Brian brought us back to our mission and shouted, “Let’s make a plan.”
Keith told us that his sister Anita worked for Channel 5 News and thought maybe we should ask her to do a story about the little red dogs in order to get some extra help.
Brian didn’t think that was a good idea. He said by the time the piece was aired, the dogs would be dead. Even though Brian was pretty laid back and fairly quiet, he had an air of confidence and seemed super smart. When he said something, we listened. Everyone agreed that the dogs had to be saved today.
Brendan said, “We called the shelter again but they have not been able to get here yet.” Adriane piped in, “Yeah, but they have the skills and equipment to help us.”
Brian added, “Yeah, that’s true but even if they arrived here right now, I don’t know how long they’d be able to stay. I don’t think they can be out here after hours, chasing them.” It was already 4:30 in the afternoon and it was getting dark.
“I think we just have to think creatively and work together,” Brian said.
Right at that moment, we saw the two red dogs searching and circling. We realized they were looking for a place to sleep or bed down as dogs do. It was obvious that they were not only looking for a safe spot but they also needed to stop because they could barely walk. The boy dog almost fell over. They were starving and freezing.
“They must be exhausted,” Leo said.
Adriane said, “I think they’re going to lie down in the snow and stay put.”
The two little dogs found some bushes and hid in them. They laid down so closely to each other in order to keep warm that they looked like one big dog instead of two.
Then Brian took charge of the situation. With certainty he said, “Okay everyone, what we need to do is form a circle and gather around them very slowly. Keith, Brendan and I will take off our jackets and throw them over the dogs to catch them so we don’t hurt them or ourselves.”
Brendan explained that if the animal shelter was involved, they might use catch poles. This would give them some distance from the dogs and also help protect them from getting bitten.
He continued, “Keith, Brian and I will lead the capture since we are the adults who have the most experience with this.” He made me and some others step to the very back of the circle.
We could see the dogs cuddling together in a small ball in the bushes. I don’t think they saw us approaching. But when we got close to them, they looked up at us. I saw their wide eyes, fox-like ears and sweet faces more clearly than ever before. They were keeping each other warm and they were motionless. The only thing between us and the dogs were some bushes. My
heart pounded faster and faster and I could see the fear in their eyes as they stared at us.
I wanted desperately for them to understand that we wouldn’t hurt them. We approached them very slowly. The circle got smaller and tighter around the dogs. If one of them got up at that point, they would have bumped into us. Suddenly, both dogs jumped up and attempted to make a mad dash. Brian threw his jacket over the boy dog and caught him. Adriane tried to catch the little girl but she slipped right through the circle and ran as fast as she could.
I never imagined I could have so many feelings. I was scared we wouldn’t get her, glad we got him, and sad that they were separated even for that minute. Brian held the little boy tightly in his arms. We stayed calm. Brian was gentle with him, hoping he would know that everything would be okay. As the girl ran, she fell down in the snow. She got back up again, took a quick look back at us, and then continued running.
It was almost five o’clock and I had another rehearsal for the musical. This was going to be our technical rehearsal with the lighting and sound guys. We would rehearse all the cues with the tech crew. There would be musicians there and it was going to be a pretty big deal. I would have to put all my thoughts about the dogs aside and trust that my new friends would do whatever needed to be done. But still, the dogs seemed so much more important to me than the play. My new friends assured me they would stay in the park until they caught the little girl. My heart sank as I left everyone in the park and walked home with Bella.
The next morning I got up, took Bella out for a quick walk, then rushed back home to find out what happened the night before. Everyone must have left for work or school already. I needed to know what happened before I left for school. I dialed one number and got an answering machine, dialed another number and got another machine. I was going nuts. I called one more number. “Hi, this is Alicia. Is this Adriane?”
“Yeah, it is. Hi, Alicia.”
I asked her what happened. “I’m going crazy. Did you get the girl dog? Is she okay?” I spoke so quickly I wasn’t sure what I was saying.
Adriane began, “Well, we held on to the boy. He’s so sweet. The girl was devastated because she was separated from him. Oh, Alicia, this part was terrible. Besides being weak and cold, the little girl was distressed. She was without the partner she had traveled with for weeks. Who knows how long they had been together before we saw them. She thought she lost her best friend and now she was on the street alone. She made gut wrenching sounds howling and crying as she went up and down the park searching for her partner. We decided to put the boy in a crate and then put the crate in the middle of the park pathway. We hated to put him back outside in the cold but we had no choice. We hid in the bushes along the path. We waited and hoped that she would eventually run past the crate. After three long hours of running up and down the park wailing, she discovered he was in the crate. She got so excited that she ran right inside it. She squeezed her skinny little body in between one of the gates to get to him. She snuggled up next to him and whimpered. Then we closed the second door on the crate and brought them to Brendan’s house as fast as we could.
I was so happy I was jumping up and down shouting, “They caught the little ones, Bella, they got both of them. Mom, they caught the two red dogs. They’re both safe and sound.” Bella seemed excited too. I couldn’t wait to get to school to tell my fellow cast members.
