Tripper came to us two years ago. He came from the Devore shelter in California. This shelter had just taken in about forty dogs from a local hoarding situation. Most of those dogs were white German Shepherd mixes. I discovered Tripper when I learned about the hoarding situation. I was looking at shelter photos of all the dogs they had taken in. I don't know if Trip was part of that group of dogs or not. What I do know is that something about him grabbed me, he looked so sad and defeated in his shelter picture.
We arranged to have him pulled and boarded as soon as he was available. In the shelter Trip wouldn't stand or walk on his own, he had given up. This continued even after he was pulled. Finally we got him home, he was covered in ticks and his ears were raw with fly bites. Tripper had to be half carried and half dragged into the house. Even though he was very thin he is still a large dog and getting him to move was not easy!
Tripper didn't know anything about being in a house, he had no idea how to go up or down stairs, he didn't even know what dog food was. Trip thought food was supposed to be taken out of the garbage can. The first few days he was very quiet and he kept to himself. Fortunately Trip started walking on his own soon after he came home. It took a little longer for him to start eating dog food instead of garbage. We learned that Trip had started eating when we discovered huge piles of unchewed dog food that he had vomited up! Apparently he started eating and didn't stop, stuffing himself until his poor stomach couldn't take any more! Eventually Trip learned to go up and down stairs (he's still pretty clumsy) he started interacting with the other dogs and he even learned to use the doggy door!
Now, just over two years later, Tripper is known as the big meatball, he is a total goofball!
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