Mary, Mary, Where you going to?

Last week, on one of what I like to call my daily adventures, I struck out Thursday morning in the direction of Grenada for a little rescue mission. I had recently gotten a distress call from a childhood friend of mine who is now in ill health. Gwen has to move closer to her children in another state so they can help care for her but she can’t take all of her pets with her so she called and wanted to know if I could help her find homes for her furry babies.

During a previous visit, I had already met most of her fur babies and one in particular had stood out. Little Mary. Little Mary is a medium sized mutt or a “dukes mixture.” She has the saddest brown eyes and the air of a dog that has suffered abuse. Gwen had rescued Mary from a grocery parking lot in Grenada but it took many visits and several chicken tenders to gain the dogs’ trust. Mary also came with 10 puppies. The first day I met Little Mary she walked to me allowed me to touch her. My friend was shocked and she said that she knew that Mary would be fine with me.

I stopped at Wal-Mart and picked out a new lease and a collar and some other doggy supplies like shampoo and flea products and food and then went on Operation Rescue Mary. Gwen had been telling little Mary daily that she loved her and she wasn’t throwing her away. I arrived at their home in the boonies of Grenada Lake with the new lease and some chicken tenders.

The other fur babies along with Little Mary’s 10 babies had already been picked up and carried to new homes. Only Mary and couple of others remained. I offered Mary a piece of chicken and she gently took it from me and chewed it while I talked to her and put her on the lease. That was a new experience for her. I ended up picking her up and putting her in the front of the van. Then I got in and we drove off.

Mary just looked at me with her soulful brown eyes and I talked to her all the way home. She never took her eyes off of me and she stood the whole trip down 330 and then 32 to Bruce. I didn’t know how she would react when we got home because it was time to pick up the girls from school. She just looked at them as they got into the van.

When we arrived at home, she came into the house and looked around and lay down on the floor and never made a sound. She promptly went to sleep and slept for hours. She woke up and ate and drank some water. Then she drank some water and crawled under my bed and went to sleep again.

When I woke up Friday morning she was sitting on the loveseat at the foot of my bed and shyly wagged her tail. I put the lease on her and she walked outside with me. We walked around the yard and she sniffed and listened and looked around. Then she sat and wouldn’t move.

While giving her a much needed bath I discovered that she is absolutely terrified of hoses which leads me to think that she was hit with a hose and while she doesn’t mind water in a tub, don’t even think about pouring it on her. So bath time was a traumatic time for us. She tolerated it and I have the sore muscles and a few bruises to show for it.

The good news is that after a few days she no longer tucks her tail and drops her head. Her favorite spot is curling up on the sofa or sitting at my feet with her head on my knee. She has even rolled over on her back and allowed me to scratch her tummy. So far she still hasn’t made a sound except for a grunt when she wants to go out.

I promised my friend that I would give Little Mary a good home and unconditional love. I think Mary has found out she has nothing to worry about.