Rescue Dogs Make Awesome Pets

Rescue Dogs Make Awesome Pets.

Animal shelters across the United States ,often suffer from a lack of funding. Too many dogs and not enough loving families who want a mutt or half breed dog for a pet. This creates ongoing problems for the shelters. many things contribute to the large populations of dogs, suchas abandoned puppy mills, and those mills which have been legally shut down, irresponsible owners who just turn the dog lose simply because they nolonger want the burden or responsibility.  Disaters, like Forest fires, Tornados,and Earthquakes dogs get scared and become seperated from their owners. Fortunately most of these dogs are eventually reunited with their owner, providing the owner survived the ordeal as well. Sometimes these dogs are in the shelters for a few weeks before they are reunited, they may also require medical attention. If you currently have a dog then you can relate to the  expense of feeding just one dog, imagine feeding eighty dogs a day. Then you have the cost of the medical staff who provide proper medical attention to get these dogs healthy again. 

Some dogs who end up in the shelters have more serious health issues caused by neglect and pure evil cruelity, often leading to surgery and weeks of recooperation. These situations cost the shelters a lot of money to maintain the health of these prescious dogs. Due to budget cuts and other funding shortages many shelters in bigger cities have been forced to adopt euthanasia policies which forces them  to euthanize a dog after he has been in the shelter for 90-120 days with out being adopted, these dogs have to be euthanized so that new dogs can be housed and taken care of..All these Dogs really want is a loving family and they deserve at least that much.

Please understand I am not trying to shame anyone who wants a pure bred dog. If the purpose of  getting the dog is for home security or for a work dog. such as search and rescue dog. Or perhaps a certified service dog, then by all means get a pure bred. However if you are just wanting a pet then by all means visit your local animal shelter. These are dogs who by no fault of their own,  have been turned in for any number of reasons, or perhaps they have been abandoned. Most of these dogs are mixed breeds or mutts. But so often they are the most lovable and appreciative of the second chance you have given them. By being a mixed breed they often possess the best attributes from both breeds. Many of times they are smarter than some the pure bred dogs. Most shelters will have already given them all their current vaccines and they will have been neutered or Spayed. They also put a microchip in them in the event they get lost.       

The last two dogs I have adopted came from our local Humane Society's shelter the first one was Heisen he was about two years old when we adopted him. Heisen had already been neutered, had all his vaccines and a data chip. He was a beautiful black and white Beagle and Dachshund mix. The story we got from the Humane Society was that an elderly lady had him since he was a puppy, her health had had deteriarated and her family had to move in to a asisted living home. Since he was already 2 years old he was already house broke.  Not to mention he actually enjoyed his baths. Heisen was very vocal, which comes in handy when your son or daughter come home after curfew. He was very energetic. He had the long body of the Dachshund and the short legs with the turned out front paws like Fred Flinstone. I used to joke about the fact that he needed a front end alignment. He could run so fast with those out turned paws and short legs;  just watching him would make you feel exhausted. He had the face, voice, and ears of the beagle. Unfortunately Dachshunds with their long bodies are prone to develop back issues. Heisen had a herniated disk the veterinarian put him on some pain killers and steroids and after about four weeks he was as good as new. But that was to only last about 16 months. I noticed he was walking with some discomfort, took him back to the veterinarian, more pain killers and steroids. 

After that he went downhill fast, after two days he was in such bad shape and in so much pain that we had to euthanize him. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. In the four and a half years that we had Heisen he made a lot of trips  to the beach, Heisen also went to Disney world and Branson Missouri. He loved to travel.

Three months had past after losing Heisen, I was on the animal shelters website and came across a photo of a handsome looking 9 month old dog that was part Beagle and part Whippet he was brown, black, and white. The animal shelter had given him the name of Harley. I went to see Harley the next day and put a hold on him which was on Saturday.

Then on Sunday my wife and I went to see him after church, like me she too fell in love with him. We adopted him, being a John Wayne fan I changed his name to Duke. Now being part Whippet he has hind legs like a kangaroo and can walk around on his hind legs longer than any other dog I have seen. I am about 5’ 9” when he jumps he can look me strait in the eye.  Now Duke’s story is kind of sad, he was born as a street dog in Las Angelos California he had never had a home, he was picked up by animal control when he was about five months old. Since he was at the end of the alotted time of Los Angeles  the shelter he was transferred to the Portland Humane Society because they don’t euthanize animals, just to make more room. Portland also has a 98% adoption rate It’s like getting a second chance.  

My Wife and I live in a apartment all the doors have door handles with a single deadbolt above it. As I mentioned we brought Duke home on Sunday afternoon, On Monday night my wife and I stepped out to do some grocery shopping, when we returned we found the front door ajar and no Duke to be found. We set the bags of groceries down and went looking for him. 15 minutes later we found him sitting with a couple of girls on the sidewalk.  The next day we exchanged the door handle for a door knob.

On another occasion I had gone up to the office to send a fax, I was only going to gone for a few minutes At that time our apartment community was much safer so  I didn’t lock the door nor did I take my keys with me, Duke was standing at the door giving me that look, you know the one, the why are you not taking me with you look. I ended up being gone a little longer than I had intended, and when I tried to open the door it was locked. I could hear him on the other side of the door sniffing, or perhaps laughing at me. I have to say that it was good thing nobody was walking through the corridor to hear trying to reason with Duke. One would think that if he could lock the door, that he could also unlock it. Not a chance. We have also found out that Duke does not like a harness of any kind, he either finds a way to pull them off over his ears, or chews through them. He prefers a regular collar, never tries to get out of it. He loves laying in my lap and watching television. He likes Granny Smith apples, pretzel bites, oranges. This little guy has been an awesome companion pet and brought a lot of joy and laughter to our home.

Shelters only have so much room to house the dogs they have, with limited funds so if your looking for a pet who is going to love you as much as you love them. If you have ever had to see a dog be euthanized it is heart wrenching. Adopt a dog today and save a life.