Woofs & Wags

Rescue Success Story: 2

25th May, 2010 - Posted by Heather Davis - No Comments

BY RACHEL JOINER FOR NASHVILLE PAW MAGAZINE

Newlyweds John and Kim Baldwin completed their happy home last March with a lovely lady named Linda McCartney. The Baldwins found their Blue Heeler and Welsh Corgi mix Linda through petfinder.com, as listed by Cheatham County Paws, a rescue group in Peagram. She was caught by a dogcatcher and named Sophie on Petfinder but the couple knew a name change was in order.

“John loves Paul McCartney & I love dogs with people names, so we decided on Linda McCartney.  At home, I tend to call her “Linder” though.  It’s my Pulaski heritage coming out.” They know little about her history before being picked up  by animal control, but she was obviously at one time trained by a caring family. She loves kids and came house trained, and she doesn’t bark or jump up on people.  When they first found Linda, she was about to be euthanized due to her long time at the shelter. “ I have no idea why she was there so long as she was certainly the cutest, sweetest & most well-behaved dog there,” Linda said.

After bringing home their new friend, John began the process of teaching Linda to howl. He had seen a video of a man who taught abandoned baby wolf cubs to howl so they could be released back into the wild and he tried this on the new dog. After a month of howling into Linda’s face, she began to howl back. “It’s this weird bonding thing they do.  Almost every night when John gets home from work, they howl back & forth to each other.  She loves it.”

Linda also loves her old wingback chair (which used to be John’s) and herding her guardians if they aren’t moving fast enough. “I’ll be walking to the back door to let her outside & all of a sudden I’ll feel her cold, wet nose on the back of my leg, herding me to the door. “ She also sunbathes, and grumbles like a old man.

Her parents Linda, a legislative assistant to a state senator and pending graduate from Tennessee State University with a Masters in Public Administration, and John, a recording engineer in the music industry and producer for How I Became the Bomb, both recommend getting to know as much as you can about your pet’s health history. The two have dealt with two unexpected health issues since adopting her, and if they had known more about her history, situations they dealt with could have possibly been anticipated or given them a clue of what she has gone through, bodily, in the past. Linda also says prospective rescue parents should talk to seasoned veterans. “We learned so much through our friends who have rescued dogs.”

All in all, Linda McCartney has changed the Baldwins. “She has added so much to our daily lives that I can’t remember what we did without her.  I don’t know what we’d do if something happened to her. She’s our child.”

Rachel P. Joiner is a freelance writer and publicist, and a drummer for local band the Joiners. She lives in East Nashville with her husband Taylor and great white wolf dog Gonzo.

Picture credit: Kim Andrews Baldwin