axelfresnobob.bsky.social

Puss and Death from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Puss and Perrito from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

How Jones the cat views the Axel situation

vs.

The actual Axel situation.

Thanks to you too: I can't imagine how people run dog adoption pages without going mad with grief. I set this up in part because I didn't want Axel's win to be just one moment before moving on to the next poor little soul in need of a home. Showing him healing and thriving is good for everyone. 🐺❤️

A Siberian husky in an orang vest with palm trees and mountains behind him,

AXEL UPDATE, DAY 4: Steady progress. Axel comes to life on his walks, and he's getting more disciplined on the leash. Better about other dogs, checking to make sure I'm still near, and marking his territory regularly. We're up to three walks a day, totalling a little more than 4 miles.

Good to know, and thanks. :)

a man in a grey shirt is sitting in front of a sign that says beverly hills cop ALT: a man in a grey shirt is sitting in front of a sign that says beverly hills cop

Quick word on Axel's name. Noted rock-and-roll disaster area Axl Rose drops the "e," and is therefore disqualified on a technicality.

The dog is officially named after the Murphy character. I don't make the rules.

💯 He's getting about 4-5 miles a day, with a few circuits of my complex. He'll get regular trips to the dog park once he's settled and ready to be off the leash.

a cat wearing a hat and a cape is holding a glass of milk ALT: a cat wearing a hat and a cape is holding a glass of milk

He's really more Puss in Boots, if I'm honest. He's chased off raccoons.

A Siberian husky in a bathroom.

AXEL, DAY 3: Still not 💯 about me, but he perks up when I scratch him, and this is him quietly asking for a belly rub, which I'm taking as a positive. He's cleared the big hurdles - eating, drinking, pooping, going on walks - and his bathroom lair is much sunnier than his first spot by the door. ❤️ 🐺

a cartoon character says " good news everyone " ALT: a cartoon character says " good news everyone "

Okay, Axel is eating! I boiled a chicken thigh, then cut it up and fed it to him piece by piece. It's the first real food he's had since he got home, and a huge weight off my mind. Thanks to @hulkling-she-her.bsky.social for a great life hack to kick that off.

An orange cat and a Siberian husky in a bathroom together.

An orange cat and a Siberian husky in a bathroom together.

AXEL UPDATE: Woke up to the sound of Axel moving through the apt. He settled in the bathroom, which I think is a good sign? New feeding station added (he's barely eaten, which is my only remaining big worry RN), and we have reached detente with Jones the cat.

A Siberian husky in a dark doorway.

A Siberian husky in a sunny doorway.

Axel is making progress. When he arrived yesterday, he immediately hunched up in the corner by the front door and would only leave for walkies. He's still there, but you can see a big change in his relaxed body language after 24 hrs. He's also explored the rest of the apt. a couple of times. 🐺❤️

A Siberian husky with an orange vest on the lawn of an apartment complex.

Axel Update: Day 1 has gone as well as expected. Axel is still very much a shelter dog and will need some time to come out of his shell. He has his own space, however, and he LOVES his walkies. (It's early, but he responds very well to basic leash commands.) I'll try to update as I can.

A Siberian husky in the back of a car.

So apparently, huskies don't do well in the shelter system, and I grew up around them and... well...

Say hello to the newest member of my family, Axel.

Donate Now - Valley Animal Center DONATE NOW TO HELP AN ANIMAL IN NEED. Contributions like yours help us continue to provide for valley animals.

Postscript: the folks at Valley Animal Center are the heroes in Axel's story. Here's their address if anyone wants to donate. They're dedicated people, and they absolutely did right by this guy.

valleyanimal.org/donate-now/

A Siberian husky with one brown eye and one blue eye.

Things are bad out there right now; I adopted Axel in part because I needed a happy ending, and happy endings are in short supply these days. He’s just one dog, but he beat some long odds to find safe harbor, and we both hope this page can be a quiet celebration of that victory.

17/17

A Siberian husky on a big lawn.

I'll try to post updates about his progress and adventures as often as I can.

16/🧵

A Siberian husky and an orange cat in a bathroom.

A Siberian husky and an orange cat in a bathroom.

We’re three days in as I write this and most of the big obstacles have been cleared. He’s eating, drinking, pooping, and going on walks. His body language is becoming more relaxed and he no longer flinches when I reach out to him. The cats have accepted his presence, and he theirs.

15/🧵

A Siberian husky in the back of a car.

Two days after hearing about him, I filled out the application to adopt. After the usual back-and-forth about the responsibilities of pet ownership, I drove up to Fresno to get him.

14/🧵

A poster for the movie Beverly Hills Cop

The clincher was utterly incidental. Axel Foley is the hero of the Beverly Hills Cop movies, and I tend to name my pets after movie or literary characters. (Jones, his freshly minted feline nemesis, is named after the cat in Alien.)

13/🧵

My big concerns were his ability to get along with my cats, and his quality of life in a small unit. The shelter assured me that -- provided he got plenty of walks and outdoor activity -- he was good on both fronts. After that, we just started checking off boxes.

12/🧵

My condo complex is very dog-friendly with lots of grassy space and a couple of designated tennis ball spots for walkies. Vacation homes predominate, so things are quiet most of the year. And we have a city dog park within easy walking distance, so he can go off the leash when he's ready.

11/🧵

My place is quiet, which he needs; the shelter environment was killing him. I work from home so I can be with him all the time, and I have a small fenced-in yard, so he has outdoor space of his own. There are no kids or other dogs to divide my attention.

10/🧵

I slept on it, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt like that fit. I grew up around Alaskan malamutes, and there have been a couple of Siberians in the family, including one who just passed a few years ago. I'm hardly a professional, but the breed holds no surprises for me.

9/🧵

The people at the shelter need a lot of credit for recognizing his plight. Axel doesn’t bite, nip, growl, or bark; there's no aggression in him at all, and he explodes with joy at walk time. This wasn’t a damaged animal playing out the string. This was a sweet boy who just needed the right fit.

8/🧵

So Axel hunched in the corner on adoption days - 50 pounds of obvious emotional prolems - and invariably got overlooked. He soon began to withdraw, and a week before I adopted him, he stopped eating. The vet confirmed that there was nothing wrong with him physically. He was just giving up.

7/🧵

His breed was another strike against him. Huskies have a reputation as big-energy dogs with a lot of anxiety who need time and attention. That can be tough for people who have other responsibilities. Smaller dogs are just easier, especially if they come from the shelter system.

6/🧵

His story is heartbreaking, like most shelter dogs. He came to the Fresno facility in a little pack of five. The others were adopted one by one, leaving him alone. Axel is very shy – I’m certain there was abuse in his past – and the loss of his little family took a lot out of him.

5/🧵

But he was a husky, which is a breed I’ve had a lot of experience with, and my eyes caught “California” in his bio. So I clicked on his pic on a whim, and the more I read, the more it felt like I was a good fit for an animal who really needed one.

4/🧵

Axel popped up on my social media feed, and I did what most folks do: tell myself that I’ve rescued my share, that there’s no more room at the inn, and that I’m not a bad person if I can’t house every poor animal in the world.

3/🧵

I also live about four blocks from the local animal shelter, so if I wanted a lovable pooch in need of a home, I didn’t have to drive five hours to Fresno to get one.

2/🧵