I got this from the ASPCA's email newsletter.

PETFINDER HAPPY TAIL OF THE WEEK: CONAN, CANINE CONQUEROR
New York State resident Penny Sencer was browsing through Petfinder.com, the ASPCA's online partner and searchable database of more than 90,000 homeless pets, when she was stopped by one particular pooch. The herding dog mix was currently being sheltered at the Susquehanna County Humane Society in Montrose, Pennsylvania.

"I do dog agility, so I was thinking about adopting a border collie," says Penny. "But when I saw this dog's charming face, I was tempted to take a look." The canine had been abused and left in the woods of Pennsylvania as a pup.

It was a beautiful day, so Penny packed up her dog, Curly, and headed to the shelter. "When I arrived, I left Curly in the car and went to meet the dog I had seen on Petfinder. My first impression was a sad, somewhat mangy black blob in the back of a kennel. The staff person got out a leash and opened his cage, and he immediately ran off and cringed in a corner. He began choking as they put the leash on him, and when I took him, he walked cowering between my legs. I began to think he was not the dog for me."

But when the dog saw Curly in the parking lot, his ears and tail perked up. "I swear he smiled," recalls Penny. "The two dogs frolicked around the parking lot for a moment and I realized that I had to take this poor creature home. He and Curly had decided that he was to be a member of our family."

The shelter staff had been affectionately calling him Bonehead, but Penny selected a more dignified name--Conan. It soon became clear this was a monicker he'd definitely have to grow into. "He would not leave my side when we walked," remembers Penny. "He choked when approached with a leash, and cowered at the sight of a ball or Frisbee. He slept under the futon bed, refused to sit on the couch and was pitifully eager to please."

A year with Penny and Curly, however, has transformed him. "He frolics in the yard with Curly, herds every dog he meets, catches a tennis ball, and hogs the bed and couch," Penny says. "He is a wonderful, happy, silly guy who loves to travel, visits often at the nursing home and has learned to trust people again. He still thinks 'Come' means to chase the squirrel and then slink back for a well-earned 'Bad Dog,' and his idea of 'Down/Stay' is to crawl toward the object of interest on his belly! But he is really a good dog, still eager to please, and always cheerful."

Our canine hero is scheduled to begin agility competition soon. "Just look for the white-footed black dog who stops for a long time at the top the A-frame to survey his domain before he continues with his run," laughs Penny.

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