It was a pure coincidence that 2 BT’s were runner ups in the

Here’s what Isabelle, Hubble’s Maman wrote recently of her delicious pressie:

“We have received our yummilicious treats, and the Bougalou Bear, generous host that he is, had to invite his friends Mc Intosh the gourmand
Golden and Megan the lissome Lhassa for a taste. The bloody beasts, er I mean beauteous hounds, immediately ganged up on me and demanded that treats be handed out NOW. I shan’t testify to it in court but I could swear Mc had a gun hidden somewhere in all that winter fur. Not that it was necessary of course; all the B. Bear had to do was to threaten to let go with a particularly fuliginous B-Terrierorist fart and I was quite ready to roll over!

 In typical BT fashion, The Bougalou Bear is not overly found of winter outdoor exertion, and that’s quite the understatement believe you me, and has therefore requested that his pantylons be made into lounging gear for luxuriating before the fire-place. Should it prove too troublesome, however, he will be more than happy to wear them with his snazzy coat for the roughly 90 seconds/day he actually spends outside in the winter time.”

No problem Isabelle, we made BB’s jodhpurs multi-purpose for indoors as well as outdoors in that dreadful snow!

Indoors, BB can lounge by the fire or patrol for pesky squirrels in high fashion Jodhpurs by Juno-Belle!

Outdoors, BB can keep his bootay warm in style! Jodhpurs by Juno-Belle work especially well with many textures, such as this leather snow vest.

Hubbles (BB) was delighted to share his salmon paws with his pals. Can’t you just see the delight and generosity in his face? His other pals look tres disappointed in his ficticious generosity. 

Mac was a fairly simple fella to fit. He didn’t squirm or wiggle while I pinned and shortened, and shortened again and again to get his jodhpurs to fit just right.  He was a very patient model.

 ”Do these Jodhpurs make my butt look cute?”
Ah, Mack, your butt was already too cute for words. Ya, the Jodhpurs add some style, but go au-natural when you can. Be yourself. Maybe put them on in winter months!

Thanks for playing Hubbles and Mack. I’m so glad you liked your Salmon Paws!

Now Lets Get Serious about Hope.

You all know how strongly I feel about rescuing dogs. Both my dogs are rescues. I don’t have any issues with people buying a breeded dog from a reputable breeder, but I do have problems with pet store animals and obviously puppy mills, so I strongly urge people to resuce. It’s one of the most rewarding experiences. Anyone who wants to really understand how far a naughty dog can come, just click on Loki’s archives and read about my struggles with him in the very beginning.  Working with a dog of any kind of challenge, behavioral or physical, can be a rewarding experience. Vicky of AHAN, Loki’s rescue organization wrote to me a few weeks ago about Hope, a blind golden retriever rescued by a foster parent, Jean, who has given so much to time and money to Hope and Hope has made wonderful progress.

Hope was frail, thin and almost dead when Jean found her and through her diligant care, is so much stronger and almost ready for adoption. You can read Hope’s beautiful story here. Hope still needs medical care for. If you would like to donate money to Hope’s cause, please click on the AHAN donation icon here and type in “For Hope’s mecial costs” in the Pay Pal message box. And lets all give a little hope to our local rescues whenever we can in time or money and hope that we will see less animal suffering in the New year.

Loki & Juno give wags and wiggles to everyone who gives to Hope and gives hope to dogs in need.

Macy was found as a puppy by a rescuer at a gas station one day. Nobody knew how she got there or who owned her, but they knew she’d been living htere for a few days. The gas station owner didn’t like workers feeding her, so the rescuer took Macy to a vet and gave her her shots and spayed her.

Currently Macy is in a temporary foster care in the San Francisco area and desperately needs to find another foster home soon. You see, Macy presents some challenges with fear. She’s not an aggressive dog, but extremely fearful outside the home. In the home she’s quite loving an playful. Outside the home, Macy finds everything fearful, motorcycles, trashcans, loud cars, children and more. In my amateur opinion, Macy is most likely entering that adolescent stage where she is now becoming “aware” of everything, whereas puppies are less aware of their surroundings. It’s very common for dogs at this stage to be fearful of everything. It’s a difficult and trying stage for many people who get puppies from breeders at 8 weeks. It’s even harder for people who have rescued a dog because as we know, rescue dogs and puppies come with baggage.

