Hi guys,

I thought, hey, a lot of humans hang out here who like 4-legged friends, and are stray-sympathizers... perhaps we should have a 'home needed!' thread....  In the spirit of helpfulness, I'll start. :)

SO I lost my sweet old black dog Daisy Mae this past July -- who (bear with me, this is relevant) I snatched from imminent highway death, in the rain, many years back... I meant to just coax her out of immediate danger with some lunchbox food, but she ignored the food/ jumped in my car/ wagged her tail yelping in the backseat and wouldn't get out-- 13 years of joyful friendship later, I had to let her go; also had to take several days off work to recover, since that black dog was a damn good friend.

Fast forward 3 weeks: I'm driving to work. It's raining. There's a black dog on the highway, dodging cars on a long overpass. Clearly starving, concentration-camp skinny. I say, 'DAMMIT! I canNOT bring home yet another stray dog, without divorce proceedings being initiated!'... as background, we just moved from a large house to a tiny house (<850 square feet)-- with three dogs and a cat already! it's practically standing-room only, as is! AND we have TWO mortgages right now, with no dining-out money/ much less new-dog vet-money!!... but... (I say to myself) I can try to get him out of imminent danger, and at least off the damn overpass (where 4 cars missed him by less than 6 inches, between when I first saw him & when I was able to safely pull over & get out of my car). Lunchbox food in hand, I went to coax him away from immediate death on the overpass... at which point he bounded through traffic to me, ignored the food completely, and began repeatedly throwing himself at the door of my car. Yelping. In the rain.

WHAT ELSE COULD I DO??!!

He's lived with us for 2 weeks now, and is already reliably housetrained; he's now able to ignore the cat with supervision only (vs maximal cues/ physical restraint on day 1); great with other dogs and kids; good watchdog but no inappropriate aggression (sounds the alarm, but friendly to everyone when introduced); playful and funny-- throws tennis balls for himself, and tries to chase cars from the back of the vehicle he's actually riding in (heehee, a damn good show!!); 10-12 months old, and healthy except for being underweight (which is improving!); does need neutering; but clean, flea-free, and freshly bathed... low-level heartworm positive, as most strays in the delta are, but free of other health issues or parasites...

Here's the thing: I REALLY like this guy, and HAD to pick him up; but if we could find a good (and I mean GOOD!!) placement for him, I would be happy. Four dogs is the absolute max, legally and spatially, where we are now... it's pretty crowded, actually, and I'm not certain it's long-term feasible. There are friends here on VW that I would happily and confidently place a hound with; if we're not familiar to each other from VW, I'd need references & such... I'm in AR, and could get him to you in surrounding states, but would expect a mandatory 'trial period' to make sure it's a good match...

Anyway, if you have room in your world for a sweet boisterous young lab-mix canine friend, and think the logistics could be workable, please message me. He's a good dog (or will be!); and deserves better than he's had from life so far.

Thanks!
:)
HCM