UPDATE for MICKEY: January 23rd: Mickey moves in with Stan, Jonna and Madison. Our first meeting went so well, with Madison showing him the upstairs, watching him eat ... and bonding with him in the way only kids and boxers can do.

I met with them the following Saturday, when Mickey went in for his shots, and while he was happy to see me, he was obviously not worried about coming home with me. He sat when Madison told him too, was smitten with her and made my heart absolutely sing. Can you see his heart tag? Madison calmly asked me what my last name was and when I told her, she calmly said, "well, he has our last name now. See? We adopted him!" and showed me his heart tag.

Yep! He has their last name now, and he's been adopted by a Forever Family. And I am forever grateful.

 
Mickey's Story: First, thank you for taking a few minutes to view "Mickey" and reading the story about finding him a Forever Home. You can read original information on Mickey lower down the page. The reason he was surrendered to me at 4-1/2 yrs old was due to "peeing all over the house." I had only ONE accident, as did Jonna and Stan, Mickey's new "parents", and both were the first night he came to stay with us. He is crate trained, rides great in the crate in the car, is cat friendly (with supervision), puppy friendly (with supervision) and listens well. "Leave it!" gets an immediate response. He is having some separation anxiety and doesn't like me to leave him alone long.

January 14th: Jennifer has experienced a family emergency occur and feels the time is not appropriate for her to add additional unease into Mickey's life. I have begun distributing flyers to local pet stores, and placed a listing for him on Craig's List.

January 12th: Mickey met with Jennifer, a potential Adoption Mom. She lives in Larkspur, and additional visits are in the discussion stages. I think they really liked each other!

January 10th: If you've been to my regular web pages at all, you know Mickey's sister, Annie, had a litter on November 7th. Karen and the kids (Annie's "other Mom") went away for the weekend. CJ, Spirit and Crystal came to stay with us Friday and Saturday night. Mickey had a blast! I've been "camera-less" so unfortunately this wasn't caught on film.  :o(

January 5th: He is such a good boy! I am really amazed he was surrendered with his sweet disposition and easy-going manner. He's beginning to emerge from his shell, and today was the first day he ventured onto the furniture. Furniture cuddling is normal behavior in our house, so it's been sweet to see his comfort level increasing. He does leave the room if Marc and I "speak loudly," unlike Mickey's brother Eli, who gets in between us, barking for us to stop. Mickey has a more tender soul.

We have not noticed any more "accidents," his bed has been dry every morning, and he's re-learned how to use the doggy door, going in and out at will. He is a big boy! The vet weighed him in at 82.7 pounds and he looks a lot like both his mamma and daddy, RNL Shadow Dancer and Ch Caymans Nightrider.

We are still paying close attention to his interaction with our black and white cats, Boomer and Tillie, since the first day Mickey was here, as Marc and Tillie went through the front door, the dog followed, hot on Tillie's heels. Marc and I experienced a few minutes of panic as Mickey decided to check out the neighborhood, and I darted in front of moving cars waving my arms wildly. When Mickey decided to head back towards the house, Marc's quick thinking saved the day by opening the car door, inviting Mickey to go "bye-bye" ... Mickey jumped in to go for a ride. Captured! Whew!!!

Boomer, who is our large neutered male cat, is not at all pleased to have an interloper, and continues to challenge Mickey and put him in his place. Last night (Saturday) when Marc and I were in the kitchen with Mickey, Boomer calmly walked under Mickey's belly, caressing Mickey's rib cage with his tail. Mickey was a good boy and Marc and I got a good chuckle. Boomer always has been a bit of a rebel and Mickey's presence has not changed that one bit. Boomer also likes to sit in front of the doggie door, grinning with devilish glee that Mickey will not pass him. Kids!

January 3rd: We took Mickey to to vet, who ran a urinalysis. The results were high PH, low Gravity, slight crystalization in only one area of the sample, and no blood. We put him on antibiotics and Vitamin C, and have set an appointment for him to return a couple of days after he completes his antibiotics. He has stains on his feet and tummy, apparently from acidity.

January 2nd: We picked Mickey up from his owners in Pleasant Hill and brought him home. We had one "accident" that night.

 
Tomorrow it's back to work for Marc, and heading to an offsite project for me. Mickey will travel with me, crated inside my wagon, since I'm not quite comfortable yet leaving him, Boomer and Tillie in the house by themselves. I'm also not yet sure how Mickey will react to both of us leaving the house. Marc said when I went shopping today that Mickey watched through the front window for two hours waiting for me to come home. A couple of days previous to that, he had sat in the middle of the front room howling.

I did receive an email today from his former owners asking how he was doing and hoping that he wasn't too upset by the address change. Poor guy ... he misses his kids although he isn't at all opposed to snuggling on the bed and catching a few zzzzzzs LOL

More on Mickey as the days progress and his personality blooms.

 

Mickey's Stats:

Mickey is the littermate to my Ch TL Cadence Easy Rider, "Eli", and TL Cadence Sweet Dancin' Annie, "Annie".

Born on July 25, 1998, Mickey was my husband, Marc's, favorite, and received his name due to his dark brindle color and resemblance to another famous "Mickey." He was a sweet puppy, playful as all boxers are, and loving.

Mickey went to live with a family with two young children, around 6 months and 5 years old in October 1998. I had contact with the family for a time and then, as often happens as puppies become dogs, and children grow, and email addresses change, we lost contact.

 

On Christmas Eve I received a phone call: There were problems with Mickey, and had been since he was a baby. I was told that he urinates all over the house, and always had. During all of the conversations I had with Mickey's "Mom," never once was I told of Mickey's "challenge." She decided to surrender Mickey, and he needed to be out of their home before January 7, 2003.

 

"Eli," who is our family dog from Mickey's litter, will be staying at Grandma's House in Rohnert Park while Mickey comes to stay with Marc and I for a time.

I have contacted all the Boxer Rescue organizations in the area and was amazed and appalled to learn how many Boxers are "dumped" during the Holiday Season. Chico Boxer Rescue told me there are EIGHT Boxers in the local Shelter and if they don't get rescued they will be euthanased. 

My feeling (and the feedback I've gotten from Rescue) is that Mickey is experiencing a behavioral issue due to either never being properly housebroken or in "resistance" to being ignored. He's coming home so Mama and Papa Dog can figure out what is going on.

If you know of anyone that might be interested in Mickey, please visit my website and fill out my Puppy Information Form, email me at boxers@tl-cadence.com or have them call me at 707-773-2122. I know the puppy I placed was a loving family member. I believe that when Mickey comes home, I'll see that again.

 
 

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