Welcome to Wilbur's World

Well, is it Wilbur's world, and are we just living in it?

Found skinny and cold in early January on a farm in rural Kentucky playing with the farm's dogs, Wilbur was taken to an already-overcrowded county animal shelter. Knowing his hold time had long elapsed, and drawn in by the gentleness of his eyes and the sweetness of his face in the Petfinder photographs, we decided on the spot to volunteer to become an Illinois Birddog Rescue foster home to Wilbur and Radar, another beautiful Pointer at the same shelter.

The gentleness and sweetness we saw in the photographs are accurate descriptions of kind Wilbur. He traveled the nearly 300 miles to our home very well and immediately made friends with our herd of Labradors and coonhounds. Wilbur loves nothing more than to stand or sit beside us and have his head and back rubbed, and for a boy who's only a couple of days inside the house - or any house - he's mellow and relaxed. He does, however, like to play with the other dogs for a few minutes first!

However, as a former hunter, Wilbur needs to learn all the ropes of being a beloved inside companion, including house training and obedience training. He's making strides in learning to walk on a leash, and counters and ledges aren't quite as inviting as they were the first day. And he's spending his time outside of his crate in the house on the leash so we may keep an eye on him. But he didn't chew up the corner of the rug in the photo...that was a teething gift from our Lab Abby when she was a puppy.

Today is a big day for both Wilbur and Radar...it's "Big Snip" day at the vet. I'm anxious to pick them up after work to take them home to rest...