Meet Auggie Doggie!  She’s a sweet girl we rescued from the Crow Indian Reservation three years ago.  At the time I was working for a small museum in Garryowen, Montana, and every summer the museum hires interns to help work the summer tourist season, and they live on the museum grounds.  Two of our recruits that year were real animal lovers.

Auggie Doggie

There is no shortage of animals in Big Horn County – horses, cattle, dogs, cats, porcupines, snakes, skunks, coyotes, turtles, rabbits, deer.  Everyone at the museum has personal animal stories.  Once a hawk flew into a small shop on the property – pretty exciting.  Another of our interns killed a bull snake that was going after a litter of young kittens.  The biggest snapping turtle I’ve ever seen was strolling around the parking lot before it was corralled into a box and safely returned to the Little Big Horn River.

Unfortunately, there are lots of stray dogs and feral cats. too.  Our interns quickly took to a cat and puppy that happened onto the property.  They began to feed them, and that was the end of the story, or rather, the beginning.

Auggie was a puppy, maybe 3-4 months old, of course, much smaller than she is now.  She’s groomed in this picture, but she has long black hair and feathers on her front and hind legs, which lead everyone to believe she was a lab/border collie mix.  But what really won everyone over was her sweet and gentle attitude.  Auggie acclimated to her new pack.  She would sleep outside the interns’ door, wait for them to finish their shifts so she could play, followed them all around the property, and became their best buddy.

As the summer went along, the interns were concerned for Auggie’s future.  Dedicated to finding her to a good home, they would introduce her to tourists and other visitors they believed would be good owners.  No takers.

When the interns told me there were planning a day off to take Auggie to the Billings Humane Society, I took action and put Auggie in the backseat of the car on my way home.  “Surprise!”  Richard and I hadn’t owned a dog since my cocker spaniel passed away in July 2003.  And because my family lives so far from us, I thought it was time for some companionship.

Auggie is extremely affectionate.  She loves to be petted and scratched.  Standing on her hind legs, I’ve watched her wrap her front legs around visitors and neighbors to give hugs. She’ll nudge her cold nose under my arm wanting to be petted.  Sometimes that’s fairly annoying, especially when I’m working at my computer desk.  She’s our constant companion. Most often she gets what she wants.

Auggie is incredibly smart and very athletic. Given her mix, that’s not surprising.  Her favorite activity is to run, run, run like crazy to catch rubber balls my husband and I throw to her from our deck.  She leaps into the air to catch them – it’s fun to watch her.  She’s also a sucker for anything that squeaks.

When we first got her, Auggie was a car chaser, and we were afraid she would eventually run under the wheels of any motorized vehicle careening down the street.  Richard got her a training collar, and she responded to it beautifully.  Now, we can take her outside with us without being tethered.  Calling her name gets her attention.

Auggie is a great dog and a wonderful pal.  I thought it was time for you to get to know her.