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I think we’re all familiar with the “it takes a village to raise a child” phrase. But recently those same words were sparked, not by a child, but by a… bloodhound!
Yes, you heard correctly. A bloodhound. Until I met “Fred” I’d never seen a bloodhound except in pictures. (hint–they’re a lot bigger than they look in pics).
Anyway, Fred had been abandoned and our neighbor a mile to the north took him in. But Fred likes to roam and he spends time at most of the acreages and farms in the area. Yes, everyone knows Fred. In many ways he’s become a community dog. He likes to come to our place because he enjoys being around our dogs, Shug and Ernie.
Shug, who’s normally not very happy to have strange animals on “his” property is growing fond of Fred…and so are we.
My question to you…is there a child, a cat, a dog, a ??? that you’ve experienced this sense of community with?
Filed in: Jaunty Post
Oct 24th
2009
8:11 am
EmilyMcKay Said:
We are now on our second Great Pyrenees dog. Porthos, our current GP has bad hips and can’t jump the fence, but our previous GP, Nimba, was a jumper. They’re a herding dog by nature-it’s their job to protect the flock. Our backyard was always a lot smaller than her instincts told her her territory should be.
So she was always jumping the fence to roam around and protect her flock. Usually, she’d do this in the morning. On weekdays she used to go stand by the bus stop to make sure the neighborhood kids got on the bus okay, then she’d come home. These weren’t our kids, keep in mind. We didn’t have kids then. But she saw them as hers.
I guess that’s really the other way around, isn’t it? A dog adopting a neighborhood, rather than a neighborhood adopting a dog.
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Oct 24th
2009
9:22 am
Margo Maguire Said:
Our neighborhood is a very tight community. Families with kids were all up and down our street, and our kids always had playmates readily available. When we’d get snowed in, there would be a pot luck at someone’s house (usually mine). When someone needed to run to the store, there was always a parent around who would watch the kids for an hour. There’s always a neighborhood Christmas party, and usually a block party in the summer.
I had two neighbors who did child care for me when I worked the afternoon shift. My kids went to one of their houses for the couple of hours until their dad got home. It worked brilliantly for us for many years! THAT’S a community.
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Oct 24th
2009
12:22 pm
catslady Said:
I have been taking care of stray and feral cats for 14 years. I have 3 permanent female outside cats that I’ve had fixed but males seem to come and go – sometimes for months, sometimes for a couple of years. I’ve had one that I’ve been feeding on and off for the last year and last week it shows up with a pretty collar – so the question is – has this been someone’s cat all along or maybe someone took it in. It could be that it always had a home but likes to mingle with the other cats and have a bite to eat lol.
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Oct 24th
2009
9:06 pm
Laura Said:
It’s funny you should ask that – two of my dogs were “community” dogs before I took them in. Shortly after I took in my blue heeler (his owner had given him to me!), I was walking him around the neighborhood and I was stopped because they’d never seen him on a leash before and thought I’d stolen him. Yeah, like I would openly walk him down the street that I “stole” him from. lol
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Oct 25th
2009
11:44 am
Cindy Kirk Said:
Emily,
That is such a cute story about Nimba making sure the kids got on the bus safely.
Margo,
It sounds like you live in a great neighborhood.
catslady,
Your story about the stray cat showing up with a collar made me smile…and reminded me of Fred.
Laura,
I love to hear stories from other blue heeler owners. Have you checked out the pictures of Shug, my blue heeler. It’s on my website http://www.cindykirk.com under the “snapshots” button!
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