Australian Cattle Dog/Heeler Needs a Home

Mel the Australian Cattle Dog is Looking for a Home

A couple of months ago I wrote about 2 Australian Cattle Dogs I was trying to get out of Houston Animal Control. The female was adopted. I lined up the male to be transported to a humane society in Canada for adoption. I went to BARC to pick him up and realized he’d never been tested for heartworms. The vet tech said testing had been attempted several times but the dog always resisted. I figured they were probably man-handling him plus the stress of the shelter situation. Anyway, the vet tech tells me since the dog has issues with restraint he’s unadoptable and would be euthanized and I couldn’t pull him. Luckily, the volunteer coordinator stepped in and I was able to take him.

So I loaded the dog in the car and asked myself–”What now?!” I called my vet as I drove and told them the situation. He was so stressed that they did have to sedate him to do the heartworm test. He tested high positive for heartworms. While he was knocked out, I asked my vet to neuter him. For the second time within about an hour I asked myself “What now?!” And to top it off, I was about to leave town for several days.

I call him Melbourne, Mel for short. I kenneled him at my vet until I came back. I then lined up a longer term kennel that frequently helps BARC rescues. I started his heartworm treatment at PetCare Express. He needed three shots–#1 followed by 30 days of rest then shot #2. Shot #3 came 24 hours later followed by another 30 days of rest. Mel was a trooper and did really well. He just finished up his 60 days of rest.

Mel is still living in the kennel. I can’t bring him home because Scout is still recovering from her ACL surgery (a long story for another post). On Saturdays, I pick him up and we go out exploring. We went to the dog park this weekend and he was fabulous. He was mostly interested in sticking close to me, but interacted appropriately with the other dogs. After several hours of dog parking, walking, riding and hanging out, we ended his outing with two plain McD’s burgers. Happy dog.

I’d still like to try to get him into breed rescue, but there isn’t one in Texas. I have him listed on an ACD forum that has been very helpful. I’ll keep trying. I have him posted on Petfinder and on his own site, AdoptThatDog.com where you can read more about him. He’s such an awesome dog.