This dog is deserving of a good home

Richard Crenshaw
Published: March 30, 2008

Does anyone want a good dog-

If so, the Culpeper Animal Shelter has one. She is an Akita and her name is unknown.

She was left behind when her owners left a rental house - evidently just one more piece of trash in the piles they left.

It was two days before we noticed. From that point we fed and watered her twice a day.

In a week she warmed to us and would gallop up in a rush, only to flip over on her back at the last moment so we could rub her stomach. She pranced and danced, licked our faces and chased the balls we would throw. But she wouldn't leave the yard of the house and she sat for hours on the porch waiting for her people to come back.

We tried to find her new people but after 10 days, a well meaning neighbor reported her to the Department of Animal Services as an abandoned dog. They left a note. I called and explained. They felt they needed to pick her up and did so last Friday. They acted properly, as did the neighbor who called. But it is such a shame.

She is a large dog, but not huge. She is around 3 years old. She was raised around, and helped raise, several small children.

She protected them like she guarded the house - with lots of barks but no growls. She is loyalty defined. She stands as a living reproach to the pieces of human debris that abandoned her.

I would take her myself, but she isn't made for a multi-dog household. I don't know how long dogs at the shelter last, but I doubt she has much time. I hope she makes it.

If she doesn't, she leaves a record of loyalty and love. She made children laugh and she stood between them and strangers. I doubt any dog leaves a much better legacy.