Sasha - "The Stray"

Anyone who knows Jeremy and I knows that we both have a big heart for animals. We were both raised in homes that always had animals roaming around.... and lots of them! So, for us it's natural to have lots of furry little companions in our home running-a-muck. Since we have moved to Georgia a year ago it seems that "magically" our animal head count has doubled! Down here it's common to see people giving away kittens, dogs and puppies. It is VERY dangerous for us to go to Wal*Mart as a family on the weekends. We always end up coming home with something it seems. I have to put on my blinders and just run in the store! They attack you with "Do you want a free puppy! He's so cute and loveable, you know you want to take him home!" AHHHHHHHH! Nooooooooooo!

Anyways, Jeremy has always wanted a German Shepherd, but some how we've managed to always get something totally different. Short, fat, ankle biting rejects that manage to get weird nicknames.

Max: (the Beagle) A short fat polish dog that couldn't make it over a speed bump when we first got him. His nick names are : Special bus, fatty boombalatti

Bailey: (the mini-Yorkie) Named after my favorite ... Bailey's Irish Cream. We nicknamed her Toshiba-Packard because we traded a Hewlett Packard laptop and a Toshiba TV for her!!

Willie: (the Rat Terrier) Named after Wal*Mart because that's where we got him!

Last week Jeremy was on his way home from work when he spotted a dog on the side of a very busy highway running in and out of traffic. It's a normal thing to see stray dogs running around here (so I'm told) and most of the time we just drive on by. But this time Jeremy had to stop. It was a German Shepherd. It took him 45 minutes to get her into his work van. He was so excited! I guess it didn't matter that it would bring our dog count to 4! Oh my goodness!

She came home and was such a love. She is/was underweight and had 29 ticks all over her skinny body. We got her to our vet and she got all her shots, got her her own runner for our yard etc.... etc... After the first few days we started noticing she was being very dominant over our female Yorkie. Turns out she's not getting along with our dogs, nor our cats. She growls and shows her teeth and just is mean to them. The only thing we can atribute it to is that this is behavior she learned being on the run. Survival kicks in and anything that runs became a meal.

It's very sad. I would love to be able to keep her and help her with her rehabilitation and to help her forget her traumatic start in life. But, kids come first and we just don't have the time. So, as I type we are looking for a new home for her. We have interviewed a few people/families and hopefully we will be able to make a decision soon so that she can get to her forever home. It makes me feel good that we were able to "save" her from imminent demise and to find her a better life!

Someday when we are able to Jeremy will get his German Shepard. Wish us luck on finding her a good loving home!

Here's a photo of Sasha: