A Very Undecided Future

I kept my word to that big red dog who at that moment indeed had a very undecided future. I had been guessing as to his breeding for the past 3 weeks. At first, I thought he resembled that brave police dog Hooch. Hooch, the dogue de bordeaux, from the comedy film Turner and Hooch starring Tom Hanks, Mare Winningham and Craig T. Nelson. Then, I thought perhaps he was a Chesapeake Bay Retriever due to his coat. I did however, see a large Rottweiler head, despite the color being all wrong.

The animal control officer, Linda Etienne, informed me that Red was a chow rottweiler cross. That immediately made sense and I now finally saw the black patches on Red's tongue. Chow Chows and Shar-pei are the only dog breeds with black tongues. On source indicates that about 30 dog breeds can have spotted tongues. Actually, this dog really did resemble a large reddish bear.

So, with Red's undecided future swaying towards the dark side, I attempted to intervene in the outcome. I asked first how she caught him as he always walked away from me. She said he had also been going to another woman's house and eating there. The ac officer was able to use the pole and hook and catch him. Red evidently was quite frightened by his capture. He was still shaking in his kennel and I now asked Linda if I could see him. She cautioned me, but gave me the green light.

I believe that the dog with a keen sense of smell, after all, he located my food dish the first night, knew me as the person behind the dish. He was quiet. He did not growl. He sniffed my hand through the wire mesh. I asked, "What would happen to him now?" She said, " He'll probably be put down as he is part chow and no one will want him." I desperately asked her if I could have him? She said, "You already have Tyson." Now, Tyson was my German Rottweiler who I had adopted from the pound 2 years before. I said, "Yes, maybe I could bring Ty here to meet Red and see how it goes?" Linda then said, "It would be better for them to meet at my home with Ty on familiar ground." I said okay. She told me the dog would be posted in the local newspaper for one week to locate the owner. Then, the dog became the town's to either be put down or adopted out. She agreed to let me have him if the owner did not claim him.

I went to see Red every day to let him get to know me a little better. It was a long week waiting on the answer. I came to see that Red was truly a magnificent dog. He would sit outside most all the time. He went inside to eat and then he was back outside. He never growled or nor did he show aggressive behavior towards me. My hope was that he and Tyson would accept one another. I also had two shepherd huskies and they were of the jealous sort. Tyson was my alpha dog and assisted me with keeping a peaceful home. I also learned that Red was under a year and had beautiful white teeth. I often wonder why the owner did not claim him. Some thought when Red got too large, he was simply let go to fend for himself - in the city. More in my next post...