Her current foster parents unfortunately do not have the time or the opportunity to spend with Macy helping her overcome her fears. As a owner of two fear-behaving dogs (one fear-shy, one fear-aggressive), I know how much time and energy it takes to help them adjust. However I also know once both my dogs got over the hump of many of their feared behaviors, it’s been an easy ride ever since. And the bond that develops between a once fearful dog and the person who has taken time to help her is stronger and more rewarding than any other. I’ve had other dogs. Bonds that develop out of fear turning to trust are truly remarkable.

I’m sad Macy’s foster parents aren’t able to to stick with her. It makes it so much harder on a dog to go from home to home, re-learning new boundaries and setting up new relationships of trust levels. Dogs like Macy need a very predictable and structured environment and someone who is knowledgeable in reading a dog’s body language. Though so many positive reinforcement trainers out there insist on using treats to overcome fears (don’t get me wrong, I always carry a pocket full of treats myself), I don’t believe that is what it takes to help extinguish a dog’s fear. What it takes is a consistent, strong pack leader, one who can read the dog’s body language far before fear escalates into panic behavior so that the pack leader can quickly redirect the dog. Praise for calm behavior goes a long way.

If you are interested in fostering or possibly adopting a dog that will take a bit of time and effort, maybe reading some books and basic obedience training, I’d encourage you to seek out Macy. It will take time, but the bond you will develop with her will be more rewarding than the effort it took to extinguish her fears. And in time, you will look back and find it wasn’t a much effort at all, but merely the rock-solid foundation to a beautiful friendship.

Please contact AHAN if you are interested in fostering or adopting Macy. If you indeed foster or adopt Macy, I can off advice on how I helped my dogs overcome their fears and recommend my favorite books on the subject.

Kelly has been a stray dog puppy with her mom in a village near a sandy beach since she was born. According to a villager living nearby, Kelly has been left alone since her mom was poisoned in April. She had to struggle for her living along the beach by begging food from the tourists. When the weather was bad, Kelly had nothing to eat because there were few visitors to the resort village. She had no other choice but to manage to survive by searching the leftover in the garbage damp if there was any.

Poor nutrition and stinky food caused her to lose her hair day by day. She turned out to be hairless and gave off bad smell. Wherever she went, she was turned away or even driven away with threatening shourts or throwing heavy objects. Still, the sausage stand had great temptation to her. She was always lingering around but the sausage vendor was not an animal lover. He hated dogs around the stand. To keep Kelly away from his place,he always throws sticks or stones at Kelly, whose legs were thus badly wounded but the good smell was too temping to resist.

Kelly was reported to ART in late June when the volunteer got a call from a tourist, who found Kelly was badly wounded in both legs and couldn’t walk any more. When ART got to her, she was lying on the bank of the beach, very weak and dehydrated. We rushed her back to the vet’s for a check-up and put her immedicately under treatment. Fortunately, Kelly got recovered very soon. Her hair grows back and the coat is as smooth as silver. Even though her leg was injured, she can walk and run very well. The vet had her x-ray checked and found that there was no need to have a surgery on her. She is now a healthy and pretty young lady after two months of treatment.

Kelly is very sweet even though she has had so much suffering. She is trusting, very friendly with people and other animals. She seems to be resolved to her destiny, very gentle and calm. But she has absolutely no chance to get herself adopted here in Taiwan. We do hope that you can give this sweet girl a second chance to renew her life. Once you open your heart to her, you won’t regret it.

This is how Kelly was found.

This is Kelly today. Healthy, revitalized and looking to belong to someone who will love her.

“OH please adopt me and find me a necklace that will pick up on my natural beauty. Something earthy and brown perhaps with a few sparkles?”

“Or perhaps something in light pink, like my sweet belly, with a silver name tag.”

Kelly

• 7 months old
• 16 lbs
• Female (spayed) Mixed Breed
• Personality: very friendly, can get along with other dogs ver well
• Medical record: all the tests are NEG;dewormed; completed the three shots and rabies, microchipped

If anyone is at all able to give this sweet little girl a home, please contact Judy at Walkin’ the Bark web site or email Judy. Or if you are interested in fostering her, you may contact Judy as well.

