I've been adopted!

Carol Reed

In Memoriam
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5,533
Location
Coolidge, AZ
Some two legged skunk apparently dumped off a beautiful Australian Shepherd female this past week end. She has decided I will provide her a new home. She looks well cared for. I don't have the heart to take her to the pound.

So, anybody got one of these intelligent beautiful dogs? She appears to be mature but not necessarily old. She is a little pudgy. I need to go get dog food today, as she hasn't left my front porch to go "home." What would be a good choice? She will have to be an outdoor dog, as my cat's tail expands to 4" diameter every time she looks out the window and sees the dog.

I won't confine the dog, in case someone is looking for her and I will post notices as to her being found. My neighbor says her breed are one person dogs, and she clearly has set her eye on me. She tags along quietly everywhere I go. She sits perfectly whenever I stop. She gave a polite bark in the middle of the night. I checked but saw nothing. Told her it was alright and she settled right down, no qualms. Think she is a city dog and clearly wants to come into the house. That can't happen.

So what am I getting myself in for?
 
they are good house dogs as well carol and the cat might get to realize that after while.. i got a cat and dog the get along like they brother and sister..and they are excellent watch dogs once they know what isnt right..i think the dog knows where it wants to be:)
 
Not likely the Aussie would hurt the cat, but it might herd it!! :rofl: If the cat has a known escape path up high, shouldn't be an issue. They are smart dogs. Can be high energy, but it doesn't sound like this one is. Most papers will do a free found ad for animals for 2 or 3 days. If you have time, you could call some of the Vets and leave the information. I'm guessing no collar of tags.
Other than that, it's really neat to be loved unconditionally. It's quite different than most cats. :p:p Jim.
 
Well
Its a 10+ year commitment...

I have a free dog. He's 11 this year.
Vet bill yesterday was 300.00..

We love him to pieces and both would have swore we wouldn't ever spend that kind of money on a dog. Now we wouldn't think of not doing it. He had a root exposed on a tooth and couldn't hardly eat. Seems much more himself today and is laying 2 feet behind me as I type.

Difference between a dog and a cat.

The dog will think your God..
The cat thinks they are God...

No disrespect meant to my Lord here its just that that old saying pretty well sums up the difference.


Cats can be left at home for a few days with food and water and a litter box. The dog has to go with you or to some one that will take care of them.

Also dogs are basically pack animals and you are their pack, they don't really do well when separated from the pack. Nothing sadder than a dog on a chain day and night.

It sounds to me as if God may well have provided you with something more to love....
Garry
Garry
 
Sounds like you have been blessed in a very special way Carol.:thumb: The affection of a good dog is very special. At worst the dog and cat will learn to tolerate each other. At best, they will become good friends. I'm hoping for the friends scenario. I wish you the best as both master and servant (and if you know dogs and cats you know what that means).:rofl::rofl:

Seriously, take the dog to a vet. Have it checked for a microchip in its ear. If there is not a chip, just get it checked out. Ask about heart worm meds and shots. You will most likely want it to have a good flea and tick product like Frontline Plus.
 
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In my experience dogs and cats work things out just fine all on their own and people worry too much about their being problems.
Heck, in this house we have more problems with our cat and one of the ones we are fostering than we do with any of the dogs with the cats.
 
Carol,
We got adopted too... our neighbor's dog has taken up residence on our front porch. The neighbor was shot and killed in a bar fight last summer and the wife more or less has abandoned the dog. We should call the sheriff and report it, but I know they'll put the dog down.. he's about 9 years old, a pit bull with a bad reputation, but actually a pretty friendly dog. He gets along great with our dog, if we could just get them to stop hunting skunks...
 
UPDATE!

Just got back from the vet. She had a chip. Her name is Jessie. What happens now is I am out of the picture. The owner will be called and what happens then I don't know. Hopefully they will be happy to get their dog back. She sure was a sweetheart.

Sniff....
 
Getting spray once by a polecat is enough for most dogs, if they go back for seconds, I doubt if they can be broken

grin / bear it
 
Just got back from the vet. She had a chip. Her name is Jessie. What happens now is I am out of the picture. The owner will be called and what happens then I don't know. Hopefully they will be happy to get their dog back. She sure was a sweetheart.

Sniff....
Well since they cared enough to have a chip implanted then they must love the animal, but who knows, at least she picked a good place to seak shelter, her instincts were correct.
 
Carol, stay in touch with the Animal Control folks and see if the owners claim her. One of ours was a stray that showed up in our yard, and he was also chipped. Animal Control tried to contact the owners and never got a response back. After two weeks and no action from the owners, the dog was put on Doggie Death Row. We know this, because LOML was checking on the dog's status daily. Some friends of LOML (who are part of a rescue group) bailed him out of the pound, and we took him in temporarily until a permanent home could be found. (Of course, about 5 minutes after he got here from the pound, this became his permanent home. ;))
 
Carol,

What Vaughn said! Trust but verify!

As for Aussie's, I'm on my third. I wouldn't have any other kind, especially if I still lived out west. They are fiercely loyal, absolutely devoted, incredibly protective of the group, and of the turf. They're one of the only dogs who actually come from the American West (the name's a misnomer). They can beat up a coyote and take care of rattlesnakes (you wouldn't believe how quick they are). Somewhere I've got a picture of Brisi and the cat sleeping together on the same chair. Once they accept the cat as part of the group, they won't let anyone mess with her, either.

Thanks,

Bill

(p.s. here's a story about the kind of thing an aussie will do for the group, It was published in Washingtonian magazine: http://www.washingtonian.com/print/articles/3/177/6792.html

Rescue!

On a Sunday afternoon last April, two-year-old James Lantry wandered from his Silver Spring home to play in the nearby woods, where he often went with his father, Bill, to skip stones in the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia.

He was gone for about ten minutes before Bill and wife Kate realized he’d left the house. Something else was wrong: The family dogs—eight-year-old Brisi, a miniature Australian shepherd, and Belle, a four-year-old border collie—were gone, too.

Expecting the worst, Bill headed to the river, which was fast and deep from spring rains. After a few minutes, he heard a bark and saw Belle running toward him. “I asked her, ‘Where’s James?’ ” he says. “She turned around and led me farther down the path, just like in a Lassie movie.”

James was about a quarter of a mile from home, his feet soaked from standing in the water and his arms scraped from branches. Brisi was by his side.

Bill says the dogs, both working breeds, have always been protective of his son. Though kept in the family’s yard, they had jumped the gate to follow James. They’d been reprimanded in the past for escaping, but Bill is glad the lesson didn’t stick.

“In my book,” he says, “they’ve earned their keep forever.”
 
I left her with the vet as that is how the process was explained to me. But I will check with the vet on Thursday when I am again back in town. If she has been removed to the shelter, which is a no-kill shelter, I will go get her. :wave:

Would it not be ironic, and totally bureaucratic, to have to pay to rescue her again. :huh:
 
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