Something Oso This Way Comes

Introducing the newest member of our family, Oso!



It's very tempting to give him more name: Oso Silly, Oso Happy, Oso Much Better Than a Cat. So far, he is just Oso.

Oso is a 3-years-old yellow lab mix. His personality borders on aloof, but he licks my face. He re-affirms my sense that I am a dog person. It feels really good to have a dog who should hate every human the world declare "I like you."

"Oso" means "bear," which to me is like having a gerbil named "Lion." The story of his life (this far) is long and very amazing. The short version is he is a rescue dog from Guatemala. The longer version can be found here:

http://www.murphysbone.com/oso.html

The longer-longer version is below.

Tonight Oso's foster parents, Minoo and Bobby, came over. They've been taking care of him at their house in Northridge since September last year. At one point another family was going to take him in but they had to move to Israel.

Oso showed up with Minoo and Bobby at 7:30. Oso promptly established himself by barfing green/yellow muck on the floor. He was nervous, and they had warned me about his I.B.S. (irritable bowel syndrome).

We all talked about getting Oso not to pee indoors. Oso perked his one un-torn ear and contemplated peeing on the fabric covered music box that lives next to my Wii. Bobby told him "no."

We moved to the back yard. Oso marked the grill as his. I could see it from is point of view - make sure you try to claim the thing that smells like steak. Then Oso barfed on the platform that will eventually become my storage shed. I could see his point of view - it had been a couple of months since I had worked on it and I was a little disgusted with myself too.

Oso poked around the backyard and barfed a couple of more times while while we humans talked. Minoo told us this story:

Her sister bought her a trip to Guatemala. Because Minoo is a student of anthropology she traveled by boat to the isolated fishing village of Livingston - a village on the Atlantic Ocean side where the indigenous people were/are ethnically homogeneous. There she met the second-worst mangy street dog in all of Livingston.
He cowered from all people because he had been abused so badly. But he stared at Minoo. A friend had told Minoo not feed the street dogs in front of the people of Livingston. So Minoo ate at a restaurant and saved half of her chicken in a bag. When she looked, this dog was still staring at her. Minoo offered the dog the chicken.
The dog had been so abused that he would not take it, even though the dog was almost starved to death and could smell the chicken through the bag. Minoo coaxed the dog down an alley. She put the chicken on the ground and said "This is for you." The dog ate it in one bite.

Minoo asked some children in Livingston who the dog belonged to. The children said that the dog didn't belong to anyone. Minoo asked if the dog had a name. The children said the dog's name was Oso. None of them knew who gave it that name. Minoo decided that she had to help Oso.

Minoo put Oso on a boat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tBhIl_IOc8

She took him to a shelter another part of Guatemala.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6iJJtlTiBo

He got beter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4_NE7mZhY4&eurl=http://www.murphysbone.com/oso.html

Eventually, Oso got well enough to come to the USA.
So anyway... Minoo and Bobby asked their friend and professional dog trainer/therapist Parker [(310) 560-5665] to come by and give us advice on canine thinking around a human baby. Parker was excellent. What I most regret is that we don't have a picture of Oso giving Baby Yarden kisses. Then, on his way out, Oso threw up.

I think everything went well. Oso was a little nervous - Minoo, Bobby, and Parker were sure he knew something was up. We expect Oso will be a little on edge for the first few weeks he lives here. Also Oso was in recovery. Last week, Minoo took Oso to the Vet Surgeon for a couple of things: the removal of floppy dew claws, the benign growth on his ear, the teeth cleaning, a tooth that was pulled, etc., etc. Minoo then sent out the call to the O.F.C. (Oso Fan Club) for a little fund-raising. They were very generous. Some have been fans for a long time. Some have been fans from far away. Some have been both. All had been moved by what Minoo and Bobby did for this boy, by his story, and I feel special that I am person who gets to be Oso's human. Anyone in the O.F.C. should feel free to add a comment to this blog. Please check in regularly. In case I haven't had the opportunity to say "thank you" to you personally, I thank you publicly here.

P.S.
My mother is coming Sunday to spend time with Yarden. She did not expect to or sign on for caring for 3-years-old Guatemalan rescue dog too. But, when I was born, her mother traveled to Massachusetts to help take care of me. Instead my Grandma ended up mostly taking care of our black lab Alice's litter...

P.P.S.
I thought of a couple of more things I want if you are shopping for my birthday:

(1) Cork City Football Club jersey http://corkcityfc.buy.ie/catalog/index.php?cPath=63_292

(2) Some kind of shirt or hat from here: http://www.peeyourpantsforthebrewers.com/store.php

(3) "Three Amigos" on DVD