Happy Go Lucky Tadpole

I am sitting here this morning with the cutest little bit of a dog sitting on my lap. With a head about the size of a golf ball, large liquid eyes, and a visible skeleton he reminds me of a tadpole. He  can’t be 2 pounds. It breaks my heart that someone could drive down a barren dirt road, open the car door and put this little dog (any dog, cat or pet) out and drive off. What did this poor little pup think when the car drove off leaving him alone.

My dirt road has become a favorite dumping ground for cowards to get rid of unwanted pets. I, along with many of my good neighbors, have taken in these discarded pets and we keep them, find them good homes, or resort to taking them to the local humane societies. We do the dirty work for the irresponsible pet owners who feel it is better to throw a pet out in the country to fend for itself, rather than drive to the humane society and place the pet in a safe environment with a chance of adoption.

I have yet to find anything wrong with this little guy. I'm no expert, but he looks like a Chihuahua/mini pinscher cross. He is smart and lovable. He comes when you call him. He willingly goes into his crate and does not whimper, whine, yap or bark. He has chewed on nothing but his new rawhide stick.

He spends all day in the crate while I am at work and sleeps all night next to my bed in the crate. Even if I get up to go to the bathroom he does not whine to get out. In the morning I get up and make coffee before opening his door. While the coffee brews I carry his 2 lbs of squirming kisses outside to do his business. It takes about 5 minutes for him to find a spot, but that is because he spends most of that time making sure I know how happy he is to see me.

He loves to go on my morning walks with Dingo. We cover about 2 miles and he skips along with abounding energy. Dingo got over her short bout of jealousy and now he has a forever protector. This morning as we made our way through the grove, we startled a bobcat. We all froze. The dignified cat stopped in mid motion staring at the two intruders and the hairless squirrel. With a bristled spine Dingo immediately moved between our new little friend and the bobcat. The stare down lasted about 15 seconds before the bobcat turned and slipped into the underbrush. 

Ten year old Dingo, who was once a pup dumped out on this same dirt road, knew the bobcat. Together they lived in this woodsy grove and competed for food in 2001. That year it took me 4 months to convince Dingo that some people were nice and that Forever Weekend Farm was a safe place to live. She has good reason not to trust people and is leery of strangers. To this day she will only get in a car carried as a lump of dead weight. Tadpole seems more forgiving of people. Although I’m sure he suffered the trauma of watching his cruel owner drive off leaving him alone on a hot dusty day, or was it a dark night, he greets everyone with a happy-go-lucky personality. So far he is only afraid of the vacuum cleaner.

Tadpole is a big dog in a little dog body. At approximately six months old he carries himself like a proud and wise 100 lb. Dobie.  He has a happy bounce in his step and an impish burst of speed on the run. He watches television, loves to look at himself in the floor mirror, and he thinks Dingo is the bee's knees! At the present time I am not sure what the future holds for him, but I do know he deserves much more then being left to figure it out by himself on a lonely dirt road.