Alley Dog

On September 12, 2006, I was driving down my alley and saw a beautiful dog tied up to the fence at the building next door from mine. After parking my car I went over to check the dog out. She had chewed through her leash but was still sitting in the space spot she'd been left. I coaxed her into the yard and found out she was as friendly as could be. After leaving my contact information at the spot where I found her, I introduced her to Forest to see if they'd get along, which they did swimmingly. Since she was tagless, we deciced to call her Rae Lynn after a friend from Loras who had similar colored hair.

Thinking maybe she was just lost, the following day I took her down to the Anti Cruelty Society who told me to take her to Animal Control. Animal Control said 9 of every 10 dogs they take in don't make it out alive and they couldn't assure me, that if after a few days she was still unclaimed, that they'd be able to contact me. I held out hope that I might get a call from her owner but quickly realized I was not going to get a call. So, I took her in and intended to hold her for a few days until a more permanent home could be found.

My neighbor Charles put me in touch with Sheri Berliner of Petraits who took the wonderful pictures you see below. She sent them out to her network of dog lovers, in addition to creating an adoption listing on petfinder.org. In the meantime, my upstairs neighbor started calling the new dog Allie in reference to where she was found. Allie and Forest kept each other company. They romped around outside and covered each other in slobber. She reminded him what it was like to root through the garbage. He honed her dog-wrassling skills. It was hard for me to walk both of them at the same time so I'd rotate walks or just let them have the run of the parking area in back.

A couple people called me after seeing Allie's pictures online but it was Toby and Susan who ended up adopting her. Toby was over the day I found her and she obviously left a lasting impression on him. His first reaction to the pictures below, according to google talk history, were "that is the adorablest dog ever.... she will be gone in a minute!" They've since renamed her Ginger after her beautiful coloring. She's now a part of their family and Forest and her, along with Justin and Jackie's dogs Hank and Willie have play dates every so often.