Gator

This is Gator. He is Rhodesian Ridgeback / tenasee curr hound according to his paperwork from the Humane Socity.
When I walked in there the lady asked me what I was looking for and I told her a large dog. She said "oh thank god. Everyone wants a little dog and our big dogs get looked over"
We (my stepson came with) looked at all the dogs and Gator just struck my heart. We brought Sirus (our red doberman) to see if they would get along. They did and we signed the paperwork and tried to bring him home. He had never ridden in truck cab before and I had to wrestle an 75lb dog inside a truck.

The lady told me his story. Gator had been dumped behind a vets office, beaten so badly he could not move on his own. He spent a month at the vets office before he was well enough to be taken to the human socity. He had three days left before he would be put to sleep. He was cris crossed with scars and on his back left leg was a clear scar of a ] , it was from a 2x4 that he had been beaten. And his cellmate attacked him and his neck was cut open.

When he came home in 2005 he stayed in my bedroom for a week. Then he lurked in my hallway for two weeks. Everytime i looked over he was just staring with those eyes that had the wairness. We could not get him to come near us while in the house. And if he was sleeping on the floor and you stepped over him he would freak out, growling and trying to plaster himself into a corner. He would not eat if you were watching. It took weeks of intensive just sitting near him and talking to him. And I hand to use my hand with wide gestures so he would get used to us being loud.
The first time we took him to the creek where we go swimming during the summer, he refused to get out of the truck. He was shaking and I had to use all my strength to pull him out. He kept trying to run back to the truck. He thought we were dumping him.
Then we got to the water and he bacame his namesake. He swam and swam and swam, they he found that he could dig in the sand and roll around and noone yelled at him for it. We took him everyday that summer.

Now, four years later, he will sleep in the bed- hogging a pillow, because he has to sleep with a pillow when he is inside. I have tripped on him when he is laying down and he will not budge. He just cracks an eye open and looks at me like "duh". He dances during dinner. Nikki would sit on his neck and clunk his head with her toys and he did not care. She brings her tea sets over him and dresses him on necklaces and clothes. He takes it all in stride. And now I hook up a harness to have him pull her wagon during walks. It helps with his mobility to get fluid moving to his joints.
At a minimum he weighs 80-90 lbs, it is like having a person in bed, and he does not move when you try to roll over. His arthritis is very bad during the cold, and he has tumors all over as a direct result from the abuse he recived. He smells horrible, even after two or three baths. He does not listen, and can flatten a 20$ decrative plant in no time. I still connot get him to sit.
But he is a scary dog when people come over and it is just me an Nikki. I have to walk ppl in and out of the yard so he leaves them alone. But when he is out and about he has good behavior. Considering the gang tagging is getting closer to the house every year I am grateful to my nuerotic rescue dogs. They love us to death for giving them a chance and I love them for keeping people nervous and keeping me company during the day.