From commentor Mike S:
In the Spring of 2002 we lost Marta, our 14-year-old mixed breed, a medium-brown “Heinz 57” (as my father called her) rescue, to old age. That was such a terrible trauma for me that I didn’t know if I wanted to get another dog. But by July the house didn’t seem right without a dog. I began thinking seriously about getting another dog, and my wife was ready too. So I stopped by the Animal Rescue League to see who was waiting for a good home. I had walked through and looked at about 3/4 of the dogs there and none of them seemed right somehow, either too big, too small, too noisy — you know, the whole Goldilocks routine.
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Then I saw one cute little one who put her front paws up on the fence and stuck her nose through the mesh as far as she could; she was obviously inviting me to be friends and play with her. So I asked the staff If I could meet her and take her for a walk outside and they were happy to oblige. She was somewhat shy when we got outside and mostly wanted to smell and poke around, but we got along well and I thought she was the one. The staff told me that someone else wanted to adopt her but it hadn’t gone through yet because the other potential adopter wasn’t the owner of the home where she lived and written permission from the homeowner was needed. So she was available, for now!
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I went back with my wife the next day, she was still there. We walked her outside again and we agreed that she was the dog we wanted. But we couldn’t take her that day as my wife and I were going away all of the next day, and I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving here locked up all day in a strange laundry room as her first experience in our home. I asked if we could adopt her, pay all of the fees and even boarding fees and pick her up on the following day, when we could be home with her round the clock. No! we were told we can’t let you do that. If you adopt her you have to take her then and there. So reluctantly I said we would be back on Saturday morning and adopt her if she was still there. She was such a cute doggie-type dog I really worried that she would have gone to another home until we came back, but I knew that there are always lots of dogs in need of a home and if we didn’t get her there would be another equally deserving one soon.
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On Saturday morning I showed up at the Rescue League’s door bright and early and found that she was still there! So I paid, and signed and took home our girl. They thought she was about 6 months old and weighed 30 lbs., so we estimated she would be on the large size for a lap dog, but it turned out she was closer to 9 months old and here final weight is 42 lbs. which is excellent lap dog size as far as I am concerned. She moved in ands settled in very well. She seemed to be already housebroken but we put here in the laundry room at night, instead of crating her for the first couple of months just to be sure. She never had an accident. To this day she almost never needs to go out to pee other than during her regular morning and evening walks after her meals and she has had exactly one accident in the house in almost 8 years.
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We named her Tasha, and she is a smart and wonderful dog.
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She is part German Sheppard, based on her coloring, and part “?”, probably some northern breed with a curly tail, not quite as curly as a husky’s. She has some big black spots on her tongue so someone suggested maybe a chow was the other parent, but she is definitely a “people” dog and not a ‘one man dog’ that’s for sure. She can be loud and defensive when a stranger knocks on the door, but one she has been properly introduced she is ready for petting and belly rubs if we are indoors. Outdoors is a different matter, she just sniffs people a few times and proceeds with her job of watching and sniffing the rest of world. She doesn’t play with other dogs at all, she is slightly shy when strange dogs get close but she will sniff with them briefly and then ignore them. However chasing rabbits, squirrels and catching mice and voles is what she was born to do…
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Tasha is very graceful and almost catlike the way she jumps up and down from the furniture, but she also has brief episodes when she dashes back and forth from one end of the house to the other at full speed and doing some amazing quick 180 turns. From the study, through the living room to the bedroom and back over and over. When you watch her do it you are just surprised she doesn’t hit a wall or doorjamb and knock herself out, but she has never hit anything while doing it. Another way she is catlike is her aversion to baths and her lack of need for them. She has had only one bath in seven and a half years. She just gets the shower nature gives her when we walk in the rain. She never smells objectionable and people are surprised when we tell them. However one time when we picked her up at the kennel where we take her while we are on vacation she just stank, so since it was January I put her into the bathtub and gave her a bath. She hated it and wouldn’t go near the bathroom door for many, many months if I was nearby.
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She is a great pet, easy going, happy to be petted and scratched and of course always willing to have the last bite of whatever snack we are eating! Tasha owns the beds during the day but at night she has to make do with the sofa, poor doggie, such a tough life. I made the mistake with our last dog Marta of letting her get used to sleeping in the bed, never, never again! There is just not enough room for some dogs during the night even if the seem only medium sized during daylight hours.
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Two of the three dogs I have had in my life have been rescued, and I couldn’t bear the thought of having a non-rescue dog when I know how many homeless ones there are. We have thought about getting a second dog but I am afraid Tasha wouldn’t be the alpha and I couldn’t bear the sight of seeing her reduced from her current position of queen of our household. So I hope we will stay a one-dog house for many more years with Tasha.
SiubhanDuinne
Tasha is lovely! What a nice story. I hope you have many more happy years together.
funluvn
Tasha is a beautiful girl. She truly looks to be of perfect lap dog size. I’m so glad she was still there for you when you came back for her.
Luci
What a great story and a great dog! Rescues are the best in my opinion!
Carnacki
Good dog. Good, good dog
JPL
Tasha is a beautiful dog. A friend had a dog, Megan with similar characteristics and Megan was bathed maybe once or twice during her twelve years. Unfortunately, my mutt doesn’t have that gene.
Jebediah
Love the picture – that is how all dogs should live. Lucky dog, lucky you!
stuckinred
YAY!
WereBear
Some northern breeds have the kind of coat that sheds the yick; everyone likes it that way.
Sounds like she was the right one :)
stuckinred
@WereBear: Get a furminator.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
I love Shepherds.
Everybody should get rescue dogs and kittehs.
JCT
What a great way to start the morning – a perfect rescue! She looks so content in that picture.
