Fast forward a few weeks to when our application for Mezzie was denied. The only person on the board that I trusted (besides Anne) and knew would listen to what I had to say was Laze (GEM's president), so I wrote her an email to let her know my frustrations and expected that to be the end of it. Imagine my surprise the next day when I had an email waiting for me from her. She said that she would rather talk in person (or at the very least over the phone) and invited me to come down to her house. I spent two hours sitting in her living room talking about everything that had happened and her thoughts on it all, when I mentioned that we wanted to do a 'foster with intent' with Mezzie to see how my dads allergies would react to a greyhound. Without hesitation she said..."If you want to see how he will react, why dont you take one of ours for the week?" They were leaving for Jekyll Island, GA for a week and needed still needed someone to watch Prince and Gina. The next evening Prince hitched a ride from Brighton to GB with Ben and Duke.
I picked him up about 10 pm and our 'adventure' began. Laze sent a note in his bag with his feeding instructions and other info that I needed along with the comment "He has really bad teeth and really bad breath, but just love him anyways." Well...that statement was a little understated...he had AWFUL breath. He had been adopted 6 years earlier and had an owner that didnt care for him very well. He hadnt had a dental in that time which caused the bad breath.
But, despite his history, he was a huge lovey-dovey, goofball and stole my heart Laze had told me that he would gladly sleep with me, if I wanted, or he would sleep on the floor. I decided that a twin bed was just too small for me and a greyhound, so I put a pile of blankets on the floor by my bed. An hour after I had gone to bed, I woke to him chattering his teeth, pacing and whining by the side of my bed. Like the softy I am, I gave in and let him sleep in bed with me. From that day on, he has become my snuggle-buddy.
A couple weeks after they got back from Jekyll Island, Robin and Laze asked if I would be interested in staying at their house and watching all of their dogs while they were away at different events, instead of them having to find people to watch them all. I told them absolutely and started watching the dogs in April when they went to Gettysburg. Prince learned quickly that whenever I was there, he was allowed to sleep in the bed. He has gone from waiting to be invited up on the bed, to automatically getting up there when I go to upstairs.
Since our family reunion this July was at the end of the same week as my first week of work, I couldnt go so I told Robin that I would be able to watch the dogs while they were in Louisville after all. I was talking to Robin the Saturday night they were gone (Gina had been sick since they had left and I was out of paper towel :P) and she kept apologizing it then told me that they had gone to see the pet psychic. She told me that Prince had told her that he really loved me and that all the dogs, even Hefty, liked it when I stayed at the house with them.
Well, I didnt think much of it until she was telling me more when they got home Sunday night. They had been having problems with Prince growling, snapping and biting before they left and the psychic told them they he was 'testing' them, thinking that if he was bad enough they would 'give him back'. The psychic also told them that he really, really loved me and would come live with me.
Since theyve been back from Louisville, Ive been over at their house quite a bit - Robin has been out of town and Laze asked me to let the dogs out if she was going to be late getting home from work. Every time I come in the door Prince is the first to greet me and is my shadow the entire time I am there. If I am sitting on the couch he is usually snuggled up on my lap, if I get up for some reason he either gets up and follows me or rests his head on the back of the couch to watch me, he has even started sleeping with me downstairs while the rest of the dogs are upstairs. Robin and Laze joke that Im his girlfriend! :P
A week ago Wednesday, Prince finally had a chance to go see a veterinary dental specialist to have his teeth looked at. The vet ended up removing 14 teeth, including all 4 canines, (to go along with the 14 the normal vet was able to pull last year), leaving him with just 7 tiny teeth. Despite all he has been through, he is happier that Ive ever seen him. He has the energy of a 3 year old puppy in a 9 1/2 year old body.
He is still the goofy, silly, lovey, cuddle bug that stole my heart back in February but with MUCH better breath. I truly love him as much as if he were my own dog!
My silly, goofy, cuddle-bug - Prairie Prince!
