Sweet Dog Needs a Great Home

Yesterday (3/31/09) around lunchtime, I learned about a dog in a potentially abusive situation at an abandoned home. There was no possible way I could ignore this information, so a few hours later, I grabbed a bag of dog food, treats, a jug of water and a couple bowls. I headed over to the house to check it out myself. What I saw broke my heart.

The cutest, sweetest dog was tied to a tree with about an 8 foot leash. It was wrapped around other nearby small trees and brush and really could not move anywhere. It was both scared and excited to see me. At the time, it was pouring down rain. There was no place the dog could go to stay dry. There was a rickety crate next to it, but A) the dog couldn't reach it being that it was stuck, B) it was soaking wet inside it and C) There was a nasty old soaking wet pillow at the bottom of it. I would have rather slept on the wet ground too.

While I was there, one of the neighbors came over, I think hoping that I knew a story about the dog and was maybe asked to come care for her. I explained that I had just found out about it and knew nothing other than what I'd seen. I was glad to hear that he and his girlfriend had been feeding it and untangling it anytime they saw her tangled. He said the owners moved to Texas about a month ago and left the dog. They have been back a few times but clearly have no intentions of bringing the dog with them. I cannot wrap my head around how someone could do this, but then he told me that when they lived there they never payed attention to it anyway, so it's probably best that they didn't take it because it would have just been tied up there too.

I gave her some food, untangled it and threw out the muddy water replacing it with fresh. It was pouring down rain, so I know this was a futile attempt, but I had to do something. I had to leave to go to my fit camp class, but the entire time I was there, I could not stop thinking about this poor dog stuck out in the rain tied to this tree. As soon as my class was over, I went back to the house (with the help of a friend), and took the dog, the food bowl and the rickety crate. My friend has a pin inside his fenced in back yard, so we dried out the crate, put a tarp over it and put fresh dry towels inside. I gave her more fresh food and water and let her run around the bigger part of the fenced in yard for about an hour. It was still raining, but she had the best time. Imagine that feeling of being tied up, probably her whole life, and finally getting to run free.

She is still a little skittish at first, but she played with me, let me pet her, dry her off and love on her. She even ate some food right out of my hand. She's very gentle and affectionate. When I was drying her off, she snuggled up right next to me. It was the hardest thing to leave her still outside last night in this weather, but I felt so much better knowing she had a dry place to sleep and no chance of being tangled up.

So far, she has shown no signs of aggression, no whining, no barking, no digging. She is definitely a lab mix and you can tell from the pics that she has white on her front toes, back paws, on her chest and the tip of her tail. She is solid black everywhere else.

My friend checked on her first thing this morning, and she had slept behind the dog house all night, still hadn't gone inside the house. I went over there later in the morning and let her run again, confirmed "she" really is a "she", took pics, gave her more food, dried her off and loved on her. I finally got her to get inside the dog house where she stayed after I left. It's still pouring rain here, so I'm going to go over later and check to make sure the towels aren't wet even though we have her sheltered pretty well.

I plan to take her to the vet tomorrow to have her checked out. I'll post updates here. This girl will make a great pet to someone. If you know of anyone who is a true animal lover that will give her the attention and care she needs, please let me know. She is in Macon, but I would happily drive and deliver her to a good home anywhere within reason.

She deserves a great home!