*Update 9/3: I wrote that there are “so many Americans working abroad there in so many rescue organizations,” but I didn’t mean to imply that there weren’t any Taiwanese people who weren’t fighting animal cruelty. My point was  that though we have our own problems with animal overpopulation and certainly with animal cruelty (i.e. sicko Vicks), at least we have cruelty laws. And because of that some Americans are living in Taiwan in order to help prevent animal cruelty and try to bring about change. Because when it comes to humanity, there are no borders. Americans and Taiwanese in both the U.S. and Taiwan are working at preventing such horrific situations for dogs and cats in Taiwan.

Also note, Kelly needs surgery on her legs and/or knees to repair ACL damage. It’s routine surgery, but expensive. If you’d like to donate, please donate at: http://popeyethedog.com/donate.html please put “Kelly” in the donation in the Instructions section.

Locke found a foster and possibly an adopting family! Wild Dingo is thrilled. Sugar’s mom, Crazy Lady, looked into fostering him, but he was already in route to fostering and adopting. Apparently the word “sucker” is written all over Crazy Lady so instead she got to foster this little guy to the right, Willy. Oh my, what a bundle of joy he is. Don’t you just want to squish that fabulous little face and never let it go? But seriously. This poor pup is 6 months old and has only known a cage his entire life. He’s shy and very fearful and will need lots of help bringing him around to become a confident, well-balanced dog. Crazy Lady is  probably the right fit for him!

If you are at all interested in fostering a dog, please consider what it takes. Most of these rescue dogs come with a LOT of baggage. It takes time, experience and patience. Trust me, I thought I had what it takes because I had the dingo and all, but Loki showed me pretty fast that I had but a mere morsel of the talent it takes to handle a fearful/naughty dog like him.  That I didn’t know a  darn thing about dogs and I’m still learning. It takes some willingness to learn methods on how to work with a fearful dog. The fear will go away, as long as the boundaries, household rules and leadership are in place, dogs will fall into good behavior. So many people give up too soon and send their rescue dogs back, whether they are fostering or adopting because they don’t have the patience to implement even the smallest leadership behaviors and boundaries that are so easy to do. They are reluctant and give up on the dog. I can tell you right now, a dogs bad behavior is NEVER the dog’s fault. When you get a dog with odd, unusual, challenging behavior, it’s up to you to set new boundaries, new household rules and new leadership that will make him/her feel safe and relieve him/her of the responsibility of being a pack leader.

And after all the warnings about fostering a fearful dog still don’t send you off, please contact either AHAN or Walkin’ the Bark foster programs and see how you can get involved. If fostering or adopting through AHAN, Wild Dingo is always available to chat with you by phone to help you through any challenges you face along the way. AHAN also offers a ton of professional trainers to chat with to help you through the challenging times. If fostering or adopting through Walkin’ the Bark, Judy is also an expert on fearful dogs who can help you work through odd behaviors.

Now It’s About Finley!

Remember Finley the white Formosan Dog from Taiwan that I mentioned in this post? Jennifer’s mom wrote in to tell me he’s doing great! He’s coming out of his shell an adjusting just fine. Here are a few photos she sent in.  Hey Jennifer, all is fair in dog photos and love! You send ‘em, I’ll post and caption ‘em! Booowhahahah! Enjoy.

 Ah, Jennifer, are you SURE he’s not part giraffe or are those stilts he’s walking on?

 I’m told Finley is friendly. But apparently he has a mortal enemy.  Beware sprinklers everywhere! Finley will find and break your mighty powers.

Get a room already! Finley, hasn’t anyone told you that in three’s a crowd?

Ah, much better. Much more dignified. And a gorgeous canine!

Thanks for sending these in Jennifer. A gorgeous Formosan dog!

In one of my old posts, Adventures of a Formosan Mountain Dog, a commenter, Chris, living in Taiwan writes “Most Taiwanese only want the imported dogs. It is so sad. They are such great dogs but everyone just treats them like a pest.” (hmmm…sounds like what they think of dingoes…)

