Today at work, we had this adorable litter of puppies come into our rescue. They are miniature-pinscher/chihuahua mixes! Dad thinks that Dory is a miniature-pinscher/dachshund mix, but I don’t care what she is because she’s so cute. Anyways, there are eight puppies and they’re all so small. They’re too little to use their outside runs because they can squeeze past the gates, so we have to put them in a little play pin to go potty. Their little puppy breath is the best, but I HATE cleaning up after them.

November 2, 2017:

All of the miniature-pinscher/chihuahua puppies have been adopted, and I didn’t get to say goodbye to some of them :(. That’s okay though, they are going to their forever homes where they will be happiest. I hope they adjust well. I knew they would go fast though, puppies always do. There’s a dog in our rescue program who has been with us for like 10 years! Poor thing. I am glad that we don’t euthanize here, I wouldn’t want to work for a place that does.

December 19, 2017:

One of the puppies was returned by their owner >:(. I hate when people do that. If you’re going to take a dog, you need to take responsibility for it! They probably didn’t like that he wasn’t potty-trained yet because he’s a puppy. Ugh. Some people don’t deserve dogs. He was one of my favorites of the litter. His name is David and he was the cuddliest one, and was always so laid back. I hope when he gets adopted again he actually goes to some good people.

December 20, 2017:

I found out at work today that David was returned because he’d been having very frequent and super bad seizures. I actually walked past his room one time today and he was seizing. It was horrible, I couldn’t do anything and he’s just a three month old baby. I guess I kind of understand why they returned him, they weren’t expecting a bunch of life-long medical bills when they bought a puppy… but still, it’s your dog.

December 31, 2017:

Ugh, I’m so angry that I have to work on New Year’s Eve! I mean, I guess it makes sense that I have to, I got off work on Thanksgiving and Christmas. AND it’s not like I can just not show up to work--there are dogs that need to be kept alive. It’s whatever though, I still get pay and a half.

January 3, 2017:

It’s my last day off school for Winter Break and of course I’m working. Anyways, they had to take David to the vet because he’d had three seizures before noon. The doctors are saying that it could be something with his kidneys, I don’t really know. I wish I’d paid more attention to what Jen was saying when she was describing what the vet was investigating. I bet trying to put all those puzzle pieces together is fun.

January 10, 2017:

I just found out that David passed away and they didn’t even get to find out what was wrong. There wasn’t enough time to even try and help him. I’m really upset, so there is not much more I feel like talking about. I hope one day I can get down to the bottom of situations like that, I want to save all the dogs.

Thank you, buddy. Thank you for providing the single most important opportunity that I’ve had in my life. You lived a good, long life, and you were always the good boy that kindly accepted help. You never knew anything was wrong--except when your little sister Velma got a little too angry-- and that’s what always put a fire under my feet. I couldn’t bare to let you go through any pain and have you not know why you weren’t feeling good. I remember the night Megan gave you some Enalapril that you weren’t supposed to eat, but you probably don’t. You didn’t think anything of it. That was the night. I went into a panic and an adrenaline rush came over me. I didn’t know anything about Enalapril--its function, correct dosage amounts, what would happen if someone who didn’t have the problems that the being that it was prescribed to had consumed it--I didn’t know anything. Your innocence is what motivated me to find this all out for your sake, and quickly at that. 

I soon discovered that Enalapril treats high blood pressure, diabetic kidney disease, and heart failure. A lethal dosage would’ve been around 2500 mg for a 55 pound boxer--thank God Megan only gave you 10. That ease of mind wasn’t enough, though. We hovered over you, making sure you didn’t have any symptoms, although we knew you would. You wagged your tail every time you saw us, you didn’t know how scared we were. If you had any sign of nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, dry mouth, coughing, loss of appetite, or itching, we knew what it was. Any type of symptom was a possibility in our minds. Overall, you were fine that night and we made a note for our coworkers to watch you the next morning, but you unintentionally made such a big impact on me. The motivation you gave me and the adrenaline coursing through my veins over fear for you caused something to click in my head. You helped me reveal my purpose.

When I saw the condolence card down in the office with a sticky not attached reading “Oscar Seris” two weeks ago, I knew. You were older, but the only thing that would’ve told me that was the gray fur around your eyes and the age number on your run card when you visited. Nothing of your behavior would’ve indicated such things. Any type of positive expression on my face disappeared when I saw the card, but I grabbed a pen and wrote to your owners. I know they loved you, and I let them know what you did for me. I hope it made them feel better, and I hope you’re running around with all your friends up in dog heaven. Run wild, bud.

Sincerely,

One of your kennel caretakers

Overall, those who truly end up adopting are people who have been under thorough investigation. Considering my work’s rescue is not-for-profit, all that we do for the dogs is truly out of care, so we know when a dog is adopted that they are going to the perfect home considering how strongly we feel for their safety and wellbeing. We look at the animal’s possible living conditions, we look at the workload of the owners and if the dog will be given enough attention, we look at the owner’s plan for the animal (declawing cats, having them live outside, etc.). We look at if the family has children or other pets and if that particular dog is good with kids or other pets… we do not leave anything for imagination when it comes to the possible homes of our rescues. Our rescues deserve to go to a home that’s been observed under a high-power microscope, and so all adopters, at least where I work, are good-hearted, educated, and worthy people.

      2. How Often Will/Do You Tend to Your Dog’s Needs

      3.  What Do You Do If Your Dog Has an Injury or Illness?

If you answered all or most a-c:

You are ready and deserving of a dog! You show good responsibility traits and are aware of the needs of “Man’s Best Friend.” You will keep a happy and healthy dog both happy and healthy. You are aware of what it takes to keep another living being in good shape! Congrats!

If you answered an even spread a-f:

You may want to consider the responsibilities of having a dog a bit more. You are mostly informed on how to take care of a dog properly, but there are some viewpoints that you have that aren’t as informed as they could be… We don’t want you to be like someone who leaves their blind and deaf 15 year old dog to board at a kennel for 4 months where he would eventually pass away due to health problems (true story).

If you answered all or most d-f:

Please don’t get a dog :). Dogs are valued beings of this world and they don’t need to be abused or neglected. There are too many animals in rescue programs that had previously been abused or neglected, causing them to have little trust in humans and making it harder for them to find a worthy permanent home. Sorry!

Five more to go--I hate leaving messages because I always stumble on my words. But if I’m completely honest, it’s kind of worse when they answer because then you have to deal with random responses… 

~~~

“Hi, this is Ginger from Country Acres, I was just returning your call regarding our rescue, Paprika. She is a beautiful two year old Pit Bull mix who came to us in January of 2019 with her 4 puppies who’ve all been adopted out. She is so sweet and incredible with kids! We’d really love for her to have a home for the holidays this year!”

  Please. She deserves so much more than living in a kennel :(.