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Mountain Thyme Photo Album
The New Inn Dog | |
Oct 2001 |
A couple of days after the September 11, 2001 attack, I returned to Dallas to do some
contract work on a computer system I had developed. One night I got a call from Rhonda
with some very surprising news:
You must understand that Rhonda was always a "cat person". When we first met and talked of many things, one of the things I learned about Rhonda was that there simply was NO GOOD REASON to have a dog! They are loud, messy, jump all over you, bark, lick and always need attention. They are simply beyond any value what-so-ever!!! |
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Now you may imagine my great surprise at the news. Well, there was one other.
"You know that Income Tax refund check they have been mailing out to everyone?
Well, yours came and I spent it all at the Vet for the new dog. The guests named
him Roufus."
It seems we had an Inn full of dog-lovers. And they ALL seemed to think that this would be the perfect Inn dog!
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Roufus was found on the side porch curled up and about half dead. He had probably been
dumped in the National Forest and had barely made it to the first place he found.
One of our guests had experience in rescuing dogs and went to the store for dog food, medicine and some doggy shampoo. They had to work to get him to eat and drink at first. But he did, and he got a bath. It was only a start. |
Oct 2001 |
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Rhonda said his fur was thin and about gone, he obviously had some kind of skin infection, and he
stank terribly. And everyone said this was the perfect dog for her. She kept trying to figure
out what this was suppose to mean about her...
Finally, she relented and agreed that he could stay and that she would provide him with a bed on our back porch. Folks took up a collection for the Vet, and one couple accompanied Rhonda to take him in. After the initial exam, Rhonda was informed that the dog had virtually every kind of worm, including heart worms. He was so old and weak, he might not survive the treatment. The fee to keep him there, get him strong enough, and to give him all the medicines and care was very substantial. | |
Oct 2001 |
That's when Rhonda committed my tax refund.
The Vet was so moved by the effort to save and adopt this poor old hound, that he offered to provide his personal services for free, and charge only for the medicines and other necessities. Unbeknownst to Rhonda, the couple who went with her to the vet, circled back after she left and gave the Vet another $100 against the tab. Roufus already had a growing new family! When I returned from Dallas, Roufus was back from the Vet, weak but cured. |
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When I first met him, he was on his little bed on the back porch.
And what difference it would make!
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