Stories, News, and Training Tips
SHARING AND CARING
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. I am so flattered at how many people have emailed me for permission to cross
post this little essay I wrote. Feel free to share this with everyone you know. People can find the dog of their dreams at a shelter; let’s hope they make
shelter adoption their first option. Hugs to all of you and your beloved dogs! - Janine Allen 10/17/2008

ONE BY ONE - Author Unknown
One by One, they pass by my cage, Too old, too worn, too broken, no way. Way past his time, he can't run and play. Then they shake
their heads slowly and go on their way.

A little old man, arthritic and sore, It seems I am not wanted anymore. I once had a home, I once had a bed, A place that was warm,
and where I was fed. Now my muzzle is grey, and my eyes slowly fail. Who wants a dog so old and so frail?

My family decided I didn't belong, I got in their way, my attitude was wrong. Whatever excuse they made in their head, Can't justify
how they left me for dead. Now I sit in this cage, where day after day, The younger dogs get adopted away.

When I had almost come to the end of my rope, You saw my face, and I finally had hope. You saw through the grey, and the legs
bent with age, And felt I still had life beyond this cage. You took me home, gave me food and a bed, and shared your own pillow with
my poor tired head.

We snuggle and play, and you talk to me low, you love me so dearly, you want me to know. I may have lived most of my life with
another, But you outshine them with a love so much stronger. And I promise to return all the love I can give, to you, my dear person,
as long as I live.

I may be with you for a week, or for years, We will share many smiles, you will no doubt shed tears. And when the time comes that
God deems I must leave, I know you will cry and your heart, it will grieve. And when I arrive at the Bridge, all brand new, my thoughts
and my heart will still be with you. And I will brag to all who will hear, of the person who made my last days so dear.

THE FOURTH DAY - by Martin Scot Kosins
If you ever love an animal, there are three days in your life you will always remember.

The first is a day, blessed with happiness, when you bring home your young new friend. You may have spent weeks deciding on a
breed. You may have asked numerous opinions of many vets, or done long research in finding a breeder. Or, perhaps in a fleeting
moment, you may have just chosen that silly looking mutt in a shelter ... simply because something in its eyes reached your heart.

But when you bring that chosen pet home, and watch it explore, and claim its special place in your hall or frontroom - and when you
feel it brush against you for the first time - it instills a feeling of pure love you will carry with you through the many years to come.

The second day will occur eight or nine or ten years later. It will be a day like any other. Routine and unexceptional. But, for a
surprising instant, you will look at your longtime friend and see age where you once saw youth. You will see slow deliberate steps
where you once saw energy. And you will see sleep where you once saw activity.

So you will begin to adjust your friend's diet - and you may add a pill or two to her food. And you may feel a growing fear deep within
yourself, which bodes of a coming emptiness. And you will feel this uneasy feeling, on and off, until the third day finally arrives.

And on this day - if your friend and God have not decided for you, then you will be faced with making a decision of your own - on
behalf
of your lifelong friend, and with the guidance of your own deepest Spirit. But whichever way your friend eventually leaves you - you will
feel as alone as a single star in the dark night sky.

If you are wise, you will let the tears flow as freely and as often as they must. And if you are typical, you will find that not many in your
circle of family or human friends will be able to understand your grief, or comfort you.

But if you are true to the love of the pet you cherished through the many joy filled years, you may find that a soul - a bit smaller in size
than your own - seems to walk with you, at times, during the lonely days to come.

And at moments when you least expect anything out of the ordinary to happen, you may feel something brush against your leg - very
very lightly. And looking down at the place where your dear, perhaps dearest, friend used to lay - you will remember those three
significant days.

The memory will most likely be painful, and leave an ache in your heart - As time passes the ache will come and go as if it has a life
of its own. You will both reject it and embrace it, and it may confuse you. If you reject it, it will depress you. If you embrace it, it will
deepen you.
Either way, it will still be an ache.

But there will be, I assure you, a fourth day when - along with the memory of your pet - and piercing through the heaviness in your
heart -there will come a realization that belongs only to you. It will be as unique and strong as our relationship with each animal we
have loved, and lost.

This realization takes the form of a Living Love - Like the heavenly scent of a rose that remains after the petals have
wilted, this Love will remain and grow - and be there for us to remember.

It is a Love we have earned. It is the legacy our pets leave us when they go - and it is a gift we may keep with us as long as we live.
It is a Love which is ours alone - And until we ourselves leave, perhaps to join our Beloved Pets - it is a Love that we will always
possess.