Tuesday, April 26, 2011

The best bits are worth rolling up our sleeves for

I love making home made pizza, especially on cool damp days like this.  Is it more work?  You bet!   There is dough to be done and sauce to be simmered ... vegies to chop and cheese to shred ... and that's not even counting the original time it took to grow and process the basil for home made pesto!
But .... at the risk of sounding like I'm bragging ... there is nothing I could find in the grocers freezer that would even come close to the supper I'll have tonight!
Kind of like Miss Ruby and Henry, eh?  The casual new visitor to my home could not possibly imagine the time and love behind the lovely well behaved dogs they have become.  Truth be told, they are both all the more dear and precious to me for having shared such a journey.
It really is such a crapshoot to be a pet.  For every lucky puppy that hits the jackpot and is loved fur life, there is at least one more who will need a new leash on life somewhere along the line.
Why?  Because ... to paraphrase one of my all time favourite minstrels ... life is what happens even when folks think they have a good plan.   Companies close,  human love doesn't last forever and sadly some pet simply outlive their caregivers.
At that point in time, the really lucky pets are those who have been well trained and socialized.  The ones who can greet visitors to the shelter with a friendly tail wag.  In a world where dogs seldom get a second chance to make a good first impression .... it is the dogs like Lola and Lucky who can 'sit on the shelf'
They are very devoted to each other .. indeed it is thought that Lucky depends on Lola so much that he might not manage without her.   They are gentle enough to have slept with the children in the family.
They clearly haven't been out and about in the world much and are finding  SHAID a scary place to be.  Even worse, noone at the shelter speaks the language that their family spoke, so these good dogs can't even understand what is being said.
Worst of all is the fact that they are so timid that it is going to take a very special person to see beyond their shyness to their potential. 
The good news is that they are not all that old ... Lucky is only seven and Lola is a bit younger.   Even better, Lucky was already neutered when he came to the shelter, so there would be none of that freshly 'fixed' marking one such as I had when Henry first came here :)
Best of all, they are Labs and that means that good things can happen with lots of exercise and a pocketful of treats.
To be perfectly honest, I almost envy the kind heart wise enough to recognize the potential in this pair.   
What time is it?  It is time for everyone to put their thinking cap on and help these good dogs get their first chance at the good life they should have had all along. 
The only thing that comes to us without effort is old age    Gloria Pitzer

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