THE STORY OF RED GREEN

This picture was taken August 25th, 2009.

Red came to us about 2 years ago. He was a stray that popped up out here and we first tried to run him off because we was afraid he would kill the chickens or goats. When he managed to get inside the gate, he just walked around the chickens, sniffed them and laid down around them. He never tried to hurt them. This is when we realized that he was a "good dog". A few days later, we took him out with the goats to see how he would do. He sniffed them, and laid down. After that, he would go out into the goat pasture with us and he never tried to hurt any of the goats. He was more scared of them than they was of him. He was such a big baby. When he would see me coming up the driveway, he would herd the goats out of the path of the driveway. We realized that he knew how to herd and protect livestock. So we kept him. He loved to ride in a vehicle and followed us wherever we went. He was petted and loved and spoiled rotten. He would come in the house and hang out with us. He always loved everyone and was a big gentle family member.

Tragically, he started limping around the end of May 2009 and I took him to the vet and the vet said he had arthritis so bad, it was making him limp on his left leg. The vet said he will either have to have it amputated or have the hip ball removed. Either way, the cheapest vet we could find says it was going to cost around $500, which we didn't have. The vet was giving us meds to control the inflammation and pain, but had said it was only a temporary fix. We were working to try and save the money to pay for his surgery, and thanks to the generous donations of anonymous donors for trying to help us raise this money. The meds had really helped him and he was walking almost normal again.

In mid August 2009, a dog about a mile down the road went into heat and Red was gone to make puppies. He was gone for a week and a half and only came home every few days to grab a bite of food and off again. We saw him every day down there but since he jumped the 4 foot fences, we had no way to keep him home. When he came for his meal, we caught him. We put him in the pasture with the goats to keep him in, but he jumped a 4 foot fence and was back down the road. When he came back a few days later, on August 27th, he had a large gash on his shoulder. We treated him, spraying it every day with anti-bacterial spray and put him on a chain to keep him home until the wound could heal.

On August 30, 2009 at approximately 4 o'clock PM, our precious family member passed away from complications caused from the infection of the wound.

Our lives were changed for the better by Red and our chance to get to own him. He brought love and joy into our lives and taught me to really love dogs. I had never been a dog person and didn't care to have any until I got Red. We are so thankful to have gotten the chance to love and care for Red and our lives will forever have a void that can never be filled. We love you Red and we will miss you forever.

My son Brian with Red. This was taken about 2 months before he passed.

I HAVE RED'S DAUGHTER, DAZY MAE (NICKNAME: LAZY DAZY)  

Red bred a dog down the road right before he died. The people who lived there moved off and abandoned the dog who was carrying his puppies. On November 16th, I went to the property and got my puppy. There was 3 total, only one looked like Red. About a week later, the SPCA showed up at the property and took the mother dog and the other 2 puppies. Me and another family had been going to the house and feeding the mother dog (who was not sociable) and petting the puppies. Dazy already goes everywhere with me on the farm. She goes out in the baby goat and grown goat pens. She hangs out around the cows and chickens. She will be a working farm dog, just like Red. She is playful and happy like him. And, SHE LOVES HER RAW COW MILK!!!! I feed her raw cow milk 3 times a day.