We Named Her 'Cutter'

 It's been six days since we decided to foster another of man's best friends and as is the case with situations such as these it has been a learning process for all of us. The lady's given name was 'Cookie'. I didn't care for that because it made her sound like a canine bimbo so we changed it to Charlotte, Char for short, but that lasted only a day. From there we moved on to Murphy. I'm not certain why we did this but after two days that moniker was dropped. Her Majesty had mentioned that she knew I didn't care for cookie cutter dogs. By this I mean those that are bred to perfection. I like mutts so we decided to name her 'Cutter'.

Every day living is a learning process and so it is with our newest house member. There are times, most all the time, when she's the sweetest most adorable five year old darling. And then there are the other times when we're trying to come to grips with the demon in our home. Our greatest concern is Cutter's reaction to some men. There have been two instances when adult fellas came to the house and she turned into Cujo. Her barking and growling caused us to panic hoping she didn't go for their jugular. Yesterday afternoon we might have received a clue. Our neighbor from across the street walked to our front courtyard to get a peek at our new friend. He sat down at a table and Cutter gingerly and timidly crawled over to him with head down. She proceded to sniff his out held hand. So far so good. After a few minutes he stood up and raised his open hand to say good-by. It was then that Satan took over the body of our little darling and she proceeded to snap, snarl, growl and in put herself in an attack mode. We three, The Queen, the neighbor and myself all uttered the same; "She's been the victim of physical abuse. 

I also found out that our guest lived in an apartment in Flatwoods, Kentucky. I also saw a photo of her apartment dwelling of five years. Folks, her domicile was a 600 square foot apartment. In a place like that mice would become claustrophobic. Because she has a tremendous fear of other dogs I have to believe she was not given the opportunity to socialize outside but it's only a guess on my part. 

Her Majesty and I give Cutter daily walks, at the minimum six of them at fifteen minutes a pop. We do this for a couple of reasons. We want her to walk the woods sniffing and doing what all dogs do; enjoy God's world. She also needs the exercise because at 36 lbs. she's at least 12 pounds on the fat side.

At present Cutter is like a foster child. I'm trying to imagine if we had brought in a 12 year old boy or girl into our home. There would be a 'getting to know each other' period. It's the same thing for our little girl. The lil' lady sleeps a great deal of the day. She runs upstairs to my bedroom and lounges on our bed. She isn't active at all. She seemingly likes to be alone. This saddens me.

There was one positive from the day before yesterday in our relationship. I was lying on the couch with my right arm hanging toward the floor. She walked over and licked the back of my hand. It seems like a small thing but it shows she likes and trusts me. "Baby steps, folks, baby steps."

Her adoption date is June 9. We'll take her to the veterinarian for a once over. I'm almost positive the shots she had five years ago need to be updated and we want her heart checked out. I'm torn in my mind about signing her up for Nutri-System. When we eat our meals she gets up on her back heels begging for food. I suspect her previous owner fed her table scraps. Those days are over.

One thing I do know is she needs us worse than we need her. I want to give her a home she can enjoy while living out her life. Considering her previous dwelling she should feel like she's taken up residence at the Ritz-Carlton.