4:05pm
Joe the Boxer
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I don’t think I have ever written an online journal before but I wanted to today about our recent snow blizzard weekend.
Friday night we noticed a brown boxer (we’ll call him “Joe”) running around our property. Joe seen us too and kept his distance. We assumed that he belonged to someone down the road and he would go home soon. Saturday afternoon we saw Joe again and he was coming closer to the house. My 3 labs also saw him from the back yard. Joe was very submissive with them but then ran off.
Sunday morning Joe had returned and now had decided that he would camp out on our front porch, right in front of our front door. Of course my dogs can see him too. They wanted out and Joe wanted in. When I tried to open the door to check for tags, Joe would growl. So I went out though the garage but as I got closer Joe would continue to growl. I was able to see that he didn’t have a collar on. So I did a search on the Dog Tag website to try to locate his owners but after several calls to people that had dogs that matched his description, no luck.
Of course it’s Sunday, everything is closed and the weather is horrible. This poor dog is shaking real bad and now he stuck out side for another night. I wish I could have let him in but there was no way with my 3 dogs and him being so unapproachable. So I decided I had to leave a message with the Dog Warden. I then fed him – carefully from a distance. He was really hungry.
While Joe was preoccupied eating, I was able to get out of our front door and build him an igloo out of old dog beds pinned together. I kept intending to throw these old beds out but for some reason just hadn’t done so yet. After Joe ate, he ran back to the front door, sniffed the igloo, crawled in, and within minutes he was asleep and had stopped shaking. At least he would be okay for the night. I would check on him every couple of hours and he appeared very content and warm.
The next morning when I check on him, he had knocked down his igloo and was lying on top of the beds in the sun. No indication that he was going to leave there!!! So I fed him breakfast.
Later that day the Dog Warden came. This man has to be the most patient person ever. The Warden stood out there talking to Joe: Joe would growl at the Warden: Warden feeding Joe treats to try to gain some trust: Joe not moving from the porch but eating his treats carefully while keeping his eyes on the Warden.
After about 3 bags of treats, the Warden starts to approach Joe with pole in hand and talking to Joe the entire time. Joe growling back. I felt so bad for Joe but had to laugh at one point. As Joe is moving down the porch away from the Warden, we moved down the hallway to the bedroom and look out the window. There is Joe, in front of the window, looking as if he is “assuming the position”. Joe is standing on his back legs, front paws on the window, looking back at the Warden as if Joe was about to be handcuffed. The Warden got the rope around his neck and then both walked back down the porch, down the driveway side by side as if they were just going for a walk.
Had this dog not been so unapproachable and unpredictable, I would have kept him around (obviously move him to another location other than my front door) and continue my search for his owners. Had I not found his owners he may have stayed. Unfortunately this wasn’t possible.
This is why we need Animal Shelters. They are so important not only to the animals but to the community as well. Shelters need to have the resources to care for dogs like Joe. Madison County deserves more help in order to keep those resources to care for lost and misunderstood dogs. I know that this makeover would make a big difference for the animals, the staff, and to the taxpayers. It would take off the burden for any costs of repairs and upgrades. It would provide a proper place for animals like Joe to stay while searching for a permanent and loving home for him.