Wake up Taiwan! You’ve got an amazing national dog. Why in the world would you import dogs when you’ve got such a gold mine in this breed, wandering your streets? I can’t tell you how incredibly smart Loki is and how all of the Formosan dog owners who write in, like Sugar’s mom, and Popeye’s foster mom tell me the same thing. These dogs learn fast and furious. They can be working dogs or they’re content to sit by your feet. Loki is by far the easiest dog to teach anything to. Yes, of course he has his challenges, being that he learned some very naughty behavior living on the streets by himself for so long and then passed from home to home didn’t give him much confidence. But learning-wise? I have to shake my head and shudder each time at how fast he learns. He’s challenging me to give him harder and harder tasks. So far, outside of the basics (sit, stay, down, come, heel), I’ve taught him to sit or down during a recall, stand, bow, touch, who’s a brave dog? (sits between my legs), out (of a tug), bite (a tug, not a person), fetch (different than when just throwing and retrieving a ball, which he doesn’t enjoy), bang/you’re dead, ignore food (even hot dogs) thrown toward him, get in the car (from a long distance), jump over any obstacle even without him at heel position next to me, sit or down him with me telling him from a 2nd story window, come out of play or when chasing an animal or dog pal, go under and through obstacles, sit on top of obstacles, climb or descend ladders, stay laying down while other dogs try to get him up and play with him, lay down while other dogs jump over him and the list goes on.  The hardest thing I had to teach him? Getting into a kiddie pool to cool his feet on a hot summer day. I had to get in there with him and once he did it, it was no big deal.

Let me make this clear. This type of learning is not unique to Loki. This is pure Formosan drive. Ok, maybe some of it is German Shepherd too, but the trickster and agility in him is Formosan. The “soldier/obedience” behavior is German Shepherd.

Reading Locke’s info on AHAN’s pet adoption page, and going to see more pictures of Locke, I can tell he is definitely part Formosan. His claws, errr, paws (long toes for moutain climbing) are a dead give away. That long jaw, triangular head and HUGE ears are another dead give away. My Formosan dog, Loki is very big for a Formosan dog. He’s 72 lbs. Most are about 30-45. But this is because Loki is half German Shepherd. It looks like Locke will be smaller, around the 40 lb size.  His photos show him too thin and he needs some weight put on him.

Formosan dogs make GREAT agility animals. Aside from Loki’s anxiety (which is unique to him and his learned behavior in his first year of life, not the Formosan breed), Loki’s working drive makes him a “plug and play” dog…like a Mac computer. You plug it in and it works. I can’t tell you how many times I just point at something say something and he does something. Whether its right or wrong, he tries and uses his brain to solve the puzzle I present to him. When he gets it correct, he’s rewarded, when he doesn’t he gets “try again” which frustrates him to keep trying different things until he gets it right. That’s what they mean by “working” dog. They use their brain to figure out what you’re asking.  As long as you establish leadership with them (another topic all toether), they stay engaged and looking at you for the next job. And Formosan dogs are incredible at this.

Locke is a gorgeous formosan dog crossed with kelpie, it seems. Oh my, if you adopt him, you’ll have your hands full, but in a great way! Please adopt him. Otherwise Mr. Wild Dingo, who’s in love with him, will force me to adopt him and I’m just all dogged out at the moment. I know we’ll be watching to see if he gets adopted before September (when his time runs out). Because if he doesn’t, we’ll then there will be three at Wild Dingo. Please help me keep my sanity and adopt him!

From what I read, Formosan dogs are very rare and it’s unlikely you’ll find a pure bred Formosan. It’s more likely you’ll get a mixed breed Formosan. Loki is not full Formosan and is definitely part German Shepherd. I made the educated guess that he is also part Formosan from his build and his temperament (high drive, working dog, similar to the GSD). He has a triangular head, muscular body shape, long legs and no belly hair just like a Formosan dog, but his markings and ears are definitely GSD. At first I thought Formosan dogs had large ears, but lately read that they are smaller. Still, I’m pretty sure since he is from Taiwan, he’s part Formosan based on his build and temperament. It seems Formosan temperaments are similar to GSD’s in terms of herding, guarding and high-working drives.

