Beau
Dee Boedeker
 |
Beau entered our lives on March 20, 2001 from a Humane
Society where Bill and I volunteer; we were going to foster him but very soon found Beau to
be a permanent member in our household. We papi-sit for neighbors who have a male
Papillon, Kyser, but we had been made much more aware of Papillons since a chance
meeting with Katrina Boler, Denny Fried and Genevieve the summer of 2000.
We soon became fast friends. In mid-March, Beau was found wandering the streets and
was brought into the Humane Society in very poor condition. He had to have 11
teeth extracted, a skin staph infection cleared up and an upset stomach made functional
again. His weight has gone from 4 1/2 pounds to a little over 5 pounds. He screamed over seemingly nothing, and still cowers at the sight of the leash. His trachea occasionally sounds damaged; we suspect he was dragged around by a leash; a pet sitter concurs. We're not sure what abuses and neglects he's survived. Beau wears a harness instead of a collar. We have since found out that many of the toy breeds have trachea problems. We know that he can be x-rayed for the condition to be verified, but unless it becomes more noticable, there is no reason for this, we're told. |
 |
This little guy used to scream like a siren and still does occasionally. Yips are let out once
in a great while; we don't know why he does this. It took about a month before I could have
a privacy in the bathroom; he finally allowed me to close the door. His siren used to go off
when people entered the house, but now, most of the time, he simply greets many guests at
the door. When we have to pick up Beau and lower him to the floor, we have found it easier to have him in his soft-side tote and then place him wherever we need. Then we have to place him into his tote again to lower him to the floor. He is terrified of being held and placed on the floor. His tenseness is obvious. We suspect he's been dropped more than once which is probably putting it mildly. I thought we were injuring him, so we had our veterinarian x-ray him; these x-rays showed Beau to have "young bones" (no arthritis) even though he's said to be between 6 and 11 years old; another dog expert guesses more toward 7 years. |
 |
Were we ever to let Beau socialize as he was such a terrified little guy? Katrina and Denny with their Genevieve (www.gvieve.com) invited us to join them at a nearby paw park in Venice, Florida....just the six of us. Beau and Genevieve became friends in an instant; we found Beau to be very sociable, play-bowing, and wanting to race with Genevieve. Denny called Genevieve a therapy dog. Kat and I were near tears, realizing that despite all of Beau's woes, he still had plenty of life, love, and playfulness left in him. After that success, we have taken Beau to two additional paw parks in Sarasota where we've met many other Papillon People at PapiPlay. When Beau tires of playing, he allows us to hold him; otherwise, he prefers not to be held. We look for this to change with time also. If this doesn't change, that's okay too! Katrina and Denny are Godparents to Beau; they have been added to our trust in case something happens to Bill and me, Beau would have a home with them. Beau continues to improve in his trusting us and wanting to become closer to us. He is a treasure! We enjoy taking him places and showing him off. Beau's progress has been amazing. He was a terrified ball of bones when I first saw him. He was put into my arms from the cage and clung to me with his little neck and head winding around my neck. I got him out of there as soon as humanly possible...right then! Beau knew much sooner than we that he'd found his forever home that day. He knew from the moment he entered our house as he made the rounds checking it all out and found his bed. He was home were he could rest and recover and share great joy. We are all truly blessed. |
