Straydog UPDATE posted SATURDAY 4/26/03 at ~9:47 p.m. CT

Pat's Daily Dog Log

SATURDAY APRIL 26 2003

Jack and Jill dig over to see Chubs and Cassie

      As I went outside to take something to the van for our trip to Adoption Day in Dallas, I happened to glance at Chubs and Cassie's kennel, and what a surprise it was to see Jack wading around in Chubs' swimming pool, and Jill was just crawling through the hole Jack had dug to get into Chubs and Cassie's kennel. It seemed that Cassie and Chubs, who were snoozing, didn't even notice the intruders until Guy and I went into the kennel to get Jack and Jill out. (Sorry, no photos of this event.)

      Guy filled the doggie hole with concrete blocks, and I decided we'd introduce all four pups to each other in the big play yard later today when we had more time. (Remember, Jack [we think] is totally blind and totally deaf; Jill is totally deaf but has some vision in her right eye; Chubs can hear but he was born with no eyes; and Cassie is a normal Black Lab.]

Later Jack and Jill meet Chubs and Cassie in the play yard

      In the afternoon Danielle and I took Chubs and Cassie and Jack and Jill to the play yard for the puppy introduction. It didn't go so well. Jack and Jill, even with their handicaps, did fairly okay, as nothing phases these little Aussie pups (tho Jack did look concerned occasionally), but Chubs and especially Cassie are just too big to play with Jack and Jill. Cassie is just as sweet and gentle as can be and she was very playful, but because of her big puppy-dog size she really overpowered the little pups as she tried to play with them, which wasn't fair to the smaller fellas. Chubs didn't know what was going on, and he became very cautious and tried to stay away from the action. (It's hard to imagine what images Chubs had in his brain from the sounds of these other two pups in the play yard with him and Cassie, and then it's even harder to imagine what images Jack might have in his brain receiving only smell and touch to make a "picture" of his world.)

      Maybe when Jack and Jill are a little bigger we'll try again.

No dogs adopted today, and the expected three returns are returned

      Another slow Adoption Day today. None of our pups was adopted, and the three fellas who were expected to be returned to our shelter are back with us now.

      During the Adoption Day session Guy went to pick up little puppy Rex from the woman who wanted to return him, and Guy brought the adorable little tyke back to Canine Commissary to be reunited with the four of his siblings who were themselves trying to get adopted out at Adoption Day. Rex and his brothers and sisters were all happy to see each other again! Everyone noticed that Rex (thought to be a very aggressive pup) is just as sweet and playful as ever. Perhaps his puppy playfulness was misunderstood as aggressive behavior. I think all puppies show the wolf aggressiveness in their genes while they're very young. Just look at the photos and videos of Jack and Jill, who are purebred Australian Shepherds. (See yesterday's Dog Log entry.)

      On the way home from Adoption Day Guy and Kim stopped to pick up Sally and Alice, who were being returned to us from the family who had adopted them on March 21st because the father's allergies had become really bad recently.

      Sally and Alice had been very well cared for, and they are as beautiful as ever! When Guy and Kim arrived back at the shelter, Sally and Alice were brought to their kennel first. The dogs remembered us and seemed happy to be back in their old kennel as they investigated their wooden shelter with its two dog houses within and their kennel yard.

      After getting Sally and Alice situated, we took Rex and four of Rosie's other pups, who had made the trip to Dallas today, back to their kennel. We wanted to see how Rex's mommy would accept her little son who had been away from her for two weeks.

Rosie rolled the little fellow over as she sniffed every inch of his small body

      As soon as we put Rex in the kennel with his mom and siblings, Rosie rolled her little son over and over sniffing every inch of his body. I guess she finally realized that Rex was her son, and she was content and let Rex play with his brothers and sisters. What a fun rough-and-tumble time the seven puppies had!

Ricky (Rosie's other previously adopted puppy) will be staying with his new family

      We thought that Ricky (Rex's identical twin brother) might be returned to our shelter today too, but I just spoke with Puppy Ricky's dad, and he said that when they took Ricky for his second puppy vaccination recently and asked the vet about the possibility of Ricky having Pit Bull blood, the vet said that the only Pit Bulls who are mean and aggressive in this world are those who are raised to be that way and left chained to a tree most of the time. Ricky's new parents realize now that if they raise the little fellow in a loving, happy family atmosphere, he will grow up to be a happy (non-aggressive) adult dog. (I believe this is true of all puppies.) The new mom and dad love little Ricky and will be keeping him.

      They took Ricky to a gathering this morning where there were other puppies and dogs, and Ricky loved all the socialization with the animals as well as with the children and adults.

      So, it seems as if this little tyke has found his forever family after all. We are very happy for the little fella.

A Note from Bill ...

      Pat's above statement that if a pup is raised "in a loving, happy family atmosphere, he will grow up to be a happy (non-aggressive) adult dog" is true, but it does not necessarily mean that dogs of the more aggressive breeds (even though raised to be docile) can be taken to a dog park and released to run and play with dozens of other dogs. Dog owners must be much more careful with more aggressive breeds. Please see the article in the April 25, 2003 Dallas Morning News entitled "The Pooch playground has a few too many bully dogs."

      It continues to amaze us that so many people remain ignorant of the possibly tragic outcomes of allowing their dogs to run free in a dog park not knowing the personality and upbringing of every other dog in the park. And it's a shame that it takes the horror of a dog fight (along with hundreds of dollars in vet bills to patch the dogs back up) to educate many people about the ever-present possibility of a bloody skirmish anytime two or more dogs who don't know each other are suddenly let loose together.

      As we've said before, we have never had a dog fight at our shelter because we take great precautions to avoid dog fights--not letting them happen. We learned to be extra careful after witnessing and having to break up a total of three dog fights between two of our family dogs 20 years ago. Needless to say, after the third fight we split up the two combatant dogs, and they had to stay separated for the rest of their lives. We should have learned this lesson after the first fight, because once two dogs fight, they will never again be compatible.