For the record, I do not have any available Formosan dogs and I have no idea where to get them, however, I would suggest searching the Internet for rescue organizations that rescue dogs from Taiwan. Loki was a complete accident in terms of what breed we got. When I was ready to adopt, I was actually looking for a dingo. Try finding one of those! I found an American Dingo breeder but because I believe in rescue, I didn’t purchase a dingo pup. Besides, the breeder did not have a return policy, which I believe is important for any breeder or foster/rescue organization. Not because I think about just giving back a dog willy-nilly, but because if for some reason I become incapacitated and can no longer care for my dogs, I would like to know he or she will always have a dog-mother home to go to in his rescue/foster parent or breeder. I think it’s a shame when a breeder doesn’t offer or insist on this policy in a contractual format, especially since they took the time to raise the pup. Some rescue groups make you sign a contract that you cannot adopt out your dog to anyone without their permission, which I think is an excellent idea. These groups put so much time, money and effort into their rescues that it’s their way of ensuring that the rescued dog goes to a good home lives out a healthy normal life and doesn’t end up in the pound on death row. Either way you get a dog, make sure they have a return policy, so your dog will always have a safe place to go in the event you can’t take care of it. And he has someone watching out for his family history.

Both Loki and Juno have dog-mother/rescue groups they can go to should anything happen to Scott and me. That makes me feel much happier knowing they’d be taken care of.

Anyway, I chose Loki not for his breed, but because he didn’t have any more chances at having a home due to his challenging temperament. That temperament and looks reminded me of the dingo, so that was good enough for me. He fills the dingo paws very well. Though I have to say, if Mags was around today, she’d turn him into pudding pretty fast. And he would gladly do her bidding. So if you’re looking to adopt a dog, please consider rescuing! There are plenty of rescue groups out there! Even ones that specialize in breeds. And if you’re looking for a Formosan dog, please consider rescuing a mixed breed from Taiwan. Many of the mixed breeds are part Formosan.

In the mean time, I still have plenty of folks writing into me about Formosan dogs and I plan to share their stories soon. But these darn dogs keep eating up all my free blogging time.

*****

This weekend Mr. Wild Dingo took the dogs out on the trail for their walk. He came back so surprised at how well they walk together and how they automatically walked behind him on the steep descents. In the early days, walking Loki and/or Juno was a major health risk, between dislocating your shoulder or a getting a concussion from having them pull you into a head-first rolling descent down steep rocky trails. He was flabbergasted that Loki automatically went behind him before steep descents and stood there to remind him to make Juno go behind him too. Apparently, he told Juno “back” once or twice and she did it. He casually asked me if they knew what the word “back” meant because when he said it, they went behind him. I’m all like, ‘Yah, they’ve been taking English at the community college. They’re not so good with the grammar, but they’re better than the average immigrant. They’re also taking film classes too. Next time, try telling them ‘Super-cali-fragilistic-expiali-docious.’ Don’t be surprised if they break out their umbrellas.” Sigh. Sometimes Mr. Wild Dingo greatly underestimates the effort it takes to train these darn neurotic dogs.

In 1866, Henry Bergh, New York aristocrat, witnessed a cart horse being abused by its owner. At a town hall meeting in New York, Berh pleaded on behalf of “these mute servants of mankind” and impressed attendees with a story of a family delightfully watching a bullfight which ended in a brutal stabbing of the helpless animal. He went on to include horrific stories of cockfighting and slaughterhouses. The success of his speech and the number of dignitaries that signed his “Declaration of the Rights of Animals” chartered a society to protect animals. His charismatic personality convinced politicians of his purpose and thus the ASPCA, The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®, was incorporated April 10, 1866.

Shortly after, the ASPCA’s staff of three people fought animal cruelty in slaughter houses, dog pits and lectured in public schools to children. To learn more about Henry Bergh’s fascinating story and how it evolved from farm animal focus to domestic pets, visit the ASPCA’s history page.

As you know, Wild Dingo fully supports animal rescue, as both past and present quardraped staff members have been rescued. Honor your furry friends with a donation or an adoption his month! Or check out of the fun ways you can raise awareness for this cause.

Is anyone going to comment at the funny juxtaposition of Wild Dingo’s April masthead and this story?

Then I find out about stories like Precious, a GSD who was horrifically abused. I won’t reiterate it on this blog, as you can read about it in the link. (Warning: the story may cause a salt water flood to pour out of your eyes.) Suffice it to say, Precious’ story is a lot worse than Loki’s story.

Wild Dingo tries hard not to be a hater. But that policy goes out the window when we hear stories like this. We find it hard to be understanding and secretly hope the monster that harmed Precious gets worse than what he or she inflicted upon her. After all, pop psychology tells us if a person treats helpless animals in this way, he or she probably treats people the same way.

