Every dog comes with his or her own story, but the stories of most rescue dogs are often mysteries to us. I’ll never know how my dog Farley and his canine buddy ended up running along a highway before they were picked up by animal control and ultimately transferred into rescue. I can only speculate about what initially caused him to attack doors when someone was on the other side of it. And I’ll never know if he always thought he was the center of the universe, or if that only happened after he got great care after becoming part of a rescue group. (Who wouldn’t luxuriate in the care and attention they provide?)
Or there’s my other dog—once a Princess, now a Daisy—who likes to stay close to us. Her previous owner surrendered her to a high risk shelter due to “allergies.” My initial inclination is to be angry—how could someone keep her unsprayed and then just abandon her to certain death? I try to remind myself that I don’t know the story of her former owners and how complicated their lives might be. I just hold her close every chance I get.
From “chow hound” Sasha, the Labrador Retriever who loved to “counter surf” right up to the end of her 16 years, to grumpy red tabby Guthrie who was brought back to the shelter twice, our brood has brought with them more than their share of untold stories. All we know is that with us they started a new chapter of their life, and that we try our best to give that chapter a happy ending.
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