Adding another one to the zoo

My wife and I have had dogs as part of our household since before we were married. As graduate students, we were charter members of DINKWADS (Double Income, No Kids, With A (couple of) DogS. Although, as graduate students, our double income was just above the poverty line.

Over the years, we have had a number of dogs share our lives. Nine have lived their life to the fullest and two are still with us. All have been either adopted from the shelter or strays that showed up at our house. Obviously the IQ of their previous owners were all below 50, as their previous owners were not capable of reading the “found dog” ad we would always place in the newspaper and in mailboxes. A number of other dogs have showed up at our house and have been successfully returned to their owners. In at least one instance, sans testicles! Our current dogs are no exception: One was found by my wife just laying in the middle of the road and the other showed up at our house as a young puppy, lost, hungry and very tired.

Just before Christmas, an Australian cattle dog showed up at our house. A great dog, a real working dog - the kind of dog that is only happy when given a job to do. Not the sit around the house kind of dog. No one claimed him from our "found" ad. A friend of ours has a hobby of training cattle and sheep herding dogs and knew of a farm that was looking to train and use a cattle herding dog. Perfect job for him - and he is now very happy with his life.

About two weeks ago, a border collie mixed breed joined our two dogs and me on our morning walk. So he ended up staying at our house for about a week, including a couple of trips to the vet. Turns out that he is ten years old, going blind with cataracts and may have a potentially life-threatening liver infection. But being blind has not stopped him from chasing our seven cats around the house (and he has the scratches across his nose to prove it!).

Of course, we put a found dog ad in the paper. Turns out that he was owned by one of the locals, an older man, in his 70’s, who lives in a little gathering of houses about a mile down the road from us. Up until several years ago, they had a chicken coop and he was the guard dog for the coop. But no more chickens. All he did, all day, every day, was sit outside tied up on a lead. No attention from anyone. And, of course, he has not been neutered.

So when he came to pick him up, my wife volunteered to take him back if there were any problems. A couple of days later, he called and said that the dog was unhappy and constantly whining and asked if we would be willing to take him back. My wife and I talked about it off and on (to say that we spent more time on this subject than on the absence of sex between us would not be an exaggeration). I was not in favor of this, as I am increasingly feeling the cost, in time and money, that comes with being a responsible pet owner. Finally she said “Can’t we give Bucky a few years of a good life?” OK. I am a soft touch. So last night, my son and I went to pick him up tonight. The old man (and his mom, who lives with him) was glad to see the dog go - one less burden in their lives. And one more in ours.

And here is my daily rant - why do people have dogs (or other pets) that they don’t or can't take care of? And why don't they spay/neuter the pets that they do have? Grrrr!