BackInBlack said:
I can't help but wonder what the story was with Gabe. I looked at your website again today. Poor thing looked terrible when you got him, and by the time he was ready to go home he looked like a totally different dog. He looked so sad and scared in the first picture. You guys did such a wonderful job helping him turn around, I can't help but be curious what happened to him.
(Sorry if this is kind of random)
It's Ok, I get asked about him a lot...he is kind of the poster boy for rescue. I actually posted this here once before but I'll do it again. I saved it to a word document so that all I have to do is cut and paste now - LOL! Saves me a lot of time.
Gabe came into rescue November of 2004. I don't have a lot of background on him (just as well ... hunting down the people who did this to him probably would have landed me in jail). He was found in NYC tied to a building and left for dead. He was 7 months old (we know this for sure) and 21 pounds. He was barely alive and spent the first week at a vets on IV's. We suspect that some of his "sores" were from being chewed on by rats.
I was down to just one dog, I only work mornings, and so had the room and time to foster a special needs puppy. I only foster an occasional hard luck puppy.... young kids - I don't do older unknown fosters. I was e-mailed the picture of Gabe and I picked up the phone, called the person and said "yes". That is all I had to say and she knew what I meant. We had Gabe for 3 months and put 40 pounds on him. He ate like a vacum cleaner.... 4 meals a day of high calorie kibble mixed with chicken, noodles, and full fat chicken broth.... probably thought he had died and gone to heaven. He was a happy go lucky puppy without a mean thought in his head.... even after the abuse he suffered. At 10 months we thought he had attained most of his growth (ha ha little did we know), and told his new family that we did not think he would get too much bigger - BWHAHAHAHAH!
I see him almost every Monday night at training class, and his owner never fails to tease me about how I said he would not get big. At close to 2 years old, Gabe has attained his full oversized Kimbertal size - he is a big playful, goofy boy. I thank God everyday for being the one to watch him bloom - he is a special boy. I am also very thankful that I get to see him on a regular basis.
I was just curious, he turned out to be such a pretty dog from what I can see in your pictures. He was very lucky to find his way to you, that is awesome that you devote your time to dogs in need like that. I will bet that it was hard for your kids to let him go, but that is great that they are learning from a very young age that donating to a good cause, and giving more than getting is very self rewarding, and that it is something that is important to you. I'm sure you dont need me to tell you.....but keep up the good work. What goes around comes around 10 fold.
