Tee Sea

As I mentioned yesterday, this blog isn't going to go in any kind of specific order. I'm putting the stories on here out of my notebook and eventually on to the written page for publication. Today I'm thinking about my senior citizen foster dog - Tee Sea. Yes, foster dog. Just like children go into foster care - so do dogs. Tee Sea has a really interesting history. Apparently, he was purchased in Florida (bad, bad, bad idea to purchase a dog, but that's for another time). He was named Tee Sea because he lived in the Hudson River town of Croton-on-the-Hudson. He became Tee-Sea-on-the-Hudson. But after three years, his owner became allergic to him and he wound up with an older couple who lived on Long Island. Tee Sea or "TC" as they came to call him, lived with his second owners for 10 years. They surrendered Tee Sea to the Maltese Rescue when they had decided to move into a senior citizen housing complex, that, like many of its kind, doesn't allow pets. If this were the case with me and Des, we'd find a place that allowed dogs, but like purchasing a puppy, that's for another time, another blog. I picked Tee Sea up on Thursday, October 5th in the parking lot of St. Francis Hospital in Port Washington. It was a mutual meeting place for Tee Sea's owners and me. They were going to an appointment at the hospital that morning. The original Email from the rescue group said that Tee Sea was !4. I read this as being FOUR, not 14. In any case, when I first saw the little guy, I said to myself, "There's no way he's four." His owners filled out the required paperwork in their car -- to surrender the old man -- while he and I played with the early fall leaves that were falling to the ground in the hospital's parking lot. I saw in him, what I see in most of the dogs I take in: unconditional love. It doens't matter what the circumstances were, these dogs know how to love, unconditionally. It is this trait that has drawn me to these creatures. His owners said their final farewells to the pet they called "TC" for the past ten years, and he, my daughter (strapped in her car seat, fast asleep), and I drove off and out of their lives. I told them to feel free to call me to check on him -- if they so desired. It's an offer I make each time I foster a dog -- and for the most part, I do not get any phone calls. I could barely contain the tears as I pulled out of the parking space. Tee Sea settled on a blanket on the front seat. And all I could think about was "why is it that I am the one crying when other people give their dogs up for adoption?" Tee Sea, baby Alex, and I headed straight to the vet where I had him checked out. A closer examination of his paperwork showed me he wasn't four, but 13. His age was confirmed by the group member who had assigned him to me. At the vet, Tee Sea was a complete gentleman. He was examined, administered his shots, and given a genle pat on the head by the vet. "He's a very sweet dog," he told me. Indeed he is. After the vet, I immediately drove Tee Sea to the groomer. I was hesitant at first, but he smelled so bad. Plus, his nails were so long, they seemed never to have been cut. The vet cut them back as much as he could, but when dog's nails grow too long, it's not like you can hack them away all at once. The groomer agreed to squeeze the old man in for a bath and haircut that afternoon. I dropped him off with the promise of returning later that afternoon. The groomer commented on what a sweet dog Tee Sea was as well. He looked better, but the staining on his face and paws will take time to go away. When we FINALLY arrived home, I was afraid -- as I always am -- that the other dogs would not accept him, the outsider, the foster. But, as usual, they do. They accept these homeless dogs with open paws. That night, Tee Sea feasted on his wet dog food that his owners had given me and a handful of Cheerios -- the only treats my guys are having right now. He slept soundly next to me in bed the entire night -- as though he had always been my dog. The content on this page is copywritten by M. Samantha Kinsley, 2006.