Meet Afonso
Meet Afonso. When I met him, he was sitting on the street, waiting to die. He had a fairly insidious virus that was causing him to overload on mucus. He was horribly sad, timid and sick. Luckily he had a couple sisters that were leaving some food for him and giving him antibiotics, but they had other dogs and couldn’t take him in, and were not well off enough to take him to the vet.
After I took him, my wife spoke with the ladies and they said they had made special prayers to St. Francis that someone would come take care of him. After an American showed up on their doorstep, they were convinced a miracle had taken place.
The Vet said he had a couple days left max when we left him there about three weeks ago. After a lot of rest, medication, relaxation and plenty of visits from my wife and myself, today he was ready to come home.
And it already appears that our comments of “we’ll find him a home” are getting pretty half-hearted. He is home. We promised ourselves we’d take care of him, so at this point, it will take an extremely impressive suitor to adopt him. But I’m pretty sure he’s staying.
He’s already charming Duchess, our Australian Shepherd. We also have two Boston Terriers, and Max seems to like him Ok, while Jack won’t get the opportunity to meet him sadly. We have to keep him separated as he made it clear he’d fight any dog to the death for dominance after he repeatedly attacked Duchess, who’s easily three times his size.
There’s a bit of dominance training going on between Duchess and Afonso now, but the sad, timid little mutt of before is gone, replaced by a charming, happy playful dog that has a pretty good understanding of when he should be submissive to the bigger dog, who’s still a little concerned about the encroachment into her kingdom.
I told my wife a couple weeks ago that if we were happy being the crazy dog people, then that’s what we’ll be. We hope to save more dogs, and hopefully do some other things to help the massive population of abandoned and street dogs in our little corner of Brazil.
So meet Afonso. We’re pretty happy to have him.
–WKW
Crossposted at Shakesville
April 9th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Crazy dog people are COOL. My Bostons are doing good…old and fat, but good. Cleaning up my bookmarks folder and had to check in. Good reading…I need to check in more often. Peace to you and yours and carry on Wolf.
April 9th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Hi Wolf! We miss ya over at the hd forums. Thought I’d drop by. We’re dog lovers, too, having adopted two (mother/daughter) about six months ago. Just love ‘em so much. I enjoy your writing style. I’ll drop by more often.
April 13th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Hey guys. Very nice to see you both chime in. Personally, I’m pretty sure I’m evolving into one of those 70-year-olds who has 75 dogs and does nothing non-dog related. It’s been a process
Regards,
Bill
April 17th, 2007 at 11:46 am
[…] Having introduced you to Afonso, I figured I’d give a little update. After a week here, he now seems at home to the point that we’re afraid he’s planning on ordering us to leave. […]
June 18th, 2007 at 9:48 am
[…] Afonso, the young stray we took in a few months back, woke up this morning full of play and love. And with two testicles. […]
June 18th, 2007 at 9:53 am
[…] Afonso, the young stray we took in a few months back, woke up this morning full of play and love. And with two testicles. […]
July 12th, 2007 at 6:49 am
[…] Afonso is the only one of the four to not be born in the United States and is proud of his Brazilian heritage. If Afonso could speak, all he’d ever say is “yiyiyiyiyiyiyi!!!!” as he actively pursues another party. A lover of fireworks, Afonso is a dog of the canines, as he is at his happiest spending his time with other dogs. Despite his small stature, will engage in impromptu games of tackle football with dogs up to five times his size, repeatedly getting clobbered and repeatedly getting back up eagerly for more. Having lived on the streets, Afonso enjoys life one day at a time. […]
July 18th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
[…] Anyway, the Uruguayan speedboat driver was named “Pepe Delgado.” Which killed my wife and I, because we really wish we’d have heard of this name a while back, because Afonso would make a FANTASTIC Pepe Delgado. So it’s become one of his new nicknames, along with “Deputy Dawg” and “Little Fucker.” […]
January 10th, 2008 at 10:28 am
[…] It is once again celebration time in the Wolfrum household, as we celebrate the birthdays of two of our four canine companions. Jan. 5 was Max’s (front) 10th birthday, while Afonso turns one today (he was a street dog, so we have no clue. He’s likely a little older than one, but for record keeping and such, his birthday is now officially Jan. 10, unless we decide to change it next year.) […]
April 14th, 2008 at 10:43 am
[…] Like Afonso. […]
July 2nd, 2008 at 8:39 am
[…] Afonso likes to dig. […]
November 7th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
[…] Afonso approves. […]
November 11th, 2008 at 11:34 am
[…] Co-Starring: William K. Wolfrum as “The One who threw the ball.” With a Special guest appearance by: Afonso […]