Introducing Oliver.
Today I had to skip my calculus class so I could pick up my new foster dog, Oliver. His name was originally Owls, but the rescue felt it was not 'dignified' enough for him. Personally I think Owls is cute, but whatever.
He is three years old, and very large. I would say he is the size of DaVinci plus one half. He is not neutered, but he is, thankfully, submissive and not territorial. DaVinci of course had his tail all up when they smelled each other, but they are doing well. Probably because DaVinci likes to sleep on the couch next to me, and Oliver sleeps on the floor. He hasn't even attempted to get on the couch.
He will take a little work to open up. I had to take him to Petsmart to get a new martingale for him because the 10" collar the rescue sent him was too small, and I have to be able to take him out on leash to go potty. He balked at getting out of the car when he realized he was in another parking lot, probably because he's been exchanging a lot of hands the past few days. I think I am home #4. He is quite timid but curious also. The cat terrifies him, but he doesn't seem aggressive. He mostly just wants to smell things. He really enjoys the balcony and looking at cars going by on the road.
Tomorrow I should have his rescue ID, and then we can take him to the vet to get a check up. He will probably need to gain some weight before they will do the neuter surgery. You can see all his ribs.
He came from Craigslist. His owners kept him outside and stopped really feeding him (this was in winter), so the neighbor decided to take it upon herself to feed him and put sweaters on him when the weather was inclement. Eventually she finally asked them if she could just find him a new home, and they didn't seem to care either way. So she posted him online, where the rescue found him and took him in.
It really breaks my heart to see how people treat animals, and to know how many animals die because they are unwanted. Town Lake Animal Shelter euthanized 17000 dogs last year. That's just one shelter, in a relatively small city.