Houdini/Missy was picked up as a stray in LaGrange in October, 2006. A two year old cocker spaniel/chow mix, with an outgoing personality, she was considered highly adoptable and transferred to the Humane Society spay/neuter program. After a trip to the vet for her spaying and shots, she was placed in a Humane Society pen, where she earned the name, Houdini, from the Shelter staff. Three times, she climbed over the chain link pen and three times, instead of running away after reaching freedom, she went to the end of the building and climbed back over a chain link fence into the exercise yard! The staff decided to just leave her in the exercise yard, which is separated from the rest of the pens and which put her out of view for the general public for the next three months.

That’s where I came in. As President of the LaGrange Troup County Humane Society, I was at the Shelter on a regular basis. I had had to harden my heart over five years to keep from adopting many wonderful homeless animals. I already had an 10 year old English lab, Abby, adopted from the Shelter 8 years prior, who was diabetic and on daily insulin shots at $75 a month. But Houdini was special, had been in the Shelter much too long without finding a home, Abby needed a buddy (after my 11 year old cat had to be put down in December), so I relented and decided to adopt her in January, 2007.

The night before I was going to adopt her, I was at the Shelter to transport another dog to TV33 for the live Pet of the Week feature. It was extremely cold outside and I asked the Shelter Director, Bobby Dodgen, to put her inside in the education room overnight, which he did. When I left for the TV station, he walked back to check locks and there Houdini was, outside on the walkway in front of the pens. Assuming he hadn’t securely latched the door, he put her back in the education room. After he left for the day, Marsha Schubert, the Humane Society administrative assistant, who was waiting for me to get back from the TV station, walked up to make sure the front door was locked, and there was Houdini, outside on the walkway again. So she put her back in the education room again. Now, granted, the door didn’t have a doorknob, but a pull down handle, how was Houdini opening that door?

The next morning, when I came to adopt her, Bobby told me she had been out on the walkway again when he opened the Shelter that morning. After paying the adoption fee, I put Houdini in the back passenger side seat of my car with Abby. As I drove out of the parking lot, the back seat passenger side window came down (Houdini had a front paw on the control!). I thought, "What am I getting myself into?"

Houdini is now Missy, which I felt was a better choice for a sweet faced lovable female and has been part of my family for a year. Now, as far as escaping, that hasn’t happened. She not only doesn’t run away, she refuses to go outside unless Abby goes with her! She turned out to be housebroken (hurray!), stays off the furniture (except at night – she is partial to sleeping in a corner of the loveseat near a window to the front porch) and has been a remarkable influence on Abby. Missy is less hyper (thanks to Abby’s mellow, laid back disposition) and she has put a little life back into Abby. Actually, last summer, when Abby developed sudden onset blindness as a result of her diabetes, before her cataract surgery, Missy served as her seeing eye dog! In 2007, I entered Missy in the Pet of the Year category at the annual Humane Society Pet Show and she took 2^nd place!

The three of us do pet therapy at a local nursing home every Friday afternoon. Abby and I had been going for a year before Missy joined us. But Abby is afraid of linoleum (I guess she’s afraid of slipping and falling – which has happened) and was very tentative walking down the halls. When we get to the resident we’re visiting, she comes close enough to get her treat (which I provide) and to allow them to pet her. But then she lies down, and the residents, in wheel chairs, can’t reach her. They love Missy, who wants to visit everyone and runs into the room, puts her front paws on their leg to get her treat and stays there was long as they pet her!

The only bone (!) of contention between the two is their periodic rawhide bone treats. The current procedure is that Missy stashes her bone behind the TV and lies down in front of Abby until Abby has chewed hers into two pieces. Then Missy swoops in a grabs a half. But, if you snooze, you lose – if one of them goes into the kitchen to get a drink of water, the other retrieves the piece she’s been working on!

Adopting Missy (in spite of her habit of bringing dead squirrels into the house. I can always tell because she hums when she has something in her mouth) was one of the best reluctant decisions I ever made!