I FINALLY found my dog!!!
It happened last Tuesday evening. Didn't expect it. Randomly ran a search on "shepherd mix California" and up he came. Thought I'd probably get a female, but it being the right dog was more important than anything else, certainly than gender.
When I read about him I thought "Ok, he really might be the one." Called his rescuer, talked. She sent me more photos and a few videos. Thought about it, called her back and asked if I could drive over *that evening* to meet him, and if it looked good, if I'd be able to drive back home with him. She said yes!
Here's the ad:
http://post.rescueme.org/18-07-24-00360
Within an hour I was driving 100 miles to meet him, and brought him home that night.
I have no fenced yard here, and there are chickens, ducks, and a cat, so my dog had to be cool with all of these things. No small feat to find! But we found one another, at last.
He was rescued from a very bad situation, chained up in a desert with 49 other dogs, cats, and a cock-fighting ring. No one knew anything about him, his name, age, history, nothing.
He's amaaaaaaazing! He's also a hero, which I won't go into now because this is already a long post. I'm SO HAPPY!!!