NursingLink

There is no pet like a rescued pet

We have four dogs now, our first dog, Minnie, our min pin, was given to us by my mother-in-law.  Missy, our chihuahua was found outside our house, huddling against the front porch step during December of '07.  She was very lethargic and despondent for a while after we took her in, but now she is a bundle of energy and such a joy, her and Minnie are inseperable and sleep together in the same doggy bed.  We got Gypsy, our english hound, at a shelter, we totally fell in love with her.  She is much bigger and older than the dogs we were used to, but they all need good homes.  The kids love to play with her, she is very good at fetch and plays soccer with them (more or less, chases the ball down and sits on it, but whines at the door when she sees the kids out playing soccer until we let her out).  We got Desi, who is a mutt, we know that he has some chow in him, at a Wal-mart, a man was giving dogs away out of the back of his truck.  Desi was the last one, we would have probably taken all of them if he would have had more. 

Last year at the end of September, Minnie gave birth to four puppies (the result of slipping out of the house without us knowing and meeting up with the neighbor's male chihuahua most likely).  Poor thing, she was only a year and half old, and looked so miserable carrying such a big belly around with such a tiny body.  After she had the pups, was when we got Gypsy and we were telling the gal who ran the shelter about Minnie and the pups.  Well a couple days later, we got a call from the shelter saying a woman had brought  in a shoebox she found outside her house with three little puppies inside, they had just been born obviously, because they still had remains of the little sacs on them and their eyes had not opened yet.  They wanted to see if maybe Minnie would take them in and feed them, hoping we could save them.  Of course, our Minnie was a great little momma and took the babies in as if they were her own.  Unfortunately, the runt of that litter, a female, did not make it.  Poor Minnie tried her best, we even tried feeding her with formula and using eye droppers to get it in, but she was already too far gone when we got them.  The kids took that very hard, we have had animals pass on before, but this one hurt especially.  My daughter, Rayna, held the little puppy as she took her last tiny breath and just cried, wondering how people could be so cruel.  We had to pray a lot about that one, and the neatest thing happened after that, my mom sent me an email with a link to an online forum for a radio station, KSBJ, about a little boy who had also had a loss.  I sat down with Rayna and we listened together and knowing she wasn't alone and hearing the little boy's words helped her understand a little bit more about why sometimes our loved ones, even animals, have to die.  I'm including the link at the bottom of this post, hope you all enjoy. 

Anyway, that is my experience with rescued pets, hopefully someday I will be able to run a shelter of my own.

http://www.ksbj.org/eblogs/morningShow/?p=113

Both of mine were from Mastiff Rescue.  I posted photos.

All of our pets, excluding aquarium stock, have been rescues of one sort or another. And I believe my wife rescued me 20 years ago on 5 Oct, when she came up to me and asked me for a date to go for an evening swim at the pool where we both worked.

All the pets we had when growing up came either from the pound or from people who did not want them. I did not know much about their history other than that.

I have been on my own since I was 17, but could not have any pets because of where I lived, until I was 27, and adopted 2 semi-feral kittens. They lived with me for almost 10 years, and I will never forget their antics, affection, and the joy they brought to my life.

In total, I think it has been 4 cats and 7 dogs that we have adopted. Only 2 cats and 1 dog did not come from the local pound, and they came from families that had to find new homes for them. All the dogs but my Nikka were abused at one time or another. Nikka is papered, and came from a litter of one, and the home that initially had her, also had a lab/great pyrennes cross, Molly. Molly and Nikka did not get along after an initial period of appearant good "relations". We think it was a case of the top dog not wanting a challenge to her authority.

Now nikka is very happy in a home with 3 other dogs, one other bure bred lab, a papered collie (that died last Auguest) and a lab cross. Nikka is now my best friend, companion, therapy, and service dog. She lets me know when I am getting sick, is learning to pull my manual wheelchair, and get things for me. She is a living heating pad for my hands, foot, and back. And it is impossible to guage how much she has helped in treating and preventing depression.

That is what I get from our symbiotic relationship. But I think that they ALL know that they have benefitted from being adopted. 3 of our dogs were scheduled for euthenasia the day of or after we adopted them. I do not "think" they know they were saved, and are grateful, I KNOW they are! They show it every day to all of us.

I truely believe that the Good Lord put our "Pets" here for us to have a better life. Over the years I have had cats, dogs, horses, pigs, cattle, and various reptiles and rodents. All of the mammals would show some kind of affection.

Enjoy all of them, and remember to treat your pets as you would want to be treated.

God bless, Paul

All animals deserve a loving home. It's great that you opened your house and heart to this one. Good for you! =)