There are many reasons to be sad and reflective on this anniversary of 9-11 but for some reason my thoughts have turned to the many back yard dogs I've loved and said good bye to in the past years. Dogs who were brought into this world because someone thought their dog needed to experience the "miracle of life", or to make a quick buck on the breed de jour without regard for temprement or health. Through no fault of their own they ended up spending their formative years tied to a tree or left alone in a yard with little if any contact by a loving person to call their own. They weren't beat, they had food to eat maybe even a dog house....wow how lucky can they be, but no one to guide them to become good doggie citizens, no one to give them a good rub down and say "good boy", "what a nice girl". Then one day they became too much trouble, they were digging holes or barking too much so they found themselves at a shelter. Now we have scared, nervous dogs of various breeds and mixes who are challenged to find themselves a home where someone will love them and help them get beyond their rough starts. How do you even evaluate if they are a good representative of their breed when who knows what they are. Shelter life is tough, foster homes are difficult to find and it's difficult enough to convince people how wonderful rescue dogs can be without also convincing them they want to take on an adolescent or older dog who has probably developed bad habits. How many people want to take on a project dog of unknown lineage and all of the baggage that goes with them.
Here's to you Spunky
Here's to you Spunky
I hope you felt love for once. I know that each of you and so many others have taught me so much.
You will be in my heart forever.
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Hurray for these wonderful dogs who got a second chance at life! Many times we see such horrific abuse of animals that we forget that backyard abandonment is abuse too. A prayer for all such doggies in the hopes their owners see the light...
ReplyDeleteThat's a great picture of Spunky. Spunky was so high energy and I remember going to take her out one time and saw her sleeping peacefully in her kennel. That was the first time I ever saw her sleeping in there. I couldn't bring myself to wake her up as she looked so peaceful in sleep.
ReplyDeleteConnor was a good fun loving dog. I think the kennels contribued to his decline and growing fear of men, we always got along though.
I was at the off site event where Biscuit was orginally adopted by a woman with a young boy. It was disappointing to see him come back.
Jackson shown signs at times that he could be a great dog. I wonder sometimes how much the stress off living in kennels compounds the issues they have. These "backyard dogs" already haven't had a great life and then stress and confusion is compounded by being put into a concrete kennel whith barking dogs all around them and no guidance and no understanding of what is going on. It's up to people to rescue these dogs that others have given up on (or in most cases never came them a proper chance with things like; living indoors, vet care, training, proper exercise, etc).
It would have been nice to see pictures of Rosie and Kai up as well. Rosie tought me a lot about large brindle mixed bully breed dogs. Mainly that they truly can be gentle and loving as you can imagine a dog being.
Kai is typical of a dog that comes to a shelter. Just like here in Atlanta you see many pit/pit mixes who are 6-11 months ending up at the shelter because they are no longer puppies and are just a pain in the ass I guess for people who don't want to deal with training and exercising dogs properly. I got two shelter dogs and they won't be my last.
Kevin R.
One man's trash is another man's gold!
ReplyDeleteWonderful stories, so keep them coming. I wish I could save them all...
ReplyDelete