Austin, TX - Australian Cattle Dog/Labrador Retriever. Meet Pinball a Pet for Adoption

My basic info

Breed

Australian Cattle Dog/Labrador Retriever

Color

Tricolor (Tan/Brown & Black & White)

Age

5 years 9 months old, Adult

Size

Med. 26-60 lbs (12-27 kg) (when grown)

Weight

55 lbs (current)

Sex

Male

Pet ID

–

My details

Good with dogs

Not good with cats

Shots current

Spayed / Neutered

Housetrained

My story

Here's what the humans have to say about me:

This beautiful cattle dog mix had been living in the parking lot of Pinballz Arcade on an interstate highway for 6 months, repeatedly reported on lost and found pages by folks driving by on the feeder road.

For 6 months, he spent his days napping, waiting on a few folks who brought him food regularly to show up with chow, and chasing trucks down the feeder as they left the Ford dealership next door.

The Pinballz staff differs on where he came from...some think a carnival left him behind and some say a guy in a truck dumped him. Whatever the case, no one could get close to him.

Animal control had been after him numerous times, including attempts to humanely tranquilize him with a dart gun and setting traps to no avail. On the first visit out to the location, we saw him and set a trap. Within minutes, he was at the trap and it looked like it was going to be an easy capture. And then...the dreaded trap failure...the door bounced, and so did Pinball...right out the door. But after that door hit him in the rear end, he wasn't falling for a regular trap again. We tried switching to a longer trap, but he wanted nothing to do with it. The second night, he even pulled the trap mat out of the trap to eat the food trail leading to the main prize at the back of the trap...but he wouldn't go inside.

Our next step was to try our brand new missy trap. This is a much larger and more complicated trap that is a fenced area with a door that stays open on an electro-magnet attached to a sensor. When the dog trips the sensor, the magnet releases the door and shuts the dog in. But by the time all of this was set up, he knew all of our cars. He wouldn't make a move toward any food if he recognized any of our cars in the lot. So we finally had another member in a fresh car come to help so we could watch from a distance. And finally it happened. The door slammed with Pinball inside, enticed by McDonald's filet o' fish, chicken nuggets, and bacon.

Overall it took us 3 very long days but we finally caught him and his days on the feeder road came to and end.

He is quite young...he was likely still a puppy when he was dumped. He is some kind of beautiful cattle dog mix with heterochromia (different color eyes). He loves human attention now, and prefers someone who can be with him a lot. He is very smart as hell and medium energy. He likes to nap and go for runs in about equal measure. He gets along with other dogs but has high prey drive and will chase cats. He is a bit tentative with new people at first, but warms up fairly quickly. He is nearing the end of heartworm treatment but needs to be kept calm until that is done. This sweet boy is destined to be someone's heart dog. He will win your heart with his amazing snuggles in no time.