Happy Ending--With Warnings

The Sunday before Labor Day, a young girl came down our street with a truly Adorable Dog. It was black and white, and to me, it looked like a Jack Russell mixed with some other toy breed. She wore a collar with two names on it and a phone number. Her rescuer explained that she had found the dog while jogging on my street the day before and had been unable to get an answer on the telephone number on the dog's collar. It was all I could do not to grab the little dog and think about what on earth I could do with it later. But reason prevailed. By herself, Magic might be small dog safe, but I've never been able to test her, because Bingley definitely isn't. The girl who had found the little dog had a similar problem and was having to keep the rescued dog shut off in a room from her big dog. I tried to encourage the rescuer to keep the little terrier for a few days, try to discover if she was chipped, and hang on until people in the neighborhood came back from holiday trips. But that was not to be. The adorable little dog was turned into Escondido Humane Society the following Tuesday. My friends reassured me that such a cutie would be adopted for sure. Then, last evening, just before we were leaving to drive into San Diego, I spotted a poster with the little dog's picture and name. I wanted to cry. There was no time to call, and I worried all night about the dog's fate. This morning, when I called the number, I discovered that the owner had called the Humane Society when she returned from her Labor Day travels, had paid the fine, and reclaimed her dog. So All's Well That Ends Well. However, I did learn a few things: The dog still has not been chipped. (Of course I "reminded" the owner to do that.) The dog had "gotten away" before. (I suspect that the dog is being left to its own devices in a back yard.) I was so relieved that the dog had been reunited with its human, I forgot to ask if the collar information had been updated. (Is the phone number on your dog's collar your current phone number?) I do hope that this experience--and the fine--will motivate the little dog's human to take better care of her.

Here She Is!

Wasn't I right? Isn't she the living, breathing definition of adorable? And she needs a home. Email me at portiasmom at live dot com if you have room in your heart and home for this little darling.

Happy New Year!

This New Year is particularly happy, because the little Chihuahua who was looking for a home, found one. Many thanks to Fr. Ed Renner who took up Shorty's cause and spread the word that he needed a home. Many thanks to the family who took Shorty in.

May 2011 be a year when major advances are made in solving the homeless pet problem in the United States.

Looking For A Home

As they say in Tennessee, "This little guy is no bigger than a minute." Actually, in Tennessee, they say, "This little guy is no bigger'n a minute." But either way you say it, this little guy needs a loving home.

If you have a place in your heart and home, email me:

portiasmom at live dot com

Tag Your Dog

A few days ago, I received an email from my sister, Carolyn. It's always nice to hear from her. But the one word in the subject line struck fear in my heart: "Rose." I really, really didn't want to open that email.

Rose is a 10 year old Brittany who jumped into my niece's car one day about eight years ago. The owner couldn't be found. Life being what it is, Carolyn and her husband eventually became Rose's guardians.

A canine companion cuter and funnier than Rose would be hard to find. I opened the email with trepidation.

Here's the story.

While Carolyn was out running errands, Rose and Chanel--a rescued miniature poodle--stayed home. Nothing strange or unusual about that. But when Carolyn returned home, Chanel would not stop whining and Rose was nowhere to be found. Eventually, Carolyn discovered the problem--a broken bedroom window. The best guess was that the old window had given way as Rose was expressing her opinion about a dog passing by the house.

A loose, missing dog. One of the worst fears of any dog owner.

But when Carolyn went to the phone, there was a message. Rose had found her way to an elementary school two miles away. They called Carolyn, because in addition to her license, Rose has a name-tag with her home phone number on it.

Now there might have been a "happy" ending to this story even if Rose had been wearing only a license. The school secretary would have called the authorities. Rose would have been taken to a shelter, and either the shelter would have contacted my sister, or my sister would have contacted the shelter and a reunion would eventually have happened.

But such a scenario would have taken hours or days to play out. And the entire episode would have been far more traumatic for both Rose and her family.

Trauma like that is stressful for any dog and the people who love it. But for a ten year old dog with advanced arthritis, the situation would have been serious. Proper identification brought an unpleasant, unhappy incident to a close in the fastest way possible.

When we adopt dogs from Greyhound Adoption Center, we not only agree to keep license and Greyhound Adoption Center I.D. tags on the dogs, we also agree to give them a personalized name tag with their name and our phone number on it. It makes for a lot of "jingling" as they move around the house. (Interestingly, because of their different gaits, I can tell which dog is moving around just by the sound of their tags.)

If a dog is loose, nothing can guarantee its safe return. Rose crossed two very busy streets during her wanderings. Cars remain the biggest threat to lost dogs. But if you love your dog, do everything you can to help it get back home asap if it accidentally gets loose.

Tag your dog.

Homeless Lowchen

When one thinks of dogs in need of rescue, a Lowchen is one of the last breeds that comes to mind. Indeed, it is sufficiently rare that it is one of the last breeds that comes to mind period.

When my neighbor told me that she was fostering a lost Lowchen, all that came to my mind was the dog shown right after the Lhasa Apso in the Non-Sporting group. A dog with a full front of fluffy tresses and shaved hind-quarters--The Lion Dog.

I immediately turned to the invaluable website of the American Kennel Club and read a glowing review of the breed. Smart, affectionate, low dander, cheerful, gets along with other breeds, easily trained.

None of that sounds much like the dog my neighbor was playing hostess to. THAT dog has knocked over and smashed a silk room-dividing screen, broken a window screen, broken an antique lamp, chewed various electrical cords, terrorized the resident cat, emptied and scattered the cat-litter box, scratched the resident Boxer's cornea, upset the resident Lab mix and pushed the Parrot close to a nervous breakdown.

Pretty impressive for a creature who was covered in stickers and ticks and near starvation at the time of rescue.

This particular homeless dog is much more fortunate than the average homeless dog. It is a rare and therefore valuable breed that scores a 10 on the Adorableness Scale. There is an active and diligent breed rescue organization that is being contacted.

And, this dog has found its way to the home of a true Animal Lover. Not just the sentimental type who wipes a tear from the eye and murmurs, "How sad." But an Animal Lover who takes stray pets to the vet and pays the bills and forgives the "accidents" and stays up all night, if necessary, with a frightened or sick animal. These are the strangers on whom needy domestic animals must depend when their owners find them to be too much of a bother, or they inadvertently become separated from their families.

What is this dog's story? Will we ever find out? What we do know is that even the best breed rescues must rely on the generosity of strangers--people who care for stray and hurting pets--until official rescuers can be contacted.

What we also know is that a few days of living rough can traumatize any domestic pet and can complicate the project of rescue and re-homing.

God Bless my neighbor, who just may have saved one Lowchen's life.

Dog Found

A Lowchen has been found and is being cared for by my neighbor. It's not every day that a Lowchen is found running loose. If you think this might be your dog, please contact me. My email is portiasmom at live.com