Terrier is home at last

“I was just entertaining myself,” Nobbs said. “Even though there’s a little part of my brain that says we can have a second dog, there’s a very logical part of my brain that says our life is much easier with a single dog.”

That little part of Nobbs’ brain took over when she saw Rex, a 16-year-old terrier mix, who was found wandering in The Dalles in early February.

“He was in really rough shape and really hungry,” Home At Last office manager Debbie Hansen said. “You could tell he was old because of his eyes and teeth.”

Rex was in such poor condition that Hansen took him to her veterinarian, who diagnosed Rex with a heart murmur and gave him six months to live. Rex also had bad teeth that resulted in an infection in his nasal passages that caused him to sneeze a lot.

Rex’s story tugged at Nobbs’ heart.

“I saw his little profile and his picture and he’s so cute and I just couldn’t stand the idea of him dying in the shelter,” Nobbs said.

“I feel really bad for dogs because they behave the way that they do because we bred them to behave this way. They are hard-wired to be with us. They are hard-wired to serve us, so when I see a little elderly dog that’s not being taken care of it just breaks my heart because he didn’t ask for that. It’s horrible.”

Nobbs’ love for animals comes from her grandfather, who trained dogs and horses on his farm.

Nobbs, who once wanted to be a veterinarian before becoming a physical therapist, used to spend her summers there.

“My grandfather was a supremely compassionate man, very different from the typical horse trainer of the day,” Nobbs said. “I remember him getting very, very angry when I was a kid.

“He would hear people running their horses too hard and he would get furious because he knew how hard it was on the horses physically. He was really into treating animals with respect and compassion and that’s what I grew up with all of my summers.”

Nobbs said the ‘love of her life’ was a 130-pound brindle bullmastiff named Tyson, who left such an impression on her that when it came time to get another dog, Fosco stood out because he was the same color.

Under a foster arrangement, Nobbs brought Rex home on March 21.

Home at Last agreed to pay for all of his medical expenses, including Rex’s heart medicine, antibiotics for his sinus infection and any vet visits.

Having another dog around, especially a sick one, didn’t sit well with Fosco.

“Dogs’ noses are better than ours, but even to my nose, he [Rex] smelled very ill,” Nobbs said. “You could smell the infection and antibiotics on him and it really freaked our dog [Fosco] out.

“So at the beginning, he was like, ‘Why are you bringing this guy into the pack? You’re supposed to push the sick ones out, not let them in.’”

Fosco let Nobbs know he was upset, too, choosing not to sleep in his regular spot — under the covers at the foot of her bed.

“He ignored us for a week,” Nobbs said. “He wouldn’t come into the bed. He was like, ‘You brought this other dog into our house. I hate you.’ He acted really weird for a week but that’s kind of gone.”

Because Rex wasn’t thought to be house trained, he started out in a smaller area — the laundry room. Since Rex is also deaf, training him to use the bathroom outside wouldn’t be easy.

“This has been interesting for me because he can’t hear me and I’ve always grown up with the idea that you use your voice to train the dog,” Nobbs said. “It’s been fascinating to try to figure out how to give him patterns that he can recognize and get him to go outside so he’s not messing in the house and we’ve been pretty successful.”

Rex kept Nobbs up the first couple of nights sneezing but has since improved so much that he no longer has to take an antibiotic for the sinus infection.

That’s just one of the strides Rex made in his first two weeks with Nobbs.

“Since we’ve got him, he’s actually gotten spunky so he has a little speed to him now,” Nobbs said. “When we brought him home, he seemed like he was on his death bed. He was super, super skinny when we got him and he has put on a little bit of weight and he’s eating like a champ.”

While Rex eats regular dog food, because of his bad teeth Nobbs soaks it in chicken broth, which she already makes from scratch.

Rex has also gotten out of the laundry room and picked his bedroom.

Nobbs was in her home office when Rex walked in and began eying the futon. Nobbs pulled out a plastic container, which he then used to catapult himself onto the futon, which has remained his bed ever since.

Late in life, Rex has truly found his home at last.