Re-Introducing Allie

Last December I went to a local animal shelter with a friend, and we rescued two puppies. I took home Allie, a Border Collie/Akita mix. She immediately dug out under the fence and ran away. I looked for her and posted signs and worried for two days. Then she turned up at a neighbor’s house, and I brought her back home. Then she got sick, and threw up a large amount of roundworms in my lap. I couldn’t even be mad at her, because she was sick. She got pneumonia and had to go to the emergency vet for a couple of days. I think she was doing her best to make sure she was one of my most memorable fosters. Although I only had her for about a month before she was adopted, she accomplished her goal.



Innocent look perfected


Recently the family who adopted her had to return her. They brought her back during an adoption event, and although I knew she was coming back, I didn’t recognize her until someone said her name. She had gone from a small puppy to an 88-pound giant. And although she has the size and curly tail of an Akita, she has the high-pitched bark and the drive and intelligence of a Border Collie.

Lucky and Allie are almost the same size, and unfortunately they felt an instant dislike of each other. So that meant keeping them separate, which is tough to do, especially when one of the dogs is an extremely intelligent and very large dog (the other one is just very large). The first time I had Allie behind a very tall baby gate while letting Lucky out into the backyard, when she pushed the gate out of the doorway and went after him. The next time when she was in the back yard, and he was inside, she got her mouth on the doorknob, turned it, and pushed open the door to enter the house. I started having to turn the deadbolt every time just to keep her in the yard. Fortunately within a few days I was able to integrate them and they became good play buddies. That didn’t stop the escapes though. Allie later climbed a fenced area and talked Lucky into following behind her so they could go explore the neighborhood. And a few days later, she managed to open the latched gate in the privacy fence and stroll right on out of the yard. I have to say I really prefer the not-quite-so-intelligent dogs – they are much easier to care for!

Allie has settled back in at my house quite well, other than the many escape attempts, and she already has a potential adopter!  I hope they're ready for a challenge!