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| Name: |
Theo
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Age: |
Five years old
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| Gender: |
Male |
Breed: |
Black Labrador Retriever |
| Home: |
Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada |
Theo
is incredibly fortunate. We adopted him three and a half years ago from
the Midland branch of the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals (OSPCA) as a new buddy for our previous Dalmatian, Scherzo because
after Rondo (our previous black lab) died, he was terribly sad for many
months. Scherzo and Theo of course grew to be best buddies until Scherzo
crossed the Rainbow Bridge last year.
Just 24 hours after we brought Theo home, the wonderful old farmhouse with a
turret that housed the OSPCA was struck by lightning and burned to the ground,
and many animals, including some of his cell-mates, perished. They have now
rebuilt a state-of-the-art new facility that is a credit to the rescue
ministry.
Theo (then dubbed Harley - but we're not harley folks) had, near as we can
tell, been at large for many months before the OSPCA picked him up. He was
very emaciated and had a broken cruciate ligament. The OSPCA thought him an
excellent dog, and had the ligament repaired, and they wanted to make sure
those who adopted him who were experienced with cruciate ligament recovery. We
were -- Scherzo had both his repaired. When he came home, Theo's head was
still too big for his body. The OSPCA thought he was maybe two, but our
veterinarian daughter said he was more likely just over a year at the time.
He's grown quite a bit, and is now very healthy, although he did need the
other cruciate repaired. He'll eat almost anything (except citrus), including
apple-cores, which he loves. We wonder if when he was at large, he survived
partly on windfall apples.
We also think we know how he came to be at large -- perhaps someone drove him
into a forest and drove away without him! Imagine!! One time, we had to go
and pick up my broken trailer on a forest road, and when I had to move the car
briefly, Theo, who had been happily sniffing around near where we were
working, immediately jumped in the car and wouldn't move! Like, "Don't leave
me here!" As you can imagine, he is extremely loyal.
Theo's name is from an interesting origin. From my theological training, we
knew that en theos is Greek for 'full of God', and is the root for the word
'enthusiasm'. Well, Theo has been soooo enthusiastic from the get-go that it
just suited him to a T! He loves to chase his ball - he's so OCD about it
(and what lab isn't?) that we sometimes have to refer to it as a 'sphere' so
he doesn't get all excited prematurely. Of course he'll also chase sticks -
even into November-cold lakes. He also loves tug-of-war type toys, and can
pull his weight, and then some! He does so very enthusiastically, growling
all the while. :-)
Like any Labrador, Theo is also very definitely into relaxing. He'll go to
sleep almost anywhere - including on our furniture. If you want to sit in the
best chair in the house, you have to evict the dog! The dalmatian in the
couch photo is Sunny. He's also a rescue dog. Watch in the future for his
page. One of the best things you can do for our furry friends is to rescue
those who are in bad circumstances, and there are lots of rescue facilities
all over the world that enable you to adopt a wonderful friend and companion.
We hope you enjoy reading about our wonderful friend Theo.
See more images of Theo!
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Every day since 1998 Dog of the Day has featured a new dog story and photo. We are always looking to feature more dogs. Share what makes your dog special with the world.
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