Look what we ended up with last night

[Bunnylady]

Oh, brother! You want a book? Or maybe just a list? I have lost count of the number of animals that have landed here because nobody else wanted them. If you just want those that weren't meant to stay, but did, that does narrow the field a bit.

The first one that comes to mind is a dog that is still with us. Our kids named him "Blue," he's a black lab mix that was one of a litter of 5 puppies that we found abandoned in the woods behind our house. We intended to re-home most of them, and actually managed with a couple. We gave Blue away three times, and each time, he was returned. The longest time he was gone was about 2 months. We call him "the Bluemerang."

The one I am so glad that I didn't miss out on was actually two dogs, Belgian Shepherds that we named Bunsen and Cisco. They, too, had been dumped in the woods, and were very close to starving to death when we captured them. No doubt about it, those two were trouble on paws. After one of their (many) acts of mischief, I remember asking them, "You guys are trying to find out just how much I love you, aren't you?" Bunsen had this way of looking at you, with his head tipped to one side, and you could just hear him saying, "Oh, dear, you're mad again. You really should do something about that temper of yours!" He'd do something, I'd be just breathing fire about it, and he'd come up in front of me and do his automatic sit. "Sit. You never get in trouble by sitting." Fuzz (pet name) has been dead for, oh gosh, about 15 years now, and we still miss him.

BTW, who said that bunny is a mix? I've been breeding MR for something like 20 years, and she looks full-blooded to me. The coat is the result of a recessive gene, so both parents would have to carry it, the bone structure of her head is right on, as is the color. I could show you a dozen pedigreed rabbits that could almost be her littermates!

 

[Sweetfolly]

Quote:
Well, that's what the Rabbit Project leader of our 4-H club said...but they only keep large-breed rabbits, so who knows how much they really know? He's the same one who told us my 10-year-old sister couldn't show her other rabbit at the county fair (except in the "Pet" class) because she wasn't a purebred Holland Lop, but all the Holland Lops at the fair looked just like her (her name is Rosebud):

Anywho, I thought she looked pure too, but I have practically no experience with rabbits (that's mom & the two younger sister's department - I'm the crazy duck lady), so I took his word. He said that, apparently, the fur on certain parts of her body isn't soft enough for a Rex? I dunno, we had a pedigreed standard-size rex when I was growing up, and she's just as velvety-soft as he was.

By the way, what color would you call Cuddles? Broken Opal? Or maybe broken Lilac? I could tell you quite a bit about duck colors and genetics, but I don't have the slightest idea about rabbits!

That reminds me of another animal I ended up with that I shouldn't have: When I got my first two Khaki Campbell ducks, the people I got them from also had a Jumbo Pekin that they didn't want anymore. I told them I wasn't going to take her, that I was only interested in smaller, egg-type ducks, and they told me that she would be the last female that they had running with a flock of SEVEN Campbell drakes! Needless to say, she lives in my backyard now!

My mom and I joke that I'm going to be living with her until I'm 30 (I'm 20 now), because that's how long it's going to take before I can afford to buy a place where I can keep all my animals! And I just keep on getting suckered into adding to my menagerie!

 

[Skyesrocket]

Animal people are truley something special! And Maxine is the perfect name for your old gal. I just love that picture.
Lets see....flea market gray tabby kittens are very hard for me to walk away from. Even when they are feral and eating my hands for lunch. AKA Fat Cat. He was going to be a barn cat....

Louie, my big old neutered pot bellied, was brought home from auction, temporarily...let's see that was 5 years ago?
Spirit the stray Aussie that showed up in the yard and then tried to protect me and the property from my husband when he got home every night from work. I was just going to feed him away from the house until they owner saw my found ads. Still waiting for owner for 6 years now. He is such a well trained livestock dog, I just know the owner wouldn't have dumped him...really. I can't figure that one out.
There have been quite a few over the years that find their way here and then never get around to leaving. But for whatever reason they end up being the best animals.

 

[Sweetfolly]

Quote:
I agree completely. Every animal that my family has ever sought out and bought or adopted has turned out to be a pest or a terror - it's the ones that find you and refuse to leave, no matter how hard you try to get rid of them, that turn out to be the real jewels.

 

[Cats Critters]

We ended up with most of are cats because people dumped them

But here are Carmel and Butter Scotch and Casper(unfortunately he disappered a month later) who where all dumped and thought to be brothers:

 

[australorpchick]

This is Midget. He was three weeks old when DH heard mewwing and saw him in the neighbor's backyard underneath a rock. The neighbors had not nice dogs. DH made the mistake of pointing him out to me, not thinking I would demand that he drive around the block and get him, or jump over the fence, his choice. My poor DH showed up with a bucket, asking a bunch of vatos in an unlit empty house, if he could get the kitten in their backyard for his wife.

We weren't going to keep him DH swore. 6 years, $1,200+ surgery later, and several threats by DH that he's old enough to move out on his own and Midget's still here.

 

[Shadowhills Farm]

Quote:
That nesting box picture is just TOO ADORABLE!!

 

[geepy]

About 18 years ago when I worked in underground utilities I found a pup (abount 5 weeks old) hiding in a pipe. An hour later with the help of some canned cat food I got him out and took him home. My husband said were not keeping him. Long story short after 10 years my ex. was gone and clyde was still here. He passed away in his sleep one morning when he was taking a nap after his morning rounds, with my DD. He was 13 years old.
All 5 of my cats found us. We even had a dwarf bunny that my brother got for my neice (she grew tired of it), she lived to be 10 years old. My other brother gave me 3 hens that my nephews grew tired of (they wanted to see eggs hatch).
About a year ago a stray dog came to the gate very very skinny (40 lbs.) he now weighs 100 lbs.
I'm still trying to figure out how to wash the word "sucker" off my forehead.

 

[Skyesrocket]

My husband said were not keeping him. Long story short after 10 years my ex. was gone and clyde was still here.

 

[savingdogs]

Keene's coop :

last august i was sitting at my neigbors house and happened to look on my garage and noticed a strange lookin bird. so i went and checked it out and it was a cockatiel. got it down and put into a makeshift bird cage. kids wanted to keep it, i said no. so we put an add in the paper and a sign on our front lawn, hoping someone would claim her. i even called the police department and two animal shelters and gave them my number just incase. needless to say, NO ONE called. so we ended up buying a cockatiel cage for her and named her lulu. we rehomed her to a cockatiel rescue close by about a month ago. she wasn't happy with us. ao the place she lives in, she has free range with 20 other birds. she's definatley doing better.

so about 2 weeks after finding lulu, we became the new owners of a australian shepard/border collie mix 2 year old. he belonged to a friend of mine and we would take him for the weekand when she would be out of town and couldn't take him. so she ended up haveing to move out of her place to a place with no pets and asked if we could adopt him and i said no cuz we really weren't ready for a new dog. we just put our 2 yr old black lab do to illness. i didn't think i was really ready for a new dog yet. so about a week before she was moving into her new place, she told me that she was taking him to a pet shelter. he is such a wonderful dog and my kids absolutly adore him. well, we ended up adopting. i do not regret it at all cuz he fills that emptyness i had for a dog. i'm glad we took him. he's a great addition to our family. so i found out that 2 weeks ago, that my "friend" who gave us the dog, just got a new dog living in the place where she IS NOT supposed to have dogs. that makes me angry. but it's better that duke is with us cuz she kinda neglected him. he spent most of his days and nights in a kennel and he was NEVER walked or played with. so we had to teach him how to be a dog. so i feel real good about "saving" him from her. and i think he's much happier with us. it was a good rescue.