Oh, he came pre-trained for that. Nobody can approach the door without fierce barking. He’s OK once we indicate he can “say hello”, but once a piano mover just marched right in and he was NOT happy with that.
I have a catch/neuter/release “feral” tuxedo kitler. I do not know how some one could have trapped this sweet friendly cat and released him back into the “wild” if they interacted with him in any way. I finally decided to take him home when I stopped by work on the way home from Thanksgiving dinner. I figured if he was still hanging outside on Thanksgiving night, he definitely did not have a home. He was probably about a year old, full grown but small.
Whoosh, I think –
Yep, whoosh.
Whoosh-o-Rama.
I mostly HAVE known the backstory of my pets? I’m not sure how I would feel otherwise.
We got our two Dobes from a rescue organization. One of them has a crooked spine. The lady who was fostering them gave us a sob story about them. I’ve never been sure if it’s actually true though.
However, our next two dogs just showed up on their own. The same breed, the same age, running loose in the ‘hood…but about three months apart. I’d kind of like to know if that’s a coincidence.
I get my rescue cats by going out on my patio. I live in the country and my neighbors only have dogs. Any cats that get all the way to my house have either been dumped, have been lost for a long time, or were born in the woods. There is no way to know their backstories. I’ve persuaded the animal shelter to accept a few, and the rest get neutered/spayed, get their shots, and live at my house. The most recent three that I have kept are:
-
A tuxedo (Beanie) who showed up in the middle of winter a few years ago, half grown, skinny, and with wounds on his front legs. He’s extremely well-behaved and likes to sleep by my feet under my desk.
-
An adult yellow long-hair (Fuzzy) who showed up this spring, skinny, with filthy matted fur, and scared to come inside. After months of sleeping in the garage, many brushings, and a few baths, he started grooming himself, filled out a bit, and is bold enough to spend a few hours at a time in the house. He has huge feet and is the fluffiest cat I have ever seen in person.
-
A brown speckled kitten (Gobi) who showed up in August. He has needed a couple extra trips to the vet to deal with a hernia that was sticking out on his belly and an infected wound on the side of his head. He did not appreciate the cone he wore for a week to keep him from scratching his wound back open. He has tons of energy and provides much amusement.
We also have four older cats (Tribble & Twinkie are 11, Riley is 13, and Marbles is 15+) who have always been indoor/outdoor cats and have heated cat beds in the garage. They have assorted digestive issues and litterbox nonproficiencies, so I have to deal with pee, poo, or puke if they stay inside too long. 
Niiiiiiice.
I have an adorable B&W mix of some kind, who weighs about 50lbs (the weight limit of the building where we live)-- the smallest dog I’ve ever had. She is so sweet with me-- she thinks she’s a lap dog. She will be 7 in a few weeks, but has as much energy as most dogs under 2.
I still take her twice a week to a daycare (on my long days at work) where she runs around and plays with other dogs all day long. Most dogs retire from this kind of play around age four or so-- or they come, but play a few hours, and then go to a private spot in the back for a nap.
She is not the friendliest dog with strangers, and especially barks at white men. I never let her off-leash, except at the fenced-in area at our complex, because even though she has excellent recall, if she were lost, she would not go up to a stranger for help. She wears tags, but no one would ever see them.
She was 2 & 1/2 when I got her, not trained at all, and not even fully housebroken, but I had her housebroken in a week, and she also knew basic commands by then. Now she knows many commands, and a couple of tricks. She was very easy for me to train, so I don’t think anyone tried very hard before.
She is a big baby, who loves to take naps on the futon in the afternoon snuggled up with me. She is so excited when I come home, she shakes like she is almost seizing. For the first year I had her, she had terrible separation anxiety, and I needed to give her trazadone in order to leave her alone.
Her birthday of record is 12-25. I don’t know if that’s her real birthday, or if that’s the day she was aquired by the people who surrendred her. I wonder if she was a failed Christmas present.
I really don’t want to know her story, because I think it’s sad. I also know I got her at an adoption event, and her time at the shelter had actually expired, if you get my meaning, but they gave her an extension, because of the upcoming event. If I hadn’t taken her, that would have been it for her, although I didn’t know that until after I’d signed the papers, and it didn’t play a role in my decision.
She is my dog; I’ve had her longer than anyone else; she is happy here, and I love her.
I’d say a rescue’s backstory is useful in that you may find some insight into seemingly strange behaviors. So I’d like to know, but it’s not a requirement.
Unfortunately, I know the general backstories to all the dogs I work with at my current rescue - either retired dog mill breeding dogs or purebred puppies with a defect that makes them undesirable for sale.
I would love to know Jojo the very sick cat (To the tune of $2000plus*) I found at the rehabs,back story.
Orang-ishTabby.
He is smart and wily. Also unafraid of everything.
He loves all other animals (even Siamese cats) and kids. Most adults.
He guards his stuff, religiously, and hides things.
Eats like a horse. But is very small. Little bit of a pot belly.
But I don’t know where he came from and why he came when he did.
(* Paid for with donations, mostly)
All the pound person told me was my dog was found walking down the side of a road.
The dog has given a few hints-
He barked at the sound of the doorbell. On the TV- I don’t have a doorbell.
The first time I took him with me to visit my mom at the nursing home, I said “Let’s go meet your grandma” or similar. The word grandma got him all excited, so I guess he used to have a doting grandma. He seemed to be disappointed when we got there, but he was a good dog and made several residents happy.
He never begged for human food in the kitchen, until I started making tortillas and tamales with masa.
Not long after I got him, I found out he’s epileptic. Perhaps he was dumped because of that. It really hasn’t been a big deal, as the seizures are brief and only happen less than a dozen times a year.
I got him back in '12 and he’s still going strong.