Spencer the Rescued Street Dog

skinny Costa Rica dogA lot of dogs roam in our area. We often have visitor dogs, some we know belong to the neighbors and others we don’t know where they come from. We routinely chase the dogs away. Roxy is always eager to help keep the area free from the intruders. More than a month ago a dog appeared in our yard. He was the sickliest looking dog that has been this way. I asked John to get him out of our property immediately because he looked awful and I didn’t want him near Roxy. The dog would stay away for a few days and then come back. This went on for several weeks.

One day I was on the patio talking with Mario and I didn’t notice that the dog had come onto our property and was sitting next to us. Mario saw him and said that the dog was one of ten that were dropped off, up the road by someone in a car. Some of those dogs have already been killed by cars and others are still roaming, trying to find their new home. I looked at the dog more closely and realized that he didn’t appear to be sick, just very malnourished.

Costa Rica dogI always intended on having a second dog, but thought the timing would occur after our house was built. But, seeing this dog changed my mind. After talking it over with John I decided to feed the dog and to give him a trial period to see if it would work out for him to be part of our pack. After a few days of feeding him we took him to the veterinarian. Dr. Laura reported that he appeared to be in good health, but was obviously starved.

I have been feeding him for two weeks now and he is beginning to gain some weight. I walk him on a leash to the river every morning. He’s good on the leash and good when he’s hanging around the house, but he still has the desire to roam like the other Costa Rica dogs. I have never had a dog that roams and I am uncomfortable with that. Yesterday he came back from an adventure with a gash under one if his eyes and this morning came back with one of his legs punctured in several places.

very skinny Costa Rica dogWe had a visitor from Seattle, just a day after I began to feed the dog. She named him Spencer. In the two weeks he has been here he has learned his name and the command to come. I’m still viewing this as a trial period for Spencer. Roxy seems to enjoy his company and they both like chasing birds and various things they hear. Spencer can’t come inside our house, which is Roxy’s exclusive territory and I think allows her to tolerate another dog on the property.

We’ll see what happens with Spencer. I hesitated writing this entry for two weeks because I’m still not sure if he will remain with us, or if I will need to try to find him another home. To be continued…