Jo's Cafe

As I noted in the WeekEND Wrap, we adopted a rescue Cattle Dog on Saturday.  We were told Cassie was an owner drop off at the shelter, but there have been some bad times for this little girl too.

Cassie Watching TV

When we first arrived at the vet, we weren’t sure how Roscoe was going to react.  He’s been by himself for almost a year since we lost Bubba, and we don’t take him around people or other dogs much at all.  When they brought Cassie out from the back, she was wet – having  just come from a bath.  She immediately dove into my lap and started licking me from stem to stern.  Then she saw Dan and that was all she wrote.  She dove into his lap like she’d known him all her life.  They gave us a towel and he started drying her off.  Roscoe?  He was sitting by me and just acted like nothing was going on much on the other side of the room.

After paying for everything, and the vet techs telling her she hit pay dirt, we went outside for some more getting to know us time.  We found a couple ticks (yuck),  and learned really quick she wasn’t too happy with Roscoe.  A little growling and snarling, but that was to be expected.  Into the truck to head back home, and Cassie was put in the crate with no problems, with Roscoe having the run of the truck. 

The drive was uneventful, except for a bit of snarling from Cassie, she settled into the crate well.  Someone obviously had taken care of this little girl at one point in her life.  No issues with the leash or the crate.  She will have to learn our commands, ie: no, out, etc, but that will come in time.  Right now we want to get her comfortable with us.

The first thing we noticed is how thin she is.  This is probably from having been in a shelter for some period of time and not laying around like a king, ie: Roscoe.  She wouldn’t eat when we got home, but we figured that would happen because of all the stress.

Roscoe Watching TV

The second thing is she could be Roscoe’s litter-mate, ie: Twin.  Yes, all breeds favor each other, but there are subtle differences always – even in litters.  But these two are mirrors of each other.  

We’ve unfortunately have to keep them separated for now.  Roscoe in the kitchen or bedroom blocked behind a baby gate.  This way they can at least see each other and talk, but any snarling or anger is blocked for now. I am going to take Roscoe to PetSmart today and get something for Cassie’s obviously dry skin from bad dog-food, and muzzles.  We need to be able to put them together and muzzles will prevent any damage should we have a full out fight.  No – it sounds harsh, but as I’ve learned from researching, watching Dog Town and The Dog Whisperer, they are for the benefit of all involved, dogs and humans.

We have found minor scabs and scrapes, which leads us to believe she had to fight for everything in the shelter.  A long scar on her leg and a paw that has obviously been stitched up means someone took care of her after an injury at some point.  

They are apparently two months apart from the information the vet got from the shelter.  Also, we got Roscoe from a breeder just north of Anniston about an hour, so who knows – they could be from the same litter, or same parents.  It doesn’t matter.  She’s ours now and slowly she will get healthier and her and Roscoe will start getting along.  Her crate is in the living room with two old pillows in it for comfort on her thin frame.  She started playing with the toys this morning and has eaten.

Thank you God for this little girl.  We will do our level best to give her the best home she deserves.

Welcome Home Cassie.

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