The meme reads something like this, “Why pay $2,500.00 for a dog, when you can go to an animal shelter and get one for a fraction of that amount?” Of course, there is an English bulldog in the photo, because, well, that’s about what they retail for, unless you have an in to a bulldog breeder.
Not even three weeks passed before Gluten-Free Mama and I put our heads together, and decided that enough time had elapsed, and we should start looking for a new four-legged companion, to join us here on our farm.
Note that I was careful not to say that it was time to replace the Doze; No critter on this or any other planet could ever replace Dozer. That being said, we have an infinite capacity for love of dogs, and are confident that a new arrival would waste no time wending her way into our hearts.
Among those friends who extended sympathy to us at the loss of our Dozer, was Maggie, who is a volunteer at the Humane Society for Inland Mendocino County. Needless to say, with all of the devastation in recent times, there is a huge need for volunteers at this and every other animal shelter.
There are vast numbers of dogs and cats seeking new homes.
So I messaged Maggie on face/book, explaining that GF Mama had been seeing a lot of photos featuring Vern, a mixed breed dog with the most amazing smile. Was it possible that Vern was still looking for a home?
Alas and alack! Vern had been adopted only the day before, but maybe Maggie could interest us in a different pooch? Would we like to give her an idea of what kind of pal we were looking for? Chihuahua? Great Dane? Something in the middle?
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| Clancy |
After minimal consultation between the two of us, GF Mama and I formulated a picture of what our ideal dog would look like: We decided after two males in a row, Clancy, aka Mr. Digglesworth, and Dozer, we would like to go with a girl.
Dozer slept on our bed. Rather, he occupied it and we dealt with the reverberations. Despite the challenges inherent in having a dog pinning the blankets beneath it, while one shivers in the cold during the upcoming winter, we want our new dog to also have access, should that appeal to her.
Dozer weighed in at 52 pounds for most of his life, so we put “medium-sized,” between 40 and 50 pounds on our “application.” We said it did not matter whether the dog was short-haired or long. Since it is I who does the sweeping/mopping of the floors in this establishment, I am the only one who need be consulted.
We said the new doggie must get along with cats.They don’t have to love one another; they just can’t want to kill each other.
The only thing, we said, that would be a deal-breaker, is a barker. The barking does not bother us, but we do have that one neighbor, who goes bipolar when anything in the ‘hood is amiss, when it comes to noise. Even if Ellie will spend most of her time indoors, she still can’t be a chatty-Cathy outside.
Finally, I said it was OK if the dog was needy; so am I.
At one point, early on, Maggie asked me if we were down for a puppy. “Hell, yes!” was my immediate response, because I have had much practice training puppies in recent years. My hours are so extreme that I am always on hand to escort said puppies out to the accommodations which awaited them, in the great outdoors.
I have an infinite amount of patience with pups, just as I am content not to rush the process of acquiring a new roommate. The ebb and flow of my communiques with Maggie, feels good to both GF Mama and me. Haste has no place in trying to find a match that works for all involved, especially for the four-legged buddy.
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| Ellie |
And now Ellie has materialized: around forty pounds, a year-and-a-half old, mixed breed (beagle/lab), a little skinny and a little needy. Ellie was dropped off at a shelter in Covelo, with no explanation, and has been seeking a new home since.
She passed the cat test, but has a case of Lyme’s, which is being treated even as we speak. We would have to start by getting an appointment with that nice Dr. Jacobs, at the Willits Animal Hospital, to have Ellie looked at, so that we can get the heart-worm medicine and any other incidentals that are needed.
I am grateful to Maggie for being allowed to follow this process of selecting our next buddy, because I could never have simply walked into the shelter and chosen one-not while there were others in the same facility who would be left behind. I am just that fragile when it comes to these matters.
Were I to ask Maggie what could be done, if one were of a mind, I am sure she would say that there is a huge need for volunteers to walk dogs, and to spend time with them. Additionally, Maggie would say that the shelter needs money to keep the process going.
As it is, the Humane Society of Inland Mendocino, operates on a shoestring, and could use any and all donations you feel you could make. They did not even hold their annual fund-raising dinner this year, because it seemed awkward: How do you ask for money from a community, which has been devastated by recent fires?
I know of friends, as do we all, who lost it all. How can I think about dogs and cats when friends lost it all? That’s a tough one but I will say simply that those who lost all, can do something about it, as can their friends and family.
Four-legged critters do not have that luxury and are dependent on those who care, to do enough. How much is enough?
Maggie told us the fees for everything involving Ellie’s adoption were $175.00. I told her the fees were cheap at twice the price, and told her we would bring $300.00. That’s not quite double the fees, but it’s only the first installment.
The way GF Mama and I see it, we could have spent the twenty-five hundred in a vain attempt to “replace” the Doze, or we could spend the same amount at the Humane Society of Inland Mendocino County, you know, spread out over time in monthly installments.
The Doze would approve.
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| See? Smiling away... |
I know some people who will love to read this.
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