Its stories like this that keep me grounded in my choice to work with a dog like Loki, who is showing so much potential in becoming a good dog. It is so rewarding to see his behavior change daily, weekly and monthly. Just this morning a contractor at my house became great friends with Loki quite quickly, though Loki appeared very tough at first when I introduced him on leash. Each new stranger I “happily” introduce him to, becomes easier and faster for him to accept at the house.

I’ve read that Precious is very sweet and gentle and she will completely recover physically. Mentally, emotionally and behaviorally, she will most likely face some challenges. Whoever is lucky enough to give Precious a home, will need a lot of patience in dealing with the baggage that Precious will likely develop as a result of the long term abuse she received. I just hope that person or family realizes how rewarding it can be to work with a special dog like Precious and the many thousands who are abandoned and viciously abused. All of these survivors are precious.

If you’re thinking of getting a dog, please consider rescuing. If you’re crazy about a specific breed, look for rescue organizations that focus on your favorite breed. There are so many! Realize that there may be issues with your new family member, but there are so many tools available today, even free online articles, to help people address challenging dog-behaviors. With patience and proper guidance, there’s no reason why any one of these precious dogs cannot become loyal loving family members.

If you want to help Precious, or know anything that can help police find her abuser, please visit her help ad on Craig’s List.

Meet Juno.

Isn’t she gorgeous? Those amber eyes, that raccoon face. And you haven’t even seen her tail. All I need to do is spray some pledge on it and walk around the house saying nice things to her while she happily (“waggingly”) follows me. Unlike a certain dominating German Shepherd Formosan Mountain dog, she happily greets everyone wagging and kissing. Just sweet as cotton candy. I think her middle name will be Belle because she’s so pretty and sweet.

Anyway, here’s what sweet cotton candy can do to a door when you take the Formosan Mountain dog for his walk without her (because she had a little limp in her front paw that day) and lock her in the house.

Ya, she managed to try to open the mud room door from the bottom and the handle. When that didn’t work, she went for my purse and looked for some keys, only she couldn’t find them.

Frustrated, she chewed through the handles of my purse.

Finally, she managed to dismantle the dog door lock and pull it out, and waited for us patiently in the back yard. I’m lucky she didn’t dig out. The first few days, she was so sweet and docile, I wondered if she was a good fit for us. You know because I’m the only normal allowed in this house. But then she displayed this evil side of her. I think I love her. She has her own set of naughty that makes her fit in very well here.

How It All Happened

After meeting Juno last Saturday at the pet fair, I set up a meeting time for her and Loki on neutral territory. Since Scott came, Loki was very concerned. I’m sure his thoughts were that we were so over him and ready to give him back. As if. He’s much too evil to let just anyone have him.

At meeting Juno, he didn’t know what to make of her. He returned to me several times looking for leadership. “Should I play with her? Can I dominate her? Can I tell her to get off of me when she jumps me?” Finally! All those hours spent beating him with a skillet yelling “who’s your leader” paid off. He was behaving just as he was supposed to behave: asking me permission to interact with her, establish rank and then play. I was so proud of him.

Jim came to the meeting to make things more familiar. Loki went ballistic when he recognized him, jumping four feet in the air, happy to see him. Then Jim brought in two of his own, Vushkey (Loki’s favorite buddy) and Shadow (Juno’s secret admirer) to make the meeting less strange for Loki. Loki was even happier. He realized it was a play date, even though it was a whole new place.

I decided to adopt her. Her personality is completely sweet, and opposite of Loki’s. She looks tough, but she’s all confectionary sugar and is content to sit next to you and kiss you all day long.

Finally! My Very Own Husky Chew Toy! (Juno’s Obviously Not Amused.)

Over the last week, Loki adjusted very fast. At first, afraid of losing his leadership, he tried very hard to be very dominant with her, but couldn’t resist her charms. He often pulled his “possessive” moves, putting his body in between us and Juno. Then she’d lick his muzzle asking for permission to play with us and I’d watch him melt like butter on a warm frying pan. She’s one of those “you get more with honey than vinegar” types. And she has those Jedi “you will love me” powers that go beyond even Loki’s fears of losing his leadership. Just look at how much he likes her:

Do you take this canine to chew on and to wrestle with, in playtime and in snuggle-time, for stinkier or muddier?

