‘Dog version of a cranky old lady’ needs a home — but she has some demands, rescue says
.jpg "Big Fluffly Dog Rescue in Nashville, Tennessee, said 5-year-old Nala looks sweet but is the equivalent of a “cranky old lady who hits people with a cane when they come to visit.” Her ideal adopter has no kids, no cats and no other dogs.")
Nala is a “stumpy little corgi/sheltie mix” who is obedient and eager to please — well, mostly, according to Big Fluffy Dog Rescue in Nashville, Tennessee.
She’s just not big on sharing.
Not with people. Not with dogs. And definitely not with cats.
“She really is the dog equivalent of an old lady sitting on a porch in a rocking chair who has no tolerance for visitors,” Jean Harrison, who founded Big Fluffy Dog Rescue, told McClatchy News in an email Tuesday.
The nonprofit posted about the search for Nala’s “unicorn of a home” on its Facebook page Monday. It’s since garnered roughly 2,700 likes and more than 900 shares — with good reason, too.
Nala is wearing a big, goofy dog grin in the photo. She looks as lovable as the post describes her.
“She’s had some interest because she is ridiculously cute,” Harrison said. “(But) I am holding the line firmly on finding her the right home as I don’t want to set her up to fail.”
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Nala is 5 years old and weighs 45 pounds. She lives at the kennel and is a fan favorite among staff, according to Harrison. But her last two foster homes didn’t work out. Not because Nala wasn’t happy — she was, Harrison said — but she had a funny way of greeting guests.
“New people were met with suspicion and growling,” Harrison told McClatchy News.
That’s just the way Nala is. As Big Fluffy Dog Rescue said in its Facebook post: “There’s no training to fix a general dislike of sharing.”
A rocky start
Debbie Bender is the adoption, intake and foster coordinator at Big Fluffy Dog Rescue. Nala has a special place in her heart — mainly because before Bender became acquainted with the rescue, she knew Nala.
Bender has been directly involved with Nala’s intake and progress since the pup arrived in the U.S. in November 2019 from Kuwait.
“The only information we have about Nala prior to arriving in the U.S. is that she is very sweet, loving, and friendly,” Bender told McClatchy News in an email Tuesday. “She was found in the middle of nowhere where she was running away from some sketchy looking men who were trying to trap her. She ran right into the arms of our Kuwaiti rescue partners and the rest is history.”
The rescue they partnered with is My Cats & Dogs in Kuwait, a U.S.-based nonprofit that rescues homeless animals in Kuwait.
According to Harrison, Big Fluffy Dog Rescue takes “dogs from overseas periodically,” though that has “come to screeching halt” since the coronavirus pandemic hit in March.
“Rescues overseas reach out to us about dogs they have rescued and they send them to us with travelers coming back to the U.S. on flights to D.C., Atlanta or NYC,” she said. “We’ve probably taken in about 30 that way over the past two or three years.”
But the vast majority of animals they rescue come from the Southeast.
“Big Fluffy Dog Rescue rescues pretty much what our name says, but if you only have one out of three, you’re still in the door if we have a spot,” Harrison said. “Sometimes, it’s ‘if you have a pulse’ we’ll take you in.”
In the last few years, she said they’ve rescued about 20,000 dogs, more than 100 cats (who came with the dogs), two pot-bellied pigs, one horse, a squirrel and “an 1,800 pound pig that was friends with a Great Pyrenees.”
‘On the hermit side of life’
They’ve had plenty of success stories. But as Harrison puts it, “there are not a lot of homes out there looking for a no-kid, no-cat, no-dog dog who doesn’t like visitors.”
That’s what’s made placing Nala so tricky, and what inspired Monday’s post penned by Harrison.
In a short essay of sorts ruminating on the rare type of home Nala needs, Harrison described the dog as “channeling the spirit of Ouiser Boudreaux” — the fictional character played by Shirley MacLaine in “Steel Magnolias” known for being grouchy and sarcastic.
“Nala loves her home so much she has zero interest in sharing it,” Harrison said in the post, which goes on to call her “a content, lovely homebody who needs a social hermit who wants a dog and not a lot else.”
Though Harrison said Nala is fine in public, she doesn’t do well with “invading infidels” (i.e. guests) but “will return to complete happiness and mellowness” once they’ve left.
“We are hoping that her soul mate is out there looking for a dog who will be an absolutely perfect companion but who is on the hermit side of life,” the Facebook post concludes. “Social butterflies absolutely should pass, but if your idea of a big night is Golden Girls reruns and snacks, this is your girl.”
Harrison’s snark is palpable. But that’s how it goes for pretty much every animal Big Fluffy Dog Rescue takes in — just look at their Instagram account.
“I write the way I write and what you see is pretty much how all of the posts are,” Harrison told McClatchy.
The “lawyer/dog biographer” says her snark pretty much just “bleeds through.”
“I tried being all rainbows and kittens once but our fan base was very distressed to see me attempt to be polite,” she said. “That was the end of vanilla posts.”
The ideal home
As of Tuesday, Harrison said they’ve had a lot of interest in Nala but “nothing concrete.”
According to Bender, the perfect match would be a single person with no other pets and limited visitors. Harrison puts it more bluntly: “The ideal foster would be a... prospector who lives alone in the Yukon and I am only half-kidding.”
Nala needs a fenced-in yard and someone willing to accept her as is — faults and all, she says.
“People on quixotic quests to change the essence of this dog are doomed to disappointment in the same way they would be if they tried to cut me off Red Bull,” Harrison said. “It’s not happening.”
If any of the above sounds like you, interested adopters are encouraged to fill out an application at bigfluffydogs.com/adopt. According to Harrison, Big Fluffly Dog Rescue will place Nala pretty much anywhere in the eastern half of the United States.
Just know the bar is high.
“Everyone wants to see Nala go to her perfect home,” Bender said.
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 11:40 AM with the headline "‘Dog version of a cranky old lady’ needs a home — but she has some demands, rescue says."
