Does anyone have an ex stray living with them?

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Come on and tell us about them to prove my anecdotal case that strays can be nice dogs.

We have two.

One is the Devil Dog himself, who despite all the bad press he gets on here , he's not really a bad dog.

He's settled in well now and been trained to within an inch of his life. He is very protective of us and sleeps outside the dc's bedroom guarding them from all the evil carrier bags stuck in trees outside and alerting us to the terrifying presence of branches whistling in the wind. We live on the NE coast opposite a park .

He is now very cuddly and makes a great lap warmer. He's fairly well adjusted despite an evident bad start in life, although I will hold my hands and admit this took work on our part. A. Lot. Of. Work.

The other belongs to my dad and is just the perfect pet dog. Cat friendly, dog friendly, child over friendly. He's friendly to pretty much everything that is not a rabbit.

They took him camping with them. Dd1 was given permission to walk him round the pub garden. She broke the rules and handed his lead to dd2 and ran off. The dog stayed with dd2 and didn't make any attempts to run off and leave her, despite him having the physical strength to drag dd2 accross several fotoball fields without so much as becoming winded. He walked calmly back to my parents with dd2 holding his lead and listened to her every command. Dd2 is only 4. The dogs not been trained because he has never needed it. He is a naturally friendly, biddable dog who lives to please and have his ears tickled.

[Scuttlebutter]

Yes. We have a 12 year old greyhound. We know from his ear tattoos that he was raced in Ireland then he was brought over to Wales to race on flapper tracks here. He was actually one of the lucky ones in that he was dumped rather than being shot and was found straying on New Years Eve. Fortunately he then came into the care of the charity, was homed before, that did not work out as he ate a rabbit, returned to the charity, homed again, that didn't work out, came to us as a foster then ended up staying.

He has now done his Bronze, Silver and Gold KC Awards, is gentle, loving and adores being stroked. Travels well, and gets on well with all other dogs and people. Is a brilliant ambassador for greyhounds at meet and greets, and our nephews love entering him in charity shows (will even tolerate embarrassing fancy dress).

I can also think of another greyhound who we fostered. She was dumped at a local Country Park after the usual story of racing in England then being sent to Wales for her last chance on the tracks here. Worn out and dumped. Found trying to get some food from a camper as she was starving. We took her in as a foster placement, and it was the hardest decision of my life to let her go to her forever home and I still sometimes regret it at 2 in the morning. However, we keep in touch with the lady who adopted her and often go for joint walks and she is blissfully happy and very well looked after. Lives with another greyhound, goes cycling (!!), can travel on buses and trains, and is generally a successful adorable dog.

As a teenager we had two Heinz 57 mongrels who came from the local dogs home/pound. Fantastic characters, and much loved family dogs that lived to a ripe old age (16 and 15, possibly even older). Healthy, friendly and fun.

When I am judging at charity dog shows, it is the Best Rescue classes that get me every time. So many of the dogs have come through horrendous experiences yet at an event like that you can see their new owners beaming with pride and that the dog is a much loved member of the family.

Also when I did my Gold award, there were six of us in the class and four of the six were rescue dogs, including the most adorable Staffie X who is a whizz at agility.

Being a rescue volunteer, I could write pages of similar stuff. So will stop here.

[BehindLockNumberNine]

Yes, we have a whipptey lurcher who was found as a stray this summer. He was in a terrible state apparently. It is thought he was abandoned from a traveller camp...
He spent 6 days in a council pound and on the day he was due to be put to sleep he was taken in by a greyound rescue. Where he was groomed to within an inch of his life, had health checks, worming and flea treatment and his vaccinations. We adopted him two months after he was found.

He is wonderful. I cannot put into words what a kind, gentle, desperate-to-please, friendly, sensitive, sensible little dog he is. We adore him.
He is briliant with the children, good with other dogs, clean in the house after some training (but this did not take too long), he is just the absolute best!

He is wary of strange men, was terrified of the dc playing football or riding their bikes in the garden and would cower if one of us raised their voice.
He is getting more confident now, especially now he has worked out the dc would never aim at him with a football or ride their bikes into him. The men thing I am not too fussed about (he adores dh and that is all that matters) and re the raised voices, well I should not really shout at the dc anyway so even more reason to avoid that...

Incidentally, he was far easier to train and is much easier to live with than the pure bred dog we had many years ago.

I would have another stray in a flash... In fact I am currently negotiating with dh regarding a whippety lurcher, found as a stray, who on the day he was due to be put to sleep was taken by a dog rescue in Sussex...

[BehindLockNumberNine]

Oh Scuttle what a lovely post, so pleased your grund finally has the perfect permanent home. We are hoping to attend some charity dog shows this summer, Emily wants to enter Sam into Best Rescue (and Biggest Ears but I don't think that category exists...)
We will be beaming with pride at our little whippety boy. Who is definately central to our family and much loved

[RedwingWinter]

Yes. My husky/malamute cross was previously a stray. He's about two years old and the only other thing we know about his history is that he was mistreated. He used to flinch sometimes as if he thought we would hit him, and the vet also told us he had been treated badly.

He is the most wonderful dog ever. He is large for a husky (even on the tall side for a malamute) and sometime people pick up or hide their small dogs when they see him coming, but there is no need.

He is very calm and well-mannered. He does have the typical sled dog stubbornness, and for a while if we asked him to sit it would take ten minutes for him to decide if he would or not. But no more - now he is well-trained.

He is absolutely lovely. He woos with happiness when he sees us after a gap, or when he meets any of our friends. He loves all other people and dogs, but greets them nicely - no jumping or anything. When other people's dogs (or our other dog!) are misbehaving, I can stand there with the husky behaving beautifully and everyone thinks I've had him since he was a pup. He is really wonderful and I honestly don't understand why he hadn't been snapped up out of rescue already - he'd been there a while and it feels like he was waiting for us.

[Scuttlebutter]

Lock, I can't even begin to describe how I felt when nephew and grund won a rosette in a local charity dog show. I was so proud of them both, that I cried Cue much embarrassment by DH and small boy!!

I see so many rescue dogs doing great things. Cani X, agility, Kennel Club Good Citizen, flyball, Pets as Therapy, having fun at local charity shows - the list is endless. And most important of all, these are dogs which loved and are enjoying being a family pet, going for walks, having cuddles, making us smile. Who could ask for more than that?

[BehindLockNumberNine]

i AGREE (whoops, caps lock, Sam's head on keyboard), so many wonderful dogs who were once strays...

Most people we meet when out with the Pointy One cannot believe what a gentle, nice, sweet little boy he is. And they are astounded when we say he was a stray and presumed to have been mistreated at some point in time.

Even Emily, age 9, oten wonders out loud why anyone would have given him up...