After 3 years as stray, Rusty finds home in people's hearts

As an old dog who talked to people face-to-face, wrote notes by hand and pounded out my first newspaper stories on a typewriter, I've learned the new tricks of web searches, Facebook and typing with my thumbs. But I never anticipated reporting stories like this:

Rusty, the miraculous stray dog of Oak Brook that I wrote about Oct. 2 after being tipped via an e-mail, is doing well and so is his trust fund, according to the more than 300 friends on his “Steve Arfenbarker Facebook page. But the best source on this story comes from the latest blog posting of Zoey, another dog.

“Now that he's living at the Hinsdale Humane Society, Rusty is learning how to be an indoor dog, reports “Zoey's DogBlog for October. “He's learning to walk on a leash, although he prefers to be carried. Outside, the loud noises of trains or ambulance sirens don't faze him one little bit. But the tiny ding of the microwave bell startles him. Everything indoors is a new experience. He's not necessarily frightened, just unsure of himself.

“Rusty doesn't understand that people love him, the dog's blog continues. “And believe me, Rusty is loved, very loved.

I can verify that last part through my interactions with humans. I wrote the original story about Rusty the same weekend I wrote about a remarkable young soldier who grew up in Wheaton and received the Medal of Honor after his courageous actions in Afghanistan saved his fellow soldiers and cost him his life. I got more phone calls, letters and e-mails about Rusty. I realize that doesn't mean people care more about a dog than about a hero who gave his life for his country, but it does give you an idea about how much enjoyment people get from a good dog story.

“I think it's just a feel-good story. Everybody is just captivated that this dog could live on his own for so many years, says Lori Halligan, executive director of the Hinsdale Humane Society and owner of Zoey, the blog-writing dog.

Rusty, believed to be a 4-year-old Chow-Sheltie mix, showed up in fall 2007 in an area of Oak Brook bordered by business campuses and the Forest Glen and Woodside Estates subdivisions. Rusty managed to avoid animal control officers, traps, speeding cars, coyotes and good-hearted attempts to lure him out of the cold and snow to become a beloved character for the people who left him food and water and kept their eye out for him.

“This dog was so well-known. The police said they had hundreds of calls about this dog, Halligan says, heartened by the people's outpouring of concern for the dog. “They would talk about this dog living on his own. They'd see him in the rain and the cold, and their hearts would go out to this little dog.

As Harry Peters, president of the Forest Glen Homeowners Association, puts it: “He adopted our neighborhood, and we adopted him back.

On Sept. 20, Rusty finally strolled through an open gate in a yard to play with Milo, a rescued bichon-poodle mix owned by Frank and Lynn Trombetta, and effectively surrendered his freedom, perhaps because his health was being threatened by heartworms.

“After reviewing his blood work and X-rays, we're feeling cautiously optimistic that his heartworm treatment will be successful, Lisa McIntyre, a Naperville veterinarian who runs “The Welcome Waggin' mobile service, said. The treatment should last several months and does carry risks, but Rusty is in good shape for a stray.

“He had a good thing going. He really was so well-cared-for by the people of Oak Brook, says McIntyre, explaining how people would grill steaks, chicken and other delicacies to leave for Rusty.

“You would think a stray dog would eat anything but Rusty is a very picky eater, Halligan says. “Cheese is a favorite thing of his. He's not fond of treats. He's not fond of dog food.

But he's adapted well to his new indoor life.

“Even with everything he's been through (shots, blood tests, X-rays, etc.) Rusty is still as sweet as ever, reports Zoey's DogBlog.

“The staff just adores him. It's been great fun, Halligan says.

An adoptive family in Oak Brook has been interviewed and Rusty could move into a permanent home this week. I'm guessing I'll need to write a third column about Rusty after he's back in good health and in his new home, which is a lot of columns for a dog that spent three years not owned by anybody.

“It's not that he was nobody's dog. It was that he was everybody's dog, Halligan says. “Everybody wants to root for the underdog, pun intended.

My challenge will be to scoop Zoey's DogBlog.