Avery Nocturnus Napolean Fisher

Avery has only been with me for a year now.  He is a real "man's dog" and insists on having a man as his human.  He started off with an elderly couple several miles away, and after a few years with them, the older gentleman passed away.  Avery ran off to their neighbors farm, and took up with Mr. Jones immediately.  He stayed with Mr. and Mrs. Jones for a few years, until Mr. Jones passed away as well.

Mrs. Jones went on vacation following her husbands passing, leaving Avery and her two other dogs in the care of her daughter-in-law.  During the month that she was away, Avery was not taken care of like he should have been.  He arrived in our neighborhood sometime in the middle of May, but was very skittish at the time.  He took up with me though, and the poor little guy was covered in ticks, looked very malnourished, and his coat was in awful shape.  I took him in, fed him, cleaned him up and kept him for two months.

That's when Mrs. Jones showed up looking for her dog.  By this point, I had fallen in love with the little guy.  But, I sent him home with her, after some tears. 

The next day when I got home from work, who was waiting at my front door?  Avery.  Mrs. Jones came and picked him up again.  The next day, when I got home from work, who do you think was at my door?  Avery.

This pattern continued for two weeks.  Every day, I'd come home to find him waiting on at my door, she would take him home, and the cycle would continue. 

Then, one day he wasn't there.  I found out later that she had been keeping him tied up in her backyard so he couldn't run off.  After two weeks of not seeing him, and finally giving up hope that he'd come back, he chewed through his harness and was right back at my door.

Mrs. Jones came and picked him up one last time.  The next day, when I arrived home from work, she called me and told me that she was taking him off his chain, that he was wearing a new red harness, and that if he showed up at my house, to give her a call.  By this point, you can imagine I was a bit frustrated with the whole ordeal.  My neighbors called, and told me some kids down the block were "playing" with him.  These are children I knew to have been too rough with Avery and our other dog before, and I stepped outside, called his name, and like a bolt of lightning he was in my arms again.

I called Mrs. Jones, and she told me that her grandson had convinced her that he wasn't going to stay with her.  That it was just like when his first owner passed away and he had moved on to her husband.  He was a "man's dog" and he knew where he wanted to be.  She asked that I take good care of him and love him (like I could do anything but...).  We still visit Mrs. Jones occassionally, and she periodically sends pictures of him.  It was a frustrating time, but Avery and I are both happy now.