"and Thursday is National Tabby Day"
That's what the first five readers of this post saw, and that's all they saw. I apologize. Normally I stay awake at night and write these Petfinder Posts in the wee sma' hours of the Tuesday mornings. This morning, about the time when I should have clicked on the Petfinder tab Google has learned to offer whenever I open a page in Chrome, a big loud thunderstorm blew in. Rain! Hurrah! I unplugged and covered up all the computers, went to bed, and slept. When I woke up my little note to myself had been published...and it was time to do something else. It's cyberspace. It's still egg on my face, but we learn to wash it off.
Meanwhile, the rain was badly needed and has also highlighted the damage done by poison sprays that lingered in the air, making it painful for me to sit on my own porch and groom my own long-haired cat, who has been wailing aloud from frustration. The hedge is green, now, rather than merely "spring green," at last! Beautiful! And those new green leaves show that horrible "cupped" shape plants show after exposure to dicamba. The Bad Neighbor has sprayed enough of that poison into the air to choke a cow, and for more than two weeks we didn't even have rain to wash it down...into the water people in Tennessee will now have to drink. I beg your pardon, Tennessee readers. This guy was a lousy creep while living in Tennessee, too, even if he has acknowledged a son from whatever relationship he had with a Tennessee woman--after having killed the one child he had in Virginia, and her mother, and at least four more close relatives and some neighbors, by reckless endangerment. If you want to give him a good bath in the Tennessee River, e-mail me. I feel much, much more energetic than I've felt for most of the month of April, though still coughing and bleeding and puffed up with inflammation. I'm now breathing at 80 to 90% of capacity, and I'd be delighted to help.
Anyway, this web site is still moving through a series highlighting dog breeds that some European busybodies have said ought to go extinct. This week we consider one of the most appealing dog breeds ever developed and why so many of them languish in shelters; we also consider tabby cats.
What makes Australian Shepherd dogs so appealing?
Unlike Australian Cattle Dogs, which have Australian aboriginal canine DNA, Australian Shepherds weren't even bred in Australia. For many years they were "Only In California." They were bred in the US to have a look Americans find prettier, but with the genetic potential for those distinctive "marle" colors that suddenly look less appealing when you learn that they're produced by a lethal gene.
Some early posts at this web site were produced from the home of an Australian Shepherd I used to dog-sit. I am not impartial. In addition to having a gorgeous fluffy marle coat and the long plumy tail that, to my eyes, completes the look, the dog Sydney was clean, quiet, and clever as a cat, loved to be groomed, and liked to walk with me for a good brisk mile or two. I think she was an awesome dog.
Sydney might have been exceptionally awesome but the American Kennel Club describes this breed as smart, work-oriented, and exuberant. They are "lean, tough ranch dogs" often employed in rodeos because, for them, being allowed to work at herding anything--including their humans!--is a favorite reward. The individual dogs who don't show effects of the lethal gene tend to be healthy and, although they normally weigh 40 to 65 pounds, a size that would be expected to live 5 to 10 years, they normally live 12 to 15 years. (Fun fact: an Aussie was the oldest dog to win a national AKC dog athletic trophy, at the age of 15.) They need plenty of exercise, at least one or two hours a day; they love to run and will run, walk, jog, or hike with you. To be really satisfied they also seem to need a job and, if they're not employed herding animals or baby-sitting children, the AKC advise that they be trained as athletes, because you don't want to let them feel bored. They need humans who know how to train them and animal companions who respect their intelligence.
Normally they're sweet, gentle pets who enjoy being groomed and hanging out with the tough, athletic humans who ought to own them, but they protect their friends! Those sweet friendly faces can look horrific in minutes if they think anyone is a threat to their family. They can "herd" their humans with growls and nips if the humans let them, too. A badly treated Aussie is dangerous and can have to be put down, even though the majority of Aussies are remembered as perfect pets by grieving humans (like
Barb Taub). They are usually good pack leaders for other dogs and day care providers for children.
So why do so many of them land in shelters?
Because a lot of humans do not deserve to live with these dogs. Can't keep up with them. Don't want to be bothered to train them to do their jobs. Given a chance, before its pawsonality is ruined by boredom, discouragement (unemployed Aussies probably feel rejected), and misunderstanding, an Australian Shepherd will just run off and look for a better home.
The sight of a miserable, chained-up, unkempt Aussie behind somebody's house, starved or stuffed into a passive depressive condition, is not uncommon and has been known to make some
humans aggressive. So far the ones associated with this web site have not become violent, but they have given out some tongue lashings and demanded custody of those dogs!
Claudia Greco once joked that a place to look for old-line Virginians was "Out ruling." Most of us don't think it's our business what other people do, most of the time. Nevertheless you do
not want our Lisiwayu to catch you mistreating a dog. (There's a reason why her screen name means "Grandmother Wolf.")