Then she lowered her lashes until they almost cuddled her cheeks and slowly raised them again, like a theater curtain.I was to get to know that trick. That was supposed to make me roll over on my back with all four paws in the air.

She’s a husky. The kind of husky to keep a Formosan Mountain dog as busy as a one-legged tap dancer.

Juno’s the opposite of Loki. She’s quiet and docile. She didn’t bark once her first week–until she saw a cat. When she barked, I nearly fainted from surprise.

She’s also a lot like a kitten in dog clothing. (Husky owners please don’t shoot me.) Like a cat, Juno’s not very obedient for the sake of obedience. She’s super crafty and will take to doing as she pleases. She’s learned to turn the trash compactor on and I’m already expecting the day she’ll figure out how to open the trash can. Loki will obey once he’s learned a word, but Juno, well, I know she’s young but its obvious she has her own agenda when asking her to do things. Loki watches me teach her all his commands and he waits patiently while I teach her. When teaching her to wait at the top of the stairs, she’ll lay down, stick her nose and paw on the first stair, just to push the envelope, just like a cat. Loki watches it all, completely perplexed and probably thinking, “Finally I’M the good dog!”

Still she’s perfectly sweet and won’t do any harm except to shoes, purses, wires, furniture, and anything non-metal while being confined in a house alone. She’s not like Loki who needs a lot more work to keep people from fleeing every time they see me coming down the path with him. Honestly, it hurts my feelings to see sweet little Chinese ladies shrivel as far over as they can when they see Loki coming with his full-on “exuberance.” Ya, that’s the word for it. Now when they see Juno, everyone stops and sighs. Frankly Juno’s calm, sweet behavior is beginning to rub off on Loki and people are beginning to ask me more about him, rather than run away from him. Having Juno is already paying off, I suppose.

Together, Loki and Juno make one perfect Wild Dingo. Loki has Maggie’s abilities to antagonize and scare away anyone within 50 yards away from him and Juno has Maggie’s delicate physique (you have to pick her up to feel it), her dainty eating habits and her lady-like looks and her crafty mind. Like Maggie, Loki is a dog’s dog. But Juno loves people. Both have a bit of Maggie’s agility and independence. Both have their own sets of evil. And like Maggie, neither one of them scoots. What more could I ask for?

Loki’s Own Parody From “Stuart” by the Dead Milkmen:

You know what, Stuart, I LIKE you.
You’re not like the other people, here, in the trailer park.
Oh, don’t go get me wrong. They’re fine people, they’re good Americans.
But they’re content to sit back, maybe watch a little Mork and Mindy on channel 57, maybe kickback a cool, Coors 16-ouncer.
They’re good, fine people, Stuart. But they don’t know … what the deers are doing to the soil!

You know that Formosan Dog, the one who barks at everyone in the neighborhood?
He’s a foreign dog. Some people think he’s an attack dog, but I don’t believe it.
Anyway, for his 2nd birthday, all he wanted was a husky
Kept bugging his old lady. “Mom, get me a Siberian husky. I’ll never ask for anything else as long as I live.”
So the chick breaks down and rescues him a Siberian Husky.
Anyway, 10:30, the other day, I go out in the yard and there’s the Formosan Dog looking into the redwood trees.
I say “What are you lookin’ for?”
He says “I’m looking for my Siberian husky”
I say “Jumpin’ Jesus on a pogo stick! Everyone knows that Siberian Huskies Live in the house, where there’s air conditioning. Why do you think they call them Siberian Huskies anyway?”
Now Stuart, you think a dog like that is going to know what the deers are doing to our soil?

In January, I offered to adopt Marceau, a terrier that Marscat and Ippoc promoted on their blogs. I wasn’t ready to adopt so soon after losing Maggie in November, but his story was so heart breaking that even Scott, who doesn’t prefer small dogs, encouraged me to adopt him. But after interviewing with the foster, I was told that my house was too big and we had too much property in Santa Cruz mountains for Marceau. I think the foster mom thought I was going to use Marceau as a guard dog for my meth lab here in the mountains.

C’est la vie. Truth be told, I wasn’t totally ready yet. In May, when the house began feeling too empty without the pitter patter of paws, I started searching again. I found AHAN (Asians for Humans, Animals and Nature) and thought they had the perfect medium-sized dogs. A lot of them reminded me of Maggie in size and shape.

