Mary Saves Injured Dog

One night on her way to the Texas Meat Market, Mary spotted some people who were standing over a little dog that they had just hit with their car. Mary, a retired equine veterinarian, volunteered her assistance. She recognized the little dog as a stray that had been in the neighborhood for a couple of weeks. The dog showed little signs of life, but Mary said she would take him to the emergency vet.

The emergency vet did some preliminary checks and said that the dog, a young Jack Russell terrier, had good vital signs and didn't appear to have any major broken bones. He was paralyzed, but it wasn't known if that would be permanent.

Mary brought the dog home and made him a bed in the garage. He survived the night and spent the next day snoozing in the family room. After a second night in the garage, the dog was able to walk. He was a little wobbly, but he could get around. Later in the day, he followed the other family dog through the dog door.

Mary put an ad in the paper and checked other sources trying to find the little dog's owner, but didn't have any luck. In the mean time, the little dog was getting stronger. He appeared to have a problem with one leg and his spine was a little crooked, but every day, he was getting to be more active.

Life with Russell

As he became more active, he took on a real personality. He soon learned that he could sneak through a hole in the back fence. He ran right back to the location on Donaldson of his near fatal accidident. Paula ran and caught him and brought him back home and repaired the holes.

We decided that he was coming to live with us for good, so we decided to give him a name. ''Russell'' seemed to fit his personality very well. Especially since he is always ''rustling'' in the trash. He seems to think that he is still a stray and that he might find a snack in the trash.

Russell likes to take things out through the dog door into the backyard. First it was the shoes he found in the mud room. Then it was his dog toys. Then it was the underwear and shoes he found on the bedroom floor. Last week he tried to take a rug out, but it was too big for the opening.

While he takes lots of things outside, he usually doesn't chew them up in the process. He just moves them around. One exception was the plastic shaver he found in the bathroom. He chewed the handle off. It was pretty scary to find the handle, but not the razor portion. But didn't hurt himself. He just hid the razor under the bathmat...

Home on Seeling Boulevard

Russell enjoys living with Paula and Mary. He runs in the back yard and can be seen jumping over the flower bed. He always greets Mary and/or Paula with great affection and acrobatics when they return to the house. He will wait out in the back yard, so he can spot Paula's car when she drives into the garage.

He also has learned to walk on a leash so that he can go investigate territory outside his back yard. He enjoys playing with Bugs, the Corgi dog and Tyler, the cat. Sometimes when Russell is trying to get attention, he jumps over Bugs. Bugs is patient with Russell, however, and seems to enjoy having a ''younger brother.'' But if Russell misbehaves by doing something like getting in the trash, Bugs is quick to let out a telltale growl.