I love how you two found each other and she was still there when you returned, it was meant to be!
Mike S
I’m gald you all are enjoying Tasha’s story, we enjoy her very much every day. Here is a link to some more pictures.
http://picasaweb.google.com/paplantings/TashaPicsSmallFiles#
Thanks,
Mike S
2liberal
how does the tax cut affect the social security trust fund? does this mean it goes bankrupt in 2030 instead of 2037? are the funds to pay for the 2% cut being paid for by issues fewer ‘specials’ to the social security administration?
Joy
What a beautiful story and a gorgeous dog. You are right about the alpha dog thing though. We brought home Chloe and she became alpha to our golden retriever. Abby seems miffed sometimes, but goldens are pretty easy to get along with so she mostly tolerates it, but I feel sorry for her anyway. It’s funny how much animals become part of our household that losing one leaves such an empty space. Lucky for Tasha that she found a great home and parents.
Kristine
I needed a puppeh tale this morning. Thanks!
bloomingpol
Our Foxy may be part chow and she is everyone’s dog. Loves to be petted. Not much interested in other dogs, even the one she lives with, she is people-oriented.
mb
IMHO, the best way to get over the loss of a beloved dog is to get another as soon as you can. When I have to put a dog down, I usually don’t wait more than 24 hours before I am actively looking for another dog. I wouldn’t ever let the fear of the loss of a dog stop me from caring for and being cared for by a dog.
CatHairEverywhere
What a great story! Tasha looks like a very sweet dog.
CynDee
So glad that you and Tasha found each other. She is a sweetness.
Something striking about this photo, to us — besides her dogliness — is that her room has the exact same wall color, woodwork color and design, and yea, doorknob, that we have in our bedroom. Is the house about 1925?
Yutsano
Obligatory PUPPEH!!
You guys just reminded me of the big black sweet great Dane I saw in the back seat of a Honda yesterday. I could tell she was a total luv and just loved being in the car sniffing around. And she wasn’t quite full grown, if she had been she wouldn’t have fit!
Tim
Tasha is gorgeous.
The shape of her haunches and the way you describe her running makes me wonder if she may have some Whippet or Greyhound in her.
I love her sweet face and those sleepy, dear eyes. You are very lucky.
wonkie
Tasha is a beautiful girl and looks so cozy and comforatble. Our GSD mix is always sneaking on to the bed duringthe day. She would like to be a lap dog but is in the eighty pound rage…Like your Tasha she is self-cleaning. I wish I could manage that! And she has that cat-like quality, too. Ours is a GSD/collie which is a great combination. Also a rescue, of course.
Comrade Mary
Aww, she’s a Shusky!
Yutsano
@Comrade Mary: Hehehe. You know this is how new breeds get started, amirite?
Elizabelle
Beautiful dog and a Sue Grafton fan besides. What is not to like?
Comrade Mary
@Yutsano: She’s actually an old breed in my book. When I was a kid, my older brother begged to bring home a husky-GS cross that he called a Shusky, and my parents relented.
That poor puppy lasted one week with us. It needed a yard and lots of exercise, but we usually kept it in a small room in which it whined, shat copiously, and took apart everything not covered with shit. My parents sent it off to an uncle who lived in the country, and I hope that was really true, because that lovely little thing deserved better.
ruemara
@Mike S:
She’s a beaut. I also like the fact that she reads newspapers and mysteries, plus knows how to relax.
Mike S
@CynDee: Our house was built in the30’s but the part where Tasha’s “Day bed” is was built a little later. we haven’t repainted it since we bought the house 25 years ago.
Yutsano
@Comrade Mary: Yeah. My border collie is much happier on a seven acre ranch where he can run as much as he wants and herd chickens all day. He tries to herd the horses too, which is funny as hell to watch.
JRoth
Tasha is a dead ringer for my Jasper, also from the Animal Rescue League (Pgh) – very similar personalities as well (although Jasper loves to play chase with other dogs). He’s actually our second dog of this “breed” – Thisbe had lighter coloring and thicker fur, but identical size and shape (including oversized ears) and similar personality. For simplicity’s sake we called her a shepherd-husky, but that can’t be right, since both Jasper and Thisbe (and now Tasha) are maybe 2/3 the size of either of those breeds. But there’s also something called a Carolina Dog; in some photos of those, they look uncannily like Jas/This/Tash (and they’re the right size). So who knows?
Regarding dirt-rejecting fur, I had a Siberian husky/mutt that was incredible for that – she could play in the muck, and a mile or two later be black and white again. These guys aren’t quite that extreme, but still only need baths a couple times a year.
asiangrrlMN
@Mike S: Tasha is beautiful. I thought she was a GSD, and I was wondering about the ‘lap dog’ part until I took a closer look. Great story.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: Hi hon. Lost my voice so spending the day on peppermint tea and honey. As soon as I go to the store to get it, which will be soon.
IrishGirl
What a wonderful story. I look forward to these adoption stories every day. I got some bad news today. My dog, Maggie, died this morning. She was 17 years old.
Anne Laurie
@IrishGirl: IrishGirl, I’m so sorry to hear about your dog — sounds like you gave her a great run but no matter how long they live our pets always die too young!
bystander
Queen of the house, you say? Well, then. All is right with the world. Best to you and Tasha, Mike S., and your lovely wife who shares her world with you both.
@IrishGirl:
I am so very sorry about Maggie. At 17 years she had to have enjoyed a wonderfully loving home and great care. Today she lives protectively tucked beneath your heart.
Mike S
@IrishGirl:
My deepest sympathy to you. Take care of yourself, I know the next couple of days will be especially hard for you. Do you have other dogs?