Sad, uplifting and heart-warming dog tales are traded when Bryn-dog, Joe and I visit dog parks. The ones that follow came from three separate places- Traverse City, Bay City and Freeland.
Joe and I like to mingle with other dog owners, trading comments about each pet’s quirks and talents, while a river of canines happily rushes around wrestling, and chasing balls and sticks. In Bay City we chatted about how friendly goldendoodles and labradoodles are, by nature. They trust everyone. One lady nodded sadly and gestured toward a large, sturdy picnic table in our section.
“See those tattered sheets of taped down paper blowing around? They’re ‘lost’ posters. A nurse who cherished her yearling labradoodle brought him here to play every day with my Rufus and other friends. One night after work she picked up Buddy from home as usual, but made a stop to purchase some milk at the local Seven-Eleven. It was pretty warm outside, so she left the air conditioning on in the car to keep him comfy, and dashed in for two minutes. When she came out, her dearest friend was gone. That was a month ago. She’d left the car unlocked. Someone had simply opened the side door and removed Buddy. He went willingly, as he trusted everyone.”
There’s a lesson here: never leave a beloved dog tethered outside but unsupervised, and never leave him/her in your unlocked car. The other owners reckoned that organized dognappers had marked Buddy as desirable, and followed her car for a while to learn her owner’s habits. They knew the ‘grab’ would be easy, as Buddy wouldn’t resist.
This kind of operation has happened before in the Saginaw Bay area.
So, beware.
We owners greeted a new arrival; a middle-aged couple and their handsome hound. The long-legged dog, white with large brown and black spots decorating his lithe body, is a cheerful soul who rockets around catching balls and other dogs’ tails. Snoopy knows he’s lucky. He’d been found lying in a heap on the side of a dirt road by this couple, who’d jogged by one morning. Someone had tossed him out of a fast-moving car. His hind leg was shattered and twisted almost backwards, leaving him helpless and in great pain. They rushed him to a vet, and surgery. Eventually, after a two-month-long hospitalization, Snoopy, mended in body and spirit, is secure in his new life with those two special people. He’s healed so well that we saw no sign of what he’d endured. Snoopy is a surgical triumph.
Then there’s Eloise, a gorgeous, stick-slim greyhound who’d raced for a living the first two years of her life. She’d won three races, too, and was considered a good earner. But then, one hot, humid afternoon, she simply stopped dead and plunked her bottom down in the middle of the racetrack, in the middle of a race. The other greyhounds roared by, eager to chase the lure, but Eloise was done. She refused to run again.
Greyhounds rarely speak. There is really nothing to say. One is alive, then not. (These dogs used to be shot when they stopped earning. In between life and death, perhaps once or twice a week, they must run flat out to try to catch something uncatchable, then be locked up again and ignored until the next track-time. That’s it.)
Fortunately, rescuers buy these doomed ‘don’t earn, don’t live’souls for a pittance, then adopt them out to special people who are willing to gently introduce them to new possibilities. (Greyhounds who professionally race have no clue what life is like away from the track. They live in small cages their entire lives, except for training and racing, so they have no idea how to play, or how to be social with other dogs or people. It can be a brutal world. Eloise had defended herself in fights. Both ears hang oddly: each has a tear-drop tear that looks like she’s wearing earrings. There is a deep scar on her sleek back.
After her race-rebellion this gentle dog’s life changed forever.
A special lady, Ellie, adopted her. Her first decision: Eloise had endured enough mayhem and change: her name would remain the same. This cheerful seasoned citizen, gifted with immense patience and sensitivity, set about showing the bewildered dog how life could be. They took long daily walks on actual grass. What a sensation! Eloise was unsettled, then awed. In parks she saw and heard birds sing, sniffed tree trunks and damp earth, and lapped lake and creek water. This world was utterly different. She’d moved from constant noise, cement floors, bright lights, loudspeakers and a wire cage barely big enough to turn around in- to a cozy, quiet home with soft furnishings and carpets. Her mistress offered unconditional love, common sense and gentle hands. It was a disorienting revelation. Overwhelming, in fact. When they would encounter other dogs and their owners, she’d become aloof and distant. When shown a ball, or toys, she was clueless, and so looked away.
Undaunted, Ellie kept encouraging her. But there’s nothing like seeing other dogs enjoying themselves.
A group of us were there when Eloise was introduced to the dog park. She hung close to Ellie and watched canine commotion, missing nothing. After a few visits she dared to venture nearer the swirling tails, but kept the thousand-yard stare.
Ellie continued to encourage her to join the friendly fray. Eloise was not convinced. A few visits later, though, she began to allow dogs to sniff her, but still refused invitations to play, or fetch.
She preferred to watch, day after day.
Then, one lovely afternoon, when there were only a few other dogs about, Ellie took out her ball cannon, shot a tennis ball far off into the grass and, for the hundredth time, encouraged Eloise to go for it. This time the young greyhound responded. She ran flat out and caught it far afield in mid-bounce. Such shocking speed! (From zero to 50 in three seconds, breathed one man.) Such effortless grace! Onlookers applauded as she cantered back with her prize. Again, please, Boss! Ellie happily obliged: she’d brought along a dozen bright balls for weeks, just in case....
On her next visit she began to avidly investigate everything: the two large stands of birch trees; female owners (she tries to avoid men); another dog’s rope toy and water dish; wind-tossed leaves. She accepted some invitations to chase and be chased. Eloise was beginning to delight in her new life.
These days she often runs to the gate with the other dogs to greet fresh arrivals, and sniffs puppies with great interest.
She doesn’t haunt Ellie now; her long, elegant nose is in discovery mode, and her long. slim legs propel her effortlessly toward anything tossed.
