Straydog UPDATE posted WEDNESDAY 8/20/03 at ~7:47 p.m. CT

Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 20 2003

Jack's situation is still up in the air, but here's an email from a concerned reader:

Dear Bill and Erin:

I read about Jack and his mom, Lauren, and wanted to pass on my experience to her. I've lived with a stranger-aggressive and dog-aggressive dog for almost 11 years. Sparky is a spitz mix adopted at one year old. I do have to make accommodations around strangers, such as using a muzzle and keeping him on leash or putting him in the backyard (weather permitting) when I have visitors. And yes, we don't get to go to the dog park. But he is a tremendously smart and sweet dog with me and family members he knows. And the feeling of security I have in my home is worth any accommodation. I also have a monitored security system, but if I had to give one up, I think I might choose Sparky [to stay].

I encourage Lauren to give life with Jack another chance.

Best regards,

Gayla

Tony the Pony celebrates his first anniversary (they're calling it his birthday) with his forever family. Here's an email from the mom:

Some of the saddest words I've ever read of Pat's on your website were these:

Tony will come back tomorrow

     Tony's mom is heartbroken to have to bring Tony back, but she knows he will have a good home here until he is adopted again. This makes the second time for this beautiful big dog to be adopted, and the second time he has been returned. Both times he stayed at his home for one year. How sad for Tony, but we know he will be happy here, and we will make sure the fellow gets lots of turns to play in the big play yard. His kennel here is just two feet away from the park fence and really close to the park gate.

Well, Carl and I have some good news and some bad news. First the good news: Tony has been with us for exactly one year on Monday. Now the bad news: He's never going to come back to Straydog. [This is not bad news, Susan. This makes us very happy at Straydog.]

Yep - we're sorry. But we're keeping our giant white smoochy rug. Since we consider August 18 Tony's "birthday" I thought I'd send you along a photo of the occasion. One three-layer dog food cake with cookie candles, one very happy (to get wet dog food) dog, and four happy canine brothers and sisters (along with Mom and Dad), who joined in on this wonderful celebration!

The cake and cookies were enjoyed by all (except Mom and Dad, who've never developed the taste for liver) and there were a lot of hugs and smooches all around. Every day, and I mean this literally, we thank God, Pat and Straydog for bringing Tony into our lives. The day that Pat and Guy brought Tony to our house was one of the happiest for us. It seems now that we were an incomplete family until big Tony came along.

Tony is happy and doing very well. We talk to him often about Pat and remind him that she is watching him. He is just so sweet and smart and loving that it's amazing to us that anyone would ever give this gentle giant up. He's his daddy's "chick magnet" at the Petsmart and on his walks. Tony is just such a friendly and loving dog! He's very well known in the neighborhood and at Petsmart, where he greets everyone with a hearty howl!

We can never thank you enough for all you did for Tony (and do for all the other pups out there). We are greatful that he found his way to you, and then found his way to us.

So, on this happy day for us and for Tony, again ten thousand thank you's for all you do. Here's a photo of Tony and his cake and Tony with his daddy, Carl. We hope you enjoy them!

All our best,

Carl and Susan and
Bailey, Belle, Molly Jean, Smiling Jude the Dude and Tony the Pony

Erin reports on what she encountered on her way home last night ...

A stray dog at the side of the highway!

     After preparing meals for Julie and Anthony and helping Randy with the hospital dogs during the first half of the late-night shift I finally left Straydog for the evening around 4:00 a.m. When I got to the loop around Athens and began driving up the other highway to get to my house, I saw a big dog on my side of the road. Many people let their dogs loose here in the country, but there are no houses near this busy highway intersection, only woods all around. This was a dangerous place so the dog must be lost, I thought.

     I stopped the car on the side of the road and got out to see if the dog would come to me. She stopped in the middle of the dark highway entrance ramp and listened to me calling her.

     A policeman driving on the overpass shined his light on us as he was passing and turned around to drive over to see what I was doing. He told his buddy over the radio it was all right, just a "something-or-other, a dog."

     After much coaxing, the policeman and I got the dog to come to us and let us pet her, so I thought all would be easy and I could just lead her over to the car, but no. As I began walking to the car, she ran away into the middle of the highway again. Luckily it was now about 4:15 a.m., and nobody was turning onto this part of the highway.

     I walked toward the timid dog slowly and called and called again. She finally came to me again and lay down to have her tummy rubbed. I asked the policeman if he had a rope, and he went to the trunk of his police car and brought back some 'crime-scene' tape. He made a knot and we looped it around her head, but the long tape was so flimsy that when we tried to walk her, we knew it wouldn't hold her if she tried to run away.

     Then another policeman showed up displaying his flashing lights and sounding his siren for a few moments. Luckily the stray dog didn't get scared off. We all had the idea together that I should back up my car closer to the dog. Luckily the dog didn't become afraid of this either. I got out and went over to the dog and began lifting her. The first policeman said, "You're braver than I am." She was too heavy for me to lift her all the way, so the policeman picked up her back legs, and we got her inside my car.

     My mom has a dog shelter, I had told the policemen. I thanked them for their help, and the dog and I drove the 15 minutes back to Straydog. I left the dog in the car and found Tina who had feeding bowls in her hands and was talking to Randy on the walkie-talkie. "It's Erin. She has a dog that a policeman helped her get, and she's here with the dog in her car."

     Tina helped me walk the new dog into her safe haven, a temporarily vacant kennel belonging to one of the hospital dogs . This was when we noticed the brown doggie was a girl and very pretty, so Tina named her "Foxy." We will try to find Foxy's real owner now. She is seemingly very well fed, so she must have a home somewhere.

     Today on my way back to Straydog, I stopped by an antique shop that isn't too far from the place I found Foxy, but that gentleman told me he didn't know anybody with a large brown dog on his side of the road there. But he took my name and number in case anyone might be looking. Tomorrow I'll check some more places and put up signs with Foxy's picture.

     I hope I don't see a lost dog tonight. There's absolutely no more room!