Long NRC and a good ending.

dawn_mo

Well-known member
I have to share this with you. I wish Randi was here to read this, because she would have guided me much sooner.

Last week, I saw a stray dog outside in our backyard. I am leery of stray dogs since the pit bull came into our yard and had our neighbor's beagle on his back ready to attack him. I got my plastic plates out and starting throwing them at the pit, and he finally ran away.

Anyway, I saw the stray dog in our backyard, and went to bed. During the night Bub, had to let one of dogs out. The next morning, I woke up to our dogs barking in our bathroom. I told Bub that there was something in our bathroom, and he said, no there is nothing in our bathroom. I turned on the bathroom light, and there was the stray dog, curled up on the bathroom rug.

I couldn't believe that Bub had let the stray dog in. He took him out and I got ready for work. I came downstairs and there is the dog again, eating the cat food. I finally noticed that the screen from the window in the family room was pulled out and he had gotten in through the window. I put him outside again, and he started running around the house, looking in our windows and crying. We closed up the deck and the dog jumped the gate, which is about a 5 foot clearance.

Since where we live, there is no pound or shelter, my nephew took the dog in to hopefully get adopted. I wanted to adopt the dog immediately but we already have three very big dogs, and I certainly wasn't looking for another. That dog came into our house through a window, went up the stairs, and went past three sleeping dogs in our bedroom, and went to sleep in our bathroom. The whole thing just amazed me.

Bub was so against us getting another dog. We have a deal, no major decisions without both of us agreeing. And he would not let me adopt the dog. I told the shelter to please call me if they were going to put the pup down. They did, and I told Bub, and he told me to do what I thought was best.

Tonight, we have a new dog. He is so good and sweet. He could care less about the cats, loves the other dogs, and has already discovered the fabulous toilet water. I am so happy.

However, I lose out on our family get away this weekend, since I have to supervise the new member of the family.

I was so emotional the last few days, so torn. Then my sister-in-law asked how Bandit was doing. The shelter had no idea who Bandit was. She explained who the dog was. In my head, I had been calling the dog Bandit. Neither of us had told the other what we had named him.

He is sleeping off the anesthesia from being neutered, but he is a happy dog.

Please adopt an animal from the Animal Shelter. They put so many animals down everyday. They aren't purebreds usually, but they are sweet dogs and cats that need homes.

I am very happy tonight.

 
What a lovely story, Dawn. I'm not surprised that you took him in either.

I feel I know you from this board and always think of you as a kind and considerate person. Bless you for doing things like this.

 
Sometimes they choose us, and we're helpless to argue.

I love how he checked out the accommodations right away!

Randi may not have been here to guide you, but maybe she was guiding the bandit.

 
Good for you Dawn. So glad you did this.

My sister has a whole pack. She adopts elderly ones from the shelter that nobody else will take. They have a few last happy years with her. She also has a very deformed-faced dachshund who had obviously had a serious head injury. He's got one eye that will have to eventually come out, a muzzle that makes a serious bend side-ways and his tongue hangs out because of the deformities. He is one happy good dog though. I'm so proud of her. I don't know that my heart could take losing an old one every couple of years.

http://s1016.photobucket.com/albums/af285/MelissaDallas/?action=view&current=froggiesfavoriteplace.jpg

 
This dog is amazing. He has just moved into our house. Even the cats are not

wigged out much. Until I get him a collar, I just put on a black bandanna, so now he is officially a bandit.

 
What a great story! I did laugh when I visualized you throwing plastic plates

at the pit bull! I am not sure what I would have done.

Bandit sounds very special and your other guys are equally special that they opened their home to the newbie.

Have fun and congrats on the newest addition to the family.

 
That is the nicest happy ending!

He sounds like a sweet dog. Pats on the head all around. I miss Randi too, I shared her salmon recipe with another coworker and was explaining who she was and got all choked up. Tonight when I was cooking I used the last of the herbs she sent me - have been hoarding them - and again got all choked up. I'm petting my fur baby right now and I'm so happy your bandit has such a nice place to live. He's a lucky dog! Bet you Bob and he become buddies too!

 
And I laughed at the drinking from the toilet - my cat's favorite

I can't help but crack up laughing when I walk into the bathroom and there's his butt sticking up in the air and half his body in the toilet. Sorry - probably not a great discussion on a recipe swap.

