Meet Dave!

Dave is our very first foster dog of 2010 (we had to go on a brief fostering hiatus due to Lenny's allergies, but that's a whole other post in and of itself).  I have to say, Dave has one of the best dog names ever - completely hilarious, but fits him perfectly and he already responds to it!  Dave is a yellow lab (mix?) and is about a year old.  He was rescued from a high kill shelter in Southern Illinois February 9th and came to our home on February 17th.  Dave has one of the sweetest temperaments I have come across.  He is very loving and gentle.  Great with kids, other dogs and knows that cats aren't snacks!

Check it out, Dave's enjoying a doggy cupcake from one of our favorite places, Bentley's Corner Barkery.

Mmmmm....tasty!  Looks so yummy I even wanted to take a bite!  Don't worry, I restrained myself (although it's made from human grade ingredients, so I could have if I wanted to).


Really, you don't notice right away that there is anything different about Dave.  He's very responsive to commands.  He walks so nicely on a leash and even sits or lays down for you to clean his paws when you come back inside.  Just all around a fantastic dog. 

But Dave is special.  Dave likely has some neurological damage; this causes his tongue to always go out the right side of his mouth and makes eating a bit difficult (and messy!).  His pupils don't dilate properly either.  He probably has damage to his 6th, 7th or 8th cranial nerve.  There is no way to know for sure (except perhaps an MRI), but given how young he is, the most likely explanation for his neurological damage is head trauma.  I can only hope that Dave was involved in a terrible accident and didn't suffer at the hands of a human.  But even if Dave was abused you would never guess it if you met him because he is so loving and friendly.  And now that he is rescued and safe, the journey begins to find the family that can look past what some might call imperfection for a wonderful dog.