Alright, it's true. My labby loving heart nearly broke two days ago when the call came for a purebred, Black Lab boy to come into New Hope. He's 15 months old and a gentle soul but his owner, (who also was his breeder) decided that he was a bother as he was trying to move to Ontario, after splitting up with his wife. Said owner never even gave him a name, he just called him Boy. So, I broke down and brought Gentle Ben home. He's a big, blocky lab and is quite a pretty boy. He's laid back and sweet; wanting to hang out and learn about living in a house with lots of attention. Poor boy goes to the vet for his shots this afternoon and to discuss neutering (let me tell you, that has to happen SOON!) He'll also be getting a bath today as he smells like cigarette smoke. I'm happy we could help this poor boy out; if he'd gone to the SPCA, there's no telling what would have happened. Yes, he's all lab and sweet, but he's scared and not showing himself well. He's really submissive and laid back, but I am sure that would cause people to move on by his kennel run. That's the problem for Big, Black Dogs. They DO get overlooked in the shelter, so I am pretty sure he wouldn't have even made it to Christmas necessarily.
Anyway, stay tuned for Gentle Ben's petfinder page and pictures! I'll get them done today!!
3 comments:
Oh poor Ben! He is lucky to have found you. I know just what you mean about the 'big, black dogs' - don't know if you know but I'm a pet writer and a couple of years ago, I actually did a whole feature article about the plight of black dogs in rescue in the US and profiled the "Black Pearl Dogs" organisation that was trying to help them.
It's funny but over on this side of the world (Down Under), it's not so much the black dogs as the brindles that get overlooked or ostracised. I think it's coz we have so many bull-type mixes with the brindle coat and people just aren't interested in them. Such a shame - judging any dog by its colour. Besides, I think brindles are gorgeous.
Good luck with Ben!
Hsin-YI (& Honey the Great Dane)
It IS a shame to judge any dog by their color! I love the brindles and it seems strange to me that people overlook them in the shelter!! :( Ah well, Ben is safe and sound here until someone decides they want to adpot all 76 pounds of him! :)
thanks for visiting!
Ben is so beautiful, and he sounds like such a sweet boy!
When I adopted Claire from the shelter, the staff thanked me because black dogs tend to be the least wanted and last ones to get adopted. That surprised me a lot. Why do you think that is the trend? I can't seem to make any sense of it...
- Lauren (and Claire)
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