| Friday, June 03, 2005 |
| Farkota Friday, #5 |
Farley and Dakota enjoy a plastic treat that Lauren shared with them. See Joolee, we still play with the dog bone cards!
Last week, my mom called and told me to check my email. I was pretty busy, so she told me she had found a dog at Petfinder.com. In the past year or so, Mom and Dad lost two of their older dogs, Corky (13 year old Corgi/mini-Collie mix) and PeeWee (15 year old mostly Chihuahua mutt). The only dogs remaining are Tucker (14 year old dachshund mix) and Buddy (3 year old dachshund). I found Buddy on Petfinder almost two years ago and he fits right in, chasing squirrels and barking at nothingness on their quiet dead end street. She called and said that Tucker is, well, tuckered out. He's going deaf and spends more time in the doghouse than outside. She logged onto trusty old Petfinder.com and found a 3 year old full blood Corgi named Woody.
Woody's rescue home was about an hour and a half away from Mom's house, but it was on the way to my in-laws where we were to pick up Lauren last Saturday. So, we made a date to check out Woody. Mom said that it was love at first sight with Woody's picture. She said that if it felt "right," that I could bring him home. The Petfinder website said that Woody cannot be in a home with children. Hmmm, that's a big thing when we've got two grandkids under a year old. Mom's seemed so nonchalant about the deal, but I was a nervous wreck. How do you decide if a dog will be a perfect match for the next ten to twelve years? Most cars don't even last that long.
When we arrived at the rescue home, a large German Shepard greeted us. I've always thought that this breed was so beautiful, but I just assumed that they were aggressive. He was as sweet as could be. And then came Woody! He was a gorgeous light sable, much lighter than Corky, but he had that same sweet Corgi face. He came right up like he'd known us all along and licked and sniffed our hands. I couldn't imagine that this kind soul was mean to anyone.
I chatted with the rescue lady for awhile and asked that daunting question, "Why is he here?" She said that a woman turned him over to her because it wasn't working out. She said, "When my boys mistreat him (poke at him with a stick through the fence), he gets mean." Ooh, I could just feel the RAGE boiling inside me. Lady, the problem isn't the dog, it's the fact that you allow such behavior in the first place. Woody was such a sweetheart outside of that environment. They should've given him up sooner, in my opinion.
I'd say Woody is enjoying his new two acre home now, but his name isn't Woody anymore. It's Rudy. Yep, like the movie. My mom's a sucker for the underdog...figuratively and literally. We let Rudy meet his new family before we let Farley and Dakota out because Farley suffers from BELDS and UDAM. That's "Big Ego, Little Dog Syndrome" and "Unknown Dog Attack Mode" for those of you unfamiliar with dachshunds. When we finally let Farley out, he ran towards Rudy at 100 mph (nominally adjusted for dachshund leg stumps) with attack mohawk sticking straight up on his back. I could just picture the fur flying and teeth gnashing when they connected. But they didn't. Rudy was a gentleman and never showed aggression. That made me very happy. Of course, Farley is a lost cause in that respect.
So if you've made it this far through my post and if there's one thing you learn from this, it should be "Use Petfinder.com" It's a fantastic site filled with doe eyes and balls of fluff of both the feline and canine persuasion. We did get Farley and Dakota from a very nice dachshund farm, but that was before I knew about this site. From now on, our dogs will come from this site. If you are searching for a new pet, please use it. If you aren't searching, but still love animals, please find a rescue shelter nearby and donate some money. What they do is very expensive and they're rarely compensated with anything more than some thankful puppy kisses and a relaxed purr. And remember folks, please spay and neuter your pets. |
| posted by ieatcrayonz @ 6/03/2005 |
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