Lars: The Continuing Saga

A few of you may remember Lars. Lars history in a nutshell:

In the spring of 2011, Fozzie broke out of my front yard to take off after a stray running along my street. When I caught up to him in a neighbor's yard, he was lying in the grass, panting, grinning from ear to ear, next to a filthy, scrawny white dog who looked way too skinny and had a similarly smug expression on his face. I leashed up Fozzie and brought him home, and the white dog followed us into my yard. 

My story about finding Lars--and especially Fozzie's role in it--was published by Care2.

The white dog was shy, and it was a few days before I could even touch him. But he was hungry, and he was happy to stay in my yard and eat the cheesy snacks I tossed his way. 

After a couple of days, he started coming close to me, and then letting me touch him. After that, it wasn't long before I could scratch him, kiss his long elegant nose, give him a belly rub, and give him a bath. And inspect his paws, which were bleeding--apparently from running for a long time. 

He was eager to bond with someone, and seemed relieved and so happy to find a human to be close to. 










He also loved Fozzie, and those two played for hours on end in a mutually rewarding frenzy of humping.   

But he was skittish around new people, and he had a sort of anxious, kind of feral quality that made Lamar very nervous. I screened some adopters but was having a hard time finding anyone who would give him the kind of home he deserved. I felt that he should go to a calm household without too many people around, and I didn't think he'd be happy being walked in an urban, noisy environment. 

Since I was not involved with a rescue at the time, I fostered him independently and not with the help of any official group. But another rescuer friend had a sort of small sanctuary where she thought Lars could stay for a while. 

Lars loved it there and stayed for over a month. The caretaker loved  him and he got along famously with the 4-5 other dogs there. We all thought he could stay there permanently, but then the county found out there were 5 dogs at the house and Lars had to come back. 








Lars stayed with us throughout the rest of the summer, the fall, and into winter. Finally I got a call from someone who was interested in him, a single guy who lived in a townhouse in Baltimore. So just before Christmas, we left Lars in his new home. But I think the change was a lot for him, and the guy wasn't willing to give Lars a chance to settle in...when Lars urinated in the house while the guy was at work, he had to move on.

I was in New York when I got the call, so I called another potential adopter I'd spoken to earlier and we agreed she'd hold on to him until I got back. So Lars went to his fifth home, counting wherever he started out...until he escaped from an unlocked gate in the yard, and was on the run for the next month. 

When he was finally found, as a result of the hours we spent hanging up signs all over the neighborhood, this intermediate adopter decided to keep him despite having a full house of three other dogs already. 


Fast forward three years, and apparently the three are not getting along all that well. Finally there's been a bad fight and Lars' ear has been badly injured.

 So, I immediately put him up on Petfinder, on Rescueme.org,on a few German Shepherd rescue group sites, and almost as immediately got a response. From a young woman who lived near Lars, who visited him, loved him, and agreed to take him the following Friday after he had his stitches removed.






He did great with her dachshund Lola, hit it off with her...but not so great with her cats. Sooo....

 



Lars is back with us. Still loves me, and much more friendly toward Florian than he was before. 
















Happy to see Fozzie, though we're taking it slow. 

 

We went on a walk together, me Fozzie and Lars, and it was easy. They walked together nicely. Lamar is not thrilled but they're not going after each other. They're avoiding each other, which is appropriate and good of them both.

I think he's happy to be here, in a nice calm environment with people who love him and where he knows he's safe. 










And where he can get all the...um...satisfaction?...he's apparently been yearning for.

Don't worry Lars, Florian has that effect on a lot of people.  It's good to have you around!