Charlie is looking for his forever home and then there is Superdog!

Charlie is looking for his forever home

Our guest blogger this week is Jack Parker, engineer, blogger, and renaissance man!

  When I was ten years old, I had a dog who had a secret identity – he was Superdog! He had kept this secret carefully, but one day his superpowers were inadvertently displayed for all to see.

By day, he was a mild-mannered Peekapoo named Snoopy- a loving, intelligent, energetic dog. We had acquired him from some friends in El Paso, Texas where, apparently, there was never a recorded case of thunder anytime in his life; because he was terrified of it. The routine thunderstorms in Huntsville turned him into a howling blob of jelly. The only cure for thunder was for one of us to touch him. Constantly. It was best if we just gave up on the “no dogs on the couch” rule and let him sit in our laps.  When it wasn't thundering, though, he was as cheerful and patient as they come.

His favorite game was to wait until someone opened the front door and then run as fast as the wind to the next door neighbor's backyard to play with Charlie, a dog of uncertain breed. Snoopy loved this game, and would laugh the whole time he was running to see his friend because he knew we couldn't catch him before he got next door. His superpowers were revealed as a result of this game.

One day, I opened the front door and he ran out. I ran after him with more than usual urgency. I called his name and yelled for him to stop. He laughed at me, like he always did. Nothing could stop him, and he knew it! I ran after him as fast as I could; but he was too fast. Just as I rounded the corner of the house, he reached the neighbor's yard and showed off his superpowers. He could fly! His front feet stopped moving forward. His back feet, and the whole back of his body, lifted off the ground. Then his whole body started to fly. He must have stopped flying when he saw me, because he crashed unceremoniously to the ground about a second later.

The neighbor had put up a chain link fence that he didn't see, and he hit it nose-first at full speed. Fences are dog kryptonite.

===

Art by Idiehl

             

Charlie was rescued from Animal Services because his previous owners decided he was too expensive to feed.  Sadly, they had not educated themselves well on exactly how much to feed, and so were overfeeding him and it resulted in Charlie being very very overweight.  He had difficulty moving in the shelter and was just so large that he needed what a rescue could give him - time to recover and get healthy before being adopted!  Charlie weighed a whopping 134lbs when he came out of the shelter.  His foster mom estimates he should be about 90 lbs so that means he was 45 lbs overweight.  He is a big boy, tall and with a beautiful head and (potential) build.  He was still massively overweight at 134 lbs.  He has been on limited intake of food and has begun a gradual excersize program, going from 1.5 miles of walking to 4 miles in a months time.  He has fun dogs in this foster home that also keep him busy (and burning calories).  In his first month he lost nearly 15 lbs.  His foster mom continues to monitor his intake and gradually increase what he can do.  He's responding beautifully, already showing signs of being more comfortable and finding it easier to move.

But enough about his weight!  Charlie is a great guy and will be available when he loses about another 20 lbs.  (so that we know what food/exercise ratio he should be on to lose that last 10 or 15 lbs in his new home).  He is house broken, cat and dog friendly, and just an easy going guy.  He is all lab in the friendly goofy way that makes labs labs.  His new home must agree to keep him on the right amount of food and keep him physically active!  As he loses weight he is getting more and more active and he wants to stay that way.  He loves walks and chasing tennis balls and just hanging around.  He would love to have a dog buddy in his new home.  He gets along well with both big and small dogs but needs a medium large dog to play with!  He is great with all people including kids.  You must agree to understand he peels the felt off tennis balls and will need a continual supply and that he will also grind soft toys in half (because apparently they feel like floss)

You can follow Charlie on Facebook

If you would like to contribute a story to the FOR blog, please mail the contents along with an image or two to blog@forrescue.net.

 At the end of 2014 individuals who submitted content for the FOR blog will be entered in a drawing for a free pet portrait