Here We Go Again.....

Found very small grey male dog near Niangua River Moon Valley access in Missouri.  

So here we are again with a stranger on the farm.  Sometimes it just doesn't pay to drive home from work...or church or....town....or for that matter sit on ones own deck. 

This time I was headed home from work, cutting through on the shortcut, which is scenic, low traffic and the route I usually take on Friday afternoon.   It was raining lightly so there was absolutely no people, cars or any signs of activity at the river.  I paused on the low water bridge to admire the view of the quiet rain speckled river.  Then I headed up the road on the steep switchback that towers over the river itself.  A nice relaxing way to end the workday.

Until I saw a little grey blob running heck bent down the middle of the road right towards the truck.  I slowed...I saw it was a dog.  A dog that wasn't going to give over to the truck headed its way.  I stopped.  The little dog swerved around the truck and made a beeline to my door.  I rolled down the window and said hi and asked what it was doing in the middle of nowhere by itself?   I opened the door.  He wanted to jump in, but was a little scared.  I got out and looked him over.  He seemed to need some help pretty bad, so I got a little fleece blanket out of the back and wrapped him up and put him in the truck.  He promptly sighed and sunk down in the fleecy folds.   He also ate a bite of hamburger I was saving for the girls (don't tell them...).

From one end he is about the cutest thing I ever saw...from the other end he is about the ugliest thing I ever saw.   Since he is missing about 3/4 of his hair, I knew that I couldn't risk bringing him home to the girls, so I called the vet's office en route and they agreed to work me in for a scan (for a chip) and a skin scraping. 

At the vet's sadly the scan came up negative for a microchip, but the skin scrape also showed no mites--but he was covered with sand most likely from being near the river. He was also infested with fleas.  I've have never seen an animal so covered in fleas.  Pulling up his ear flap reveal 20 or 30 fleas hiding in his ear.  

He weighs under 15 pounds and seems to have been well treated in his life.  He is very quiet and subdued with all the new stuff he has been thrown into.  He has been treated for fleas, wormed and given a medicated bath.  I took him back to the vet on Saturday because his incessant scratching ad crying made me want to dump him myself.. (not even close to really...but I could see how it could drive a heartless person over the edge)--it literally hurt to watch him rip up his skin.   Now he is on predisone and that actually seems to be helping him.  I also got some antibiotic spray but that seems to sting pretty bad, so I've been rubbing his tender parts with organic coconut oil. 

He took his bath like a trooper on Friday and never gave a bit of trouble.  The water was black with fleas, and I probably combed off a hundred more after.  However by the time I combed him again that evening there were only five or six and they were dead or dying.  He seems to be flea free now. 

For now he is living in the breezeway and crated when I'm not here.  I have to make sure he is okay and flea free before he gets to come in the house.  Not sure how he will handle cats, but surely they could beat him up if they had to?? 

I believe he has been well cared for and was a house dog--he holds his 'business' all night and makes a mad dash for the yard when I let him out.  He responds well to affection and doesn't act abused.  He also hates to walk on wet grass or through the tall grass.  He wants to be picked up allot.  He also made himself very scarce when I got the clippers out to clip out a hotspot on Minty--which I found very interesting since he held his ground quite well around a skil saw and the lawnmower.  Does he not like to be groomed?  

He eats with gusto, but prefers soft treats and will attempt to bury the hard treats with his nose.  The vet estimates him to be between 3-5 years of age.  We figure he is a 'Schnoodle' --part Schnauzer and part Poodle most likely bred by a breeder (hopefully not a puppy mill) as his front dew claws have been removed.  The 'designer dogs'--poos, doodles etc are very very popular around here and we have our share and then some of breeders.   Whatever he may be he will likely be very cute once we get his allergies under control. 

For now I'm looking for his peeps.   I'm praying that somehow he got loose from them and has been on the run for a bit.  On the other hand, if he was dumped then may the people that did it have a pox upon them.  I try not to judge, because there is always more to the story--but if someone let this little guy out where I found him, then they didn't give a rip if he lived or died.  It's remote...very remote.  We have coyotes and owls and probably even eagles down by the river.   He runs and hides in the bushes when he gets nervous so maybe he had to do that to survive a few days...or more.  

I think he has been spoiled and important to someone and am hoping to reunite them.  I'll give it my best shot anyway--and they better have a good story about what happened.  So far he is listed on several FB lost and found sites, Craigslist, and I'm running ads in two local papers and will make up some flyers to post along the road.   If indeed he is now 'homeless' and someone dumped him out like the trash he is not, then eventually he'll be available for adoption.  He'd make a great little pocket dog for someone.  He travels excellent in the car, and wants to be glued to you all the time. 

Until then the collie girls are suffering through another beast that takes my attention off them.  They have been good so far, and while the little dog is nervous around them, he isn't terrified or defensive.   Mostly they just kinda ignore each other. 

Pray for us that there can be a happy reunion for this little guy.