| I live in Arkansas. We have a very bad people problem here, I wont say dog problem because it is not the dogs' fault at all. I live partially in the country and have found 5 dogs here just 1 mile from my home that people have dumped off on a back dirt road. As I write this the newest baby is under my feet at my desk. All of these stories except one have a happy ending for the dogs that came to my home. THIS ISN'T A HAPPY ENDING IN MY BOOK!!! The first one was a Catahoula Leopard hound that showed up at my house the day I moved to Arkansas. This poor dog was starved, completely covered in fleas and ticks, had been beaten, and the guy that owned him (who I have met) BRANDED him like a cow. After 2 months of caring for this dog. Bathing, picking off ticks, feeding, loving etc. The guy that owned him saw him in my car and wanted to "see" him. He asked me a few questions and then TOOK the dog away. I told him how I acquired the dog and he gave me his card and said he would pay me for caring for his dog and my troubles. Well, what he actually did was call the sheriffs on me. The officer called me and dismissed the whole thing. I had never seen the dog again, until a few weeks ago he was running a cow pasture behind the house. I tried to get him to come to me but he kept running. If I had the owner he did I would run as far and fast as I could too. I have run into this man again and almost ended up in a fist fight with him over this dog. Then I was driving around the area where I found 4 puppies that were dumped off and found this guys house. He has a bunch of these dogs and keeps them in a little pen. And he brands every one of them. He says someone stole 2 of these dogs when this one showed up at my house, I have a feeling he branded them that day and they ran away. If I ever see that dog again and can get him to come to me he will be taken away from here and given to a person that has a yard that I know and taken care for it properly. Of course the guy doesn't know this but I still have yet to find this dog again. STORY OF THE PUPPIES I HAVE FOUND AND KEPT I have a "adopted" and kept 2 of these puppies. The others were given to good homes with fences. I have a Collie mix this the first one I found, with her was a black and tan mix that I gave away. The collie is the best dog I have had, she is about 10 months old now. She loves being here with us and is very well behaved unless left to run the house at night so we keep her in the bedroom with us. She is great with my 19 month old son. I also have a Rottie/Hound mix puppy that I found about a month ago. She is just a sweetie, this is my sons puppy as he sees it, they follow each other around the house and yard. If they could they would sleep together. Her story is a little worse than the collie. When I found her she was very skinny, dull in color no shine at all, scared and infested with round worms. Someone had docked her tail before dumping her. She has come around very well and is well behaved for a tiny puppy. Recently we had a scare. She had very bad diarrhea, a little vomiting and losing weight, her coat was dulling, and slightly dehydrated. I treated her with pepto bismal, lots of attention and plenty of puppy food and water and she is over this now. I was terrified she had Parvo, as I had a dog a few years back contract this and it was not a very pretty sight for her or me. STORY OF THE DOGS I HAVE FOUND AND GIVEN AWAY TO HOMES One of these dogs was found by my husband and one was taken in by my mother-in-law, and one was found by me, but they all came here to me and I found them homes. The first was a Pit Bull that my husband found in Oklahoma. My husband is an over the road truck driver and stopped at a truck stop in January (bad winter storms then). Someone had dumped her off at the truck stop and she was so bad off she couldn't get up and walk around. My husband had to carry her to his truck and warm her up. After that she was great. She stayed with him for a week in his truck as he made his way towards the house. I met him 30 miles from our home to pick her up in my car and bring her home. At the time I didn't know she was a Pit Bull until I got there to get her. As I prefer not to have this breed around other pets and children unless I know the dog or have raised it I was very wary of taking her in. I proved right in this feeling. Shortly after bringing her home she was fighting with my collie mix and eventually went after my 19 month old son. The reason I believe for this happening is my husband was sitting down and the dog was close by, my son walked up to my husband and the dog jumped up and tried to bite. I took her away from the situation and put her in the bedroom for a while. After consideration and the concern of this happening again I gave her to a man that I knew had fenced yard and only one other dog (she finally quit fighting with my other dog). Dog fighting will happen but I don't like a dog going after my son for the reason she did. If he had been mean to her or hurt her in any way I could understand this even over food. So she has a great home and I spoke with the man that took her and he said she is doing just great. The second dog in this story is not as well off. My mother-in-law lives even farther in the country that I do and off of a very well traveled US HWY., and heavily traveled by large trucks. One day she was driving home and saw 2 puppies on the side of the road someone had left for dead. She drove home got some hot dogs and went back to try and catch them, by the time she got back one had not survived. It was hit and killed by a vehicle. The other one was running around and she was trying to coax it so she could get it in her car. They had evidently been very badly mistreated and beaten. She finally succeeded. She brought the dog home and put her in the fence. After abut 1 month the puppy grew so much and was so big she was hurting her other 2 dogs (2 Chihuahuas). She had just had major surgery and could not handle a large dog. So she regrettably called me one day to take her. I agreed to "hold" the dog until she could handle her again or decide that she couldn't have her back. Her husband said the dog was too big for the other dogs they had. I told them that I could not keep her here as I have 2 dogs and a very small yard and house for a dog of such size. I started working on getting her a home. This was not an easy task as the dog was terrified of riding in car. Would not walk on a leash. Peed if you looked at her. And would not socialize with the other dogs or people. I finally did find her a home also. If I had the room I would have 6 dogs now just from the ones that were dumped here around me. I have only lived here for 9 months and have found 6 dogs that were dumped, mistreated, beaten etc. All 6 of these dogs have been taken in by me and 2 are still with me the other 4 have homes they would not have otherwise had the chance to get. The last dog I have to talk about was in terrible condition when I found her. She was dehydrated, very sick, bloated belly, worms, mange, and terribly scared. This one was a hard decision not to take her to a shelter but bring her here, as I had 2 other dogs at the time. And she had mange and worms that my dogs could catch from her. I did bring her here in my pick up truck I was driving at the time and tried to place her immediately. Unfortunately there aren't any shelters here that would take her. The one in town near me wouldn't take her because she wasn't found in the city limits. Even if she was they don't treat their animals in the shelter. They give them away and whoever gets them has to take care of it. I did get hold of a humane society, they couldn't take her (they had 70 dogs at the time) but I told them I needed to get her treated for all the problems she had and that I would find her a home. They gave me the dip and medication for the worms. And said if it didn't clear up and get rid of the worms in 2 weeks to call them back and they would pay the vet bill if she needed to go to one. I treated her with all the medication they gave me and dipped her according to their directions. She recovered fully and was a healthy puppy that could be given a home. This took 1 month. I found her a home also. I also have a cat that I adopted from the local shelter. If he wasn't adopted he would have been put down. I brought him home and 2 weeks later he was at the vet getting neutered (the shelter paid half) and treated for ringworm (shelter paid all of this). He wasn't to happy about living with 2 dogs at first but now they all sleep with us at night. Till the next dog/puppy finds me and my husband has a fit that I brought it home. Stephanie  Back to Main Page
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