Hey everyone!
I'm new to this community. Earlier today, I was greeted by a wonderful and very sweet Thanksgiving visitor.
A dog.
I'm not sure if he is a pit bull or an American bulldog, but maybe you guys can help! :)
I am rarely so impressed by dogs such as I was tonight. I do foster and rescue, mostly for cats, and I often help out strays or people who do not want their pets anymore. Earlier today when I was basting the turkey, I noticed a white blurry thing zipping around my front yard. I went outside and I saw the most adorable dog!
Now, I live way out in the country. Let me emphasize...
way out in the country. It's about a 15-minute drive to the nearest town, which is about the dinkiest town on the face of the planet. I literally live in what people call the "middle of nowhere." It is so common for people to dump dogs in my part of the country since there is a farm nearby. It's something that I am used to and I need not say that I'm usually busy helping the strays get placed for adoption. However, he could still be a runaway or accidentally got lost. Who knows.
I really hope he's not lost. I'd hate for a family to be worried about a pet on Thanksgiving. Still, I didn't want to let him continue running lose in case he would run away even farther and not find someone to help reunite him. He's not anyone's dog around here, though. I know all the dogs around here... unless he's new.
Tomorrow, I am going put fliers around town. If he has a family, hopefully I can reunite them.
Either way, I have completely fallen in love with this dog. He has to be the sweetest, most gentle dog I've met in a very long time. He knows "sit," and through the course of the day, I taught him "stay." Since it was snowing outside a little bit, I decided to go ahead and keep him in the pantry right next to the kitchen. I wanted to leave the pantry door to the kitchen open though and the dog learned quickly to stay in the pantry. :)
The whole evening, he was so wonderful. I had about 40 relatives over and EVERYONE loved him! He was so friendly towards everyone and was great with the little kids! Even my nearly 2-year-old cousin accidentally bonked him on the head, but the dog didn't care! LOL He ended up helping my little cousin stay upright and walk around well by being something for her to grab onto. Whenever I would go out in the pantry to pet him, he'd come and lay his head in my lap and look at me with those very sad eyes. How couldn't I fall in love?
Also, after my family left, the dog got out of the pantry and jumped up on the couch with me. I went to tell him "down," but he rested his head in my lap and let out a loud whimper. LOL Afterwards, my cat came downstairs (in which I quickly grabbed the dog's collar!) and I was very pleased to see that the dog was so happy to see my cat. He was wagging his tail like crazy (the cat was angry and hissing), but otherwise he wasn't too interested in my cat. A few seconds later, the dog was more interested in what I was doing and wanted petted again.
He's so well behaved and he does know "sit." He did have a collar, but no tags. The collar is all faded and nasty. Poor dear needs a new shiny one. He is a little bit emaciated, but not too bad at all (he looks worse IRL... his ribs are sticking out a bit, as are his hip bones, but I've seen WAY worse)! Looks like he hasn't eaten in awhile, but he certainly isn't in bad shape. He's incredibly strong. His teeth are in decent repair (he actually let me open up his jaw... glad I'm trained for this) and he doesn't mind the "fake hand" in his food dish when he is eating. He's not food aggressive at all. He was incredibly hungry though, but he's stuffed now! He's turning down dog treats. :)
So, here are some pictures. I'd love to figure out his breed. I know my father wants to adopt him if he was abandoned, but if he can't, then I'm going to help find this guy a good home through the rescues in my area. :) He is such a sweetie and deserves a GREAT home!!!
For some reason, the LJ cut isn't working, so I'll just link to pictures if that is okay. :)
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a383/spiritcreations/Picture001-4.jpg LOL! I love his ears!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a383/spiritcreations/Picture002-4.jpg He is pretty good on a leash!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a383/spiritcreations/Picture003-6.jpg Getting pets from my Uncle Billy.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a383/spiritcreations/Picture004-5.jpg Whew! What a day! He's ready for a nap now!
Happy Thanksgiving!