Between A Rock-y and A Hard Place

Remember last week when I mentioned we had a few things going on that were making life a little more interesting for the Shifleys? 
Well, I guess whoever is pulling the strings in the universe, thought we needed another flaming chainsaw to juggle.
Meet Rocky.


On Tuesday, we found this guy running around in the school yard near our house. 
He was scared and hot so I thought we can get him some water, look at his collar and call his owner. 
After a lot of treats and patience, we were able to get him in our backyard but his collar had no info. 
We took him to the vet but no chip. 
We posted on Facebook and other neighborhoods but nobody has claimed him. 
We don't need another dog but as you can tell from the above picture, he's bonded with Hayden big time. 
He follows her around like a shadow. 
I know what you all are thinking...


The longer he stays with us, the harder it is going to be to let him go.
Especially Hayden.
I was just trying help out a skittish dog and now I might have to break my daughter's heart. 
Do random acts of kindness they said.
It will be great they said.  
Not cool, string puller universe entity. 
Any advice from my wonderful blogging friends? 
Mrs. Shife and I have been talking about getting a second dog but Rocky (this is the name Hayden gave him because he looks like a scoop of rocky road ice cream) is not what we imagined. 
As far as we can tell, he is young and looks like an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix. 
And that combo equals lots and lots of energy. 
Sometime you get what you get and don't throw a fit. 
But I want to for like 30 seconds.
Is that OK? 



I will persevere. 
I will keep moving forward.
I will be the stream. 


Comments

  1. Awww….he looks like a sweet fellow. You are too kind. But yeah, I suppose it’s NOT just what you needed. How has the Frizz reacted?

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    1. She doesn't mind too much, Bijoux. We have had family and friends leave their dogs with us for extended stays so Frizz probably just thinks it's temporary. We shall see.

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  2. I was just logging on to confess to you and here you have a new post up. Coincidence? Like the new dog, probably not.

    Oh, the confession.

    I went to watch Season 3 of The Boys after seeing it mentioned in your last post and I got caught up on everything else post vacation. As I watched the intro, I couldn't remember half the things they were showing. I pegged it as just having been a long time since Season 2. So I started in but things weren't making sense. I mean, who was the burned girl with no appendages? So I looked back and realized from the progress bars below the episodes, I stopped halfway through Season 2. How the f does that happen? What an embarrassment. So I had to start over and watch Season 2 all over again and just started Season 3. Episode 1 didn't disappoint!

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    1. Isn't it fun getting old, Ed. I might have done that a time or two with a show. Glad you are liking the new season. I really enjoyed it.

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  3. You're allowed to take 30 seconds but, for me, once Hayden named him, he was your dog!

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    1. I know, Bob. That is why I was channeling my inner Gob. I hope Mrs. Shife can salvage this one.

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  4. Rocky is a beautiful dog but that breed, oy. Super smart but busy and into mischief a lot. We had a Blue Heeler(Australian cattle dog) and Australian shepherd mix, and he had the best personality, but was a terror. I would say to start preparing Hayden that he may belong to someone else or may not be a good fit for your family--but would be better off somewhere else where he can release all his energy. Any farms around you?

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    1. Thanks, Margaret. We have met a few folks that seem to think he would be a good fit for them so maybe but right now I am hoping we can find his owner because he seems to good of a dog to just be dumped in our neighborhood.

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  5. Rocky is a lotta dog. Can you tell Hayden he will consume all the spare time she now uses for A, B, C,
    D and E. And good luck.

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    1. He is and she is aware but she seems determined. I will gladly take the luck, Joanne, because we are going to need it. Thank you.

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  6. Oh my! As soon as I saw him I thought "high energy!" Surprised no one has claimed him yet, still might happen though. Just know you've done a good thing by taking him In for the time being. I saw you had posted on my blog but it's not there, hope you didn't delete it. Thank you for your kind words, I know you speak from experience and from your heart.

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    1. It has been 3 days now and nothing. I am going to ask the postal carrier if he recognizes him since he spends quite a bit of time around the neighborhood area. I am not sure what happened to my comment, kden, but I am glad you got to see it.

