When I first launched Keep the Tail Wagging, I was gung
ho for my idea to address dog rescue from a positive point of view. And then we adopted a rescue (we were foster
failures) and our sweet Riley passed away a week later from canineparvovirus. It absolutely broke our
hearts and pulled me in to the realities of dog rescue and it became too much.
Why I support dog
rescue
All of our pets are rescues except our cat Jaffrey, who was
sold to me by a woman who had kittens for $30.
I support dog rescue, because our dogs throw a parade at my
homecoming. Because it feels great when
one of our dogs crawls across my lap and falls asleep. Because they are so easy to please and give
so much love and don’t expect much in return.
Why dog rescue has
become too much
I’ve stopped following many dog rescue groups, because it’s
gotten to be too much. These people have
turned me off, because instead of showing happy dogs with their new family and
giving updates; they show images of abused animals all day long.
I understand that animal abuse happens, but when all you do
is focus on the negative, it leaves little room for us to celebrate the
positive and there are amazing, happy endings in millions of households in
America alone.
"Blue and Rodrigo" |
But there are many rescue groups who have managed to find a
balance with sharing the truth about dog rescue, sharing the happy stories and
useful tips so that our dogs don’t end up in a bad situation. It’s all about balance.
Here’s Our Happy
Ending
For now, I’m going to focus on our own happy endings which
were a big inspiration for Keep theTail Wagging. Rodrigo and Sydney are
littermates. Their mom was rescued from
a dog hoarding in Oregon in 2010 and they were born a couple of months
later. They joined our family in May
2010.
Riley was a stray that was picked up and turned in to a
shelter. Sadly, she had already
contracted canine parvovirus and was only with us for a week, but she knew the
love of a family during that week.
Blue is our newest addition.
He was also a stray and the shelter contacted Motley Zoo and they took
care of the rest, including vaccinations, neutering, and dew claw removal. When he joined our family, he was a little
shy, not sure if he’d be staying. By the
end of week 2, we realized that he definitely is a puppy.
All of our dogs are loved, trained, and well cared for and
these are the stories I now focus on and I write for other dog lovers who have
similar happy stories running around their house. Comejoin us.
Guest post by Kimberly Gauthier of Keep the Tail Wagging.
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