Meet Darby! Our newest addition!Darby is approximately 8 or 9 weeks old and he's an aussie mix like our sweet Daisy Mae (she’s actually more border collie than aussie, but, since Daisy's a mix like her two speckled older brothers, we’ve dubbed her a blue aussie border heeler). Darby comes from super sad beginnings, but, now that he’s under our care and part of our loving home, we think he's got a bright and happy future ahead of him!
Dan and I drove to Lakeside, AZ (a tiny town about 20 minutes away from Show Low, AZ) and picked up this cute little bundle of energy from the Humane Society of the White Mountains on Saturday, August 16th. Darby is the sole surviving puppy of the three that were found abandoned on the side of the road on July 5th, either left to die in the sweltering Arizona summer sun by an irresponsible human or abandoned by their mother.
When the puppies were found, Darby’s eyes were barely open, the pads of his feet were badly burned (from having been exposed to the heat of the pavement), and one of his litter mates was already dead (and the other died shortly thereafter) from heat stroke/dehydration. Since Darby was only two weeks old and too young for the shelter, Darby was immediately taken into foster care and cared for by a loving family. Once he reached 6 or 7 weeks (and after the burns on his feet had healed), his foster family returned him to the shelter where he promptly caught kennel cough and was quarantined and kenneled alone for over a week. That said, Darby quickly became a favorite amongst the shelter volunteers and each of the staff members that we spoke to went on and on about what a good dog he's been for them and how much they liked him. We played with Darby for over an hour at the shelter and decided to bring him home.
Unfortunately, because of limited resources and minimal volunteerism, animal shelters typically only feed their animals twice a day (in this case, at 7:30am and 2:00pm) and, since puppies like Darby need smaller more frequent meals throughout the day, he seems to have developed a bit of food aggression while under the shelter’s care. He also has a touch of toy possessiveness (probably because he was isolated with kennel cough while in the shelter and is a little less socialized than the average pup), but, all and all, he has a very good temperament and is a happy and playful puppy. Dan and I have really been working with Darby on his manners and, after only a little more than a week, we are already seeing signs of improvement and our pack seems to have accepted him with open arms! Scout and Daisy like to wrestle and play with him and Bandit and Darby like to peruse the perimeter of the yard together and bark at people through the fence. The four of them even shared a few carrots together in the kitchen the other night and there was absolutely no mania or frenzy on Darby’s part! Good boy, Darby!
Dan and I drove to Lakeside, AZ (a tiny town about 20 minutes away from Show Low, AZ) and picked up this cute little bundle of energy from the Humane Society of the White Mountains on Saturday, August 16th. Darby is the sole surviving puppy of the three that were found abandoned on the side of the road on July 5th, either left to die in the sweltering Arizona summer sun by an irresponsible human or abandoned by their mother.
When the puppies were found, Darby’s eyes were barely open, the pads of his feet were badly burned (from having been exposed to the heat of the pavement), and one of his litter mates was already dead (and the other died shortly thereafter) from heat stroke/dehydration. Since Darby was only two weeks old and too young for the shelter, Darby was immediately taken into foster care and cared for by a loving family. Once he reached 6 or 7 weeks (and after the burns on his feet had healed), his foster family returned him to the shelter where he promptly caught kennel cough and was quarantined and kenneled alone for over a week. That said, Darby quickly became a favorite amongst the shelter volunteers and each of the staff members that we spoke to went on and on about what a good dog he's been for them and how much they liked him. We played with Darby for over an hour at the shelter and decided to bring him home.
Unfortunately, because of limited resources and minimal volunteerism, animal shelters typically only feed their animals twice a day (in this case, at 7:30am and 2:00pm) and, since puppies like Darby need smaller more frequent meals throughout the day, he seems to have developed a bit of food aggression while under the shelter’s care. He also has a touch of toy possessiveness (probably because he was isolated with kennel cough while in the shelter and is a little less socialized than the average pup), but, all and all, he has a very good temperament and is a happy and playful puppy. Dan and I have really been working with Darby on his manners and, after only a little more than a week, we are already seeing signs of improvement and our pack seems to have accepted him with open arms! Scout and Daisy like to wrestle and play with him and Bandit and Darby like to peruse the perimeter of the yard together and bark at people through the fence. The four of them even shared a few carrots together in the kitchen the other night and there was absolutely no mania or frenzy on Darby’s part! Good boy, Darby!
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