We rescued Austin the dog in summer 2012. He was on the Pet Finders site and they said he’d been on the street for about a month. Skinny and covered in fleas, the vet said he was around one year old. A $100 second-hand dog? We flipped a coin and Austin won. He was a great hunter, absolutely loved children (served as a therapy dog at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles), and was my constant companion in the shop for 10 years. He didn’t play with other dogs much but that’s OK. He had no guile – he was just a loud, bird eating, skunk hating guy dog that looked like a girl and did whatever he wanted. During lunch at an outdoor restaurant he was bothered by other dogs splashing water near him. He bit his leash off, moved over a few feet and sat back down. Problem solved. Genuine, innocent and unapologetic. An inspiration to us all.
