Blog world, meet Rocky. Rocky, meet the blog world.
This little (well, not so little) fella literally walked into the Lindsley's life this past Friday, as so many dogs tend to do with us. The youngest and I had just pulled in the driveway from preschool and gotten out of the car when this boxer wanders into our yard. Rather skittish at first, but he warmed up quick. No collar of any sort, no tags. Of course we could've done what every other sane person would've done and just let him keep walking. But we didn't. The eldest and I took him for a walk in the neighborhood and asked a few folks if they recognized him - no one did. We did have one suggest checking with a family in the neighborhood behind ours, as they thought they'd seen him tied up in a front yard over there. Saturday morning, the boys and I checked it out, but it was a different boxer. So for the time being he's with us.
He's an awesome dog, I gotta say. Very friendly and loving. Strong, too - he'll inadvertently knock you over if you haven't braced yourself. He seems to be in good health, other than a lot of scars on his front legs and some on his neck. He obviously was in some kind of fight, and perhaps even in a dog fighting group (which is why I'm hesitant to put signs up around town).
Like I said, stray dogs tend to find the Lindsleys. Other than Sam, our senior citizen golden retriever who stays indoors, all our dogs have been strays or rescues. I got Bailey back in 1998 from a rescue organization in Lexington, NC and we enjoyed ten years together.
Around 2000 Bandit came to us from the same group. They picked him up after getting a frantic phone call from a lady who said her husband had shot him. Apparently he owned a farm and kept Bandit chained on a short run and fed him whenever he felt like it - which amounted to roughly a few times a month. One day he found Bandit eating part of one of his goats (you would too, if you hadn't eaten in weeks), so he shot him in the leg. That's when his wife called the rescue folks and begged them to take the dog. She also told them she was going to leave her husband too - I don't want nobody who shoots a helpless dog to be around my daughter. Can't say I blame her. We initially took Bandit as a "foster dog" because the rescue organization was running out of space and we had some room at the time. That was nine years and one move ago.
Lady found us on Halloween night, 2007. The Lindsleys were all costumed up and heading over to a friend's house for a little Halloween party when I noticed our car had a flat, just around the corner from our house. So I pulled over to check it out; and as I did I was suddenly aware of this little presence beside me.
I turned around to see a tiny Jack Russel Terrier somethingoranother just a few feet away, very interested in what I was doing. No collar, of course. We took her home, intending to try and find its owner. We never did. Two weeks later we added a second pen onto our fenced-in backyard, right next to Bandit's. Lady is constantly in motion and eats and poops more than any dog ten times her size, and I'm not kidding. She also yips more often than she keeps her mouth shut. But she's part of the family.
There have been others we've found (or who have found us) who we were able to return to their homes. We did have one, Pup, who died suddenly after about a month with us. We think she had some terminal illness and her owners got rid of her to avoid having to deal with it. She's buried in the wooded area of our backyard, and the boys still go back there to say hi to her from time to time.
So now we have Rocky, and we're smitten. Well, I am. He is an awesome dog. We went to the pet store today. He has a food bowl now, as well as a plastic dog house that's probably too small for him but will suffice if it rains (or, heaven forbid, ever snows here). Oh, and a collar too - brand new. Yep, new collar. I imagine we'll check the papers over the next few days to see if anyone reports a missing boxer. And if any of my local Mayberry blog readers have some leads, do let me know. It's not like we need another animal (to go with the three dogs we already have, and two cats, and a hamster). But I'll be honest with you - if Rocky's temporary stay becomes more permanent, I won't be crushed.
You are undoubtedly the most gifted "pet finder" that I know. I love that you take in all the strays! Only very special people do that kind of thing! Rocky is in a good home! :-)
Posted by: Nancy Malone | February 01, 2009 at 11:06 AM