Eloise is having FUN!
Joe and I like to mingle with other dog owners, trading comments about each pet’s quirks and talents, while a river of canines happily rushes around wrestling, and chasing balls and sticks. In Bay City we chatted about how friendly goldendoodles and labradoodles are, by nature. They trust everyone. One lady nodded sadly and gestured toward a large, sturdy picnic table in our section.
“See those tattered sheets of taped down paper blowing around? They’re ‘lost’ posters. A nurse who cherished her yearling labradoodle brought him here to play every day with my Rufus and other friends. One night after work she picked up Buddy from home as usual, but made a stop to purchase some milk at the local Seven-Eleven. It was pretty warm outside, so she left the air conditioning on in the car to keep him comfy, and dashed in for two minutes. When she came out, her dearest friend was gone. That was a month ago. She’d left the car unlocked. Someone had simply opened the side door and removed Buddy. He went willingly, as he trusted everyone.”
There’s a lesson here: never leave a beloved dog tethered outside but unsupervised, and never leave him/her in your unlocked car. The other owners reckoned that organized dognappers had marked Buddy as desirable, and followed her car for a while to learn her owner’s habits. They knew the ‘grab’ would be easy, as Buddy wouldn’t resist.
This kind of operation has happened before in the Saginaw Bay area.
So, beware.
We owners greeted a new arrival; a middle-aged couple and their handsome hound. The long-legged dog, white with large brown and black spots decorating his lithe body, is a cheerful soul who rockets around catching balls and other dogs’ tails. Snoopy knows he’s lucky. He’d been found lying in a heap on the side of a dirt road by this couple, who’d jogged by one morning. Someone had tossed him out of a fast-moving car. His hind leg was shattered and twisted almost backwards, leaving him helpless and in great pain. They rushed him to a vet, and surgery. Eventually, after a two-month-long hospitalization, Snoopy, mended in body and spirit, is secure in his new life with those two special people. He’s healed so well that we saw no sign of what he’d endured. Snoopy is a surgical triumph.
Then there’s Eloise, a gorgeous, stick-slim greyhound who’d raced for a living the first two years of her life. She’d won three races, too, and was considered a good earner. But then, one hot, humid afternoon, she simply stopped dead and plunked her bottom down in the middle of the racetrack, in the middle of a race. The other greyhounds roared by, eager to chase the lure, but Eloise was done. She refused to run again.
Greyhounds rarely speak. There is really nothing to say. One is alive, then not. (These dogs used to be shot when they stopped earning. In between life and death, perhaps once or twice a week, they must run flat out to try to catch something uncatchable, then be locked up again and ignored until the next track-time. That’s it.)
Fortunately, rescuers buy these doomed ‘don’t earn, don’t live’souls for a pittance, then adopt them out to special people who are willing to gently introduce them to new possibilities. (Greyhounds who professionally race have no clue what life is like away from the track. They live in small cages their entire lives, except for training and racing, so they have no idea how to play, or how to be social with other dogs or people. It can be a brutal world. Eloise had defended herself in fights. Both ears hang oddly: each has a tear-drop tear that looks like she’s wearing earrings. There is a deep scar on her sleek back.
After her race-rebellion this gentle dog’s life changed forever.
A special lady, Ellie, adopted her. Her first decision: Eloise had endured enough mayhem and change: her name would remain the same. This cheerful seasoned citizen, gifted with immense patience and sensitivity, set about showing the bewildered dog how life could be. They took long daily walks on actual grass. What a sensation! Eloise was unsettled, then awed. In parks she saw and heard birds sing, sniffed tree trunks and damp earth, and lapped lake and creek water. This world was utterly different. She’d moved from constant noise, cement floors, bright lights, loudspeakers and a wire cage barely big enough to turn around in- to a cozy, quiet home with soft furnishings and carpets. Her mistress offered unconditional love, common sense and gentle hands. It was a disorienting revelation. Overwhelming, in fact. When they would encounter other dogs and their owners, she’d become aloof and distant. When shown a ball, or toys, she was clueless, and so looked away.
Undaunted, Ellie kept encouraging her. But there’s nothing like seeing other dogs enjoying themselves.
A group of us were there when Eloise was introduced to the dog park. She hung close to Ellie and watched canine commotion, missing nothing. After a few visits she dared to venture nearer the swirling tails, but kept the thousand-yard stare.
Ellie continued to encourage her to join the friendly fray. Eloise was not convinced. A few visits later, though, she began to allow dogs to sniff her, but still refused invitations to play, or fetch.
She preferred to watch, day after day.
Then, one lovely afternoon, when there were only a few other dogs about, Ellie took out her ball cannon, shot a tennis ball far off into the grass and, for the hundredth time, encouraged Eloise to go for it. This time the young greyhound responded. She ran flat out and caught it far afield in mid-bounce. Such shocking speed! (From zero to 50 in three seconds, breathed one man.) Such effortless grace! Onlookers applauded as she cantered back with her prize. Again, please, Boss! Ellie happily obliged: she’d brought along a dozen bright balls for weeks, just in case....
On her next visit she began to avidly investigate everything: the two large stands of birch trees; female owners (she tries to avoid men); another dog’s rope toy and water dish; wind-tossed leaves. She accepted some invitations to chase and be chased. Eloise was beginning to delight in her new life.
These days she often runs to the gate with the other dogs to greet fresh arrivals, and sniffs puppies with great interest.
She doesn’t haunt Ellie now; her long, elegant nose is in discovery mode, and her long. slim legs propel her effortlessly toward anything tossed.
Eloise is having FUN!