larger view larger view

Meet Winston, the latest refugee at Canine Canyon Ranch Rescue. He needs someone very special to step forward and give him a new home.

I hear sad stories every day and the truth is that I could write a blog like this about every animal that comes to the rescue. But, some of them are just special and here is Winston's story.

A month ago Winston was picked up wandering in the Mojave desert by a sheriff's deputy. He takes the dog to Mojave and there is a kind soul int he parking lot that agrees to foster the dog, saving him from almost certain death. Dee fostered him for over a week, he was great, housebroken, perfect in every way like the lab that he is.  She thought she had found a wonderful home in Rosamond with an older lady. Being a calm older gentleman, it should have been a perfect fit. The son came and delivered the dog to his mom for the happy ending. Well, next day the son returns the dog and now Winston has a large lump on his head. Son states that the dog had a seizure and went to the bathroom on the bed.  Dee keeps Winston for several more days and he is fine, lump goes away. I meet her and take the dog to my rescue and he's fine here too, and two days later a wonderful family wants to adopt him. 

Two more days go by and lady calls saying he's having seizures.  Not violent ones, just going rigid and drooling.  Then he's spaced out but comes out of it pretty quickly.  OK, so the seizure part was true, I'm thinking. Vet manual comes out and he may have epilepsy but can't afford to have him diagnosed. I have a friend with a 10-year old epileptic dog, no meds just loving home for as long as he lasts. He's still here and yes, sometimes has seizures. At this point Dee and I have not witnessed any seizures and he's been perfectly fine.

So, Winston has been here for a week now and he acts like a normal well-behaved 5-year old yellow lab. He is neutered and current on his shots, so housebroken that he sleeps in our bedroom from 7 pm through 6 am the next morning (I do have to close the toilet lid-he is a dog after all!). He is social with the other twelve dogs here, very calm and still hasn't had a single seizure. Believe me, life at the rescue is not calm and if stress was setting him off he would have already had one here!

Winston is young, maybe 4-5, and has a lot of life left. He is everyone's idea of the PERFECT dog. He is large for a male lab, so if he isn't a purebred, he may be mixed with something larger like mastiff and is probably about 90 pounds (but could lose 10). He will walk next to you without a leash and has those soulful brown eyes that just make you want to hug him. He will make a wonderful family pet, companion dog, he's fine with cats too.

Tell everyone you know that Mr. Winston needs someone to save him. Maybe he was hit by a car-he does have several scars on his face and one ear is split down the middle, who knows. What he didn't deserve was someone dumping him out in the desert to die. He obviously has good karma and just needs the right forever home to step up and take him in. No adoption fee-just love him for the rest of his life.

Can you help this wonderful dog get a new lease on life?  Know someone else who may be interested?  Call Leslie at Canine Canyon Ranch at 661-823-0111.