[Magdalen] Black dogs

[Jay Weigel]

This past weekend seems to have been a good one for black dogs....no, not
THAT one! You've probably read or heard that it's difficult for black dogs
to get adopted from shelters or anywhere else (the same is true of black
cats). However, the past weekend put the lie to that story for a couple of
families I know.

My brother and his wife adopted a 2 1/2 year old Lab/Chessie mix, Sadie Jo,
from the Missoula Humane Society. She'd been brought in by her family who
lost their house, had to move away, and couldn't keep her. Lawrence says
she is (predictably) "an awesome and tireless ball dog" who was never much
trained by her owners, and while she does not seem to have a lot of bad
habits, she needs to learn some good ones. Lawrence and Jennifer are active
people (though he will be slowed this summer following surgery) so will be
able to keep up with her. I've rarely known them to be without a dog; their
previous one, Mariko, an Australian cattle dog mix, died last fall at a
fairly advanced age.

The other story could have been sad or even tragic. My friend Tracy, who
lives in Terre Haute, was driving with her youngest daughter Kathryn
(Katty) when they actually saw someone throw a small black dog out of a
pickup truck. Katty insisted on stopping right then and there and picking
up the dog. It apparently took some doing to rescue the frightened little
thing, but she was able to coax it to her, and they took it home. Tracy
called the police with a description of the truck, but they said there was
nothing they could do since she hadn't gotten a license number. Anyway,
they took the dog to the vet to be checked out.....she's just a puppy,
maybe 3-4 months old, and they're keeping her. Katty has named her Samira
and she's been chipped. She's just a little black dog with a white streak
down her chest and per Tracy, a continually wagging tail. Happy ending!