Jack Manizza is a long-haired mini- dachshund who worked as a puppy daddy in a puppy mill for seven years up in Maryland. The pooches were nothing but money-makers to the puppy mill people: they lived in cages and had numbers tattooed on their ears. Then the law changed, letting those awful places have only 50 dogs instead of 100. So the oldest pooches, including Jack, were booted out and sent to shelters.
Now Jack lives in Sebastian with his Forever Mom and Dad, Kathy and Bob. They answered the door. Jack sat on the living room rug, sizing me up.
“Good morning,” I said, friendly but professional. “I’m Bonzo. Thank you for agreeing to yap with me.”
Jack rose for the Wag-and-Sniff (actually, no Wag, just a Sniff). “Good morning,” he said. “For the sake of full disclosure, I must tell you that, as a result of my early life experiences, I am not comfortable in the company of dogs. However, I enjoy your column. You seem like an OK chap.”
“I understand completely,” I said. “I know you had a rough start in life. So just talk about whatever you’re comfortable with.”
Being a senior pooch, with a low center of gravity, Jack looked up at his Mom, and she hoisted him onto the sofa beside her. “We dachshunds aren’t supposed to jump, ‘cuz it can damage our spines.
“I’ll begin with the part after I left the puppy mill. I blocked out those years and try not to think about ‘em. Me and my sister got adopted from the first shelter right away. We were glad to have each other, but then, the family’s dad didn’t like me. I was terrified of him. He wasn’t a dog person AT ALL, so they kept my sister and gave me back. We were heartbroken. I ended up with a very dedicated foster mom, who had 27 dogs in her condo. It was wall-to-wall dogs. She listed all of us on Petfinder.com, which is where my Forever Mom and Dad found me. So, finally, I got a real family. Trouble was, I was scared of men. It took me years before I could have anything to do with my Dad. It wasn’t his fault, tho. He tried everything. Even feeding me cheeseballs like a mother bird does, from his very own mouth. Well, we began to bond (I love cheeseballs). Then, after four years, we were driving home from Petco and I got up the courage to lick his hand. He says it was the best day of his life!
“For years I had a lot of pain, but I didn’t know how to tell anyone. Then, when Mom took me for a check-up, the vet said my teeth were in horrible condition and had to come out. Now I have no teeth, and no pain, either. And I get nice, soft food.”
“Wow, Jack, you have sure had some big troubles,” I told him.
“But I’m a lucky pooch. I finally found My Calling.”
I was all ears.
“Mom worked in a nursing home in Maryland, and she started taking me along every Saturday. Turns out I have a talent for helping senior citizen humans. (I can relate since I’ve got a birthday coming up.) The residents loved me and I was totally comfortable with them.
“When we moved down here a year ago, Mom and I missed visiting the senior citizens, so we went to Dogs for Life so I could learn to be a therapy dog. Now we visit the adult day care in Vero and Pelican Gardens here in Sebastian. One lady was scared of dogs ‘cuz she’d been bitten once. Mom told her she was in luck ‘cuz I have no teeth.
“I softly put my paw on her lap and she gave me a little pat on the head, and pretty soon she wasn’t scared any more. I can really help make people feel much better, Bonzo, and that makes my heart happy, you know?”
I was moved by his story.
“Hey, guess what?” he said, and his face got all smiley, “I can do a Donald Trump imitation.”
THAT took me by surprise. “No woof? Let’s see!” I said, not knowing what to expect.
His Mom picked him up and they turned their backs for a couple seconds. When they turned back around, he had the long, blondish hair on his head combed all the way over to one side, and he had this sorta squinchy expression. “Maybe you should run for office,” I laughed.
“Let’s leave that to the humans,” he smiled.
“Are you an only pet?” I asked.
“Actually, no. I have a cat stepbrother, Baxter. We’re both pretty mellow. He’s has no front claws and I have no teeth, so, Mom says even if we got in a fight (which we never would), we couldn’t do any damage. Baxter’s cool. He loves it when Mom leaves the pantry door open and I drag the kibbles bag out. And you shoulda seen that silly cat laugh when Mom put a Tootsie Roll costume on me for Halloween. It’s a good thing I have a sense of humor.”
The time had flown by.
Heading home, I was thinking how Jack had turned his life around, and was bringing so much happiness to people who really need it. It was inspirational.
Till next time,
The Bonz