The first person to take them into their home was Brendan even though he knew he would not be the one to keep them. He said that the dogs were so scared to be with people that they would barely move out of the apartment. While he was at work he had someone come in and check on them. As much as he wanted to keep them, he knew it would not be fair to these little guys.
When I was talking to Adriane one day she gave me an idea. She told me to ask my mom if we could watch them until we found another home for them, and hopefully finding another home would take a really long time. I asked my mom if she would just go over to Brendan’s apartment with me so she could see the dogs and consider fostering them. The second my mom saw the dogs she sat down on the ground next to them and said, “I can see why you worked so hard to help these pups. You can see in their eyes how much they have been through and that they need a lot of love.”
My mom explained how these pups would need time and consistency with people to build trust, and that Brendan was being kind to the dogs by finding the right place for them. I know that dogs are pack animals by nature, and they shouldn’t be left alone for long periods of time, but these dogs needed extra special care. I had already begged my parents to get Bella, so to get permission to keep two more dogs didn’t seem likely. I wanted to call my father, who was living in Los Angeles, to see if we could send them to him but that seemed crazy.
The girl dog put her little nose next to my mom’s face. My mom put both hands gently around her face and said, “Don’t worry little ones we’ll take care of you until we find you another good home.”
I let out a big sigh, “Oh Mom, thank you, thank you, thank you. I’ll come home right after school every day. And I hope you can just help me on the days when I have rehearsals.”
“We’ll work it out sweetheart,” she said and moved on to give the boy dog some attention. She added, “But don’t forget, this is temporary.”
I told her I understood. Brendan did a
little beatboxing and thanked my mom.
“Hey, Alicia, maybe you can come with me next time I go to the shelter. We can go with someone from one of the rescue groups. We’re working hard to educate people about animal abuse and pet overpopulation so we can help these animals.”
I could tell by the smile on my mom’s face that she was definitely open to that idea.
“These two dogs are not the only ones who are on the street or who need help,” Brendan continued.
“I think Alicia would love to help out and make a difference,” my mom said.
“Hey, Aleesh,” Brendan added, “they have junior volunteer programs. Alicia has what it takes,” he said to my mom.
I was definitely excited. “I’m there. Just say when.”
Before we left, Mista B assured us that he would do anything he could to help us take care of our new roomies. We took the elevator up to our apartment with the two red dogs and I did my happy dance.
I started to reread all the dog books we had. A lot of them were from when we adopted Bella before my parents separated. My parents were having some problems and right around that time my dad got this great teaching job at UCLA. I miss him a lot but I talk to him practically every day. My father had dogs his whole life so I called him for advice about the little red dogs. I was always happy to hear his voice.
This was his routine. “Is this my favorite child?” he’d say.
“This is your only child!” I’d reply.
Dad was looking forward to us subletting our New York apartment in order to move out west. He was thrilled that my mom landed her dream job as a social worker in Los Angeles, but I think he was especially stoked about the fact that my mom wanted to try to work things out with him. So was I, to say the least.
He asked me the same question each time we talked, “Are you excited to move out here?”
“Of course I am, Daddy. Hey, I need your help. Remember how we never put Bella in a crate? Do you think we need to put these guys in a crate?”
“Based on what you said they’ve been through, I would use a crate. Let them sleep in your bedroom like Bella does. This will give them what I call ‘free bonding time’ with you, Alicia. We typically think that we’re bonding with our pets when we walk, feed or train them. But while you’re sleeping, they’ll be able to smell you and feel your presence which will make them feel secure. If they were left with their mom, they would almost never be separated from her or their littermates. But remember, you never want to keep them in the crate for too long. However a perfect time for them to be in their crate is while you are sleeping. Plus, it will let them have space from Bella who by now probably wants them to go back to wherever they came from.”
I wondered how my dad knew that.
He continued, “Anything else I can help you with Last Minute Lucy?”
“Very funny, Dad, but I don’t wait until the last minute for everything,” I replied.
“Uh huh, have you started packing for the move yet?” he asked.
I pretended not to hear him and started humming then said, “Anyway, there’s one other thing I need help with. We don’t have names for the pups yet. People in the park were coming up with silly names like Lucy and Ricky, Minnie and Mickey, and Fred and Ethel. I wanted to call the boy River and the girl Sundance.”
“How about Lou after Lou Reed?” he suggested.
“Oh my gosh,” I shouted, “that’s what Mom said!”
“He was one of our favorite performers.”
I turned the phone away a bit and shouted to my mom, “Guess what Daddy thinks we should call the boy dog, Mom?”
I could hear her laughing. Before they could say Janis after Janis Joplin for the girl dog I said, “Okay, how about Lilly for the girl?”
My dad said, “Lilly and Lou. Perfect, Alicia.”
The truth is I was so excited that we were going to be able to keep them, even if it was only for a little while, we could have called them salt and pepper for all I cared. I was just happy that they were safe.
“Thanks. I love you, Dad.”
“I love you more Sweet Pea!” he replied.
“See you in a few months.”
