Petfinder Post: Cool Clear Water and Some Dogs (2024)

Let's start with a dog picture so the post will be easy to find...then after a discussion that includes some cat pictures, more information about that dog and other photogenic adoptable dogs. Today's post is a big long nag that you probably did not need, but it's what the animals are nonverbally saying this week...

Hmm...we haven't had a silly Cat Sanctuary Animal Interview for a while.

PK: "How are you feeling this morning, Silver?"

Silver: "Who wants to know?"

PK: "Our readers do. They've read that you had a sore paw."

Silver: "That was last week."

PK: "But you're loafing in a different place this morning?"

Silver: "Yes. I want to make sure you notice what I'm loafing on."

PK: "You're loafing on the plastic wrapping of what is called a 'case' of Pure Life brand water bottles."

Silver: "Yes. Notice: water! When it's as hot as it's been this week, don't you dare just set out kibble and leave the scene. What do you think we want?"

PK: "Water?"

Silver: "When do you think we want it?"

PK: "Now?"

Silver: "Meow!"

Pastel: "Oh yes yes yes yes yes thank you dear human it takes such a lot of water to make milk for these little bottomless pits!"

(Sorry, no photo of Pastel, but she's a pretty pale calico cat, face sort of a faded version of her mother Serena's. Pastel is two years old. She and Silver have a few other siblings scattered around the Virginia-Tennessee border. People who are interested in social cat families may wait for this family to have kittens, or check local shelters for unusually social behavior among alley cats who are probably related to this family.)

Serena, about seven years ago when she was a kitten.

Serena: "Just shove in and slurp up all the water, then, you great greedy things. Never think about your mother. Teach those kittens to ignore their grandmother. See if I care."

Pastel: "You're spilling, Diego."

Diego: "But it's easier for us kittens to get at the water by tipping the dish."

Pastel: "You're putting your paw in water someone else wants to drink, Dilbert."

Dilbert: "Water feels cool and fresh on my paws!"

Pastel: "You're in your grandmother's way, Drudge."

Drudge: "I wasn't finished drinking yet."

Pastel: "Heu mihi, what did I ever do to be surrounded by all these kittens?"

(Pastel was born the year I read my first, and so far only, full-length book printed entirely in Latin.)

Silver: "You know very well what you did. You went up orchard with Borowiec and..."

Pastel: "But I always used to do that with Trumpkin and no kittens came of it! Is it my fault if Borowiec was never neutered? There's no more milk left, Dora."

Dora; "You can make more."

Pastel: "It takes a lot of water to make milk. You're old enough to drink water like the rest of us. You're spilling again, Diego."

Diego: "Because it's hard for Dora to reach into these big dishes."

(When they're not "fighting" Diego does in fact help Dora hold and reach things. He's the biggest in the litter; she's the smallest, and they've been best buddies all their lives.)

Serena: "That's enough for me, for now, thank you. Over here, Drudge."

Drudge: "Having 'Mixed Hair,' extra-fluffy coats may be insulating us from the very worst of the heat, but it's so hot now! Why is it so hot?"

Serena: "Because it is summer. This is only the first heat wave. The second one will be even hotter."

Dilbert: "Hotter than yesterday was? Is that possible?"

Silver: "Believe it. It takes a lot of water to recover from a possum bite, too."

Dilbert: "I feel thirsty again just thinking about it."

Dora: "I want milk."

Pastel: "Not yet. Why is it I, and not Borowiec, who has to rear all these kittens?"

Serena: "Borowiec's been helping watch over them, even playing with them. Well, he's only a year older than they are. Anyway that's more help than anyone can reasonably expect from a tomcat."

Pastel: "It's not fair. He ought to have to give milk, too."

Serena: "Life is not fair. For example, I could drink some more water, but it's all gone already. I stopped drinking when I did as a favor to Drudge. If someone had done a favor to me there'd be..."

PK: "Oh, stop it. There."

Serena: "Thank you."

PK: "Is there any special reason why all seven of you are so enthusiastic about this Pure Life bottled water?"

Serena: "It's what you drink. Sharing what you eat and drink is the way other animals know when humans love them."

Yes, Gentle Readers, this little sketch does give you an idea of the cats' recent behavior, and why we hope the deliveryman has had a splendid vacation and comes back to work this week. Now, about those adoptable dogs who want to bond with you by sharing your water...These are the highly photogenic and recently very popular American breed called Australian Shepherds. Although these dogs have nice faces and gorgeous, often multicolored coats, a lot of them are found in shelters because people who buy them aren't prepared to live with them. As a breed they are active, intelligent dogs that like to have a job and need to have lots of exercise and attention. They're very easy to love, and usually good with smaller animals and children, but big enough to be dangerous if mistreated. (The ones featured here have not been mistreated, beyond being put in shelters.) Peri, the Therapist With Paws, was a long-lived but fairly typical Australian Shepherd. You do need to be physically and mentally fit to benefit from their kind of therapy. For example, since these are smart, clean dogs with high metabolic rates, they are likely to need to go out at some time during a normal human sleep cycle. They can be as clean and quiet as cats and still have the strength and energy to run with an athlete, or a weight-loss dieter.

Zipcode 10101: Rico from NYC

Rico is small for an Australian Shepherd and German Shepherd mix. At three years old he weighs only about thirty pounds, probably his healthy weight for life. He's still a very serious dog with lots of energy, huge needs for interactive play and exercise, and a tendency to seek the dominant role in relationships with other dogs. He is expected to do well with a companion who is comparable in size and energy level and likes to take a subordinate role.

He might have won the photo contest on this picture alone, but there's another reason why he's a fantastic bargain. Shelter staff want to put Rico in a foster home rather than keeping him in a cage in a shelter. As a foster dog, he comes with free food, veterinary care, and possibly even lessons with a professional trainer. If you can give Rico the kind of home he needs, with a fenced yard, maybe school-aged children but not babies, and ideally a sweet-natured follower type of dog companion, you can live with him free of charge while deciding whether you want to keep him.

If you want a bold, energetic, outgoing, friendly guard dog who is not too big to lift, this is your opportunity.

Zipcode 20202; Dash from Kentucky

Photo at the top of the page.

Dash was put in a shelter because someone didn't like his tail, and is now up for adoption through a shelter in Alexandria, Virginia. Funnily enough, his Petfinder photo gallery does not show his tail. He's only a year old, just a puppy, not exactly trained yet, but he seems to have a nice personality so far. He needs a good fenced yard to run around, and the company of sober, mature, responsible people--"older" children, a senior dog, someone who is at home most or all of the day if possible. Training him to be as good a dog as he can be will take work, but it'll be worth it.

Zipcode 30303: Waylon from Forsyth

Still growing, but expected to be on the small side for the breed (30-40 pounds), Waylon is another lovable pup who needs an energetic yet patient human family. Described as "loving everybody," he's learned to sleep in a crate in the house at night, but still needs a fenced yard to run around.