Houdini

I've got a new man in my life! Who knows how long he will stay though. My son and his girlfriend brought me a dog four days ago. He is a Pomeranian. I know my Poms and this one is full-blood and solid black. He had been wandering around their neighborhood for about a month. No one would claim him, and he wouldn't let anyone get close enough to catch him. They finally did catch him and brought him to me. Well guess who is an escape artist? He was here for about three hours when he found a way out of my back yard and went running down the street with me chasing behind him. He kept coming back to my house, but would run away again. He came back that night for just a little while and was gone again the next morning. That night he was seen across the busy street (Camp Robinson) and running toward the north on the railroad tracks (unused). The next time I saw him was later that night when he snuck into the back yard again for the night. Then he was gone all of yesterday until this evening - heading back toward my house. My son's girlfriend saw him and took off after him. With the help of a good friend from church who just happened to be driving by (thank you God for angels), they managed to get a leash around his neck and get him in a car and brought him back here. We got him in a large kennel and he is now resting. Unfortunately, I think he has either been in a fight or was hit by a car. He seems to have something wrong with one of his hips. It could just be old age - he has grey around his mouth so he is definitely not a young dog. He's really fiesty and tries to bite but I think he is just afraid, because if I'm really careful and S-L-O-W-L-Y move my hand to his head he loves being petted and having his ears and nose scratched. I'm going to try to rehab and socialize him. He has obviously been someone's pet in the not too far past. I think he just needs to be loved for a while and understand that no one here is going to hurt him. At least when he does run off he knows to come back here, even after only being here for a few hours the first day - maybe he realizes he will have a forever home here. I just can't believe that people would dump and/or abandon any kind of animal. It makes me SO MAD!! And the name Houdini? Well, he is an escape artist! Wish me luck!