I gave the dogs lots of time to see that not all people were bad. I needed to earn their trust and never yelled at them. I petted and brushed them very gently every day. I still do. When my mom and I thought that they would be okay going to the vet’s office, we brought them to get all their shots, make sure they were healthy and then get spayed and neutered.
I wondered if they would ever trust people. They were getting more comfortable with me, but Lou still seemed scared of some of my friends, especially my friend Paul. When he was around they would barely come out of my bedroom. I wondered if perhaps at some point a man had been really mean to Lou.
One day after school I came home with Paul. We heard Lou running towards the front door. For the first time he wagged his tail. Then Lilly came running behind him. I bent down on my knees and Lilly licked my face! We were ecstatic. Lou was telling us that he was happy and that he trusted us. It was definitely worth the wait.
It took time to teach them how to walk on leashes and not be afraid of trucks because when they were on the streets alone, they had a lot of close calls. Lilly and Lou probably darted across the streets many times to escape a truck or bus that was coming towards them. I had seen this happen at least twice when I followed them so I knew why they would be terrified. Since Lou wasn’t motivated by treats, I had to figure out another way to turn a bad experience into a good one so he could calmly walk outside. As soon as a truck would start coming down the street toward us, I would hold Lou’s leash close to me as we stood on the sidewalk. Then I’d get very happy and say, “Lou, look at that huge truck coming toward us. Isn’t that a nice truck?”
My voice sounded like I was winning prizes on a game show. Eventually Lou associated the trucks with happiness but he also knew that we needed to stop before we crossed the street. I bet people thought I was a nut job.
When my parent’s friend Bob came over to meet Lilly and Lou and to see Bella again, I told him about my game show technique and it made him smile. In his tough New York accent he said, “Well, Alicia, I can’t say that I’ve ever used that technique but it sounds like it has worked. It’s definitely another form of positive reinforcement.”
I laughed. On the outside Bob looks like the kind of guy you wouldn’t want to mess with. The thought of him using my game show thing was pretty funny. He continued, “The important thing is that now Lou is able to walk confidently and calmly on a leash and you achieved this in a positive, kind way. I can tell by how relaxed these three dogs are that you’re giving them the respect and care they deserve and they know that you’re their pack leader.”
Even though Lilly was smaller, she had been the leader on the street. She opened up to us more easily, though she was still cautious. Sometimes it seemed like she was still checking me out. She’d look at me through the corner of her eye. When I saw her do this, I would say to her, “What’s up Lilly? Do you trust me yet? Everything’s going to be okay.”
Sometimes if I had rehearsal after school my mom would walk all three dogs in the park. It would take her a long time to get there and back. She told me that people on the street would stop her and say, “Hey, aren’t those the two dogs who were out in the park this winter?”
People gave us money to pay for Lilly and Lou’s first visit to the vet. Since we were fostering the dogs and it was pretty expensive, Mom agreed to accept the donations, especially from one very generous and persistent woman. She wasn’t able to help with the rescue, but she wanted to contribute in some way. It made this woman so happy to be able to help. But after that, my mom would not let us take any other donations from people.
After a couple of months had passed Mom started asking when this “temporary” situation was going to end.
Bella looked up at her and I know she was thinking … Yeah, Alicia, I’ve been thinking about that too. It had ta
ken so much time and effort to help Lilly and Lou feel safe that I was afraid for them to be with someone new. Besides, I had fallen madly in love with them.
Lilly and Lou slept huddled together in the same bed since the minute they were in our apartment. These two dogs needed so much love and patience. They needed to be hand fed. I would sit on the ground with them, put the food in my hands and feed them. Lilly and Lou were so polite with each other. Lou would always wait until Lilly had eaten as much as she wanted before he would start to eat. He would do this even though there were two bowls of food in front of them.
In keeping with the plan I made with Mom, I told her that I felt they were well enough adjusted that we could now try to find a “permanent” home for Lilly and Lou even though I wasn’t ready for them to go. I met a woman who expressed interest in them. I asked a lot of questions like whether she would take the dogs to the park everyday for exercise and where they would sleep and how she would care for them. She said they would sleep in the kitchen, she would take them out for a couple of quick walks each day and for exercise they could run in her apartment, but she wouldn’t have time to take them to the park to run. I knew they would need more exercise than that and they would need to be outside more. I didn’t even bother telling my mom about this lady.
Then one day, my mom came back from the park and said she had found the perfect person to take Lilly and Lou. I asked her who it was and told her I’d find the guy in the park the next day. I found him exactly where my mom said he’d be. He seemed like a nice man so I told him the truth. I told him that I didn’t really want to give the dogs up and I needed his help. He already knew their story, so he understood why I didn’t want to give them up. I asked him to please tell my mom that he had changed his mind and that he could no longer take the dogs. He did not want to get involved in my lie so he said that he wouldn’t show up in the park the next day as usual. He suggested that I think of another plan to keep the dogs instead of lying to my mom. He said that I should talk to my mother about my dilemma. “Why not tell her how attached you’ve grown to them?” he asked. I thought he was making a big deal out of nothing, especially since I was doing the best thing for Lilly and Lou.
The Story of Lilly & Lou Page 3
