January 28, 2010 – Barely one full month into the new year, I’ve up and done something I never really considered doing before.  That’s right people.  I rescued a homeless dog.  At this point, I’m now prepared to license and microchip her as the newest staff member of TharpSter.Org.

This isn’t any ole stray dog with the generic looking scrappy face that we’ve seen in Disney movies either.  Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her breed in the cartoons before.  What with the bad reputation that aggressive breeds like pit bulls get from the media, it only seems fitting that they miss out on silver screen time.

It should be noted here and now that the actions I took 19 days ago were completely unintentional.  It’s not like this came as a result of some half baked new year’s resolution, or even a TharpSterLution.  As I look back at it though, I would expect that the steps I took back on the 10^th of this month could help me to achieve TharpSterLution numbers two and three.

The Pit Bull who we call Hope first appeared at the site of the TharpSter.Org auxiliary office a few days before she was rescued.  Several people who perform some sort of work-like activity in the cubicle farm housed at the complex had seen to making sure the stray dog was receiving plenty of food from the campus cafeteria.  Fortunately, the source of the widespread, malicious, yet false rumors of cafeteria borne botulism had been traced back to a malcontent who was pretty ticked off that the price of the Rice Krispy Treats had stayed the same, even though the serving size had been drastically reduced.  A building load of mathematicians and accountants typically notice those things.

The problem at the time was that even though she was being fed and watered, Hope was afraid of everyone.  Anyone who approached her automatically caused her to run off into the woods.  Even a bigger concern was the cold rainy weather we had over those days.  From Thursday to Sunday, various people returned to the office to make sure she was taken care of.  They put food, water, and blankets out there for her.  I even returned a few times to see if she was around.

On Sunday the 10^th, I stopped by the office with my son to see if the dog could be found.  Much to our surprise, she was attached to a leash being held by one of the ladies from my department.  She had managed to coax Hope out of hiding, and was trying to get her in the car.  At that point, Hope was having nothing of it.

For the last few months, the proposition of getting a second dog had been under serious discussion by the Board of Directors here at TharpSter.Org.  Faith, the TharpSter TreadMill has become a bit psychotic in the last four months with a major case of separation anxiety.  Every since the little green squirrels landed in the back yard last summer and probed her in the most uncomfortable of manners, she just hasn’t been the same.  It’s like those alien rodents took a piece of her with them.    Why those squirrels would want to take that piece of Faith from the less palatable end of her alimentary canal is beyond me.

So with the thought in mind that I could help two dogs at once, I made the offer to take the stray home with me.  The TharpSter.Org Naming Committee already had a name picked out to work in tandem with Faith.  It’s very rare that you will ever encounter a 50 lb block of pure muscle which bares the moniker of Hope.  As much as I personally feel the name doesn’t fit, it’s the only one we can think of.

I have been around dogs all of my life.  Of all of those dogs I’ve known, Hope is probably the most affectionate one I’ve ever encountered.  At 2 o’clock in the morning (central), she’s more than happy to jump on your bed and tenaciously lick your face until all expectations of continued slumber have been banished, all for the reason to tell you that she’s glad you gave her a home in which to leave the fruits of her digestive system.  If it’s not the licking that eventually encourages you to regain your consciousness, then you can count on Halitosis de la Hope to shock the eventual remnants of your olfactory nerves into painful submission.

It doesn’t end there, though.

Once you get her face out of yours, she takes up a position with her back right up against you in an effort to push you off the bed.  I wonder at this point if there is some university study out there which examines the effects of spooning pit bulls on both the human and the dog.

So what’s on board for Hope?  Well, we had her fixed last week.  The staples come out tomorrow.  She’s very playful with Faith, however it’s almost a little too aggressive.  The way she rears up and even pounces on Faith with a dry Aqua Globe is just a little bit un-nerving.  She’ll need some training if we’re going to do our part to help break the stereotype attached to her breed.

In the meantime, she’s earned her own page here at TharpSter.Org.  As she continues to step outside of the her stereotypical paradigm, I’ll be sure to post an update under her own category.