Do not try to buy or adopt an Australian Shepherd if you're not committed to doing the thing right. All active intelligent people who work with these dogs love them--even if they get a "bargain-priced" puppy who may suffer from disease and disability conditions produced by the gene that causes the gorgeous multicolored coat colors. If you are not active or intelligent the dog will be miserable with you, will probably despise you, and, though they seldom really bite anyone who's not trying to harm a friend, will start herding you with friendly nips (which may draw blood) in an effort to motivate you to be more of what a human ought to be.
But of course this web site is primarily addressed to people who are active and intelligent enough to keep up with an Australian Shepherd dog if, considering the matter responsibly, they commit to adopting one.
About that lethal gene...
The marle color effect is produced by a gene that blocks the development of some parts of the dog. In healthy Aussies the gene affects only some of the hairs, producing pure white spots and spots where normal-colored hairs and white hairs mix, resulting in a strong, healthy, peculiar-looking dog. In less fortunate Aussies the list of conditions it can produce includes, but is not limited to, blindness, deafness, epileptic seizures, brain damage, defective hip and leg joints, and conditions that cause puppies to die young. It's as nasty as the Manx gene is in cats, and many Aussies have defective tails, too. A short or missing tail has traditionally been considered a feature in this breed; the tailless dogs can do their jobs and the ones with fluffy tails have even had their tails cut off so they'd look like the others, but it's one more part of the dog that may fail to develop normally due to a lethal gene.
Dog breeders would prefer that all pet dogs be sterilized in any case so that people have to buy more pedigreed dogs from them. I don't like that way of thinking about animals, but it is cruel to let marle-colored Aussies breed with each other. The rescue dogs featured here have already been sterilized and, with Aussies, that's usually the best thing. The dogs are frisky enough without adding sex hormones to the mix.
So you want to adopt an Australian Shepherd dog.
Being active and intelligent, you can also afford a steady supply of good quality dog food. You have a big yard or, better yet, a field. Once Aussies claim a place as their home they'll stay and guard it, but neighbors will want you to have a fence. Don't even bother with a meter-high burglar-tripper. Aussies can jump four feet, easily. The same rule applies to walking. Once the dog decides to claim you as a friend it will move at your pace, at your heel, in its loyal and loving way, without any leash, but while training a puppy and in order to reassure the neighbors you need a good strong leash and collar.
The Aussie's recent ancestors, English Collies and various Spanish herding dogs, lived outdoors or in barns and sheds, insulated by their long thick coats. Unless you have livestock it can herd into pens and sheds, your Aussie is likely to want to stay near you and guard you while you sleep. Dogs have a different sleep cycle from humans, which is useful in primitive conditions. You might as well plan to adjust your sleep cycle in such a way that you can get up in the night when the dog does. Aussies are clean dogs who like to move a good distance away from where they sleep to bury bodywastes, and they are never going to sleep six or eight hours at a time without a good brisk walk at "zero-dark-thirty." On very long, dark, cold winter nights they may want to go outside twice.
The breed is said to do pretty well with only occasional baths and a good thorough brushing twice a week, but in warm weather, when the coat sheds, regrows, and harbors fleas, you'll probably want to brush and comb your pet daily. It's a great way to bond and relax, after a good run and a nice light meal, out on the back porch. Or the coat can be clipped.
Then again, maybe you don't.
Any "shepherd" breed of dog is just too much dog for some people to handle. So far we've talked about stupid lazy people who bought Aussies and couldn't keep them, and active and intelligent people who love them. Some readers may have been wondering when I was going to cool down, because the way some people mistreat their "shepherds" does heat up my blood, and consider people who are active and intelligent and also have physical disabilities. Actually "shepherd" type dogs have often been trained to work for people who have some kinds of disabilities, as service dogs, but those individual dogs are not found in shelters.
Readers often say they hope all our photo contest winners find good homes but they, personally, already live with cats and dogs. Or they have disabilities. Or they live in different countries. Or they are students and have nowhere to keep a pet. This web site does not hold that against anybody.
The purpose of posting shelter pets' pictures on the Internet is, primarily, to encourage people to share them everywhere and encourage people who can adopt a pet to consider a shelter pet. Petfinder used to have a button that, when pressed, would post to social media pages, "Have you ever seen such a perfect [type of animal]?" above the photo.
But now an increasing number of organizations are adopting new ways to place more animals in good homes. If you're not sure you want to adopt the animal, which is not unreasonable in the case of herding dogs, many organizations will let you "foster" the animal--keeping it at your home, rather than in a cage in the city pound. What the organization pays for, while the animal is still up for adoption but is living with you, varies from organization to organization. Usually they supply food and pay veterinary expenses for as long as you agree to take the animal out to meet prospective adopters. Smaller, poorer groups may pay for rabies shots and spaying/neutering only, leaving it up to you to feed the animal or pay for other veterinary treatment it may need. You still have to pay for the animal when you decide you can't bear to part with it, but you get to know it, over time, just as if you were adopting a friend's puppy or kitten. This is a good way to confirm that you can handle a tough active dog.
