Human: Rietta
Canine: Yeller Dog “Elle”
Location: Dresden Tennessee
Type: Labrador Retriever / German Shepherd Dog mix
Our Story:
At a vet clinic. She was suppose to be euthanized. Here’s what happened…
I was a long time breeder of purebred German Shepherds. I had shut down my kennel and had one old female that I planned to take with me to Tennessee. The old female was a gift from another kennel. When she was born she was to vicious to sell. The kennel owner knew I trained police and police dogs and said I was the only one she could place a puppy like this with. Well she turned out to be my personal body guard. She learned to be friendly and was great around children. She just did not like strangers at all.
I could never breed her as she would beat up the males. I would never force breed any dog.
So when we moved up to the Tennessee wilderness, the old dog “Maggie Rae” came too.
Well someone dropped a very shy male chocolate Lab off on our property. It took me 2 weeks to catch him. I finally did and managed to find him a new home.
A few weeks later I notice my Maggie is pregnant. She’s 10 years old and pregnant. She’s having difficulty delivering so we get her to the vet. I told the vet to take the pups and let Maggie live. Well Maggie had 5 pups and only one survived. I did not want a mix breed puppy. My husband said she is part of Maggie and wanted to keep her. I asked the vet why she was not euthanized, and he said because she was screaming to live.
Well we did take her home with Maggie and Maggie was delighted to have a puppy. The only reason she is here is because she was a yeller so her name became the Yeller Dog.
Then we found she was not even a barker. So I shortened her name to Elle. She did not help out with the herd. I said this dog is simply useless.
Then one day while I was out riding my horse in the wilderness she decided to follow along with one of our herd guards. While on my ride we were confronted by a large pack of dogs, some hunting dogs, some looked like coyotes.
Well in a blink of an eye Elle came to my rescue.
My horse started to freak out but quickly calmed down when Elle and Dillon our herd guard sent those dogs running away from us. When we got back to the ranch I gave Elle and Dillon some extra treats in their feed. They became my horse’s personal body guards. I looked at Elle and thought you are not a Yeller at all. You are more like a garage kept Eldorado. I tried to give her away several times prior to that day. Since that day she became a very valuable part of my life. I guess she really always was. I just did not know it.
