Meet my new pal!

[BoSoxGal]

Jenny - the eyes are clearly telegraphing her consternation over sharing my attentions with another.



Jenny and Little Bear - a happy faced dog, to be sure!



Note the wagging tail - action shot!



Close up of her sweet little face.

[loCAtek]

Aw cutie-pie! I wanna pet her!

[BoSoxGal]

What do folks think about dogs in the back of open bed trucks at high speeds? I saw last night in reading online that this is a polarizing issue.

The other thing I saw yesterday was a pickup bed full (a dozen or so) of shirtless teenaged boys speeding through the park, boys standing up & horsing around. Teen driver. I think that's nuts. Am I just crazy?
.

Nope, that's very dangerous and illegal. A law was passed in California that a dog riding in the back of a truck, has to be leashed, or crated.

Many dogs do seem to enjoy it, just like they like sticking their heads out the window, but they don't know how dangerous it is.

Apparently only illegal in a few states (and some municipalities here and there) - but the law is not always enforced.

People seem to think that dogs just 'know' how to ride in the back of trucks. My exBF didn't want Jenny inside his pickup cab, even though it was full of garbage and kid trash. We had to transport her once in his truck, and he insisted on putting her in the back - I wasn't happy and it didn't happen, because she jumped out while still in the driveway. She's 10 years old and has never ridden like that, that I know of - unless it was during her first year of life before I adopted her. Besides, I know how she is - she once jumped out the window of my Rav after a squirrel she saw while we were driving through a residential area in Roswell, NM - thank goodness I was driving very slowly, checking out the scenery!

I just think it's so unsafe. Around here I see lots of dogs riding that way, sometimes standing up on top of the pickup's toolbox! A sudden stop or accident, that dog is hurt/killed. I love my dog too much. I'd be okay with a strapped down crate in the pickup bed, if there wasn't room in the cab - but I like the company of having my dog ride inside.

[BoSoxGal]

Aw cutie-pie! I wanna pet her!

She's very affectionate; she licks my hand when I'm petting her, and when my feet were hanging off the bed just now, she licked my toes!

[Gob]

Kinky!

We bought our station wagon specifically to have a dog friendly vehicle.

[Joe Guy]

I'd like to have the opportunity to throw the former owners of this dog (the useless assholes) out of a moving truck on a freeway just for fun, just to let them know how it feels.

[Scooter]

In fairness, at this point it's hard to know whether she was thrown or just jumped or fell off. She probably wouldn't have been so readily affectionate when found if she had been a mistreated dog, so we can't rule out that this was an accident of some kind, albeit one that makes them careless assholes, rather than cruel ones.

[loCAtek]

Or: negligent.

An animal can be treated fine when it's noticed, but some folks don't always pay attention to the full responsibilities they have to their pets. They think of them as convenient 'toys', while they're cute puppies and kittens, but fail to realize they need to care for all aspects of their pets lives, once they grow up.

Witnesses say she fell, but it wasn't convenient to go back and look for her? ...after a week? This says those rat bastards, didn't even care.




I'm betting dollars to doughnuts, that Little Bear has no chip, and isn't even neutered.

[loCAtek]

[BoSoxGal]

Scooter, I get your point - except I've been amazed in watching Animal Cops to see how affectionate and sweet abused dogs behave with the ASPCA folks who rescue them.

Dogs are just amazing.

[kristina]

She's darling, bsg! I hope she gets to stay with you and Jenny; she'll have a wonderful life.

A dear friend of mine has a three year old Aus. Cattle Dog/Lab mix. I don't think I've ever met a dog with more energy in my life. And the Lab. part doesn't really seem to be much in evidence; he sees water and thinks "dog solvent...not going there!"

[BoSoxGal]

This is a photo of Little Bear eating breakfast this morning; you can get a sense of her left hind leg's awkward, inward bent position.

After the day at the vet, she is dewormed, vaccinated, checked for chip (none) and spay (was done at some point in the past, with the tell-tale mark of the free spay/neuter clinic, according to my vet), heartworm tested and now on Heartguard, and X-rayed after bloodwork was run. Cost: $229.00

According to my vet, the pup is 1- 2 years old and is officially an "Australian shepard mix." She doesn't have a broken leg, but rather a badly dislocated hip. However, it's not a week old - it's quite old. Vet showed me the X-rays - I wish I had them digital, so you all could see how extremely f'd up her left hip is. It was badly dislocated, never treated, and healed very awkwardly, such that the left rear leg has almost no upper muscle ('quadricep') formation due to the way the leg has been carried and used, incorrectly, for a long time.

She may have fallen from a truck this past week, but it wasn't the first time.

Anyway, next week she goes under the knife to have the hip surgically repaired. It will eventually re-heal, with a fibrous joint in place of the usual hip socket connection. With any luck, some of the leg muscle will re-develop after time spent walking with the leg in a normal position. She should be able to walk, run, swim, jump reasonably normally - but she won't be a frisbee champ, and she won't leap tall fences (thank goodness!). Surgery will run around $300. (Did I mention how thankful I am for a small-town, reasonably priced vet? I did research over the weekend and I know this same surgery in some cities would run 3-4x as much!)

The vet doesn't think I am under any obligation to attempt to locate a prior owner of this abandoned (and neglected) 'property'. I tend to agree, given that she was very undernourished, badly injured and never properly treated, before being left for at least a week's time in a wildlife rich mountainous area where she could easily have become prey to coyote, wolves, mountain lions, etc.

