Those of you who followed my old blog knew that until last spring, I had a wonderful Golden named Ben. I had adopted him from Maritime Golden Retriever Rescue ... and before he came under their loving umbrella, he had been in the care of the Clarenville SPCA in Nfld.
In the course of letting them know how well Ben was doing, I wound up becoming 'pen pals' with one of the volunteers at the shelter. We are both animals lovers and have the common perspective of not being 29 anymore either : ))) Our friendship has also opened a window into an important part of her world - the Clarenville SPCA where she volunteers.
One of the things that I really like about the Clarenville SPCA is that they understand the importance of getting their adoptables out their on the web. No matter how busy they are, ALL their adoptables are listed and everyone has an appealing bio to draw adopters in. They have learned it is time well spent and many of their adoptions have been a result of interest that was sparked on their site http://www.clarenvilleareaspca.ca/index.php
Just as she pops into the homeless pet site now and then, so do i pop into her shelter site. This morning, I saw a golden guy who just tugged at my heart - his name is Ben too and this is what they have to say about him " Poor Ben is back with us again. He was turned into us when his owner moved and "wouldn't" take Ben along. We found him a new home but he was returned for "getting into the garbage". Ben is so sad to be once again homeless it is breaking our hearts. He is a good boy, house trained and already neutered. Ben is a Golden Retriever mix who is about middle age at 7 years old but he still has a whole lot of love in his heart for a new owner.....a forever owner this time he prays!"
Gosh ... whenever 'buyers remorse' rears its ugly head with pet adoption it just saddens me. A dog isn't an accessory or a gadget ..... but a sensitive living breathing sentient being who is just as unsure of his or herself as the adopter.
Good grief ... Ruby was here for quite some time before she realized that we didn't have to get up in the middle of the night and go out to investigate every time she heard a coyote! Something in Henry's unknown past had made him so afraid that he was here for months before he didn't growl if I stood over him in the dark ... and he is still VERY careful of any man holding a shovel/newspaper/etc...
The only dawg here who rolls with everything effortlessly is McG ... and that is because he has lived his whole 11 year life with the same person ... which is how it should be for all dogs. When people have a past, when they've been mistreated and/ or divorced, no one expects them to trust 'carte blanche' right away.
Why should we expect a good dog to automatically know that they are safe and secure after they have been mistreated or had their hearts broken? At the end of the day, dog training is a lot like that soccer ad on right now for Sport Nova Scotia .... it take practice, practice, practice.
7 comments:
awww poor ol' Ben--how heart breaking. he looks like a glorious boy!!! who wouldn't want such a love
100% agree with you on this one. No rescue dog is going to come "perfect" because they weren't raised by you. Everyone has a different idea of what the perfect dog is, and if another person trained your dog they probably won't be trained to your total liking.
Also, every rescue dog has had his or her heart broken. Our 8 year old shepherd came from a wonderful home, full of love and kids, and is well trained. She was surrendered to the German Shepherd Rescue because the wife's father got very sick and had to move in with the family, and he has severe allergies to dogs. We've had her for almost a year now, and she still isn't totally settled, she still stares at the cats and follows them around, she still gets very sad when we leave, and puts on a big production when we come home. She's insecure, and of course she is, if you lived with a family for 8 years and then was suddenly forced to live with someone else, never to see your family again, you'd be insecure too.
We work with our shepherd every day, and she slowly gets better, and then some days she's worse than ever. You just have to keep at it, because pets are not disposable. I can't imagine what she would do if we gave her up to another family or back to the rescue. I doubt she'd ever be secure again in her life.
I think some people get rescue dogs thinking they'll be easier than a puppy. That they come already trained and house broken, that they'll take no effort at all. We have both, and in my experience, a puppy is a way easier undertaking than a rescue dog... and we have a fairly easy rescue case.
No matter what age they are, all dogs are like "do it yourself kits" Everything that is needed to become a good dog is there ..... it just needs to be put together in the right way : ))))
What a great job they do on that site. I love that they include a range of photos, not just one.
Thanks for the kind words about our shelter. I am happy to report that we have Ben as adoption pending. He is a beautiful dog in all ways and definitely deserves a wonderful new home. Please keep your paws crossed that it works out for him this time!
what great news Jewel please let us know
jm
It's OFFICIAL. Ben is adopted to a fantastic new Furever home!!!!!
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