Name: Humphrey
Nick Name: "Humpy" (but it's not what you think!) Sex: Male Breed: American Bulldog Height: 27" Weight: 92 Pounds Birthday: June 13, 2007 to August 30, 2012 Owner's: Chuck & Sherri Palmeri Owner's Contact Information: Favorite Sports/Activities/Pastime: Swimming, Attending Doggie Daycare, Being a Social Butterfly, Car Rides, People Watching, Cuddling, LOVES Being the Center of Attention, likes to lay on your feet, sliding down the stairs on his tummy, watch other dogs on TV, and of course Surfing! Pet Peeves: Having his nails trimmed, and being left a lone. Home Break: Dog Beach, Del Mar Favorite Dog Beach: Dog Beach Del Mar Favorite Dog Park: He likes them all! Favorite Toy: The 'Wooba' Favorite Food: Sausage McMuffins (but don't tell anyone!)Humphrey's Story: Humphrey was rescued from an Los Angelesshelter, minutes before he was to be euthanized in 2008. He came to the shelter as a 1 1/2 year old stray who was nearly starved to death, at a mere 61 pounds. In addition to that he was quite ill with several ailments. He kind of waddled when he walked, and we would soon learn that he suffered from severe hip dysplasia too. There's a very good chance at some point in his life he may need a double hip replacement...something we dread! Without ever meeting Humphrey, I agreed to foster him until Ace of Hearts Dog Rescue, could find him his forever home. It immediately became clear that what he lacked in health, he more than made up for with his fun loving, goofy personality. It took just one week for my husband and I to become "foster failures," and adopt him. Because American Bulldogs can be incredibly strong, the first thing we tackled was obedience training. He received weeks of group training at Rob Kuty's San Diego Pet Training, and then we later enrolled him in a month long intense training program, in Malibu. We both agree that spending the time and money to train him was the best thing we could have done! Today, for the most part, he is a well mannered dog, who knows his commands and can even do a 45 minute "stay" if told to. As, the result of training, Humphrey is also a very social dog who barks at the top of his lungs in excitement as we drive up to doggie day care once or twice a week, where he can run around and play with his canine friends. I always get a kick out of when he comes home from daycare, because he know it's bath time and will hop into the tub all on his own, and wait for me to bathe him. We started taking Humphrey to a pool to swim as therapy for his hips, having no idea how much he would love the water! And while he was king of the pool, he was not so graceful on land. During one of his obedience classes there was a part on agility. After watching Humphrey fall, and trip repeatedly, the trainer finally asked if we could just skip Humphrey's turn, saying it "was just too painful to watch." Most people might have taken offense, but we didn't, because three's no denying that Humphrey is a giant klutz. I can't tell you how many times I've watched him fall off the bed, or the car seat, or run into a pole, but what can I say, it is part of his charm! So as you can imagine, when I enrolled Humphrey in his first surf clinic, I didn't have high hopes for him, it was more about us spending time together. Humphrey spent most of his first day surfing, in the water, rather than on the surf board. But we didn't care, we just kept bringing him, and eventually he seemed to figure out that the goal of surfing is to stay on the board. He's not a surf champion by any stretch of the imagination, in fact we only surf for fun--no competitions for us--but he has far exceeded my expectations! He has been featured surfing on the cover of a magazine, on google "weird news", and on the local news. I think Humphrey really enjoys surfing because when it's time to leave the beach, he makes it clear, he doesn't want to go! I think Humphrey knows that he was rescued, because he never tries to run away and really will do anything to please us. And he has always "pawed" it forward, by being welcoming to the various foster dogs we have had since. People always ask me where I got such an amazing dog, and seem surprised when I tell them he is a rescue. Every year at least 160,000 dogs are euthanized in California, and nearly one out of every four dogs in Californiais ultimately put to sleep, in our shelters. I hope after meeting Humphrey, or hearing his story, more people will consider rescuing their next dog. Humphrey says, "Cowabunga!" to that! |
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