So one thing Iāve been trying to convince Mr Country of is the horrendous treatment of dogs weāll see out in the country. Where I grew up was way out in the country, too (not so fucking much anymore, though, UGH), so Iām a bit more used to and prepared for this kind of stuff. My street growing up was a prime dog-dumping spot, so 3-4 times a year weād find a litter of pups or some poor mangy mutt wandering around the front yard. But Mr C is from big cities and has lived in the city all his nearly 40 years, so he is just not prepared for this, especially as a massively dedicated dog-person.
Anyway, yesterday, we may have encountered our first dumps. And we havenāt even been here a full month! I donāt think theyāre dumps, but itās possible, and even if they werenāt, theyāre outdoor dogs, which is awful and sad.
BUT OMG LOOKIT THESE LITTLE DORKS! LOOKIT EMMMMM!
OMG LOOOOOOOK at them!! They were soooo cute and so sweet and SO well behaved, that Iām convinced they are NOT dumped dogs but are somebodyās pets that just wandered off because they live outdoors unsecured, as most dogs out here do.
They were both YOUNG, like couldnāt have been a full year old. They had bright shiny new teeth and puppy breath. One was a gorgeous stout little Staffy, and one was pretty obviously some kind of half pit half chocolate lab.Ā
They were so goofy and wiggly and adorable in the jeep when we were driving them around to the neighborsā to try to find their home.
Chocko was very much a lab-brain, just cute and sweet and a little thick. But WHAT a SWEETIE.
Heās the pitty little pit pit, bold and boisterous and nosey and VERY affectionate.
And he had the most beautiful eyes!
Iām pretty sure they were brothers and even littermates maybe, because they were absolutely attached at the hip. They could each do their own thing, but only as long as they could see the other one. If we patted one, the other came for pats. When we picked up one to put him in the jeep, the other cried. When one jumped right out the jeep window (only rolled down like 4 inches!!!!!!!) when we were (stationary!) at another house, the other one lost his mind.
They were definitely somebodyās pets. They sat on command, came when called, stayed when told, and were just happy to please, even as obviously young puppies. At one point, we had them leashed together on a long rope, and the sweeties kept sitting each other down because every time there was the slightest pull on the leash, they immediately sat and waited. We couldnāt go 3 steps without one of them sitting to wait. SO FUCKING CUTE! They also knew exactly what a threshold was and neither would cross it to come into the house. Country dogs, outdoor dogs. Sucks, but thatās life out here. And they made themselves right at home. They knew what dog beds were, they knew where shade was, they went (as you can see) to lay under the bus pretty much immediately. They were not dumps.
PLUS we already have dogs:
Samson is almost 19 years old, mostly immobile, and cranky as fuck. Heās never been a big fan of strange dogs and definitely not puppies, so weāre NOT getting any new dogs until he passes away.
And Westley is just MY BABY (8 years old) who can be a little insecure and very prissy but is fast turning into a protective, house-proud country dog, so I donāt know... He seemed to get along well with these sweeties, but he and the little one kept playing together, and I was genuinely afraid that if they got too serious, the other would jump in to defend and then all hell would break loose. If it were only Westley, maybe weād have considered keeping them, but I think new dogs would be the death of ol Samson.
Plus, as Iāve said, Iām convinced these were somebodyās dogs. Stealing pibbles out here is a big thing, and the last thing we needed was for somebody to see us with their fucking dogs and start some horrible shit.
So we cannot keep these adorable, goofy, sweet little puppies, and in fact need to get them home or at least to a shelter where theyāll be found ASAP. And there IS. NO. animal control out here. Newp. NONE. We called the county, and they said they could send a sherriffās deputy out to help us find the owner, but what? No, we can do that. Otherwise there was nothing we could do. We called the nearest shelter, and as soon asĀ āFarm to Market road...ā escaped Mr Countryās lips, they said oh youāre rural? We only service town, youāll have to call county animal control. So nothing in the world we could do but drive them around asking āneighborsā.
So we did. And we never found their owners.
AND we didnāt have much time. We had shit to do that day and had to leave.Ā We had to go pick up our builder when he drove the backhoe up the road to drop it off, and we had to get to the hardware store (30 minutes away) before it closed in less than an hour. So, in the end, we puppy-proofed the porch and took off, stupidly expecting that we could take care of it in a little while.
The little guys FOLLOWED! They chased us down the road! Oh how I cried!
When we turned back around after getting Builder, we saw them at the drive of one of the houses where weād stopped. The one where Chocko jumped out the window, actually. But we had no time to stop. We dropped off Builder and took off for the store.
On the hardware store journey, we made the decision that weād go back and get them as soon as we got home, and weād just keep them until we figured out what to do, how to find their family. I cried just thinking about them left out there by the road, the sweet adorable babies.
So we got back home, put our stuff down, and drove back up the road the other way, where weād last seen them. There werenāt there where we left them. Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit. What if theyāve been shot? What if they were hit by a car? Oh GOD what do we dooooo? I cry again.
BUT THERE IS A HAPPY ENDING!
We drove a little further, and we saw a bunch of people and a bunch of dogs out front. One of them was little pitty pit pit! OH, and thereās Chocko!!
So we stopped and talked to them. They had bathed Pitty Pit (called Lucky, aww) and put some flea and tick stuff on him, and were about to bathe Chocko too. Now I wonāt go into detail, but the mom said that they were her dogs indeed, who had taken off a while ago, and she couldnāt believe weād found them and thank you sooo much for getting them back!Ā
Mr C did not believe her, he told me after, and as I said, stealing pibs around here is a big thing, but I refuse to judge my neighbors out here (just canāt start going down that road), and itās not my business. The dogs donāt go into the house, and they are a little close to the road, but she said they were her dogs and she had plenty of detail, and thatās satisfying enough for me. Plus, since we really could not keep them, and they are now in a happy home, with a nice clean healthy pack, pleeeeenty of acreage and woods to play in, and a caring family, I am happy for them and the rest is not only out of my hands but is not my business.
Oh, and the best part? They have FOUR LITTLE BOYS from baby to about 10 to love them and play with them! And those boys were positively DOTING on the dogs!!
So there you have it, our first foray into loose dogs out here. Frankly, Iām surprised itās taken this long. HavingĀ Z E R OĀ animal control out here may turn out to be a problem, but hey, weāve always wanted to start a rescue anyway!Ā
