Callie - My MVP (Most Valued Pet)

[HillWilliam]

Meet Callie, my "middle fur-daughter". Callie came to us about two years ago through WXII-12's Pet of the Week. I've told you a bit about her through the week, but let me tell you a little bit more about her today. There are a couple of links to click below and I'm asking for your clicks, but let me explain why.


Callie was presented as being three years old at the time, but when we got her home and looked at her, it was clear she was just a puppy. Her teeth hadn't really come in yet and her build was slight. But she was already street-wise and far older "inside" than any youngun ever needed to be. She was dreadfully undernourished and you could tell that had been the case probably all of her life. Her coat was so thin you could see skin through it. The skin was gray and her poor eyes were sunken in. She had no undercoat at all.

She wasn't socialized at all. It was easy to tell she had been tied out and left alone all of her life. You couldn't touch her collar at all. It took two months to get her confidence enough to be able to take the nasty thing off of her. Apparently, whoever had her before had used her collar as a hand-hold to beat her. You couldn't undress around her -- if you took your belt off to put your pants in the laundry, she'd have a panic attack and hide. It took a lot of comforting to reassure her that in this house, humans do not attack canines or one another. This is a home where its inhabitants respect, love, comfort, and take up for one another.

Love is a powerful thing. A kind word, a kind act extended costs nothing, really, and it goes so very, very far. There are so many beings in this world, human and animal alike, who are so hungry and desperate for just such a single kindness.

I'm posting this today because, yes, I'm asking for something. A couple of clicks from you.

Callie and I live in a rural county. It used to be one of the richest in the nation; now it ranks as one of the poorest. It has remote beauty, but for a lot of animals, that is its downfall and their peril. People come out here to abandon their unwanted pets in the false notion that domestic animals somehow know how to survive in the wild.

Fact: they don't.

Put yourself in their place for just a moment. All your life you've had a warm bed, food, hands to pet you. Then you got old. Your mommy or daddy lost their job. Something Bad happened and you don't know what it was. Whatever "it" was, "it" wasn't your fault. But you're the one who got charmed with "let's go ride!" and when you got to "go ride" you went to a wild, lonely place you'd never been before. The car door opens and you are set out and the only family you'd ever known drives off and leaves you there. It's cold. You're starving. You're totally alone for the first time in your life. You have no idea what to do or what you did to make them so mad at you. You have no idea what to do now.

That's what happens in our county day after day. Our shelter is overwhelmed, understaffed, and has little to no budget to deal with an almost monumental problem. Callie and I would like to help. We've entered a contest where the grand prize goes directly to the charity of our choice. We choose to help the Animal Protection Society of Caswell County. That is, if we can.

But we need your click here to do it and we would ask you to pass the link to your friends to vote for her, too. This is the most important link to click because it has the potential to do the most good.

Callie got lucky. I am so very blessed to have such a loving, giving, loyal creature come into my life. With a little help, more humans and four-leggers might get that same blessing, too.

The second click I'm asking for is just for fun. There is a prize, yes, but lordy, we've never won anything in our lives. But I think she's pretty and she's worked so hard to become a lady. She deserves a little press! Here's the second link. Thanks for your clicks.

[Zoigal]

1. lovely dog..silken windhound?...borzoi?

Sounds like she's in the perfect home now...thanks.....z

[HillWilliam]

3. Hi!

The pictures really don't do her any justice and it's really hard to tell from those. She's almost certainly 50/50 collie (perhaps sheltie from her smaller size) and maremma. Her coat now is luxurious and has that soft maremma lanoline sweetness. You could just wool your fingers in it forever.

When she first arrived we could tell "collie and ..." but she was in such awful shape it was hard to tell "and what". Her backs are that funny big-white-dog straight-legged type. Not collie-like at all, but very much like a kuvasz, maremma, tatra, etc. She's also got that big-white-dog crink in her tail and she carries it like a kuvasz or a maremma. Until her hair grew back in it was hard to tell just WHAT she might be. Now she's got fluffy pants and feathers. From the neck back, she looks like a proper white dog, just smaller.

Oh, and she zzzzzzzzzzzTANK, not just unclean; unhealthy, too. The vet bills were just awful. Mostly she was horribly malnourished.

Big white dogs are strange creatures. Y'either love them, understand them, and accept for what they are or you'll never get on with them. I love herding dogs, the big, rare ones especially. We understand us. HillbillyBob and I let her adjust and warm up in her own time, gently encouraged her out of her shell-shock. Soon enough, she began to seek attention and figured out that positive attention got her showered with praise and cooed over.

We use all-positive, no-aversive training methods. Yes, it takes longer, but it lasts longer. It's taken two years to bring her through it, but she's so calm these days. She's arrayed behind my easy chair where she can see both doors, like her nickname "Angel Cloud" :)

[Zoigal]

4. The reason i asked if she was a borzoi is she not only looks a lot like

one, but her personality as you describe it sounds like one. People have often asked me if my zois were collies.
So there is somewhat of a resemblance. (A lot of differences, too.) Zois are very sensitive and need
positive training methods. Absolutely nothing harsh. I love your comment about big, white dogs that you either love them, understand and accept them or you'll never get on with them. So true. Not familiar with tatras, but know the maremma. Are tatras herding dogs, as well? So glad she has adjusted and that you
and Bob appreciate her. She will be a loyal friend forever......z

[HillWilliam]

5. I've never had the privilege of living with a borzoi

I've lived with a few rare breeds, but mostly mutts. Whoever needed a home the most and was the biggest basket-case was usually the one I took on.

Polish tatra sheepdogs are very, very rare. The mostly resemble kuvaszok. Whereas kuvaszok are mostly guarding, tatras are mostly herding. I do love a kuvasz, but I can't see paying for a pure breed when there are so many needy mixes who need a home. My budget is a mess already. My partner is disabled and I'm the sole breadwinner. We're comfortable, but "just". I want a dog for a friend, not a brooch, know'm sayin'?

I'd love to hear more about your borzois. They're another fascinating breed to me. I'm drawn to the sensitive ones. We seem to understand one another.

[lukasahero]

2. Done and done.

Thanks for sharing your story and the picture of your beautiful girl. Good luck.