Justine Time, the Mini Aussie – Adopted

“Emma is a 4 year old spayed female, heart worm negative, returned to the shelter because she herds, Emma is very sweet and shy.  Needs rescue help.”  So read the e-mail forward to us by Adriana from Tracey, the shelter Rescue Coordinator.  Attached was a hazy photo of a dog in a gray cement kennel, an untouched bowl of food at her feet, her eyes reflecting the camera light and the fear she felt inside.  It was a photo much like many we get every day.  We were full.  We had no where to put her.  But then I clicked on the attached video.  And my eyes filled with tears as my heart broke.  That video, only 3 seconds long, represented to me all the shelter dogs waiting for the new family that would never come.  In those three seconds I caught a glimpse of her despair and heard the hopelessness in her voice.    I couldn’t really tell what she looked like, I couldn’t really tell anything about her at all, I just knew we couldn’t let her die there….

Marjie went to the shelter the very next morning and got this little one out.  How close of a call did she have?  She was supposed to be euthanized the day before but the shelter missed her.  They had realized their mistake and were going to kill her that afternoon!  And that is how we arrived at her new name,  Justine Time.  Just In Time.

Amazingly enough, this wasn’t her first close call.  She had been at the shelter before with heartworms.  If left untreated, they would have killed her.  Instead, she was treated and adopted.  And then returned.  Returned for herding behaviors.  Really?  Apparently she nipped at the heels of the children.  Who adopts an Aussie and doesn’t expect this???  Surprisingly enough, she hasn’t demonstrated a lot of herding behaviors with us, but perhaps that is because we have all of our ducks in a row.  No, probably not.  Maybe we just don’t have unruly kids!  lol

One of the things that really caught us off guard is her size.  We expected Justine to be around 40, maybe 45 pounds (she looked a bit pudgy in her photos).  Weren’t we shocked to have a little 20 pound girl arrive on our doorstep, a real, honest to goodness mini-Aussie!  She doesn’t even come to the knee!  She has a beautiful brindle coat and a full feathery tail like my Tenakee did. (Aussies don’t always have nubbed tails).    Again, this is a dog that was supposed to be euthanized for being nothing more than what she is, an Australian Shepherd.  Not even a particularly high drive one, at that either!  Don’t worry, little one, your bad days are behind you.  Nothing but blue skies do I see!!!

Justine Time is being fostered in Deltona, Fl.  If you think you might be interested in giving her a forever home, please review our adoption process and then e-mail me at holly.thedoglibertor@gmail.com

05/12/11 Foster Update: Lynne Flannery says Justine is very much a people pleaser.  She follows Lynne around, and is playing nicely with Lynne’s dog, Gabe.  She is even eating side by side with Gabe (no food aggression).  She is being crate-trained, and is “no problem at all.”