several big dogs during my life. I have never liked Chihuahuas because of their nervous behavior and high-pitched yipping. But I thought this little guy was cute. He would bark just a little bit when we'd come outside, but stop a few seconds later when he saw we weren't a threat.So, here's my theory: It's a single guy (about 40-ish) living alone in the house. About the same time the Chihuahua shows up, the guy's in the back yard mowing the lawn and sprucing up the yard. Then later that day, I see a woman and two kids around middle school age in the back yard throwing around a ball (but not the guy...he was inside). There's another Shih-Tzu type dog in the yard playing with Gringo. (By the way, I know his name is Gringo because I heard one of them call him that.) So, I'm thinking this is the guy's new girlfriend with her kids. But when the girlfriend's not there, the dog is outside ALL THE TIME. Now I'm thinking the girlfriend got the dog as a present for the boyfriend...but the boyfriend doesn't really want the damn dog because it's just a nuisance and that's why it's outside ALL THE TIME. I kind of gathered that when one day I saw it scratching at the door and Mr. Nice Guy opened the door, grabbed the poor thing by the scruff of its neck and yanked it inside.
One day I was planting some flowers in some planters outside and noticed one of the kids outside sitting on the step with the two dogs. He went back inside the house and a few minutes later, Mr. Nice Guy threw the kid outside and locked the door. I went inside to save the kid the embarrassment of me seeing what happened, but the kid spent the next 20 minutes trying to get him to let him back inside the house. Sounds like a real catch, huh? Every woman's dream.Jared, Jeffrey, Erica and I were sitting on the back patio one day when Gringo was in the yard. A chain link fence separates our yards and there's a gate in the middle. The space between the gate and the fence is large enough for Gringo to get through, so he came on over to our yard to see what was going on. We all love dogs, so we were talking to him, but he wouldn't get close enough for us to pet him...he was very nervous, but his tail was wagging so you could tell he wanted to be friends.
The next day, I went outside and sat on the step that goes out to my patio. Gringo came over and I gave him some time to get used to me. And after a while, he tucked his head under my arm and put his front legs on my lap and just sat there for a long time. Every time I would pet his head, he would duck it low as if he thought I was going to hit him. Poor little guy. I'll be happy to be his surrogate mom since Mr. Nice Guy doesn't seem to give a rat's ass about him. So now Chihuahuas are starting to grow on me.
So, I come home after work tonight and this is what I see in the back yard. Mr. Nice Guy put a board on the fence so that Gringo can't get through. I know he's not my dog and I have no rights...but when he ran up to the fence SOOO happy to see me, it just broke my heart.
He has no place to sleep...just underneath the stairs.
Why do people have pets when they want nothing to do with them??
6 comments:
That's pretty much how I got all my dogs except Iris the Border Collie--she's a high end retail purchase dog. Sully, came out of a ditch in Sully County in the middle of the winter--he's a Jack Russell. I know you, DH, and if you haven't already approached Mr. Turkey, you probably will. Gringo, likes you. By the way, they "dig" so the board isn't going to do any good. (they love to be itched under the collar). The girl friend probably won't be around long.
Deb, this makes me so sad! Talk about a dog that needs to be rescued. Gringo is so cute. I hope the girlfriend's not around long because her kids shouldn't be around that jackhole! And I hope Gringo finds his way out of that yard again!
I was always a little dog person until Saby came into our lives. She was never mistreated, but her owner just couldn't keep her anymore because he ended up homeless.
This makes me so sad I'm crying. What a sweet little dog. You would make a wonderful mom to him.
That's so sad! But I'm glad you & your family are around to give him some love--hope there's a happy ending & you get the dog!
Paul - No, I haven't approached the guy and don't intend to. He's on the scary side, so I plan on having as little to do with him as possible.
Beck - I haven't seen the girlfriend or her kids around for the past week or so. Hopefully, she wised up pretty quickly.
Jeanie - There's a woman at work who reads my blog and she sent me an e-mail this morning saying she cried when she read it. Sad animal stories always make people cry!
Ann - Well, now that the board's up, we won't be able to give Gringo a whole lot of love. Although I went out last night at about 9:00 to give him a pat goodnight and Mr. Nice Guy pulled into his driveway when I was at the fence. Yikes! I went into the house and closed the blinds! He creeps me out!
Animal abuse comes in all varieties. Call your local Humane Society.
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