We camp frequently in Lincoln NF near Cloudcroft, NM and in Aug. 1999 left the fiver one cold morning for an early hike. We drove to a trailhead about 1 mile from the camp. In less than 100 yds, our old Cocker stopped to “mark” the trail and then I saw what looked like a small white dog curled under a bush just a few feet away. The dog was very cold and looking straight at me, but it never moved a muscle. I could see a collar on it and imagined some young family had lost the dog while camping and now back home, the children would be starting a new school year without their pet.
We decided the DW would stay and watch the dog while I drove back to the trailer for some dog food and another leash. Returning 15 min. later, dog and DW were gone. I search the immediate trail area, then another trail and then drove to the nearby campground host who stated that he has seen the dog for several weeks and been unable to catch it. Back at the trailhead, the DW finally returned and we drove to the other end of the trail, below Cloudcroft. The dog was there, drinking water from a pothole, but it immediately walked across a cattle guard and back up the trail. The DW drove back to the top of the trail while I hiked up from below, but we missed the dog. We drove back to the cattle guard and the dog was there again. Even with food in hand, the dog spooked again and it just disappeared. We waited for a long time but the animal did not return. Just as we were about to give up, a US Border Patrol vehicle came down a 4wd trail. When I stopped them to ask if they had seen the dog, they had it in their back seat. The dog was laying beside the trail and when they opened the SUV’s back door, the dog climbed in. They were glad to turn the dog over to us rather than taking it to an animal shelter.
The dog smelled so bad, we had to drive with the windows open and couldn’t take it inside the trailer. Back at camp, we fed it some cooked rice. The collar had a tag from El Paso and the Cloudcroft Chamber of Commerce let us call long distance to El Paso. The tag belonged to a cat and the owner didn’t have a clue how their cat’s tag ended up on a dog 100 miles away. Clearly the dog had been dumped. So, we went to Walmart in Alamogordo and bought a cage and stopped at a local vet in High Rolls. The vet charged us almost nothing for shots and a quick physical, the dog was really a short hair pointer but only weighed 32 lbs. Her name became Suzy Q for all the questions that we didn’t have answers for.
As Suzy Q put on weight, rather than walk, she would leap forward into a run. At first, I could keep up with her. Later, even with a 30 ft. lead, she would quickly be pulling me off my feet. So, still using the 30 ft. lead, we would use a Frisbee and play keep away to give her exercise. As she regained muscle strength, her weight increased to 55 lbs. Then for a few months we used a shock collar to keep her on our property. She broke one day and chased some deer thru a nearby cactus field and we had lots of quills to remove from her legs, she never took off again. Suzy Q’s favorite exercise became running around our circular driveway. We believe that her previous owner trained her as a race dog, and starved her, used the stolen cat tag to get her into races and then dumped her when she wasn’t fast enough.
In 2002 she developed a new problem that occurred rarely and under various conditions. The most common example was when we were outside and I would put her on a stay command while deer were in the yard. She would start to vomit and then totally blackout. She would collapse, recover in a few seconds and then get back up, very bewildered. In late 2002, something similar happened on a hike in Canada when we were miles from the truck and I could not have carried her back up the trail. In early 2003, the vet determined that she had Addison’s disease, a lack of adrenaline during stress (JFK suffered with this also). With 3 pills each day and a shot every 4 weeks, she has never had another episode even with the stress that is our lives.
Where Suzy Q at one time was afraid of people, she now cannot stand to be away from us and she loves almost everyone. Like most dogs, she senses when we are leaving and always wants to go. Begin packing the RV, even days in advance, and she gets totally hyper. But once the truck is moving, she immediately goes to sleep. At a rest stop, she is the fastest dog to get business over with and then is obsessed with getting back in the truck (doesn’t want to be dumped again). In public or private campgrounds, we follow the leash rules, but at home when we are outside, she is off lead. We also do volunteer work where we may have 10-15 rigs together and she can be off lead when we are outside.
Besides running, Suzy Q loves to eat, likes to tree squirrels, hates bees and inspects anything that moves (just not too close to scorpions or frogs). Deer are no big deal anymore, but she will not allow buzzards to roost on a power pole. She wants to be a lap dog but can’t, so she will stand on her back legs while laying on my lap. She has to have a raw hide bone after dinner. On occasion, she will combine these activities, laying on my lap and holding the bone with her front paws. Suzy Q owns 4 beds, in the RV, the bedroom, the living room and the computer room, actually 5 if you include the truck's back seat. Suzy Q is at least 11 yrs old now and soon age will take its toll, but for now, it really is a dog’s life.
Larry Day
Texas Baptist Men-Retiree Builders since '01
'03 GMC 2500HD D/A EC SB, Jordan controller, custom RKI bed/hitch, Putco boards, TF 45gal tank, grey Speedliner
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Bless your hearts for being there. All our dogs have been rescues -- including one little girl I rescued off the center median of a 6-lane freeway. They've all been wonderful companions, and I wouldn't have traded a one of them for anything. Too bad there aren't more folks out there like you.
Bill/Cathy Good Sam Life Members,FMCA #F323639, Safari International, Thousand Trails, Safari So Good Club, Safari R Us Club
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What a nice story and I want to tell you that you are great people and Susie was really lucky that you found her. Dogs are really man's best friend and they really do love you. I commend you on catching her and making a great home for her. I know that your family has really enjoyed having Susie also. We have adopted several older dogs and one we only had for 6 months and then it was with a lot of expense but I would not do anything different. I know when we adopt them that they will have a great home and two people that will love them until their last breath is drawn.
2004 Gulf Stream 36 ft Sun Voyager triple slide
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2004 Saturn VUE w/stowmaster towbar
Two Ole Pharts & One Little Shin Tzu named Isabel
What a neat story. We also rescued a german short hair pointer mix and BenBen now lives the life of luxury and never wanted to go back to living on a farm and running free. he prefers being a house dog!! Glad Suzy found you to take care of her.
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