It was a Thursday, and they were officially closed....I explained that I was from out of town, and was leaving the following day....they informed me that if I wanted to come down, right then, that I could have a boo at the gang there, and perhaps make a choice?..... They also told me that the reason they were closed was that it was their day to do the disposing of the some of the animals that had been there for some time........   Needless to say, my elder sister, my friend and I hustled ourselves down to the pound.....Have you ever had the experience of visiting one of the animal shelters?  I have done it many times and each time is always as heart rendering as the last....It never gets any easier for me....no matter how many times I go.   Guess I am the proverbial "putz", when it comes to having a soft spot for unwanted animals.
     Well, complete pandemonium prevailed. There were all kinds of dogs and cats to be seen.  Beautiful animals, all!....Some with doubtful pedigree, and others with no doubt of their breeding....and all of them feeling very vocal, and welcoming us to their abode.
     Except for 2 dogs, that is.  One was a gorgeous 18 month old female husky, who was a chicken killer..  The other was this pup.  He just sat there, quietly in his cage, and looked at me.  The caretaker gave me the scoop on both of the dogs, I phoned the lady about the husky, and didn't have the heart to tell her I wasn't going to take her dog, but she had found out from me how much I loved animals; - where I lived, in the bush, and how we had at one time had the male counterpart of her husky.  She was so thankful that someone who obviously cared for animals as I did was going to take here dog.  I did give it some serious consideration, at that, and it was tough, but I went back to the mayhem of the kennels, and, saw one of the workers disappearing around the corner with a puppy over his shoulder, and all I saw was the black muzzle, with ears back, and I went tearing past my sis and friend, whom I had left guarding the quiet pup in his cage, and found myself pounding on the door.....wanting to rescue "MY DOG!!"...Well, both  friend and sister, knowing me....just looked at each other and finally got me cooled down, and there...right where I had left him, was my partner....Fred....also looking as unperturbed as the 2 ladies, and smiling, waiting for me to turn him loose, and take him home.

     Fred entered our life, and never looked back.   What a character he was, and every place we have lived, I see the fruits of his wanderings.  We never did neuter him, and he was for the most part, I am told, very discreet in his courting, but we do seem to see a lot of what could be his offspring and descendants, even though we did do our best to keep a fairly tight control of his meandering, whilst in towns.  Anyhow, he was indeed a real character.  We had several placer claims, and when we were working them with the sluice, Fred was the hardest working of us all.  He just couldn't stand to see the water dam up, so he kept our tailings piles clean, and the water flowing....he knew exactly what he was doing, and never did have to be told how or what to do....he was a full working partner in the operation.  I always used to kid about him being a reincarnated Chinese miner, cause he sure did work like they did in the old days of the original Cariboo gold rush.
The reason he was in the pound in the first place, was that he had been born #12 of a litter of pups that were kennel raised, and controlled from day 1, as they were registered German Shepherds....mother and father were champion dogs....and under these very controlled conditions....with absolutely no chance of any other male dog even close to the female...along with the other 11 typical shepherd pups....came Fred....long backed....shorter legged....white chest (oh oh!) and 4 white feet, with a very black mask, and a white muzzle under his chin.....well, the rest is history.....I never have mentioned the name of the well known kennels that he came from.....but I could understand their concern....they KNEW  that their sire was the ONLY male even close to the female....so.....?....they couldn't pass this pup off as one of the gang....thus his trip to the pound....and into our lives for the next 12 years.
It didn't take very long for us to realize just what an intelligent guy he was, too.  We arrived back at my sis's place, and I had a collar and some rope for Fred (long leash), and my sis insisted that he was welcome in her home, so while my brother in law and I went to pick up some KFC, Fred and the ladies got acquainted.  Right from the first moment, he was MY bud, and baby, naturally.  The ladies said he watched me walk out the door, and was going to follow.  Nope, said his new auntie....gotta wait....mom will be back shortly....he tried 15 different ways of getting to the door, and really had an interesting looking snarl of rope....around the chair legs....the table legs....more chair legs,.....and managed to get his rope shortened up, but not to worry....they had a hoot watching him, and he managed to get it all untangled by himself.   The gals said, that as soon as he felt the rope tighten, he would back up and continue on, until, when I got back with the chicken, there he was, sitting right where I had left him...right ear flopping, and the other erect, with a big, silly, happy smile on his face!---"Dumb Animals?"---I still think that he was a genuine throwback.   He went back a long ways to one of the original dogs, I do believe.  He had so many natural instincts of a wild dog, or coyote, or wolf, and they showed through with his actions.  He was indeed a natural survivor, and was deeply loved by us, and all who knew him. 

Written by Frances Haines, Williams Lake B.C.            Return to Main Dog Page