If you know for sure that you can't even foster an animal, and none of your social media connections can either, and you still want to help, another possibility is to sponsor the animal. This helps the organization keep animals out of high-kill shelters without demanding enormous adoption fees, so ordinary working parents can afford to adopt them. Organizations that process sponsorship plans may accept small donations toward the animal's expenses, or accept full payments and let a deserving family adopt the animal free of charge. If I could afford to do this, I'd pay the full adoption fee for someone I knew, without the organization knowing that I knew the adopters, in order to confirm that the organization processed the money honestly--at least the first time.
So. Finally. On to the actual dogs, and the tabby cats, in honor of Tabby Cat Day.
Zipcode 10101: JD from Texas by way of New Jersey
Mostly white, with a short coat and short tail, JD may not be show quality but he's known to be a nice pet dog who gets along well with cats and children. He may compete with other male dogs for status, but seems to get along with female dogs. His adoption fee reflects veterinary bills as well as transportation.
Zipcode 20202: Helen from Memphis by way of Arlington
The adoption fee is already steep and it does not include transportation. As shown, Helen was rescued as a nursing mother, probably thrown out of a previous home for the unauthorized pregnancy. She is still described as a hopeful, friendly pup. They will not bring her to Arlington to meet you. They want to confirm that you own a house with a big fenced yard before the deal goes down, but they can't stay in Arlington and meet you on the Five Mile Run, not at the Shirlington Mile, not...Listen. People in Memphis know they're more than a day trip away from DC but they just absolutely love to be considered as a place for people from DC to take their long-weekend road trips to. A bus ticket from DC to Memphis used to cost half as much as one from DC to Kingsport, although Memphis is twice as far away, because Memphis used to subsidize visits. That cross-pollination of musical cultures and upscale Black young people was probably a top concern, though they're not prejudiced and like White tourists too. So you should go to Memphis, take a copy of the lease or title to your home and a photo of the big fenced yard, and meet Helen there.
Admittedly she does not really catch the eye as being an Australian Shepherd but, also undeniably, she is a pretty dog.
Zipcode 30303: Gilly from Marietta
There's not much of a story about Gilly. She has the slim graceful look an Aussie with a clipped coat should have, but she weighs 61 pounds. She might be an unauthorized crossbreed with a larger kind of dog. She is healthy and gets along well with dogs, cats, and children.
These are normal-looking dogs, you might mention. Mad mixes of color are on Petfinder, too, though they weren't photographed as well..."Most colorful" should be a separate contest.
10101: Pixy from Texas by way of Ridgefield
It probably started with trying to herd the neighbors' "small livestock," then went on to worrying them. Pixy is for adoption in neighborhoods where there are no small livestock.
20202: Lopez from DC
This stray dog has learned the benefits of eye contact with humans. He's had some basic dog training and would like to find a permanent home and job.
30303: Denver from Chattanooga
He's a mixed breed. Sometimes mother dogs decide to euthanize puppies because the puppies, the mother dog, or both are very sick. Possibly starting with him because he looked like his father, Denver's mother tore his face off. Humans kept him alive. He's described as very human-friendly.
Now the tabby cats...Gray tabby cats are the most common type. They can linger in shelters just because they look so ordinary. Their coats were actually designed to fade into the background, to provide camouflage for hunting and hiding. We notice black, white, orange, calico, and Siamese-pattern cats because they're different. We sometimes have to learn to notice gray tabbies because they're lovable animals.
10101: Miles from Hoboken
Outdoor cats usually aren't born in January, but we had a long January thaw this year and already surplus kittens are in shelters. Miles is just another surplus kitten. Con suerte people can at least appreciate his blotched tabby coat. If you don't live with another cat, the organization will insist that you adopt another kitten so he'll be able to play naturally, grabbing, slapping, and chomping a sibling who enjoys blocking his moves, rather than making unsatisfactory substitutes of things like books and shoes.
20202: Silverbell from DC
Note how subtle her stripes are, how youll be able to pick her out in a crowd? Silverbell is on the pudgy side due to her job. She works as a hostess in a Cat Cafe. Convince them that you have a good home waiting for her. Hostess cats, like the rest of us, face fierce competition for our jobs these days.
30303: Pokey from Atlanta
The Atlanta Humane Society. I apologize. Anyway Pokey is one of those tiny kittenish adult cats who learn to make being tiny and timid work for them. She acts intimidated by other cats and scared of noises like vacuum cleaners, and probably will be really scared when adopted into a new home. Give her time. She likes attention, as most cats do, when you wait for her to come around and call for it.
Alternate: Amy from Atlanta
Cats have their own kind of coronavirus. This little alley kitten almost died of it. She's deaf, but she's a tough little thing. She is still growing and likes to have other kittens, even puppies, to play with. Because she's deaf and cats rely on hearing for so much, the organization doesn't say "and never let her go outside alone," but I'll add that.
