Lefty guns

Lefty was our very first Foster baby. I left for the day to go volunteer and Walt said "I'm sure you're coming home with a dog." I denied it but sure enough I came home with Lefty. Originally his name with Mickey and I was told he was about 2 years old. He turned out to be at least 8 and I renamed him Lefty after Al Pacino's portrayal Benjamin "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero  in Donnie Brasco.

Donnie Brasco and Lefty Guns

Obviously he was Brasco's sidekick, so there was that. He also had this little quirk that solidified the name, whenever he would go number 2 he would lift his left leg and go "tri-dog" to make it happen.

An example of "Tri-dog" position

He had several other similarities to Al Pacino, soulful brown eyes dark brown hair with a touch of grey, and he was quite the actor. After staying a week with us I took him back to the adoption event so he could find a home. He must have known where we were going because he started acting really down. He even started limping which made us take him to the Banfield vet inside the Petsmart that's where we found out his real age and they said he may have arthritis. Great. We decided that it would be best not to take him back to the adoption event since it was too physically stressful. However when we got home he bolted up the stairs and  all demonstrated signs of frailty were history.  He obviously just gave an Oscar worthy performance, to evade adoption or at least adoption events. 

Al Pacino as Lefty

We decided that unless the right person came along he could live out his golden years with us. He and Brasco were fast friends, like the real Brasco and Lefty.

Fast friends!

 Eventually a little older lady came to an adoption event she looked like she was ready to cry. She was having no luck finding a dog, who from her description was Lefty to a T. I showed her his pics, brought him over for a home visit and it was a perfect match. Like Donnie Brasco/ Joe Pistone, Brasco was pretty sad to see his friend go.

Heartbroken Brasco

 Over the next few weeks when I asked him what was wrong and he would look at Lefty's side of the dog bed. It broke my heart. I took comfort in knowing he brought lots of joy to his new home. Lefty would bring loads of humor and happiness everywhere. 

Our one and only Lefty