Hello!   Let's play!

(He teases me - comes within 3 or 4 feet and stands up on his hind legs.)

This sweet hound has been running on Sandy Ridge as a stray for several weeks.  I have asked my neighbors and no one knows who he belongs to, nor has claimed him.  The first several times he came around my home I went out and yelled at him to run him off.  Usually my dogs in the yard would be barking at him.  Then one cold day I let him get close enough to see how starved and emaciated that he was - with all his ribs showing.  After that I did not run him off, but left food for him near my carport.  He also took over a large vacant dog house that rainy day.  He does not sleep there every night.  I do not know where he goes.  But everyday he comes back - coming up the hill behind my home from the woods.  There are no homes in that direction.  The woods are on a steep hillside that drops off steeply to the river.  He eats, gets water, hangs around for a couple of hours and then goes back towards the woods.

I think he is very young - perhaps a year old if that.  He was wearing a collar (no id) that was too tight and starting to grow into his neck.  At first he was too timid to let me approach him to try to remove it.  It took about 2 weeks before I was able to get hold of his collar.  I got the end of it out of the buckle, but then I had to tighten it to try to get the prong out of the hole.  When I did this, it hurt, he yelped and pulled away from me.  It was several days later that I succeeded in removing it.  He had lost hair under the collar and was raw.   Also, he was very flea infested and I gave him a Capstar to kill the fleas.   Now I would like to catch him long enough to give him Frontline.

I have no room for a larger dog right now.  If another rescue can take him, I will somehold hold him and help with getting him vetted.  Every time that he does not show up when he usually does, I worry that something has happened to him.   In this area he is at risk of being shot, poisoned, hit by car, or picked up and taken to the pound.

He may have been dumped by a hunter because I do not see this dog as hunting dog potential.  He chases the kittens, but not aggressively.  When they stop, he stops - just wants to play.  He is not food aggressive.  He was eating one day and another of my dogs just walked up and picked up his food dish and walked off with it.  Also, a big grey Tom came strolling through the carport near his dish and he backed up thinking the cat wanted his food.  Poor boy - won't even defend his food.

I have named him "Yves" - note the "Y" on his forehead.

UPDATE:  5/24/07     Yves has been here for about 2 years, so is about 3 or 4 years old.   Another rescue said months and months ago that they would take him...but time for transport kept being put off.  After this long I do not think they plan to follow through.     Needs vetting.