Cornelius aka Neil Milano is a senior beagle who weighs about 17 pounds.  He is not in the shelter but entered our Rescue Program and arrived in his foster home just a week ago, on January the 31st. Since then, he chose his favorite bed (a soft and poufy one) and has been spending his days just sleeping away the stress and deprivation he has experienced until now.  He has had his first visit to the vet and, oh joy, has been declared heartworm negative. We’re working now on making him feel more secure and on taking care of a few matters, such as putting on a bit of weight, getting rid of that black spot on his nose (which indicates that he was penned in and tried hard to get out), getting him a dental, etc., etc.

Because of his very gentle gait, we think that, waaaay in his past, Cornelius was the talk of the catwalks in Milan. Thus his alias – Neil Milano. With his delicate build, he just seems the kind that could daintily show off the best Italian designers. So we went a bit wild with him and dressed him in a pink coat. He doesn’t mind, we think.

Neil appears to be a gentle soul. He arrived in his foster home and was greeted by four beagles and two cats. His little tail wagged furiously but he got little sympathy from the beagle pack (bleh, mom! Another shelter dog!?) and a lot of interest from the cats. He’s been dealing very well with trying to win over the canines. He’s not pushy, not in their faces, just very understanding and accepting. But if need be, he does stand his ground and not let them push him around (they figured this out and are leaving him alone). The cats are of little interest to him and they can rub up against him all they want. On his first evening here, he was oohed-and-aahed over by a group of small children – he just stood there and took it all in.

We still need to teach Neil that he can eat out of a bowl and can come up to ask for attention. This will all come with time. Even so, when he’s on his bed and sees someone passing by... he will open his leg and expose that small belly of his for rubs. So quite obviously, not all his past experience with humans was negative. We just need to reinforce his faith in Mankind. His gentle nature sure makes the learning process easy.

As time goes by and Neil comes out of his shell, he will change. We can say now that he likes the company of other dogs and does very well on walks when another dog is present. Once he sleeps away all the bad memories, he will be a total charmer. Neil is well on his way to being an exemplary house pet and if you give him a chance, he will show you what a good boy he is!  Please contact us at 410.880.2488 ext 3 or always4tucker@yahoo.com

Good with Dogs, Good with Cats