Meet Xavier.

First of all, I did not name this dog. I find it to be a rather awkward name for a dog.  Imagine me at the dog park "Here Xavier!"  Right?   We call him "Bones" because he is so boney.

Bones is a 15 month old male dark brindle boxer.  He comes to us from Hot Springs, AR.  His story is one of irresponsibility and neglect.  He was very sick and vomiting for at least two weeks before his former family decided to bring him to a vet.  By then, he was weak and frail from malnourishment and extremely ill.   His prognosis was poor.  With the approval of the owner, the doctor did an emergency exploratory surgery.  The poor dog was septic because he had been shot and there was a bullet sitting in his abdomen (we have the bullet).  The owners claimed that they had no idea.  It had been inside of him for so long, that the doctor couldn't even find the entry wound.  "Who shoots a dog?" is the obvious question.  More importantly, I ask "How in the hell does someone not notice that their own dog has been shot?"  Obviously they paid him very little attention.  But even when they knew something was wrong, they chose to ignore it.  He suffered for a long time because of their indifference.

After the surgery, the owner decided that he was not going to pay the bill.  It was too much money to spend on "just a dog."  Keep in mind, the doctor had already given them an estimate and had gotten approval to perform the surgery.  This put her into a tough situation.  She just spent hours trying to save this dog's life and now they were refusing to pay the bill and wanted her to put him to sleep.  She stuck her neck out for this dog.  Kudos to her.  She told them that she would not put the dog to sleep, but she would nurse him back to health and find him a good home.  They did not like that.  Their response was something like "If you'll do a free surgery and give the dog to someone else, why don't you just give it back to us?"  To which she responded  "It doesn't work like that. This dog got into this situation because of your lack of care and now you don't want to pay for him to get better."  She knew that he had a long way to go to recover and wasn't comfortable giving him back, money or not.  Legally, she didn't have a leg to stand on.  Had they insisted that she put him to sleep, she would have either had to do it, or try to get animal cruelty charges filed against them and turn the dog over to animal control and let them sort things out.  Lucky for her, they didn't fight her too much, but they were clearly angry.  We have these people's names and have been told that they may be watching for their dog to resurface.  He will not be eligible for adoption in Hot Springs.  My preference would be to get him as far away from here as possible. 

Bones is a hand full.  At barely over a year old, his energy seems limitless.  His dog play is extremely rough, especially with Jax.  I don't think he had ever really played with other dogs before.  No aggression at all, but he doesn't pick up on the signs that he is driving the others insane.  My guess is that he was probably taken from his mother too early as well.  That would explain his lack of social skills and bite inhibition when it comes to dog play.   He is lucky that Dixie and Jax are about as tolerant as dogs get.  He would get his skinny little ass kicked by most dogs.  We are trying to work on his dog to dog manners, but he will learn most of that from them. 

He destroyed my wire crate day one, literally chewing through three metal bars!  I feared for his safety in the crate, but he is not potty trained, nor did I trust him loose in the house with the others yet.  Every dog has their limits, and he definitely tests theirs. For the next couple of days, he came to the office with me and spent much of the time in the crate there for supervised practice.  I got him a solid-sided plastic crate in place of the metal one (safer if he does try to break out again).  He also now wears a pheromone collar to (supposedly) help with his crate anxiety.  I throw in a knuckle bone and a peanut butter stuffed frozen Kong to keep him busy.  I have also been putting Dixie in a crate right next to him so he has a support system.  She has helped me crate train several of the fosters.  I think she understands why she is suddenly being kenneled because she never complains.  This combination of things seems to be working for him so far. Knock on wood. 

Besides those little issues, he is wonderful.  When he isn't crated, he shows no signs of anxiety at all.  His personality couldn't be sweeter.  He loves to cuddle, with us and with the dogs.  He does pretty well out and about, being very social and friendly to everyone he encounters.  He is good in the car and fine on leash.  He is quite submissive to people and he hates being scolded.  I think his former owners were harsh with him.  He practically melts when you tell him "No!"  He barks at the door like any good guard dog does, but it never goes too far.  He will be a great family dog.

What they say about horizontal stripes adding pounds is true!  His coloring really hides how skinny he is.  He has put on a couple of pounds already, but you can feel every bone in his body.  I would like to get him about 10lbs heavier.  He eats like a horse, and plays like crazy, so both fat and muscle should come quickly.  With a little meat on his "bones", he will be even more gorgeous.