Well, a damn lot happened in the past week and this is a GOOD week to me. I saw an ad for a broken Australian Shepherd on Facebook, on a rescue group and I grew curious about him. After a shitty week at work, I decided to pay him a visit and took the bus all the way to Sutton, Quebec, 1hr away from Montreal. It was a good hike, that started real early in the morning and ended up way late in the evening. I was up and about at 4:30am and grabbed the first bus possible at 5:40am. I spent my morning in a bus and arrived at Sutton, where I met a rather enthusiastic dog. I expected a dog that cowers at the back and doesn't reach out to strangers at all, but it wasn't the case! He is quite a case, actually. 1.5yo, Australian Shepherd, probably taken from his 'backyard breeder' at 6 weeks and put in a family that didn't quite know what to do with him. He has all his obedience courses and shows definite abilities in agility - but all his talents are twarted by his incredible fear of humans, men and children especially. Her handler decided to go hiking with him, to show me who he is and I accepted, unknowing in what adventure I was jumping in. Pretty much, we hiked, crossed cold ass rivers, admired a natural waterfall and dogs hunting fishes. I discovered Tucker was a water lover, loved to play but had an on and off trigger. He was more than happy to lay down and sleep whenever we stopped. Tucker is a barker, a growler, a snapper (typical for a shit-scared Australian Shepherd who didn't have appropriate training) and it is going to be a real challenge to show him what is right to do and what isn't, and to tell him that every human is alright and not a danger. It may take a year, two years, but this Aussie really connected. He walked at my knee, listened, calmed down whenever I spoke, shared his toys, etc.
And he is GOOD with cats.
So, after Sunday, I was unsure if I were to take him or not. It's simply that I ought to think about my roommate and what I can do. I don't want to reach the end of my resources and me helpless. However, I contacted the breeder I was supposed to have a pup from and she agreed to help me help him. She offered private classes to start him on sheep/ducks and her dogs to stabilize Tucker.
He is a heartbud who needs a chance in life and I have time to give him. My current petshop offers treats at 50% of the original price to rescues. Damn lucky to have them!
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