Joker (aka Travel Dog)

This is Joker (aka Travel Dog). He is a friend of the Nature of Wildworks. He comes and visits all the neighbors because his owners moved and left him by himself.

There are a lot of loose dogs in Coarsegold. Some people are irresponsible pet owners but many dogs are just plain escape artists. They dig out of the yard, jump the fence, chew through the leash and then once free they are sold on the unlimited fun roaming opportunities in the Sierra foothills, not to mention the ground squirrel hunting potential this time of year.

That’s how we first met our All-American Dog. He showed up one day as happy as could be, lifting his leg on all the plants and tires, wagging his tail as he went with no collar, no tag and he wasn’t neutered. The breed? Hmmmm… Part pitbull for sure and possibly some basset hound? Or maybe dachshund? A dog with short hair, very short legs, very big feet, a sealion neck and an enormous head with pointy ears. A definite breed of undetermined origin. When my friend saw him she said “That’s the ugliest dog I’ve ever seen!” For me, it was love at first sight.

Our long-time Wildworks volunteer, Michelle, decided to try and find out where the dog actually lived. She went down the street knocking on doors and finally found the girl who “owned” him. She wanted to keep him, so Michelle offered to take him and get him neutered, vaccinated, and chipped. She got him a collar with tags. What a gal! But no good deed goes unpunished. The dog continued to work the neighborhood always ending up at Wildworks. She did find out that his name was Joker and you can see why by the photos. But I’d been calling him Traveldog so now he has a first and last name.

Sadly, on Michelle’s final trek to bring the dog home she discovered that his owner had moved out and left him behind…… Joker Traveldog decided he likes to bother our birds and herd the horses. Being kicked in the head and spending the night in an airline kennel to recover didn’t change his mind.

So—we decided to train him.

That’s when we discovered how truly smart this dog is. In a matter of minutes, he has learned how to sit, stay, lie-down, he comes when he’s called, walks well on a leash and goes right into his crate when asked, He LOVES his car rides. He now rarely bothers the horses, never bothers the birds, he loves all dogs and all people and he’s learning how to be a cat guy (more training needed in this area).

All-American Dogs are simply "mutts" not purebreds, and these mutts are now allowed to enter the BIG competitions. If you happened to have watched the Westminster Dog Show agility competitions you would remember Nimble. Half Papillion, half Border Collie this little happy hyper-speed All-American Dog won first prize.

Next up-- Joker. He jumps on the table and sits, runs through the tunnel and flies over the jumps—not once but twice. The weave poles are next …. then the teeter toter then who knows. The options are limitless.

Joker is looking for a forever home with lots of humans and dogs and no cats so he can sleep on the bed. But for now I tuck him in to his garage bed with food and water and lots of toys where he sleeps through the night without a peep.

Year: