Oscar is 12 years old today!

Despite being a "rescue" dog (August 14, 2004), I was fortunate enough to have the original vet records for Oscar and know that today, June 2nd, is his birthday.

I still remember his adoption day clearly.   You see, Delta and I, and the 2 cats, had just moved into our home on May 31st that year due to a breakup.  My ex had kept Duncan at the time.  Delta, being the highly sensitive and nervous little girl she was, did not fare too well in our new environment without her brother and papa around too.  It was so sad to see her this way, nervous and losing weight, in the place that was to give us our new start in life.  Luckily, my ex and I had remained friends and Duncan spent frequent weekends (and weeks) with us until he was returned to me permanently.

Knowing Delta was missing her companion, I decided there was no time to waste in adding a second dog back in our home.  A co-worker had come across Oscar, but passed his info on to me when her landlord renenged on his agreement to let her adopt.

Joan M was the foster home for Oscar (who was owner surrendered and therefore not "officially" an SPCA dog) and she drove him to my house for a home visit and meeting with Delta.  Well, it was *like* at first sight!  They raced and tore around the yard, having a ball.  Joan was quite happy with what she saw and made arrangements to come back a day later for the formal adoption.

On August 14, 2004, I signed the adoption papers for Oscar and gave Joan a cheque for his adoption fee; in the meantime, we heard a big howl and discovered that Oscar was chasing poor Judah down the stairs.  Oops?  Not cat-tested?  Dilemma!!  If not for the fact that Delta NEEDED Oscar's companionship, I would have given Oscar back right then.  However, I decided to work with him because surely to God he would become acclimated to the cats' presence within a few months, right?

WRONG!  Sadly, Oscar is a frustrated killer (frustrated, because he hasn't succeeded yet, although he did send poor little Zee to the emergency a year later - he got through the barrier and got her by the tail which resulted in several stitches).  6 years later he still wants to attack the cats if given the opportunity, but he is much less reactive to them on the other side of the baby gates now.

In addition, Delta was the only dog for a very long time that he took to instantly!  He seems to favour:

1. males (which Delta is not);
2. dogs his size (which Delta is not), and
3. older dogs (which Delta was not, at the time - she was 2.5 years old when he was adopted).

It was never intended to keep Oscar after that first year due to his extreme hatred of the cats, but in order to rehome him and not set him up for failure AGAIN, very strict guidelines needed to be in place; and unfortunately, a breed of dog like Oscar (with his particular quirks) is a challenge.  He probably couldn't be in a home with animals other than dogs (and even that wasn't a guarantee - he would have been happy to be an only dog with undivided attention from his people).  He couldn't be in an apartment/condo due to his reactive barking.  He's a lot of dog in a 20 lb body and not really ideal for senior citizens, AND he's no lap dog.  Lhasa's are very independant and need to do their job, which is to sound the alarm when trespassers are spotted. 

Subsequently, he has been diagnosed with a Grade 4 heart murmur and also has a weak leg from an ACL injury; he really would not be a popular choice now, if I were to attempt to find him another home - which I'm not.  He's here to stay until the end of his life and I do my best to spend my time with the cats even though they don't get to "live" with us in the rest of the house.

Between his cat aggression and dislike of most dogs, it's no wonder he earned the monikers "Rat Bastard" and "Lhasa Asshole"...

Happy 12th Birthday, you little bugger!