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  7. If someone claims Rocky, maybe Hayden can go with him. Are you that attached to her? 😆

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    1. I am quite fond of her, Mike. She told us she was moving out anyway if we got rid of Rocky.

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    2. Oh dear. Ultimatum time. You have got yourself a dog. You have no choice but to buy a huge ranch and a herd of cattle. Hayden is probably going to need a horse.

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    3. That does sound like the logical next step, Debby.

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  8. Good luck; I hope you find the owner as I would imagine they are frantic. How do you go about doing that? Facebook, maybe? I know I've seen some "lost animal" FB accounts. Maybe there's one near you. And even though Rocky isn't chipped, is it possible to send a photo of him to your local vet offices; they might recognize him from his looks alone because he seems kind of unique-looking to me.

    And if you do find the owner, maybe this is the best time to get that second dog :D

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    1. We shared it to the usual spots, jenny_o, but no luck so far.

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  9. I had another thought (that's two in one day!! holy hannah) - you could also send a picture to your local shelter and have them post it. The owner might be checking shelters.

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    1. Thank you, jenny_o. We have contacted the Humane Society but nobody is claiming him.

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  10. Oh, I agree with Bob: once the dog had a name, that was it. Good luck!
    And I think you'll have to talk to Hayden about the possibility of Rocky finding his 'other' family....

    XOXO

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    1. Thanks, Sixpence, I am going to need all the luck I can get.

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  11. I would suggest determining whether you are keeping the dog or not. If you are steadfast against it. Make the primary focus finding a new home for Rocky.

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    1. We would like to keep him, Bathwater, but I don't think that is a possibility right now.

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  12. Difficult situation. While Hayden maybe happy, someone somewhere else may be struggling with broken heart. I'm like that, you know, always thinking how there are always 2 sides.

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    1. Me too, Dave R. As hard as it might be, she knows we have to do what is right for the dog.

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  13. You know what they say, "no good deed goes unpunished." Looks like a great dog!

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    1. He is a pretty awesome dog, Jeff. I wish we could have found each other at a different time.

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  14. Oophs. Strange no one has claimed him, or come looking etc. On my walk just yesterday I saw about a dozen lost dog notes on telephone poles, so apparently those people want their dog back. He doesn't look like he's been out and abandoned long which adds to the puzzle. Guess if you don't want another dog the morale of the story is put a bowl of water out where the dog is and leave it alone vs bringing it back to your house? We have a social media site called Nextdoor at home and it's always being used to re-connect losts pets. Do you have that in your area? Also on Facebook there's a group for lost animals beyond just a general post that might help you.

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    1. We shared on FB, the Next Door app, called the Humane Society, talked to neighbors and the postal carrier but nobody has recognized him yet, Sandy.

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    2. I wonder if someone dumped him and doesn't want him back.

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    3. He is a high energy dog after all. He may have run all the way to the playground from Oklahoma...or Florida...

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    4. Might be the case since no one locally has claimed him, Debby.

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  15. Oh boy. I will be no help at all since I once took in 17 hamsters years ago that my daughters friends no longer wanted and the parents wanted nothing to do with. I took them all and gave them a good home. Ken wanted a dog but I didn't. But Falcor kinda fell into our laps when his owner was abusing him and Ken found out. Ken loved him so we kept him even though I told him he had to take care of the dog. Ken is gone now and I have Falcor. lol I've had him 8 years and I'm glad I finally gave in. So if you can't find his owners, you might want to make sure Hayden will take care of the dog 80% of the time unless you are ok with having the dog take more of your time. Do you have a fenced in yard? If I had one of those, that sure would be a huge help having a dog. Instead I take him for 8 walks a day. Some are short because it's so hot but either way, he has a lot of energy so I have to take him out even for a few minutes. Congratulations on the new dog. lol

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    1. 17 hamsters? That is a handful of hamsters, Mary.

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  16. If he's truly lost then I hope you find the owners soon. They may be really missing him. If not, then you have a new family member that you will learn to love quickly! Then we get to see two collars every month!

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    1. For such a good boy, no one claimed him, Jeanette.

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  17. keep the damn dog..........

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    1. We almost did, YDG, but we found him a good home.

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