Our Rescue Dog

Zora and I were going for a walk the night before last when this dog came up to us looking for love. He and Zora sniffed each other, played a little, and then coexisted nicely. The dog followed us. No collar, skinny as anything, not neutered.

I borrowed a collar and leash from someone who lived nearby, we fed him and gave him water, then put him in the back yard where hopefully he could spend the night. He hopped the fence twice though. The first time he came right back when my husband went outside, and the second time we looked for a while before we found some neighbors who had found him and fed him (again).

They had called security, and someone was going to come get him to put him in a kennel.

So he spent the night at the police station, and we picked him up in the morning to take him to the vet. The security officer said that if we hadn’t claimed him, he would’ve been sent into town to be euthanized the same day.

Here he is, in the back of my Jeep. I have two leashes on him so he wouldn’t climb into the front while I was driving. It mostly worked, but he did manage to lick my head a little bit. The bowl had 2 cups of food in it. It was gone in about 10 seconds.

The veterinarian cleaned him up and gave him a flea and tick treatment. For the next 24 hours, hundreds of tiny dead ticks fell off of this poor dog… he had obviously been wandering in the woods. We kept vacuuming up the ticks, and now he seems to be pretty tick-free. He was not micro-chipped (If you have a pet, please microchip it!).

We’ve put up “Found dog” signs around the base, at the pet store, at the vet’s office, and at Wal-Mart. We’re also contacting the base newspaper and town newspaper to run classifieds for him. I really get the feeling that his owner isn’t looking for him though. So many animals here get dumped if it’s not convenient to keep them, whether because the family is moving, money is tight, or whatever.

The rescue where we got Zora is full, … I’d rather keep him temporarily than send him somewhere where he’ll have an uncertain future (I think none of the other shelters in the area are no-kill shelters). So we bought him his own kennel, food bowl, leash, collar, and food. And a Kong toy, because every dog needs a Kong toy.

He is so sweet… calm and sweet. I wish I knew where he came from.

If his owner doesn’t claim him,we will take him to the vet again, make sure he is updated on shots, get him tested for heart worms (and treated if he has them), and get him neutered before adopting him out.

I know we can help this sweet thing.