Located in San Francisco, AHAN is a non-profit rescue organization run by volunteers. The organization rescues dogs and cats in the US as well as abroad, such as in Thailand or Taiwan. Usually they find a foster home for the dog as they look for a permanent home for them. Each of the rescued dogs or cats came with tragic stories which of course means, some may come with a bit of “baggage.” But most of AHAN’s rescues are sweet, well-behaved companions.

When I stumbled on Loki’s photo, he reminded me of Maggie so much. He was little, 22 lbs and probably not yet a year old. His story of being adopted then abandoned and living on the streets tugged at my heart so I made the offer. When the volunteer called me she had said, “We don’t think he’s adoptable. He plays rough and bites too hard.” Sigh. She sent me a list of other adoptable dogs but, I called Loki’s foster anyway. He had been with her for three months and she gave me a different report. “He tries so hard to do the right thing. He’s a great dog, but just needs a lot of guidance. We’ve been working with him and found him to be a sweet dog who needs a lot of attention. He does play too rough sometimes with biting behavior but it can be corrected and he truly wants to do the right thing.” That was more than I needed to want him. He reminded me of the dingo, who was infamous for being impossibly difficult.

After interviewing me and doing their “home-visit,” AHAN’s founder, Vickie Lynn called to tell me we could have all of their dogs, because we passed their test with flying colors. (They must have missed our torture chamber and gun collection.) I like that in an organization–one that really makes sure the dogs they spend time, money and effort on rescuing go to a truly good, safe, loving home. It’s obvious that although AHAN is small and independently run, it is very professional. I like the organization so much, I now volunteer for them, posting rescues on their site.

AHAN and Loki’s foster mom, Cindy (who’s a dog trainer) have done wonders for him. His rambunctious behavior can easily become tiresome for the typical person. But in his three short months living at Cindy’s home, he seems to have come a long way. It’s obvious that AHAN and Cindy not only care about the dogs they rescue, but do the right things by them in terms of training, safety and profound care.

Loki’s more dog than we bargained for. He’s:

1. HUGE! Ok, 58 lbs does not make a huge dog, but given that he’s all muscle and not yet perfect on the leash, it can turn our walks into dog sledding.
2. Not hermetically sealed. Literally half the water he drinks falls out the sides of his mouth.
3. Has two undesirable ends for two people hugging him at the same time: the “bite-in’ end” and the “stinkin’ end.” Pick your evil when you hug him.
4. Probably a Gemini. When he’s good, he’s an angel, but when he’s bad, well, he’s the devil.
5. Turned my house into a tornado, schmegging every window and paw printing every window sill.
6. A big chicken. Fears tree stumps, river rocks and sometimes, his own shadow.
7. Full of piss and vinegar. I’m thinking of slipping him a ‘lude now and then.

But he’s also:

1. Smarter than you’d think. Asks for his own good night kiss when he sees us kiss goodnight. (No perverted comments, please.)
2. Potty trained! Hallelujah! Puppies, schmuppies. House-broken dogs rule.
3. Silly, lovable and a spooner.
4. A yogi. Seriously. Never met a dog who would actually practice with me.
5. A great car passenger.
6. Gentle when he takes food from your hand.
7. Got a manly mean bark. Perfect for mountain meth labs.

Regardless of any of his challenges, I don’t regret having him for a second. It’s obvious how much this dog loves people and just living. He comes with a little bit of baggage from his crappy life. But don’t we all? He deserves a loving family and I’m so happy to oblige.

Its stories like Loki’s and AHAN’s other tragic rescues and tireless efforts to continue their good will that makes me love humanity but dislike most humans. After all, I see more humanity in Loki than many humans I know. It’s only been 12 days since I rescued Loki, but I’m beginning to think he rescued me.

If you’re looking to get a companion, I encourage you to seek out a rescue organization. There are tons that specify in breeds. I like AHAN simply because they are a small organization, with personal involvement in every rescue situation. They don’t discriminate on who they rescue. AHAN rescues everything from sweet non-challenging dogs to dogs that have had it tough. And they make a huge effort to train and make them adoptable.

The rewards for everyone involved in a rescue, including the organization, the volunteers, the rescuers and the adopting family, are huge and make every effort given to every dog, more meaningful.

Rescue. It’s a good thing.