This handsome little face belongs to Orbit, our current foster dog. He’s lived with us for about a month now.

Orbit and his brother Orrey were about 3 months old when they were dumped in a rural cemetery. They lived underneath a big dumpster; starved for human attention, they would run out to greet people when they threw away their flowers.

Over the next 3 weeks, nice people gave them some food until a Good Samaritan contacted the rescue. The little guys went to separate homes so they could learn to be without each other, which would give them a much better chance at being adopted.

Orbit just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, a terrible accident happened, and he got ran over. With multiple pelvic fractures, he needed orthopedic surgery and time for the other fractures to heal. This picture was taken right after he came home from surgery.

And crate rest. Lots of crate rest.

This is where I came into the picture. I guess you could say we are the Canine Critical Care Unit. 😀

Basically, the surgeon removed the ball joint attaching his leg to his pelvis. It had a large crack in it, and pieces were chipped off. The muscles act as a sling to protect and keep his leg and pelvis in place, and miraculously, over time, scar tissue forms. That scar tissue basically reforms a new ball joint.

That’s the simple explanation. The real one has lots of big words that I don’t know how to pronounce, much less spell. But then, that’s why I have ‘people.’ THEY know all about these things!

Orbit’s a happy little guy. He really hated the plastic e-collar, and even though this looks like a clown collar, he was much happier with this collar. He was actually quite funny with it.

We had a few power struggles in the beginning. Orbit thought we should do things his way.

I disagreed, and after a 24-hour battle of the wills and my repeated assurance that “I am the boss of Orbit!”, we came to an agreement based on mutual respect and understanding.

I agreed that when we were all home and he was out of his crate and could be supervised I would allow him to be without his collar. In return, he agreed that when he had to wear it and go into his crate he would do it without objecting or complaining.

And he kept his word. He only made noise if he had to potty.

 “I’m too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it hurts…”

 He’s a funny little guy. And he has the softest fur I’ve ever.seen.ever! It’s like he’s wearing a cashmere coat. He is so soft with big velvety ears, you just want to keep touching him. And since he believes the best place to sit is in your lap, you have plenty of opportunity.

He loves to snuggle.

And he loves to play. But he’s not supposed to play.  Not yet. His body is still healing.

Of course, Ekko loves to play with him. And he really wanted to play with Titan when he and his parents were here. But it’s still too soon, so whenever he gets too rowdy he has to take a sedative.

Poor guy. Do you suppose he wonders just why, every time he starts having fun, he gets really sleepy and has to go take a nap? 😀

If only he knew.

He gets along with the other girls pretty well, most of the time, although Charra is pretty much above the play.

He and Charra were sharing this bed as I got ready for work the other morning. I heard snarling, and walked in to see what was up.

They both look up at me, questioningly. “Yes? Did you need something?”

I’d leave the room, and within 30 seconds I’d hear snarling again. Each time I walked in, they would give me the same look.

Clearly, this was an issue that was none of my business.

He still sits a little funny, but that will get better as his  hip heals.

Much of their playing involves them lying down. They’ve figured out nobody gets in trouble this way.

And, as always, we’ve pondered keeping him. We’ve done this several times, and each time we feel we’ve made the right decision to let them go.

If we keep him, we’ll name him Harley (he looks like a Harley), and try to figure out a babysitter while we’re gone to Florida.(Three is really too many when you’re in close quarters such as a camper. And only two people to walk them.) 😀

Something has held us back though to making it official.

And then yesterday, something happened which has made us think.

“My name is Orbit, and I’m a crotch sniffer.”

Orbit LOVES kids. He saw the neighbors come home, and with great joy, bounded over to meet them and say hello. And tried to go back and see them several times last night.

Clearly, he misses playing with the kids at his first foster home.

And now we wonder: will we be robbing him of the joy of playing with kids if we keep him?

Sure, he would be happy with us. But are we really the best family for him?

And that, my friends, we don’t have an answer to yet. We’ll just let it ride for now, and eventually a decision will be made. (Even the lack of a decision is a decision in itself.)

He’ll either get adopted, or he won’t. And life will go on, until the next one.

So for now, we’ll squeeze him and his soft fur and his ears and laugh at his antics, and see where life takes us on its ‘Orbit.’ 😉