Rescued Two Dogs

[SerenityFL]

I would call this a rescue even though the dogs did not come from a rescue organization.

I should start out by telling you that I live in the Everglades. Far too many people decide that when they don't want their pets anymore, they can come out to the Everglades and dump their animals off. I have rescued a number of cats because of this.

Anyway, it was a Monday night and there I was, minding my own business. I had just come back from a get together/dinner and was backing my car in to my space when, suddenly, in the headlights of my car, I see two small, black puppies.

WHAT?!

I left the car running with the headlights on and got out. The pups came up to me and did the usual jumping, slobbering, licking thing that pups do. I looked all around to see if someone was walking them.

I saw no one.

I waited to see if anyone would claim them, maybe they got loose somehow.

No one came. After enduring a half an hour of being eaten alive by mosquitoes, I realized, these dogs had no owners. I was ticked off. I had to make a decision. I don't have a huge house, I live in the Everglades, I already have cats inside...what am I going to do?

If I leave the pups outside, they will more than likely get themselves in to trouble, probably killed. Yes, alligators do indeed come in to our yards. I live IN the Everglades. These guys probably don't have a clue what an alligator is and they aren't going to last. Nevermind the issue with pythons and yes, they get big out here. I put the pups age at about three months old so I knew they didn't know much about the world yet.

Groaning, cursing and totally ticked that someone would do this, I gathered the dogs up and put them in the house. I went back out and turned off the car and came back in.

I stood in my living room, overwhelmed. Here I thought I was going to come home and pass out but now I had to figure out the situation with the pups.

I got a sleeping bag, put it next to my sliding glass door and informed the dogs that this would be where they would be sleeping tonight. I got a bowl and put water in it. They lapped it up, greedily. I had no dog food or any thawed meat so got some cat food. They didn't touch that.

I then got on to the computer and contacted an acquaintance of mine who does rescue. I emailed her the whole story and asked for assistance.

I was off the next day so first thing in the morning, I took the dogs with me to the pet store and got leashes, collars, a couple of toys and food. I then took them to a very small, hardly ever used, off leash park to let them run around a bit, stretch their legs, get some fresh air. They were the only two in the park so that worked out well. It started to rain so we came home.

By this time my acquaintance had emailed me back and said she would start getting in touch with her contacts. Could I keep them for a day or two until she could find a rescue who could take them. Yah, sure, ok.

I spent a lot of time with them on my day off and started teaching them the absolute most basic behavior. I figured it would be good to get them started so they would be even more adoptable.

Finally my contact emailed back and said she found a rescue who would take them but I had to wait two weeks while the current new rescues were finishing quarantine. Could I hold on to them for two weeks?

I cursed the idiots who dumped these dogs in my mind and said that yes, I would "foster" them for two weeks.

In that two weeks, we worked on house training, (they picked this up quick), as well as continued on basic, basic behavior. We also went to the vet to look for a microchip, (there wasn't any...gee, how shocking), and to see what they were, how old they were, how was their health and get started on vaccines and deworming and all that happy stuff.

They are lab mixes and won't get very big. The girl was 13.3 pounds and the boy was 18. something pounds. The vet said they were 3-4 months old. Surprisingly, their health was great. They got what they needed and off we went to the pet store again for more supplies.

Over the course of a few days, the hoodlums started to worm their little ways in to my heart. The boy was loyal, eager to please. The girl was smart as a whip and insanely cute. (And she knows it.)

GAH!

I took some time to think about it and then emailed my acquaintance. Never mind. I'm keeping 'em.

Turns out, what had happened was that a neighbor of mine was in town, driving to the store when he saw some puppies running around in traffic. There were three. One had already been hit and killed by a car. The other two were dancing around the body, in and out of traffic.

They had been tossed like they were garbage, like they were nothing. He stopped his car in the middle of traffic and ignored those who blared their horns at him, yelled out choice words and used choice gestures and picked the two puppies up, putting them in his car.

He brought them out to where we live and contacted a friend of his who said he would be out to pick them up in a few hours. The neighbor didn't want the dogs in his house so he let them run around, freely, in the Everglades, where we live. The friend called back and said they would be picking them up the next day, then called again and said it would be a couple of days.

Meanwhile, the dogs are running around in the wild. Every time a car would come down the road, they would chase it. Many people spotted these dogs but no one did a thing about them.

I drove down the road to come home, they chased my car and that is how I found them there, in the beam of my headlights, in front of my house.

So now I have two new lab mix puppies that now know they are not garbage, they are not a nuisance, they are loved and well cared for and will have a long, healthy, happy life.

The girl is Sakari which means "sweet" in Eskimo.
The boy is Shasta named after Mt. Shasta in CA.

And I am so lucky that they found me.

[DaneMama]

Thanks for sharing your story and rescuing those two babies