Dodgy - the Craigslist Rescue

When I got my first job I decided I would rescue a dog. I have always thought that if you can save an animal, you should and I really wanted the companionship a dog could bring. So I began looking into rescues and shelters in my area. Most of them had practices I didn't want to support. Though I wanted to save an animal, I couldn't bring myself to give up to 500 dollars to a pound that didn't seem to use the money to help the animals.

After a while, the idea of "rescuing" a dog fell to the back of my mind and I began browsing craigslist looking for the "perfect" dog. I knew that I would know him when I saw him and had no breed, size, or gender in mind.

Months went by. I followed up on pitbulls, beagles, and many different breeds, but it always fell through. There was also debate going on with my parents over whether or not I could get a dog and it went back and forth between "yes" and "no," but I never stopped looking.

I have always liked border collies, so one day I searched for them. A few things came up. None of them looked right. But then there was one with no picture. It said they had a male neutered border collie mix almost a year old. They were getting rid of him because he chased their chickens - and he was free!

The posting was at least a month old, so I figured he would have had a new home by then, but I wrote anyway and asked and if they still had him, if I could see a picture.

They wrote back relatively quickly saying they still had him and attached a picture.

It was a blurry, poorly taken picture of someone's arms trying to hold him still. He was all black with long hair and a wide happy mouth. I immediately knew - this was it!

I told my parents. At first they seemed receptive, then they decided "no" I couldn't get it because I had too many pets. "But I take care of them all," I argued. "And we used to always have two dogs." At the time, we just had the family beagle mix, Bugsy.

At last, I gave up. I was devastated. I knew that this dog, whose name was "Dodger" was meant for me. But I thought I'd never get to meet him.

Months passed and I happened to be on craigslist again when I saw another posting. This time it said "Australian shepherd mix" instead of "border collie" but other than that the ad was exactly the same.

I had to bring it up again. I couldn't believe the dog was still available - even though it was free.

Finally, they consented, "You can get the dog."

I wrote the person again, asking if they still had him. If they did - I wanted him. I can't tell you how happy I was when they responded that they did!

We drove about an hour to pick him up and met the owner in a commuter lot. She had a baby with her and seemed oblivious to the fact that Dodger's hair was all matted up. She claimed she'd tried to wash him but the water just beaded off. She seemed nice, but oblivious. When we got him in the car and left, it wasn't long before we noticed the bad smell. He was very calm in the car and just lay there. He was definitely an Australian shepherd mix, because he had no tail (though I wasn't sure at first because of all the matted hair whether he did or not). The owner had told us that his mother was the black lab.

He got a big bath when I got him home and really enjoyed the big yard and his new friend, Bugsy. But over the next six months - to make it short - we discovered just how neglectful the previous owners were. For one, just a day or so after we brought him home he threw up a pile of chicken bones! We then found out he had whipworms and worse - mange!

I first started battling it with a home remedy of borax and hydrogen peroxide. The results were good, but eventually it got worse and something more drastic needed to be done. A whole side of his face was getting scabby and bloody and he was losing hair. Over the next few months the vet put him on cephalexin, fish oil, ketaconazole, and "the dip" (mitaban). The pills were given daily and the mitaban dip every two weeks.

Dodgy (his new name) was a real trooper and though he didn't particularly care for the dips, etc.. he always tolerated it.

In the middle of our battle with mange, Dodgy literally began to burst open at his neuter spot. It was horrific and very scary for me - and Dodgy too. Even though I'd had the doctor look at the spot just a day before, I had to take him in the next day because of how bad it was. He had a chunk of flesh hanging off of him! The doctor discovered that the previous owners had never taken him back to get the stitches removed. They had been festering inside of him!!! This meant a whole new score of antibiotics...

All Dodgy wanted to do at this time was be with me. I think he was scared. I could hardly leave him outside for a minute before he started whining and scraping the door. And if I didn't come out or wasn't home, he actually climbed the fence and went into the neighbors garage where he would curl up by their door. He wanted to be as close to a person as he could be. Luckily, the pain killers helped him and he healed quickly.

This had been the reason for his lethargy in the months before. We had actually been skeptical of whether or not they had told us his correct age, because he hardly acted like a puppy though his white young teeth argued this.

To make the long story short, Dodgy has hair now and it's healthy and shiny. He's also twice the weight and the happiest, sweetest, dog I've ever seen.

What's more rewarding than saving a life? If you can rescue a dog, why don't you? I can promise that you'll be rewarded for it.