As
I saw the older dog, my heart broke. It
looked like one of my dogs, and I just knew they were related, but they were
not. Several years ago, we worked with
several people who had confiscated dogs in a situation because the dogs needed
a home, and the faces of all the dogs broke your heart, well, I brought that
dog home. What was I thinking of,
another dog along with mine, am I crazy?
This
dog was matted, dirty, and stinking so bad you didn't want to be around it or
even touch it. I also had to keep the
windows open as we were driving back to the farm. The dog was in their senior years, and I
thought, "is their hope for this dog, is it too late?" "What have I gotten myself into,"
I thought. Sometimes you can't fix everything.
I
took the dog to the Veterinarians office for its initial shots and was actually
embarrassed to go in because I thought someone, I knew would see me. What would they think? "Look at that dog, and it doesn't seem
he cares about it." I knew what they were thinking in the back of their
mind, and it probably was worse. I sat
in the corner until my time, and when I summoned back, the first thing I said,
"it's not my dog, I'm trying to help it." "Wow," said the Vet tech.
After the visit, the dog got a bath and brushed out, he looked much better and even much spunkier. We spent several days together, and he would play around the farm and ran with the other dogs before they left for their new home. What shocked me was the transformation of the dog and how his spirit changed in many ways. What always comes back to me, is if you put a little effort into something, you will get significant results in the end, and I see it every day.
Many
times, we see a dog that appears broken with little hope or future, it could be
that it's emotional or physical, but an effort to help the dog it always pays
off in many ways. Just this week, we
took home another senior dog that appeared “things were just too late" to
be able to help, but things changed. Today, that same dog is part of our family
and is a very loving dog, even with medical issues. No, it's not too late, and if there were
struggles in the early part of her life, what will always be remembered is the
peace and comfort and they now live in hope, compassion, and love. Unlike us, we sometimes let the past dictate
our future because we can't forget the past. I wish people were more like dogs! Myself included!
Sometimes
it's easy to give up even in life, and we know it always has struggles. You just have to pull up your bootstraps and
change the situation no matter how hopeless it seems. What a mess the dog was in, but when the dirt
was washed off, and she was cleaned up, it was amazing, and life by everyone
was changed for the better.
In
just a few days, volunteers are going back to the kennel where we will wash and
groom ten more dogs that are in the same position as the dog, I brought home,
dirty, stinky and matted with no hope. This is needed
to prepare them for the spay and neuters they will also receive. When we wash the dirt off and change their
life, I will only imagine we will even wash some of the dirt out of our life
too. It is a blessing and a lesson we
could all learn. If you don't help
others, you may never help yourself...
Ken