 
Animals seem to know when another one is in need. I've witnessed this twice when

we temporarily took in 2 stay cats - both of them were males, and it didn't faze ours one bit. In fact, one of the strays took over one of the cat beds and they just looked at him whenever they passed. They weren't afraid, not threatening. It was almost like they knew.

 
What a touching story. I recently lost my big boy in June.

Still struggling and not ready for another, but when the time comes I will definitely check out the shelter. I used to volunteer and walk the dogs and it's so sad as most of them are pits. People get these strong willed dogs and don't bother to train them. Enjoy your new friend.

 
DD has been volunteering at shelters & adopted a dog without asking a few weeks ago

Her therapist got her involved in this shelter he works with that of course is not even CLOSE to our house. But it's a shelter that gets a lot of animals (think rednecks, rural) and had a high kill rate until his friend took over and has got it down to thirty-something percent. And his friend also has fibromyalgia. So he had multiple reasons to get her involved out there - doing for others, actually getting up and doing ANYTHING, etc....

Anyway, his friend took a job at a much larger shelter even further from our home so the two of them drove up there to help her out several weeks ago and she didn't ask the therapist or anything, she just goes up and adopts this dog that she had fallen in love with.

Pepper is about 2 to 3 years old. Tiny little 9 pound Maltese Schnauzer blend. Evidently she's been a mom at least once. She's VERY smart and very quick.

DH was FURIOUS but because they fixed her before letting Kristen bring her home, she couldn't go back until the stitches healed. But he made her find her another home. Only before her friend could come home for college for the weekend, he decided to give her a chance to keep Pepper.

So at this point, it looks like we have two dogs, Cody our baby and Pepper, her baby. She's a wonderful little dog. Smart. House trained. Spunky. Loving. Sweet. There has been almost no snapping between the two dogs. Cody has been MORE than a perfect gentleman as she would grab up not only her treat but his too. He's graciously shared his footstool, letting her get in bed with DH & I, water and food, and now, she's even learned to get in his chair to see who has pulled up in the driveway.

There are lots of great pets in shelters.

 
Getting a new dog....

Please be careful where you get your rescue dogs, check them out, do tolerance testing on them and make sure they have all their shots. My daughter, in Ohio, has a 23 year old son. He saw a dog listed as free on the bulletin board at work. The dog was a Husky/Akita cross, about 1 year old. It was very sweet, her 5 year old son, rolled around on the floor with the dog. One day, it attacked her 8 year old daughter, who was riding her bike outdoors on the driveway. My granddaughter had to have over 620 stitches, 6 hours of surgery which also involved a plastic surgeon. She will have more plastic surgery in about a year. She is lucky to be alive.
Yes, there are lots of sweet dogs out there, but just check them out, before bringing them into your home. My daughter knew nothing about this dog.

 
That's just awful! My apartment complex has restrictions on certain breeds and the Akita

is one of them.

I had to put down my 16 year old Woofus last August due to a progressive inoperable illness and he was part pit and hot dog but a sweet boy. After a few months I inquired about getting a German Shepherd at my apartment complex and they said no, but have since accepted that breed.

Best to check the dangerous list but then, any dog can "turn" on you. I dated a divorced guy whose Cocker Spaniel turned on his two year old daughter biting her in the face and it was unprovoked.

In Dawn's case, I doubt very much that Bandit would be a problem. Most dogs are not vicious, but there are some who are bad seeds as told to me by a dog trainer. He said that some dogs should be put down and he said he has a keen eye for them while training them. That's a good starting point if you can get someone like that to evaluate a dog.

I initially had a problem with Woofus who was a one year old stray when I adopted him from a guy at work, but he turned out to be a sweet loving dog as time went by.

http://www.resource4dogbitelaw.com/dangerousdogs.html

 
I am actually having a problem with he and one of the cats.

My Old Man cat, hissed and scratched at him and he went after him. I grabbed a hold of his collar and pulled him back. If Old Man hadn't attacked him, he would not have hurt the cat at all. So now I am on watch with the cats. I will have to get a crate so there will be safe time available, and I am keeping him on a leash, while interacting with the cats. They are mostly hissing and swatting, but he seems to be getting used to it and avoiding it. I feel like in time, the cats will get used to him and quit swatting and such, and things will be okay. Good grief, like I really needed this.

 
He is so good with people and the other dogs, I sure hope we can figure this out.

He is smart, he obeys, he is house trained, but I am just so worried about my cats. Any advise?

 
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