The Guardian... Dusty Maverick

Are you a fan of the TV show Maverick? Maverick is!

Maverick is named for the character Maverick.
Since Bart & Bret were already used, he wanted a really cool name; so, because of his coloring, he decided on Dusty. Besides, Dusty sounds like a good ol' western name!

Maverick is not named for the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, as most people assume when they meet him.

Maverick is believed to have at least Border Collie and Great Pyrenees in him, but we all know now what a critter looks like may not be what they truly are.

As to the title of this post, Maverick is the guardian of everything. If you have seen the cartoon of the Old English Sheepdog & the wolf, you will know what I mean. The two go to work, punch their time cards and begin their day. The Old English Sheepdog sits in his stoic guard dog position. The wolf dresses like a sheep and tries various ways to sneak in amongst the herd and steal a sheep. Well, as you can see by Maverick's pic, he sits and he guards. In his younger days, he could sit like this for quite some time. We have built in benches on the deck, just behind him in this pic, where he usually sits and watches. It's all he does. Inside, he will lay in doorways where he can see most of the house at once or with the turn of his head.

If you've ever wondered what happens to the "Wal-mart dogs", wonder no more. What? You don't know what a "Wal-mart dog" is? Well, you know those folks that sit in the parking lot with a crate or box full of puppies and a sign: "puppies for sale". We've all seen them. They look real cute, but who would get a dog from these people?

Well, according to the old man who had Maverick, he did. Here's how I came by Maverick.

In December of 2000, an old man, as I am told, had his van towed to the shop my brother worked at as a mechanic.
Because he had no where to stay, they took him to a shelter. The shelter would not take the man's new 6 week old puppy he just got in the Wal-mart parking lot; so, the man left the puppy in the van.
The owner of the shop took him home the first night. My brother brought him here the second night.
I was to take care of him until the man's van was fixed. It turns out the van was not fixable. The man was told.
He did not show up to claim the puppy.
About two months or more later, the man finally came back tot he shop with a very small car. He asked the guys at the shop for his puppy, the one he left in the van and never once called about or checked on.
Because the man never came by for the puppy, never inquired about the puppy for so many months, they tried to talk the man out of taking the puppy back. At first, the man refused, but the guys offered him $50, which is, from what I understand, what he paid for the puppy. He agreed, took the $50 and left.

Of course, hind-site being 20/20, this was probably for the best.

Maverick has a long double coat which requires extensive grooming and clipping to keep it well managed during the summer time in Texas. The cutting also helps keep him cool, as it takes the heavy weight off of him, as well as keeps hot spots to a minimum. He has allergies to almost everything he touches from grasses and weeds to ragweed and cedar pollen. He has chronic yeast infections in his ears because they flop to close to his head. He has had an ear resection in both ears to try to open his ears a bit more to allow more air flow, but this did not work. Yeast infections are caused by moisture in enclosed areas that are constantly warm. Because Maverick is always hot with all his hair in Texas, dampness sets in and yeast infections soon follow. Rainy season is the worst. He also, from time to time, gets yeast infections between his toes and has been on medication to eliminate the infections. He has joint issues in his knees, as he suffers from ACL, anterior cruciate ligament, problems. This is a problem more well known to athletes. It can be helped with dogs, but it has to be done when the injury occurs. If you wait, the injury leads to arthritis and cannot be corrected properly or with good results.

Maverick is tri-colored being mostly white with tan and black markings. He has chocolate brown eyes, and he knows how to use them to get what he wants. He self-taught himself to shake hands. When he wants you to not make him do something or you are mad at him, he will try to shake your hand, as if to plea with you to stop forcing him to do what he doesn't want to do or to please forgive him and not be mad at him anymore. It is heart-melting! Gotta love him; he's a real sweetheart!