Atticus - My Sweet German Shepherd

Atticus somehow wound up at an Animal Shelter in Concordia MO. I dont understand who could give this dog up or at the very least, look for him if he was lost. From what I was told, he was on the "kill list" at the other shelter because they had deemed him unadoptable due to his uncertain behavior. Someone from our organization adopted him from this other shelter and brought him to Marshall Animal Shelter to save him. THANK GOODNESS!!! It was in the Marshall Shelter that I walked in, to take some pictures for the website, when I noticed Atticus (then named Houdini). That first day, I took some pictures of him to send to the German Shepherd Rescue group in MO and I admit, I was a little scared of him out in the yard. He wasnt too sure of me, and I wasnt too sure of him.....but neither of us bit the other one, so it all worked out. I brought Carl in to see him the next day. Carl is very good with bigger dogs, that may be slightly aggressive. He is strong, and patient, and soft spoken, and the dogs eventually learn to trust him. I told Carl that he should work with this dog to help him become more adoptable....I secretly hoped Carl would fall in love with him and bring him home.....Didnt happen :( Carl did like him and enjoyed working with him, but thought 2 big dogs in the house would be too many. We learned right away that Atticus could sit, shake and would stay for as long as Carl asked him to. Someone had worked with this dog.....where were they? ...did they miss him? I couldnt help but wonder.

We held Atticus at the shelter for a week to await the response from the German Shepherd Rescue. When Sheila heard back from them, they stated that they were pretty full and he was more light colored than most of the dogs they normally accept. Did this mean that he is less of a German Shepherd? I wish I could have talked to them myself. He is obviously full blooded German Shepherd.....just look at him. Anyway...this was great news to me. By this time, after working with him every day for over a week, I really felt myself drawn to him. I work with a lot of dogs and there are very few that I really feel a close connection to. Not that I dont care for each one, because I do...each dog is special in its own way...but this dog was special to me....it was more personal. I cant really explain it any better than that. I was concerned for Atti's welfare...I didnt want him to be adopted to just anyone. He is too good of a dog to go somewhere where he will be chained to a tree and never loved or taught new things. (This makes me sound like I think some dogs ARE meant to be chained to a tree...that isnt true...I really hate chains and hate it when dogs arent allowed to run around...but I cant save the world) I used this argument to convince Carl to foster him. I felt that once he came home and Carl got used to him being there that he surely couldnt take him back to the shelter. ...I was right!

Carl adopted Atticus about 2 weeks later. He adopted him to be his dog...to train him and take him everywhere. We soon realized that Atticus loves us so much that he wants to protect us.....and doesnt want anyone else to come in to our house, or near us. Atticus now thinks he is my dog...he follows me everywhere, if I go down to put laundry in the dryer, Atticus goes down beside me. If I go to the bathroom, he waits outside the door for me. He sleeps on my side of the bed every night....He is my dog. Carl used to be a little upset about this but he has Isolde now, so he is getting over it.