Luke is Home

Luke resting with a small portion of his toy pile and shredded papers.

We weren't going to do a post today but we have an exciting story we want to share.

Luke arrived unexpectedly for a weekend and stayed for 5 weeks.  It has been a time of mixed emotions.  He's been cute, he liked to cuddle (for half a second), he's been fun, he's been a pain in the butt, he's kept Jan busy cleaning up after him, he's been destructive ....

He was found early one Saturday morning playing in the street.  A concerned man rescued him and when he couldn't find an owner, a neighbor suggested Jan.  She accepted Luke rather than let him run loose and be hit by a car.

Jan couldn't locate an owner either.  He seemed to be just another young animal abandoned in this area. So she borrowed a crate from the local Humane Society.  A few days later she contacted  an out of area rescue coordinator who found a rescue to accept him.  The rescue located a foster. But transportation didn't come together.

Meanwhile, he needed to be vetted. Enter Mark the gruff Texas rescuer with a soft heart.  This Thursday, thanks to another ride from kind neighbor, Luke had his boosters and rabies vaccination, etc. 

Friday morning, Luke was alone in the back pen when he ran for the gate and stared, tail wagging.  Jan couldn't see whoever was passing.  A few hours later there was a knock at the door.

Luke's family had only had him for a few days when he went out to do his business and disappeared.  A neighbor told him about the woman walking the dog around the neighborhood trying to find an owner, but he'd lost the phone number and couldn't remember where Jan lived.  They had given up hope of ever seeing him again.

Until Friday when they just happened to be walking by and saw Luke in the back yard.  He sure looked like their puppy, although quite a bit bigger.  (Luke is a bassett hound mix and he has grown!) So the man and his oldest son came over to ask about the dog.

After a lot of questions to be sure this wasn't a hoax, Jan brought Luke outside.  He was so excited to see the guy, he peed on the porch.  And when the guy's mother (Luke had been a gift to her) came walking across the street, Luke took off to greet her.   Later the man came back to return our leash and introduced Jan to his wife and two younger children.  They were all thrilled to have their puppy back.

As you can guess, his name is not Luke.  Jan gave him that name for his medical records.  She thought he was lucky to be rescued but she didn't think Lucky suited him.  Luke did and he answered to it from the first.  When she looked it up recently, Luke means Light and a nickname is Lucky.  He will always be Luke to us.

And Jan finally understood why Luke was still here after five weeks.  So he could go home!

There are several people who helped with Luke in one way or another: Kay, Chief Greathouse, ACO Bobby, Peggy, Connie, Mark, Cindy, Pat, the rescue and foster who were willing to take him in (Luke going home opens a spot for another dog in need).  Did we leave out anyone?  Oh, yes, Mr. Doug.  He took Jan to the store today to buy another bag of Puppy Chow. 

We should all sleep well tonight!  Luke has been harassing all of us old fogies to play with him.  It will be nice to not be barked at or have our ears pulled.  On the other hand, it's going to be too quiet around here for a while.  We've kinda gotten attached to the little monster. Guess we'll miss him.  sniff ... sniff ... Anyone have a tissue handy?

PS - If you haven't read this week's Mousebreath interview, you'll find the link in yesterday's post.

PPS - Our giveaway ends at midnight tonight.  Anyone in the US, UK and Canada can enter.