Monday 8 December 2008

Basura's Story

This is one of the many stories of animals that came into K9 animal rescue in Tenerife.

Basura (Rubbish) was the only name that fitted him. He was a Belgium Sheppard cross breed(well looked like it) He came in very thin like most of the dogs we got in, but he soon filled out. We had no other history on him.
I did try and find a different name for him but nothing suited. No matter how tidy something was, he destroyed it.

He loved concrete bricks. Common stones were not worth his time. They had to be the big concrete blocks that he could destroy. And if not in destruction mode he would try and horde them for when he was bored. Being that the kennels were in the middle of a builders yard it was his idea of heaven. He would trot across the yard holding blocks he had thieved from various piles. I would trot behind him using strong language, grab the blocks and replace them, while he was already off raiding another pile. Needless to say his teeth were fast wearing down.

I tried to make the dogs nice beds with a solid wood base surrounded by concrete blocks and a thick padding of ripped up newspaper for bedding. I did not think it was possible to make as big a mess as he made. After a couple of days l removed the blocks. It was asking for trouble leaving them there. I tried to make a wood surround to keep the paper on the bed, forget it. He was going to hurt himself on the nails.
His kennel partner always had an “I am a long suffering wife” expression on her face bless her.

He was hyperactive and would bury a block in the sand then come back after running a few times round the compound and “find” his block. Sometimes he would forget where he buried it and sand would fly all over as he got more and more frantic.

I found a lovely home for Basura with an English couple. They had a young dog for company if they were not there, they liked walking and were very active ideal for Basura.
Unfortunately for Basura they had to ban him from bringing stones and bricks into the house. In Tenerife the houses tend to be flat roofed with a seating area on the roof.
Apparently they got home and Basura and their other dog got all excited. Basura could not resist giving a loud “WOOF” The fact he was holding a concrete block in his mouth was immaterial. He wanted to say hi so he dropped his toy. Luckily the family had been looking up and were able to dodge the item when it smashed down from a drop of about 20ft.

2 comments:

Fi from Four Paws and Whiskers said...

that's a great story - makes you feel good when you rehome a dog, despite the issues!!!

JuliaM said...

"Luckily the family had been looking up and were able to dodge the item when it smashed down from a drop of about 20ft."

Whoops! Bless them for taking him on, though... ;)