Five-Minute Friday: I FORGOT!!!

One of these days I will remember to put up my Five-Minute Friday Writing ON FRIDAY!! Man, I'm so bad about that! I know there have only been two of them, but so far I'm 0-2. Here's to hoping for next time! The thing that kills me is that I actually write it, and then I don't post the silly thing! Well, here is my second installment of Five Minute Friday!

Writing Session #2

Here is the picture that I used for inspiration:

Here is what I wrote:

My Norseman, who happens to be a dog

Sheltered by a dumpster.
Sun-burnt until your pale skin
turned the color of a Maine lobster.
Your fine, white hair burnt off your tiny body.
Dark blotches in its place, 
the color of incoming storm clouds.
I think that saying is true--"The sidewalk's so hot, you could fry an egg."

Your dark brown, M&M shaped eyes.
Longing eyes.
Deep, desperate, scared eyes.

You slept in a laundry basket.
You held your stuffed octopus.
Your brother protected you from outside the plastic bars.

Day-by-day we gained your trust.
You gained strength.
You learned English.
You played with toys.
You learned to talk to people with those M&M eyes.

You're ours forever.
You'll never have to go back.

I'm sorry the sound of chains rattling still scares you.
I'm sorry talking loudly makes you think I'm angry.
I can only love you every day and hope
that you don't remember that you were found under a dumpster.

Back Story

This is my dog, Thor (affectionately called "Littles"). This is a picture we took right after we adopted him. 7/7/2010 was the day we got Littles (Rachie's birthday). We were looking to adopt another dog. We already had a Pekingese, Rufus. We just couldn't find another dog that was "right" for us. 

One night, really late, our neighbor came down and knocked on our door with Thor in her arms. She told us that she knew we were looking to adopt a dog. She couldn't take any more (she had 5), and she didn't know what to do with this little guy. She found him earlier that day under a dumpster at Aldi close to our houses on a busy street. We think someone pulled up in this strip mall's parking lot, dumped him, and left. (Two days later she found another chihuahua who looked just like him!) We decided to keep him--he looked so neglected (and adorable!). We kept the name Lisa gave him (she said he needed a strong name!). And he's been ours ever since!

Isn't he SO adorable!

Poor thing had almost all of his baby teeth still stuck in his mouth because of all the tartar build up, and they think, when we got him, he was 6 or 7 years old! That was the worst of his health problems--his teeth were in pretty bad shape. They ended up having to pull 11 or 12 of them! Yikes! A lot of his hair had been sun-burnt off his body because he was living on asphalt during the summer, but it ended up growing back. We also ended up getting him neutered. We think he was used as a breeding dog, maybe in a puppy mill?

It was so sad to find out all of the typical "doggy things" that Thor didn't know. He didn't know how to play with toys. He didn't know how to go outside to go to the bathroom in the grass. He would pee on the porch, the driveway, the sidewalk. Everything. 

He was scared to go into the basement. He was scared of chain noises, loud voices, loud machine noises (dishwasher, washing machine, dryer), doors closing loudly, men, people in general (mostly new people), among other things. And he didn't know any English. My joke was that I was my dog's ESL teacher :) You couldn't pet him either. He wasn't sure about that. 

But three years later, he's different. I always tell him, "You seem like a real dog!" I always think of Pinocchio wanting to be a real boy. He plays with Rufus, his brother. He lets us hold and pet him (to a certain extent). He plays with toys. He "talks" to us to try to tell us what he wants. He knows some English (not a lot), but we're working on it! 

He still has some anxiety and he is needy at times, but he had a rough life. I think he's happy, and he makes us happy. The least I can do is make the rest of his life the best that I can :) We can work through some anxiety together!

Love and happiness <3 Holly