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I adopted a Collie-Lab mix from WHS years ago as a present for my husband, Mark. Well, I never considered that this dog would be not only a great companion and protector for my husband and boys, but a great natural hunting dog as well. We named him MAC and he out-hunted the expensive dogs my father-in-law brought from a world-renowned trainer. Once, my father-in-law’s dog hunted for a wounded quail for about 30 minutes and never found it. (We eat what we hunt and do not like to waste a single bird, so we were upset that we didn’t find it.) However, we put Mac on the trail and about 20 minutes later he came walking up with that bird! He had a great nose and a sense of what he should do on hunting trips of all sorts. Mac was also very protective of my family. Once my brother-in-law hid in the cotton and jumped out like he was going to attack my husband and sons. Mark had to physically intervene to keep Mac from biting Kenny. They all laughed until they cried once it was over, but Kenny has never lived that down with my group! We finally had to put Mac down because he lay down one day and could not get back up. We tried all kinds of medicine, but his joints were just gone. We all loved him as part of our family and my boys still miss him and talk about him everytime they come home. We could not have asked for a better, smarter, more loyal pet. Mac was a winner!
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 Marley joined our family about a year ago. I had an appointment to do a computer installation in the business office at the shelter and my wife went along to tour the shelter. When I had completed my work she told me that she had just fell in love with this cat and I had to see it. She went to the cat area and came back with the ugliest cat I had ever seen! He had huge ears strange looking eyes and was almost hairless. I could not understand why she liked this thing but she said just listen. While she was petting him, Marley began to make this very strange sound. It was very soft at first, not a purr or meow, kind of like a little bird. The more she petted him the louder it got. It’s hard to describe, kind of like the sound Gismo made in the movie Gremlins. We were told that Marley is a Deven-Rex, which accounts for his strange looks. In the summer he loses all his hair except for a bit on his tail. In the winter he grows a thick curly coat that lasts for about two months. He came to the shelter as a stray and had been there for over a year when we adopted him. He is stone deaf, but it does not seem to be a handicap for him. He understands and responds to hand gestures and has fit in wonderfully with our other pets. Marley does not know a stranger, he greets every visitor to our home and when they hear that sound he makes they all fall in love with him. We are very lucky to have found this wonderful friend.
G. Hite
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