Blue's History

I don't recall the year that I got Blue.  His original name was "Scruffy."  He came from a dog rescue in Oakland Park with whom I respect the work, but found them wanting in organization.  I was working a lot of hours and finishing up my degree in Computer Networking Services at ITT Tech.  I was the General Manager of a restaurant on US1.  My concern for my dog Punky being alone all those hours by herself started me on a quest to find her a friend.  My search for a Lhasa apso, the Tibetian house dogs,  or Pekinese, was underway.  I also thought a male would be a good partner for her.  My ex boyfriend had had a Lhasa / Silky mix.  So when I saw Blue, a Sydney Terrier (Silky Terrier), in the crate with a supposedly mean Pekinese dog and chewed up and bleeding ears.  I could not let the caretakers put Blue back in the cage.  He came home with me.

From what I have been told, Blue came from a puppy farm or a breeder and ended up in a Pet Store that went bankrupt.  He went from the store to a crate in a rescue.  He was supposed to have had papers which they agreed to give me after his sterilization.  We had to wait until the infection in his ear healed before neutering took place and the papers were lost.  Blue had never worn a leash, never had a collar.  was only used to a crate, with which he had a love / hate relationship; was petrified of riding in a vehicle (which he is WELL over); was and is still petrified of thunderstorms and loud trucks (Chuck, my partner, insisted on a tranquilizer for bad storms, turned out to be a really good thing).

I've had Blue for over 6 years.  He has peed in the house every day for 6 years.  Fortunately, until we moved into this townhouse, I never had carpeting, only tile flooring.  We've lived in this townhouse for 2 years.  I couldn't take the view of urine stains on the carpeting.  I was losing all hope.  I had no motivation to clean cause all it meant was cleaning animal urine.  I came close to snapping on more than one occasion because I can't stand unsanitary conditions.  It will slowly drive me to snap.  Chuck prevented me from getting rid of Blue on more than one occasion.  When we talked about redoing the upstairs flooring to replace the urine stained carpeting (IT WAS EVERYWHERE.  I KID YOU NOT) I insisted on vinyl flooring that looked like distressed wood, but I could practically hose down.  Since the townhouse is Chuck's, and he was the one footing the bill, he chose beautiful grey carpeting and new padding.  This time I was ready and already owned a carpet steam cleaner.  I've only had 4 spots, however, and none of them really smelled of urine, but I am taking no chances.  I use an orange and peroxide liquid spray to neutralize and then I'm steam vacuuming up.  Works great, no repeat performances.

Blue to this day is not a big fan of grass.  As I am doing more landscaping, he spends time out with me and chasing lizards.  He may yet learn to love grass like he loves sidewalks.  I had an unexpected plus happen this week.  I decided to move more stepping stones into our little back yard.  Blue discovered this area as a new place to urinate.  I couldn't be happier.  It's a great place to encourage him to go when it's raining and he won't take a proper walk.  Neither dog enjoys walking in the rain.