Meet the Best New Foster Dog Ever - Dude

Dear Readers (if you don't want to read this, at least watch the video of Dude/Kade and Mina being cool),

There comes a time in one's fostering career in which you find a dog who is amazingly awesome. Not just regular awesome, but amazingly so.

Now is that time.

And Kade is his name. Actually, I call him Dude. It's catchier. You can elongate it, Duuude. You can call him Senor Dude. Duders. Dude-meister. Sir Dude. Mr. Dude. Many permutations. Also, I feel that Kade deserves a new name for a new start.

He is 7, but now that he has the Rimadyl he feels 5, at most.

Kade was a guardian surrender, meaning his legal guardians dropped him and his 11-yr-old pack-mate/sister off at the shelter.

Now readers, I try to be a compassionate person. So, the story I have created for Kade and his sister is that his real guardian died and the family remaining (one child, no other relations) has a dog-aggressive monster-beast at home. It is hard for me to fathom any other reason for relinquishing 7-yr-old and 11-yr-old dogs.

Kadde's sister was euthanized. She suffered from an extreme load of heartworm that could not be treated.

So you can imagine that his first week with me wasn't easy, for anyone. Kade paced. He could have won a sad medal for extreme panting. He suffered from arthritis in his rear-end. He hated his crate and would cry at night and tear asunder his blankets and beds. He wanted to be outside more than inside.

I saw a grieving, confused animal trying to make sense of what must have been the most shocking of transitions.

And readers, Kade handled it as gracefully as one could ask of a middle-aged dog thrown into a crazy-new situation.

Now, two weeks later, Dude is a different dog. He feels stronger, because of the walks. His arthritis seems less bothersome. His idea of a walk is to meander in front of me and then whine when I stop to wait for him to cease the pulling. Toys are still a baffling concept to him, but he knows how to play with people and Mina-dogs.

EVIDENTIARY MATERIAL

Mainly, he just wants to lay down near me or Mina. He wants to be in my circle but not in a pushy, needy sort of way.

Our morning routine is as such - I sneak out of my room (Dude is loose at night and when I'm gone, cuz he's THAT damn awesome) to the glares of Mina and Celeste. Dude gets up, tail wagging, eyes soft, and howls. And then we walk to the glass sliding door, and he goes outside and turns to me, tail slowly arcing back and forth, and he howls again. Then he pees. This is an excellent tradition that I hope does not annoy too many neighbors.

Dude is a supreme being. He needs a home where he can relax, chill, take short strolls, howl at you and maybe fire engines, play with a girl-dog friend, and be able to snooze indoors or outdoors, wherever he sees fit.

I feel anyone who is willing to adopt a 7-yr-old dog is also willing to give Dude his Rimadyl and Cosequin daily, because you will obviously feed him twice a day and can just throw those bad boys into his food dish. Dude has a soft mouth and is gentle with treats. He knows sit and that's it. Sit is all he needs to know, people. He does not need to know fancy twirls or shakes or downs. I am teaching him stay, because that's kinda important. He knows come because he knows his name (which means come in his head).

Dude is an easy dog. HE WILL EASILY CRAM HIMSELF INTO YOUR HEART. That's a fact.

Adoption information