Out of the Dog's Mouth

Hello. Do you like my picture? I am thirteen years old in this picture, and I'm still looking good, don't you think? This is my story, a story of my life with my master as seen through my eyes, and why I love the person I call my master (or mother), and how we came to know each other and learn from each other.

It was hot when I was born, and the people who owned me were not very nice to me. They yelled at me and teased me when I tried to eat, so now I am afraid to eat and getting very skinny. I am undernourished, so my hair is very thin and patchy. Today they hit me with some leather object that had a metal buckle on it, and they gave me a nasty bump on the head with it, so I ran away. I was afraid and hungry, but I was used to being hungry just not alone and afraid. The heat is beating down on my sore head, and I'm very thirsty. Suddenly, from behind me came a great shadow that made shade for me. The shadow was attached to a human, but this human was being nice to me, and she put me in a big truck and took me to a building where I was given a bath and fed. Then they put me in a small cage with a cement floor and a thin blanket. When the lights went out and it got quiet, I really felt unloved and alone, but at least I ate tonight.

Mom didn't have any pictures of me in the shelter, but the dog above shows exactly how hopeless I felt.

Weeks went by, but nobody was interested in giving me a home, and then one day they moved me to the last row, and I knew what that meant; they were taking me away and I wouldn't be back. I had seen a few fellow dogs disappear that way.

It was almost the weekend, and I hoped they chose me to go on a ride in the van and visit people. I liked riding in the van, and sometimes I got to sit with my head hanging outside! That was the best part of the ride. When we got back, I saw there were people waiting in the "meeting room", a place where we go to meet people who want a dog. Wait, what was this? They were taking ME into the meeting room, and there were two ladies in there and both of them were smiling at me. I ran back and forth between them since I didn't know which one might want me, but soon I was once again escorted back to my cage. Great sadness spread over me as the lights went out, and once again I had been rejected.

The next morning I was feeling pretty low, when I heard a familiar voice, and the next thing I knew one of the ladies from the night before was putting a leash on me and walking me to the front. Was she my new mom, or were they going to get rid of me? I wasn't sure until she began petting me on the head and saying nice things to me, telling me I was "good" and "pretty", words I had never heard used to describe me before. I began to strut with pride, I was the one getting a new home today!!

It's been three months since I got a new home and new mom, and I couldn't be happier. I get to sleep in the big bed next to my new mom, take walks, and go to the park where I get to run free for a while and splash through puddles of water! I have a friend down the hall named Max, and even though Max is a big dog we play well together. I've learned who the people are around here, and they are nice to me, so I don't have to hide behind my mom's legs anymore and shake when a new person comes around. People bring mom dinner on Sunday and she shares it with me. I have come to feel very loved, but how do I show my mom how much I love her? Well, I try to lick her face and arms to show love, and I give her kisses on the nose. If we are out and she sits down or is in distress, no matter what I am doing I go back to her and sit down right beside her until help comes.

My mom and I had many adventures together and I met a lot of people from mom's life, most of which I liked, but some not so much. I made friends with a Rotty named Holbrook. He was named that because mom and her friend found him in Holbrook, AZ when he was just a pup. He and I were great friends and he would let me sit on top of him when he chewed milk bones, and then I got a smaller piece that he chewed off for me. Then, one fine day mom and I were leaving them behind and moved back to the small apartment she had when she got me.

I missed Holbrook, but I was worried about mom. She wasn't very patient and she didn't seem to know how to show love very well. I had to figure out a way to help her before she was alone forever. Over the next few years I taught her how to love by always loving her to an extreme, even if she had only been gone ten minutes. I would always react with the greatest of joy! I wanted her to know how good it feels to always be loved, no matter what. Patience was a little harder. I tried to show her how to go with the flow of things and still always be happy, and how to relax, that's important you know. She finally began falling asleep with her arm over me in the middle of the day, and I knew she was starting to relax.

Over the course of our time, I ran in the Atlantic Ocean, drove with her from North Carolina to Colorado, lived with a lot of other people and made a new friend named Speed bump. Speed bump was a mastiff but she listened to me when she wouldn't listen to anybody else. She always calmed down around me, but one night she got excited and pulled mom over a porch rail and to the ground. We couldn't keep her after that because mom broke her arm and crushed her shoulder and couldn't handle Speed bump anymore. I missed her, but mom was beginning to get older and thought she was a lot of work. I still blame the humans around her when she was a puppy for making her the way she was, but humans always blame the dog and say we are bad instead of looking at the things they taught us.

Here I am at Christmas. That was always a big day for me because I got a big sock shaped thing that had treats and toys inside! Then later I got turkey or beef, depending on what mom cooked that year. I am one happy dog!

I had two mast cell tumors that required surgery, but mom took very good care of me after surgery. She even made me a little shirt that fit over all four of my legs and kept me from licking my stitches. I love my mom and feel that I'm the luckiest dog in the world to have found her. My mom is almost 70 now, and I will be 14 in July. We are growing old together, and loving the journey together.