Thoughts?

eta: The vet and all the techs said she was one of the sweetest temperament dogs they've seen - she was pulled in all sorts of ways to be properly X-rayed and never complained a bit (she's not, apparently, in any pain at present, since the injury is old and healed). One of the techs worked diligently on brushing out all her matted undercoat (I didn't get at the back end, because I thought she was still injured and hurt) and was going to bathe her, but they ran short of time. I'm getting ready to put her in the tub tonight so I can see how she looks washed up.

After surgery next week she'll need to be massaged and put through some range of motion exercises by me, but in general she will be right back to walking on it as she heals. No running or jumping the first several weeks, though.

[Gob]

Thought?

Fuck'em, she's yours.

[BoSoxGal]

On the way home from the Vet's, I'm traveling southbound on one of the two main thoroughfares in town and a lady turns left northbound, directly into my path of travel. I brake hard and steer left into the center lane, thus miss t-boning her - but still impact her left rear quarter panel with my front right headlamp area.

She tries telling cops on scene that I was "flying" down the road at a high rate of speed. WTF?!?!? If that were true, the damage to my vehicle - and hers - would be significantly greater!! Besides, I have the RIGHT OF WAY!! She pulled RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, like she wasn't even looking to see me coming!

I had the A/C going full blast, as it was 100 degrees here today. My car is 4 cylinder and can't hardly speed with A/C going full blast. Plus, I'm only two blocks from where I entered the road southbound after coming to a full stop. How could I possibly be 'flying'?!?!

I'm pissed as all get out; this car has a good 5 years left in it, and I should not have to pay out of pocket to fix it! But I only carry liability, so I'll have to pay out of pocket unless her insurance pays up.

Any suggestions from those who have been in similar circumstances? I am thinking a strongly worded letter to her insurer, after I have possession of the incident reports. I'll sue her in small claims court if I have to; I have a pretty decent attorney.

A sucky end to an otherwise nice day, though I'm glad nobody was hurt. My neck's feeling a bit stiff, though . . .

[loCAtek]

Then, get that neck looked at, and medically documented ASAP. The effects of whiplash can be delayed, due to the adrenaline rush. There were no EMTs called to the scene? If so, did you refuse them?
There's still time to have this injury related to the accident.


...and Welcome Little Bear to Casa de Cielo Grande!

[Guinevere]

Oh she is definitely yours, I wouldn't worry a second about her. Glad she has found a soft landing, poor thing deserves it! Given her pedigree, maybe 'Roo would be a good name for her too. A talisman not only of where you have been but where you want to go.

Sorry about the car, I'd take a run at her insurance company, especially if you can get a police report demonstrating her fault. Did you call the cops and were either of you given any citations?

[Gob]

I'm pissed as all get out; this car has a good 5 years left in it, and I should not have to pay out of pocket to fix it! But I only carry liability, so I'll have to pay out of pocket unless her insurance pays up.

Any suggestions from those who have been in similar circumstances? I am thinking a strongly worded letter to her insurer, after I have possession of the incident reports. I'll sue her in small claims court if I have to; I have a pretty decent attorney.

Anyone we know?

A sucky end to an otherwise nice day, though I'm glad nobody was hurt. My neck's feeling a bit stiff, though . . .

Seconding what Lo said, get yourself checked for whiplash, it's normally worth a grand or two.

[BoSoxGal]

I was kinda kidding about the neck; it's tense given the stress of the situation, but I don't think I'm injured. It was, after all, a low speed collision - despite what the other gal claims.

I was not cited; she was still on scene when I left, so I'm not sure if she was. I stopped my car at point of impact; she (stupidly, or fiendishly), continued into the street into which she was turning, turned around and kept pulling up and back in an attempt to 'park'. A man who witnessed the accident approached her driver's window to motion her to stop - I think, like me, he thought she might be trying to leave the scene altogether.

I dialed 911, but it just so happens my boss's husband, a local deputy, was approaching down the same road and before the call connected he was behind my vehicle with flashers on - he radioed the city cops, whose shop is two blocks south - so they arrived in two minutes and photographed the scene and talked to both of us. She was babbling about downshifting in her turn and how she was almost through turning when I hit her, blah blah blah - like she thought I hit her on purpose and I was supposed to yield to her! Nuts!

I hate to say it, but I think she's one of those 'women drivers' that men bitch about - but I do, too!! (On a side note, folks from CSB may recall that I was plowed into - rear ended - in a CAR WASH in Yuma by another such idiot woman driver!)

Anyway, I was very hot, very shocked, and trying not to yell at the woman - who I purposely did not speak to. I was also freaking out about the copious amounts of fluid pouring from beneath the hood of my car, which it turned out was just the window washer fluid tank cracking and emptying. I was also worried about the dog, which was already stressed from riding in the car, then left sitting in there with no A/C.

So, I'm very pissed at myself because I didn't get the man's name who witnessed it, and I'm not sure the cops did, either. I'm sure he must have seen her turn right into the path of my vehicle. But on the other hand, I'm pretty sure that the pictures of the damage to my car and the damage to hers will tell the story pretty sufficiently. I left a message for the city cop who will be writing up the report, and I'm planning to stop in and talk to him tomorrow to follow up on my statements to him this afternoon. If she didn't get cited for careless driving yet, I think she should be - but I don't care all that much either way, except that she needs to pay to fix my vehicle. Period.

[Gob]

Stick a poster on a lampost there asking for the witness to contact you.

[Jarlaxle]

That! Maybe also ask to put them in nearby businesses? Might be a regular.

When I get home (posting on my Droid phone), I will start lookkng for repair parts...its a 1999 & the nearest city is Billings, right? Without full insurance, used parts make sense!