Jesus, I hope the stray dog isn't suffering in this weather. He's been coming around

[Redstone]

for about a week and a half. He's a good-looking dog, part Shepherd; I've gotten him to come sit next to me a few times, but he's VERY shy, and won't let me hold him so I can get a leash on him.

We're trying the tactic of leaving food out for him, and I hope it works. We want to grab him so our Animal Control Oficer can get him into the shelter where he'll get cleaned up and fed properly.

We don't need another dog, but we've told the Animal Control lady that if she can't find a good home for him, we'll take him instead of having him put down.

God help me, but I've already decided to name him Bucky.

Redstone

[flvegan]

1. Bucky is a good name.

"We don't need another dog, but we've told the Animal Control lady that if she can't find a good home for him, we'll take him instead of having him put down."

Good on you, sir.

[Redstone]

4. There's always room for one more. At the dinner table, in our house, and in our hearts.

Always room for one more.

Redstone

[flvegan]

6. And THAT sir

Is why I'm here in the first place. I love seeing, reading that sort of response.

You, sir...rise above.

Cheers, friend.

[Skittles]

2. I think

if there is a heaven, people who rescue stray animals get an automatic ticket to go there. :)

[Redstone]

3. Thank you. I've taken in an abandoned dog before, and though she was always

insecure, whe was a GOOD dog. Yes, she was.

Redstone

[Skittles]

7. got me two

my kitties Clancy (from the pound) and Riff Raff (an injured stray I had to catch via a feral trap I ordered over the internet).....I wish people would value animals, take care of them and get them fixed

[Redstone]

9. The problem is that we're not far from I-95. Our Animal Control lady told us that she

sees lots of abandoned dogs in our area because of that.

But I'm going to absolutely draw the line at taking in ONLY this ONE abandoned dog.

Really, I will.

Redstone

[SeattleGirl]

5. You're good folk, Redstone.

Thanks for taking care of this stray, and for being willing to take him in if the shelter can't find him a home. I like the name Bucky, too.

[Redstone]

8. The name just workd for him. He has a thin, kind of foxlike face, and a black patch of fur

on his back (the rest of him is brown). He'll be a damn handsome pooch, once he's cleaned up.

Mrs R and the Little Guy are voting, of course, for the shelter to NOT be able to find him a home.

I'm doomed. I can see it coming.

Redstone

[GoddessOfGuinness]

10. When I was a kid, we saw stray dogs in the neighborhood all the time...

Now it's so rare. The last time I saw a dog on the loose was about a month ago, when I saw one get hit by a car.

I'm glad people are being more careful with their pets.

It's really sweet of you to take this dog under your wing. :loveya:

[Redstone]

11. Well, I'd rather he finds ANOTHER nice home, but if not, you'll see a picture of Bucky right here.

Redstone

[Truthiness Inspector]

12. He is your dog

You've bonded and named him. I have 4 dogs I've rescued, 3 right off the street in a way similar to yours.

Once you name them...it's over, in a GOOD way.

Redstone is Bucky's daddy! (You know it's true.)

[Redstone]

16. Christ, I really AM doomed, aren't I? Funny, I knew that when I told Mrs R what his name would be.

Redstone

[CaliforniaPeggy]

13. My dear Redstone...

If I ever get east....

I look forward to meeting Bucky....

I love dogs!

:yourock:

:hug:

[haf216]

14. Good for You!

Thank you for looking after the dog. Most people would just look the other way. Working with rescue, I see how uncaring people can be. It's one of the reasons I tend to lose faith in the human race, but when I see people like you doing the right thing it gives me some hope.

[merh]

15. Bucky is a great name!

You can never have too many dogs that love you in your life, not evah!

And now I know why you are so good to me, you love the wounded strays of this world.

I'm so blessed and Bucky is too.

