PHATT BOY'S STORY
December 13, 2006
Phatt Boy came to rescue in September of 2006 after a break up.
He was kept in a fence as an outside dog for the three years his owner had him. When his owner split up with his girlfriend he was unable to take Phatt Boy with him so he decided the best thing for him was to turn him over to rescue to ensure he'd get the love and attention he needed.
I went to see Phatt Boy with my coordinator on my first evaluation/transport since I joined the rescue as a volunteer. When he stood up in the back of the truck he was riding in we were amazed at just how big he was. You could tell he hadn't been away from his home much as he was a bit scared but just as sweet as can be. When they went to put him into our truck he didn't want to go and they had to literally pick him up and put him in...all 150 lbs of him!
When he got to the kennel/foster home he was completely terrified and wouldn't come out of the truck. My coordinator backed his truck up into the garage so he could come out when he felt comfortable. Once everyone went out of the shop I stayed behind and he came out for me....still scared. When I left he got back into the truck and stayed there all night. I brought hubby out the next afternoon to see him and the poor thing was so freaked out he wouldn't stand up in his kennel and hadn't eaten since he'd gotten there. We spoke softly to him through his kennel and he finally started eating while laying down and while we sat there in front of him.
Now, when we joined up with the rescue we had no intention of fostering for a while...we just weren't ready for it. When we saw how distressed Phatt was in the kennel and how he seemed to calm down when we were near...that plan quickly changed. The next day we came out to check on him and ended up bringing him home with us. For a dog who had never been kept inside, his manners in the house were perfect. We had a few problems with marking and had a rough first night because he was so nervous he was throwing up and drooling everywhere but he quickly got comfortable and made himself at home.
Shortly after we started fostering him we found out he tested HW positive. He was a doll for his treatment and happy to be back home once it was over. You've all seen his pictures so I don't need to tell you how much of a sweet heart he was. We thought LONG and HARD about adopting him but we just didn't think it was the right time to add another dog because we were thinking of moving and adding a child to our family. Oh how I regret the decision we made.
I took Phatt to his final meet and greet Saturday afternoon so he could say good-bye to those who've helped him. At that event, he was bitten in the ear by another dane who he got too close to (she had bad feet and he sniffed or stepped on one). Here I thought that's the worst thing that could happen to him the weekend he was being adopted. She split his ear (about an inch) on the tip and the poor thing bled everywhere. We finally got the bleeding to stop just before his new family came out to see him.
Once they got there he seemed completely comfortable...leaning, sitting and drooling on his new dad and two kids. They came back the next day...same response. He jumped right into their van ready to go for a ride. It was soooo hard seeing him watch us out the window of the van but we kept telling ourselves that he's going to a wonderful home and they'll send us updates often.
We didn't expect to hear from them so soon and when we heard that he'd taken off our hearts sank. We decided within minutes that we'd make the 5 hour drive up to New Market, VA to assist in the search for him. We took Nova with us hoping that her scent would help calm him and bring him out of the woods. We got into VA at 10 PM Sunday night and searched for him until 1 AM. After getting a few hours of sleep we were back at it at day light.
We had everyone in the town on the look out for him. At around 9 AM we got a call that he'd been spotted by an officer on I-81 between the interstate and the fence. The officer tried to get him to come to him and he somehow got back over the fence and into the woods. For the next several hours we were searching the wooded area as well as the interstate...still nothing.
At around 1 PM a VERY nice man with a Golden Retriever rescue came to help with our search...he'd even left work early to do so. He was there only a few minutes when he spotted Phatt near the hotel we were at...again between the interstate and the fence. When Phatt saw us he got spooked and took off. We spread out to try to find out where he went because it appeared he had gone back into the woods. I was stationed outside of the fence on the intersate incase he came back out.
A couple of minutes later, I saw him running straight for me down the fence line. I nearly pee'd myself because I just knew he would come straight to me. As he got closer he kept veering towards the interstate and with all of the traffic I know there was no way he could hear me but I yelled for him anyway. Then he did the worst thing imaginable...he ran straigt across all four lanes of the interstate. My heart sank! I just knew that was it. He made it though and was running away from us on the other side.
We ran across the interstate but he was just too darn fast so I went back to get the car while hubby tried to find him again. That was the last time we saw him alive. We looked and looked and looked but he just seemed to have disappeared. As dark was closing in we put out food and some of our clothes in the woods where hopefully he would come back and have a place to feel safe. As much as we hated to, we had to leave because we both had to be at work the following day. We had already missed one day. The man with the GR rescue was local and agreed to be our contact person and also put food out for him everyday and transport him if he was found. We had to be on our way.
We had to make that one last pass up the interstate. That's when we saw him laying there on the side of the road and the truck that hit him a short ways down the road. I can't even begin to describe what we felt at that moment...and have felt since. The guy with the GR rescue was nice enough to help us load him into the back of his truck and transport him to a vet to be cremated. This is an unexpected expense for us so close to Christmas but it will be worth every penny to have him safe at home. I just wish he could be on our couch, cuddled up to Nova instead of where he is now.
RIP my sweet Phatt Boy. You'll forever remain in our hearts and thoughts. We miss you so much.
By Tiffany (Phatt Boy's foster family)
