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Chapter 23. The Three Faces of Ling Ling
The call came in from one of the volunteers at AC&C: “Patty, some people dropped off a 5-year-old Chow mix as a euth request. She’s a ‘Patty’ kind of dog. Fluffy and very sweet. Think you can take her?” “I don’t know, Gisella,” I said with some concern. “ I am kind of loaded right now. I will have to take a look at her.”
The next day I went to AC&C to see the dog named, “Ling Ling.” Ling Ling was a very pretty and slightly shy, smallish red mutt. Though the shelter called the dog a “Chow mix, “ Ling Ling looked more like a Duck Trolling Retriever mix. I asked Pat, the New Hope Coordinator if the owners left any information on the dog when they dropped her off. “Why did they want her euthanized?” I asked Pat. “The card says someone in the home was allergic. Did they want the dog dead for that?” Pat tried to call the former owners, but apparently no one spoke English. Great, I thought. No information on the dog. Despite my reservations, I decided to take Ling Ling anyway. She seemed nice enough. She was pretty, good with other dogs and easy to walk. I had to be worried about money though. This now gave me five dogs in boarding at Run Spot Run. My boarding bills were getting astronomical. I needed to find at least one or two dog fosters. Fast. I took digital photos of Ling Ling and posted her to Petfinders and other web sites the same night I pulled her from AC&C. Within a few days I was getting inquiries on her.
Unfortunately, since I had no real information on Ling Ling and still wondered why her former owners wanted her dead, I was hesitant to place her in a home with kids or cats. I had to explain to callers that I was looking primarily for foster as I could offer little information on Ling Ling. One woman who had recently lost her dog of 16 years to kidney failure was very interested in Ling Ling. Alice Warner was a woman in her late 40’s, obviously dog experienced who lived alone in an apartment on the Upper West Side. It seemed the perfect situation for foster. “Would you like to try Ling Ling out?” I asked the very physically fit woman with perfectly coiffed blonde hair and perfectly tailored clothes as she petted Ling Ling at Run Spot. “ Oh yes,” she said with enthusiasm. “Does she know commands? Can she sit and stay?” “I wouldn’t try to get Ling Ling to do tricks right now,” I advised. “You have to consider the dog just lost her home of five years. I believe she’s a little disoriented and depressed. She keeps looking for her former owners when walked on the street.” Despite my words, Alice ordered Ling Ling to “sit” and to my surprise, the dog did. “I will be happy to foster her,” Alice said with delight.
But, Alice had Ling Ling less than 24 hours when she called me: “Ling Ling snapped at me. I’m afraid I have to bring her back. I don’t feel comfortable with her.” I couldn’t believe this dog experienced and professed dog lover was returning Ling Ling after less than a day! “I’m sure she is a little nervous, “ I tried to assure Alice. “If you give her a little time, I am sure she will settle down.” But, Alice wasn’t having any of it. “I need to bring her back now,” she said with chilling finality. Unlike everything else in Alice’s life, Ling Ling wasn’t perfect. But, in her defense and perhaps out of guilt, Alice was generous enough to pay one week of boarding for Ling Ling. As disappointed as I was, matters could have been worse.
About a week later, I got another inquiry about Ling Ling from a young woman named Linda. Linda wanted a dog despite the fact that between work and commuting, she was gone from her apartment 12 hours a day. “That’s really tough on any dog,” I told Linda. I can’t really say if Ling Ling can adjust to your schedule, but perhaps the peace and quiet might do her good. You can try her out as a foster and we can see how it goes. If it doesn’t work out, you can return her.” Linda, being more swayed by Ling Ling’s pretty looks than her own busy work schedule was eager to foster.
Linda’s complaint, after only four days, was that Ling Ling “is very quiet and aloof.” “She doesn’t come to greet me at the door when I come home. She doesn’t even seem to want to go out. I want more of a companion dog.” I told Linda that a cat would adjust better to her situation than a dog, but in any case, it was fine to bring Ling Ling back to Run Spot. Ling Ling had now been in two homes in less than two weeks. But, still there was a third woman, who once again, was armored of Ling’s Ling’s size and pretty appearance.
Cari was a young, attractive, well intentioned woman, who once again lived alone on the Upper West Side. Unlike, Linda, however, Cari was a student and was home most of the time. I told Cari everything the previous fosters told me about Ling Ling. “She’s going to be a little aloof. Don’t overwhelm her with attention. Let her settle in. I think Ling Ling is a little spazzed out, insecure and nervous after losing her original home and being in two previous fosters.”
Two days later, Cari called to tell me that Ling Ling was “too clingy” and couldn’t bear to be left alone! “I really love Ling Ling!” Cari said. “ She sleeps in the bed with me, gives me kisses, puts her head on my lap and never leaves my side! But, she chewed part of my bureau when I left her alone. She also wants to go for constant walks. I love her, but she is too much for me.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! Cari was describing a totally different dog from the previous two fosters! “This can’t be real,” I said to Cari. “I feel like naming this dog, ‘Eve’ from that old movie, ‘ The Three Faces of Eve.’ Ling Ling seems to have three totally different personalities.”
But, once again, Ling Ling was back at Run Spot and I found myself wondering which personality was the real Ling Ling? Or, would a third, normal personality finally emerge from the two extremes, like in the old Joanne Woodward movie?
It would be another couple of weeks before I would finally get my answer. “I’m a volunteer with Broadway Barks,” Donna Levy told me over the phone. “ I just lost my beloved 16-year-old dog two weeks ago and my other dog is lonely. I would love to adopt Ling Ling if she is good with other dogs.” The one thing I had learned for certain about Ling Ling in the month she had been bouncing around fosters was that she liked other dogs. “Ling Ling is fine with other dogs,” I told Donna. “Unfortunately, I can’t tell you much else about her as I have very different reports about Ling Ling from three different fosters. She is ‘the three faces of Ling Ling.’”
Donna listened carefully to Ling’s Ling’s bizarre history, including being dropped off for euthanasia at the pound due to human allergies. We agreed to meet the next day at Run Spot. I figured Donna could decide for herself if Ling Ling was a dog she could deal with. She obviously represented an experienced and responsible home. I crossed my fingers and said a little prayer that finally, this could work out. Ling Ling responded very positively to Donna and the feeling was mutual. Donna elected to adopt Ling Ling despite the dog’s questionable and polarizing past. The two left Run Spot in what seemed a picture adoption bliss. Dared I to hope? “Please call me and let me know how its going,” I said to Donna as she departed. “You know if it doesn’t work out, we’ll take her back.”
But, I desperately hoped that I would not have to once again, honor that promise. This dog had been bounced around more times than a ping pong ball! But, this time when the call came almost two weeks later, the news was all good.
“Oh, I have to thank you so much for Ling Ling!” Donna cooed enthusiastically. “She is such a wonderful dog!” Donna went on to tell me that Ling Ling loved going to the dog run in Carl Shurtz park, was great with her other dog and had “settled in almost perfectly.” So overjoyed was I, I could barely speak. “Oh, God, Donna, you don’t know how much your call makes my day! In fact, makes my year! We went through so much with Ling Ling. Thank God, she finally found you!”
As so often is proved in rescue and perhaps life sometimes, one has to be patient for the right situation and right time – to finally come along. Ling Ling didn’t really have three different personalities. She only had one. But, it took more than a month for her genuine self to finally emerge from the chaos of abandonment and confusion of multiple foster and boarding situations. When Ling Ling finally found someone who was patient and could understand where she had been, it was so much easier to see where the dog was going. Patience, time and understanding will out.