:hug:

[Redstone]

18. Merh, merh, you just struck a deep chord again. "Wounded strays," indeed. You made me remember when

I told my mother (who was dying of cancer at the time) about the woman I'd recently met (who would later become Mrs R)...my mother listened to my description of the situation (Mrs R was in California, and I was in the process of flying her to Connecticut with the last $600 I had to my name, a decision made in the course of a two-minute phone call), and my mother said to me: "You're riding off on your white horse to go rescue someone again, aren't you?"

I had to admit that well, yes, I was doing just that (yes, again; I can't help it), but I promised Ma that this time it would be different, and that I'd marry this woman.

And I did.

My mother did not live to see that happen, but I kept my promise.

Redstone

[merh]

22. If you ask me, the world needs more knights riding their white horses

the bmws, mercedes, hummers, et al are polluting our world and souls.

Of course, the knights need to remember that the armor is only a protective shell and they are vulnerable to pain.

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
--- inaccurately attributed to
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Actually written by Bessie Stanley
"He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction."

you are indeed a successful man :pals:

[Redstone]

25. Damn. Thank you. I think she was remembering the time I drove her to Massachusetts for Thanksgiving,

and it was about 10 degrees out, and there was a car beside I-84 in Conecticut with a flat tire (turned out it was a mother with three young kids in the car), and I pulled over and changed her tire, though I had to go back to my car every two minutes to stick my hands into the heater outlets to thaw them out, this in the days before cell phones, so that woman would have been stuck with her kids there until a state trooper came along...or the time I yahked that guy out of his burning car...or the time I took care of that little girl who'd been hit by a car until the ambulance got there...

Not to paint myself as a better person than I am, but the memories are coming back now.

In this world, everybody is your neighbor, and you should be a good neighbor. That's just what you do.

I have copied, and will ever remember, that Bessie Stanley quote. I'd not presume to say that my life has been an inspiration to anyone, but I've always tried.

That I have done.

Redstone

[merh]

26. all we can do is try

and you do fit Ms Stanley's definition of success rather nicely.

[rockymountaindem]

27. You deserve a medal or something

Seriously. Pulling someone from a burning car is not something a lot of people would do.

[Redstone]

28. How can you not? There are things you just DO. You don't think, you do. What's the option? Stand

and watch? Drive by?

No. Unacceptable choices, both.

It's not any kind of heroics, it's just what you do.


Redstone

[rockymountaindem]

31. Well, having never been in that situation

it just seems to me that a lot of people would freeze up in that scenario, not of a consious decision but from reflex.

[Redstone]

33. Possibly, and I'd not blame them. I was told once by a psychiatrist that I had a "pathological

lack of fear," which in some situations may be good (like in that case), but in others situations ends up being unfortunate... ("Hey, let's go climb that cliff over there!)

Any rational person would stop and think first, but I just am not capable of doing that. Being married has helped (Mrs R sez: "No jumping out of any perfectly good airplanes any more, no matter how many times you've done it before."), but she didn't stop me from running into the burning house across the street with my dinky 5-pound fire extinguisher becase the FD was slow in getting there. So at least she knows what's important to do, and what's not.

I'm lucky to have her around.

Redstone

[rockymountaindem]

34. I remember you mentioning that before

Does this no-fear condition have a name?

[Redstone]

36. I don't think it does, but I'll ask my shrink next time I see him. I can't be the only one who

is like that. It's dangerous in the same way like those people who can't feel pain (I don't remember the name of that condition); they have to be VERY careful, because they can actually sustain life-threatening injuries or wounds and not even know it.

All my life, when I've been in dangerous situations (and there have been plenty of them), I've gotten, I don't know, maybe focused is the word, but never frightened, as I understand the feeling to be.

It's damned hard to describe.

Redstone

[rockymountaindem]

38. Well, be careful out there

We'd miss you if anything bad happened :hi:

[Truthiness Inspector]

24. Great story

I think your mother would be proud of you taking care of a lost animal. Rescuing those who need rescuing probably is right up her alley, if you think about it because your mom sounds like a wonderful woman.

Taking on another animal when we aren't prepared isn't ever easy, BUT it's the right thing to do, and we just have to make it work. Lord knows, I know this first-hand.

