a post from the lovely Mandy from "just a small town girl". I adore her and loved this post she wrote. Thanks Mandy!!
"Being Rescued"
Hi everyone, I'm Mandy from Just a Small Town Girl. I know Tiffany is a dog lover and the proud "mom" of Bella. I am a huge advocate of animal rescue and my Golden Retriever came to my family through a rescue organization. If you have ever adopted a rescued animal you know that they are just a little bit different from other animals.
Sandy joined our family almost two years ago, its hard to believe its been such a short time. My family met Sandy – a mild mannered reddish hued Golden on a Friday night exactly one week after releasing our first 17.5 year old dog from her pain.
Making the decision to bring another dog into our home so quickly wasn’t a decision we made lightly. In fact, all the food and dog treats had been given away, the dog house (that had never been used) was donated, water and food bowls picked up and put away. However after two days of a house that felt completely empty without calming presence of a four legged family member was torturous. There was no jingling of a collar, no contended sighs, and coming home was almost unbearable with no one to great us at the door.
When my brother found out we were going to meet a Golden, he became upset, “Its too soon, we’re not ready.” On that summer Friday evening, he begrudgingly went with us, mumbling under his breath. As we stepped out of the car, the wonderful woman who works on behalf of the rescue organization, opened her van door and out bounded Sandy. She was incredibly excited, wiggling her entire body as fast as she could. After quickly making the rounds for a quick pet, she went back to my brother who had crouched down. With her long flowing tail beating against the ground, her big, warm brown eyes looked into his face as if to say “It’s ok if I come home with you, right?” He responded with a playful pat on her head, we all knew that Sandy would be coming home with us.
Over the past few years, while Sandy has a special bond with each of us, the bond between her and my brother has surpassed all of those. In some way that can’t be verbally explained, Sandy knew that my brother needed her most to help him get over the grief of losing our other dog. We all needed her to help heal our hearts and move forward. She has given us unconditional love and loyalty. She makes us laugh daily with her human like expressions, antics, and moods. When we've had a bad day and just want a hug, she patiently sits there as we wrap ourselves around her, kissing her forehead. She reminds us to stop whatever it is we're doing for some fun or just a belly rub. She makes our lives complete.
Its easy for us human beings to rescue a dog-- to give them shelter, food and love. What we don't realize though is that usually we're the one's being rescued by these magnificent creatures.
Making the decision to bring another dog into our home so quickly wasn’t a decision we made lightly. In fact, all the food and dog treats had been given away, the dog house (that had never been used) was donated, water and food bowls picked up and put away. However after two days of a house that felt completely empty without calming presence of a four legged family member was torturous. There was no jingling of a collar, no contended sighs, and coming home was almost unbearable with no one to great us at the door.
When my brother found out we were going to meet a Golden, he became upset, “Its too soon, we’re not ready.” On that summer Friday evening, he begrudgingly went with us, mumbling under his breath. As we stepped out of the car, the wonderful woman who works on behalf of the rescue organization, opened her van door and out bounded Sandy. She was incredibly excited, wiggling her entire body as fast as she could. After quickly making the rounds for a quick pet, she went back to my brother who had crouched down. With her long flowing tail beating against the ground, her big, warm brown eyes looked into his face as if to say “It’s ok if I come home with you, right?” He responded with a playful pat on her head, we all knew that Sandy would be coming home with us.
Over the past few years, while Sandy has a special bond with each of us, the bond between her and my brother has surpassed all of those. In some way that can’t be verbally explained, Sandy knew that my brother needed her most to help him get over the grief of losing our other dog. We all needed her to help heal our hearts and move forward. She has given us unconditional love and loyalty. She makes us laugh daily with her human like expressions, antics, and moods. When we've had a bad day and just want a hug, she patiently sits there as we wrap ourselves around her, kissing her forehead. She reminds us to stop whatever it is we're doing for some fun or just a belly rub. She makes our lives complete.
Its easy for us human beings to rescue a dog-- to give them shelter, food and love. What we don't realize though is that usually we're the one's being rescued by these magnificent creatures.
--
Mandy
www.knowingthedifference.com
4 comments:
lovely post. pets really can have an amazing effect on a person, and a family. I definitely agree that sometimes they take care of us more than we take care of them, at least emotionally. I love my puppy Hazel like she's my child, which is silly maybe but I do. she too has "human like expressions, antics and moods" and while she always likes to bug me to play with her while I am trying to get work done, sometimes it is nice to just shirk the duties for a while and play fetch. or cuddle. pets are the best.
Ah Mandy, this made me cry in a good way. People involved with rescue organizations on any level (donator, worker, rescuer) makes me feel like the world is actually a good place.
That is so sweet!!! OK, now I really, really miss my cats!
I just don't know if there will ever be a post written by you that I don't fall in love with!!! You brought tears to my eyes!!!!!
There is something so special about Goldens!!!
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