A Thousand Miles From The Place I Was Born

NaBloPoMo #21

My dear bloggy friends, please allow me to introduce you to my dogs, both of whom were rescued from The Humane Society.  This is Baxter:

And this is Sam:

Baxter is a mild-mannered little guy – a sweet, cuddly little ball of fur that will lick the skin right off your bones.  He adores me and follows one half step behind me everywhere I go.  His only problem is that when there are loud noises (fireworks, thunderstorms), he kind of loses his shit and needs to be medicated with puppy tranquilizers.  Side Bonus: “Medicated Baxter” is funny as hell and provides me with hours of entertainment.

Sam is about as different from Baxter as night from day.  Where Baxter loves to cuddle and lick me, Sam would rather run circles around me and bark.  Although he understands the commands “Come”, “Sit” and “Stay”, he will only heed those commands if he feels like it.  Otherwise, he will gleefully ignore me and go about his business.  He considers it his appointed duty to squeeze under my fence at least daily and roam the neighborhood wreaking havoc wherever he goes.  One of my neighbors finds this quite distressing, and calls me often to tell me that he is out.  What I don’t tell her is that I already KNOW that he is out.  I know this because he sprinted away from me and I am too out of shape to run after a 12-pound dog and catch him. 

Today, Sam and I played a fascinating little game called “Make Your Owner Want To Strangle You.”  The rules of this game are as follows:

• Squeeze under the fence despite the fact that your owner is calling you.
• Run across the street and sit in the neighbor’s flower bed until your owner comes around the house and sees you.
• Sit in the flower bed calmly and stare at your owner until she crosses the street to get you.
• When your owner gets within two feet of you, sprint in the opposite direction, making your owner look quite foolish as she grabs at the air behind you.
• Stop in the next yard over and stare at your owner.
• Repeat until your owner begins to yell profanities at you.
• Run back to your home, squeeze back under the fence, and wait calmly on the back porch until the owner lets you in the house.

Oh, what a delightful game.  Never mind that I’m sick… it was so much fun to run around my neighborhood this morning chasing that stupid dog.  Seriously, people, the only thing that saved Sam’s life today was this poem.  It had been sent in an email which was waiting for me when we returned from our “game”.

I RESCUED A HUMAN TODAY by Janine Allen

Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels. I felt her need instantly and knew I had to help her.

I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn’t be afraid. As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage. I didn’t want her to know that I hadn’t been walked today. Sometimes the overworked shelter keepers get too busy and I didn’t want her to think poorly of them.

As she read my kennel card I hoped that she wouldn’t feel sad about my past. I only have the future to look forward to and want to make a difference in someone’s life.

She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me. I shoved my shoulder and side of my head up against the bars to comfort her. Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for companionship. A tear fell down her cheek and I raised my paw to assure her that all would be well.

Soon my kennel door opened and her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms. I would promise to keep her safe. I would promise to always be by her side. I would promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes.

I was so fortunate that she came down my corridor. So many more are out there who haven’t walked the corridors. So many more to be saved. At least I could save one.

I rescued a human today.”

Ok, fine.  Sam lives for another day.  But he can consider himself to be on notice.