Profile in Cowardice

I do not know his/her name and I have never seen him/her that I know of. Whoever used THIS dog, henceforth known as George, as a bait dog and then dumped him out in the country is more of a coward than anyone that I can think of.





George (named after General George Patton who owned a bull terrier named Willie) has been checked by the vet and is in pretty good shape. Should no one claim him, I am going to have a new yard dog. Everyone is getting along pretty well so far as you can see from this very boring (and isn't that a good thing?) video.





George showed up yesterday and, once Buddy escaped from the yard, he and Buddy played together very nicely. He is a bull terrier, about 1 1/2 years old, and un-neutered. He is very affectionate and friendly and lovable and I hope there is a special circle of hell for folks who abandon dogs. I'm pretty sure there is.





More to follow, I am sure.

Heartbreak and Pride

**Tissue Alert**

When my girls were small and displaying a singular lack of compassion for each other, I made them sit down and watch Old Yeller, just to see if they were capable of crying. They were. I know that sounds horrendous but I am the mother of a child who rooted for the hunters in Bambi because, after all, Mom, it’s just part of God’s food chain.


On Tuesday, I spent the day Christmas shopping with my daughter in the “big town”. We shopped, had lunch, made it back in time to pick up lil man from school and take him to the dentist. We finished at the dentist with nothing other than a suggestion of waiting and letting nature take it’s course. We all went back to my house, since that’s where my daughter’s pickup was.


We got home and our neighbor pulled in behind us. She needed to talk to us about the 2 strays who hang around my house. They, along with the St. Bernard who actually lives at the scrap yard next to us, had been seen leaving the scene of a calf slaughter. Bad enough to have killed any calf, but this was a child’s 4-H project calf. This was some kid’s college money, pride, hard work, money, hard work, love and consistent attention to detail.


The dogs were not hungry. They killed strictly for sport. Unfortunately, now that they knew where penned up toys lived, it was even worse. They had to be destroyed.


Our neighbor, a truly gracious lady, asked lil man to go inside so that he would not be privy to any of this. Juls and I told her that we could catch Maggie but that lil man was the only person who could catch Mae. She went to get the necessary equipment and we went inside to talk to lil man. Julie explained to him what had happened and his eyes immediately welled up. He knew what was coming - we have never pulled punches about the value of livestock in a rural area. He toughed up and listened to his mom.


We got a leash around Maggie’s neck with no problem and sat on the stairs to wait for our neighbor. Lil man tried to get Mae but she just knew something was up. She was having no part of it. Finally, Juls had to leave for an appointment and asked lil man if he wanted to go with her or if he wanted to stay and help me. He chose, and God bless him for this, to stay and help me.


We got a dish of food for the dogs and Maggie ate some. Our neighbor returned and I carried Maggie (she didn’t fight the leash but she wouldn’t walk on it either) out to our neighbor.

Lil man sat quietly and waited for Mae to come out. She did and he slipped the leash over her head.


Have you ever seen The Man from Snowy River? There is a scene where they try to break a horse and it goes bonkers on them. Jumping, leaping, sun fishing, running, screaming. That was Mae. Mae and lil man weighed about the same. She freaked. He held. She dragged. He held. She went under the house. He held.


My neighbor and I ran to help lil man. I grabbed the leash and dragged Mae out from under the house. She was, needless to say, frantic; snapping and snarling. I held her around her middle while my neighbor loosened the leash which had, during the struggle, tightened. She calmed immediately. I picked her up and carried her out of the yard.


My neighbor took both dogs into the yard with the St. Bernard and did what needed to be done.

Lil man and I were talking about it. He said, and I couldn’t agree more, that as hard as this was, it was better than someone else trying to chase her down, scaring her and shooting her. We discussed the difference between pets and dogs. We discussed the value, in a rural community, of livestock and of dogs. We discussed how incredibly proud I was of him and what a man he was. Not a little boy any longer, but a man.

I used to watch old Westerns on TV. You know the ones - the Dad would ride off and leave the kid in charge, telling him that he was the “man of the house”. I always thought, yeah, sure, that poor Mom just got stuck with everything!


My opinion has changed. Sometimes little boys can be men.

What to do, what to do - Part IV

Mae's surgery was scheduled for tomorrow.

Lil man and I had planned, tonight, to clean out Buddy's crate and put it in Julie's pickup so we could pick Mae up tomorrow afternoon.

The vet just called.

They had a cancellation, so the surgery was today. Mae is fine. We will still pick her up tomorrow so that she can rest tonight.

There were 9 puppies.

Now, there are no puppies. There will never be puppies. Mae can come home - or at least back to the wrecking yard next to me where she lives.

We will still feed her. We will still love her. She will still wander off and roam the neighborhood.

She will not bring more unwanted puppies into this world.

Thank all of you so much for your support.

PS: The doctor used dissolvable stitches because we are NEVER gonna get our hands on this dog again.

PPS: The bill was less than 1/2 of what I thought it would be!

What to do, what to do - Part 3 and update

In part one of this ongoing saga, I threw myself upon your mercy for help with the problem of Mae, a nice young thing that is in the family way.

