Dreyfus

Dreyfus when I first got him.  

Our first few walks consisted of this...him staring at me.

I was going through pictures of Dreyfus and I was amazed at his transformation from when I first adopted him.  I forgot how pathetic he looked when I first got him! He was heartworm as well as every other worm positive, lethargic, filthy, skinny, and scared of everything.  It took him a month before he would take a treat from my hand and he’d only eat his breakfast/dinner as long as I wasn’t watching him.  We took things very slow those first few months.  Thankfully I’m quiet and where I lived was quiet, so slowly he began to feel more comfortable around our apartment and me.  I lived on the third floor and he was scared to death of both the elevator and the stairs (plus I didn’t want him walking up and down the stairs during his heartworm treatment) so I carried up and down the stairs every time we went outside.  We had a lot of dogs living in our complex and Dreyfus was scared of every single one of them.  They’d bark at him and he’d shake, so we avoided other dogs.  I wanted him to sleep in my bed so I knew where he was at night but he wanted to sleep in the living room on the sofa.  Every night I’d put him on my bed and every night he’d jump off.  Until one night instead of jumping off my bed he slowly walked up to my head, laid down and rested his head on my shoulder.  From that night on that’s where he slept.  Soon he started to get more and more courageous about the outside world.  He was still terrified of people and dogs he didn’t know but he knew I would protect him.  Once he recovered from his heartworm we slowly started to go on longer and longer walks, which he’d love.  It got to the point where I’d get home from school, he’d fly off the sofa to greet me and then he’d go get his leash.  His favorite walk was a 2-mile long walk around a lake we lived by.  It was a beautiful walk, especially in the fall, which we both enjoyed.  Every time we went on that walk we ran into a Miniature Schnauzer named “Huckleberry”.  The first time we met “Huckleberry” he was loose, standing on the sidewalk barking at us.  Dreyfus was scared to death.  “Huckleberry” then came running towards us, I picked Dreyfus up and we returned “Huckleberry” to his house.  Over the course of our walks Dreyfus and I got to know “Huckleberry” and his owners very well.  I always hoped that we wouldn’t see him but we always did.  He was a very sweet little dog, who unfortunately had very irresponsible owners.  I miss that walk.   

Dreyfus and I now like to walk along the cliffs near my parents’ house.  He loves to run through the tall grass, chase the feral cats and bark at the dogs we meet along the way.  What a long way he’s come!  

Trying to get a photo of Dreyfus on a walk now is very difficult.

I'm ready to go!

He loves to run!

My perfect boy!