You are the Bucky-daddy. It's all going to work out, for both of you. A big :) to you.

[Redstone]

29. But now we have to see if the Buckster comes around again in the morning. He didn't today, in this

awful weather. If I don't see him tomorrow morning, I'm going out to look. He's gotta be really hungry.

Yeah, my Ma was a good one. I sure wish she had been here for our wedding, and to know the Little Guy. He'd have been her favorite grandson.

Redstone

[EFerrari]

17. There'a always the rescue org option.

But, Bucky is a great name. :)

[Redstone]

20. That would be the first male dog I've ever had. But first, we have to hope that he gets through this

awful storm we're having. Christ, I wish he knew that he could come in and be warm and full of food if he'd only show up.

He's a really nice dog, just very shy. I wish he knew that even if he didn't want to come inside, he could have the screen porch for the night.

Redstone

[EFerrari]

23. It will work out. They are on their on schedule.

I had what looked like a kitten on the hill outside my house for months. I put food out, called out to her, left blankets on the deck. Months. Finally, she let me let her in. She wasn't a kitten, she was starving but it took a really bad, long, cold week to push her into trusting us. The little witch.

Good luck with him. He'll be back.

[rubberducky]

19. Sounds like Bucky has a great new "Dad"!!

[Flaxbee]

21. Bucky! Yay!

It is harder for dogs to stay warm / find food in bad weather than cats -- cats can just curl up in a tight little ball and hole up in a tree, or find a nook, but bigger dogs do have a harder time. When was the last time you saw the guy? I think, so long as he can stay out of the wind, he'll be OK. Wind wicks their body heat away and usually is the cause for hypothermia. Do you have a porch, or someplace he might be able to curl up on a dry towel or two if he needs shelter tonight?

Anyway - one of our dogs when I was a kid was a part Shepherd, part Husky mix. She was fantastic, and I've had a love affair with Shepherd mixes ever since.

You were doomed the minute you named him. I have named two stray cats whom I feed "Lyle" and "Stuart". Stuart is waayyyy too feral to ever be a pet, I can't even get within 50 feet of him, but I'm hoping tuna will tempt him into the cat trap I have so he can go to the vet to get snipped. Lyle is coming around, though, and I think he'd be a good pet, if not for us, for someone else. Thing is, we already have 7 cats. I'm trying so hard not to become a cat lady, Redstone, really I am. But we live close to the county humane society that has been defunded by our goddamn stupid redneck fuckhead county commissioners, so people dump their pets near the shelter and just take off. Then the sweet bewildered creatures come over here, and my husband and I are both suckers.

I hope Bucky's OK - keep us posted, will you? You're such a good guy, Redstone.

[Redstone]

30. We have a nice 300-square-foot deck he could go under, and I wish he would.

Last I saw him was yesterday; I got him to sit next to me on the front steps, but then one of the neighbors (innocently) stopped his car in the street and started talking to me, which spooked the dog. I tried to talk him back, but it didn't work.

I'll let you all know what happens in the next few days. Right now, I'm fighting the urge to go look for him, which would be a stupid thing to do. But it's SO cold out there...

Redstone

[Broken_Hero]

32. I hope the dog is doing good...

My wife and I are basically going through the same thing, with our neighbors dog, from down the road....she is an older rott female...and the owner doesnt' take care of her at all...we constantly feed her/care for her, and she sticks around quite often...and the name we gave her was "Big Girl"...she is a good sized, Rott.

[Redstone]

35. And probably a sweetie, because you've treated her well. Dogs respond to that.

Redstone

[xchrom]

37. for bucky

Dear God, protect and bless all beings that breathe, keep all evil from them, and let them sleep in peace. Amen.
--Albert Schweitzer, "Memoirs of Childhood and Youth"

[Scout]

39. We adopted a white Shepherd from the humane society....

we LOVE him! German Shepherds are great. If you take him in I bet you won't regret it.

Our dog was also very shy when we first brought him home, but he has relaxed and is letting himself be a real dog.

Please keep us updated.