In part two, thanks in great part to your suggestions, help, and prayers a solution was arrived at.

In part three, I will tell y'all how it's going.

So far, in the dog trap that the Animal Control Officer lent to the Sheriff's Office and that the Deputy left at my house, we have captured the following:

Buddy

Maggie

Bunny(s)

Buddy

Buddy

Maggie

Notice who's not there?

Yep, that would be Mae. She will lie next to it.

She will play with the dog who is in it.

She will try and help me release the bunny.

She still will not be caught.

She will sidle up next to you as long as you are not looking at her.

She will touch your hand with her nose as long as you are not looking at her (and your finger does NOT flex).

She dances, she whimpers, she whines, she talks, she follows you around.

She still will not be touched.

I will keep trying.

On a side note, Maggie evidently thinks this is some kind of agility training. I reset the trap, she gets in, springs it, and then gives me her belly like a good dog!

***UPDATE***UPDATE***UPDATE***UPDATE***UPDATE***UPDATE

Juls just went to my house to forward the laundry and, praise God, Mae is in the crate. The vet will board her till Wednesday and then do all of the necessary procedures.

Hurray!!! and thank God that I get paid on Monday!

What to do, what to do (Update)

First of all, thank you all for your comments and sympathy.

I took my other dog, Holly, to the vet yesterday and, while we were there, spoke to him about Mae. He had no suggestions but his assistant suggested that I call the city's animal control officer (he does not handle animal problems in the county unless it is a vicious dog). She thought he could shoot Mae with a tranquilizer and then we could get her to the vet.

I called him. He cannot tranq a dog who is not vicious. He suggested calling the sheriff's office.

I did. They suggested calling the animal control officer.

This is all just so deja vu. Went thought this not too long ago with a neighbor's horse.

He did suggest trapping Mae and then the sheriff's could call him and he would dispose of her. He said to call the Sheriff's Office and get a trap. I called. They have no traps. They're not sure what happened to them. They are gonna try and borrow one from the Animal Control Officer and then call me so I can pick it up. No one has any suggestions on how to make sure it is Mae in the trap.

So, once I have Mae in the trap, I will not call Animal Control to dispose of her. I will take her to the vet. the puppies will be aborted, and she will be spayed.

I love dogs. I love puppies. You literally cannot give away a dog in this town or a puppy. I cannot keep the puppies.

I am certain in my heart that God has a special treat for the assholes who do this to dogs and to those of us who love them. Otherwise, I would hunt them down and do unspeakable things to them.

Update on the update: The Sheriff's Office called. They can borrow a trap from the ACO but a deputy has to do it and then the deputy and the ACO and I all have to meet so that this can be handled. There are no deputies available but when there is, they will call me, and if the ACO is available and I can get off work, this will work. Hurray!

What to do, what to do

I am distraught.

Last year, some ignorant coward dumped a litter of 5 puppies at the business next to my house. My house was not there at the time, but it is now. 3 of the puppies were run over in the street but 2 survived. The guys at the wrecking yard put out food for the dogs when they thought about it.

When we moved in, we started feeding Maggie and Mae. They hang out at the wrecking yard or in our front yard with our dogs.

Maggie is a sweetheart. She is very friendly and touchable.

Mae is not. She IS a sweetheart and she would like to be friendly and touchable. She just cannot make herself let us touch her. She will sidle up to you and whine and whimper and follow you around and just darn near break your heart. She just won't let you touch her.

The only reason this is a problem is because puppies grow up to become dogs.

A little over a month ago, my daughter took Maggie to the vet and had her spayed. She would have had Mae done at the same time, but Mae will not come to anyone.

Mae came into heat, every male dog within 10 miles was at the wrecking yard (their Saint Bernard came into heat at the same time), and Mae is "with puppies".

Hence the quandary. What do I do?

I already own 3 dogs. I take care of 3 others. The county in which I reside does not have a shelter or an Animal Control Officer. I cannot get hold (literally) of Mae to take her to the vet. I cannot imagine, OK, unfortunately, yes, I can imagine, what will happen to the pups.

Any suggestions?

The most obvious, the one that sounds the worst but is probably the most humane, is to put her down. Given her refusal to let us touch her, this would entail shooting her. My heart is breaking and I can no longer think clearly.

Any suggestions?

New Banner

The new banner is for all of you who were kind enough to mention and/or ask about Bug and the tanker. Bug chases and plays tug of war with almost all of the trucks that come into our plant, especially the ones hauling molasses.

She never wins.

She has, however, amassed a collection of at least 3 mud flaps and has not lost any teeth yet.

We think her mother may have been a crack junkie - she has visions and her favorite demon to bark at is her own echo.

She is an amazingly good natured dog who has been abandoned, snake bit and stolen enough lunch boxes that she should, by all rights, be dead. But she's not.

She is loved. She stays with me in the office during the day and stays with the guards at night. She has all the rabbits and birds that she can catch, a barn cat that always gets away, and semis to play with. All in all, a pretty good life.