Woof! Some of you pooches sure have dramatic tails to tell. Like Andy Morgan. Andy got caught in that hurrycane in Puerto Rico last year and hadda be rescued, like a whole buncha of other pooches. He’s been with his Forever Famly for about seven weeks now.
Andy’s middle-sized, auburn and white with lotsa polka dots. His ears stick out to the sides with a liddle flop at the ends. (I wish mine did that.) I thought he’d speak Spanish, but he doesn’t.
“I’m real happy to meet you, Mr. Bonzo. This is my Mom Betsy. My Dad Howard’s around here somewhere.”
Andy hopped on the couch next to his Mom. “Mom an Dad say I’m related to a juh-RAFF cuzza my spots, but I think they’re teasing.”
“I do, too.” I opened my notebook. “So, Andy, you’ve really been through a lot, haven’t you? Tell me about it.”
“OK. After the hurrycane, there were dozens of us pooches wanderin’ around the streets in San Juan. It wasn’t just us pooches who were homeless, either. Lotsa humans were, too. Me an my pooch paI Ho-zay stuck together, lookin’ for food an water. Finally some humans rescued us an took us to a kennel. Then, other humans from the Vero Beach Humane So-ci-uh-dee came all the way to San Juan and took as many of us as they could onna big airplane, back to their place. It was kinda scary cuz we didn’t know what was happening. We were inna truck, then the kennel, then another truck, then the plane, then another truck, then the shelter. We were POOPED. A pooch doctor checked us out and the shelter humans got us ready to be aDOPted. They wanted me an Ho-zay to be adopted together cuz we were pals, but Ho-zay has Health Issues so he can’t be adopted. After 8 weeks, they hadda split us up. I really miss him, but I know they’re takin’ good care of him. So, one day a buncha us were playin’ in the Humane So-ci-uh-dee Play Group, just when Mom and Dad were there, lookin’ for The Right Dog. We spotted each other. It was Serendibiddy. We had a Meet-n-Greet, an innerviewed each other. I started a bran new, pawsome life the very next day!
“I’d NEVER had my own STUFF. Like my L.L. BEAN COMferder! An food an water in ackshual BOWLS. Since I’d never been inna house, I didn’t know where to go potty. There wasn’t any grass or dirt, so I tried a few spots. They were NOT The Right Ones. Mom an Dad weren’t mad, though. They unnerstood.”
“Woof! Your whole life is totally different!”
“Totally! I couldn’t buh-lieve it was really real. Like, if I closed my eyes, it’d disappear. The first time Mom an Dad went Out For the Evening after I moved in, they put me on the screen porch. I thought they were Gone Forever. So I ate part of the porch. A pretty large part. I’m told it was a Manifestation of Major Separation Anxiety. It was also a Big Mess. So now I stay in my comfy crate when they go out.
“Also, I didn’t make a peep for 10 whole days. Then Dad taught me how to sing.”
“No Woof!” Just then, Andy’s Dad walked in an started singing “How Much Is That Doggy in the Window?” Right after “Window” he pointed to Andy, and Andy made growly noises. And they kept singin’ back an forth. When they finished, Andy said, “Dad thinks ‘Doggy in the Window’ is my favorite, but it’s ackshully ‘Some Enchanted Evening.’ I’m workin’ on my upper range.”
“Pawsome! Any pooch pals?”
“There’s a Black Lab rescue and a liddle Westie on my daily leash walk. I’d never hadda leash or collar, an it was kind scary till Marcel (a human from the Humane So-ci-uh-dee) made a doghousecall an gave us some Valuable Tips.
“An guess what? While I was at the shelter, I got to go to Tallahassee for Humane Lobby Day, to ask Important Humans called Led-jus-laters to make laws that protect us animals. And they DID! I was Official Spokespooch. Me an my assistant, Lynn, went into a buncha Led-jus-laters’ offices and had a Press Confrunce (you talk to a human holding a stick with a liddle ball on top). Then we stayed in a fancy, pooch-frenly hotel with a big, comfy bed. We got to go cuzza a group called the ASPCA.
“Majorly Cool Kibbles!”
“I KNOW, right? Me an Mom an Dad an some frens watched the Super Bowl on TV. It was just humans runnin’ around, crashin’ into each other an fallin’ over in heaps, an I never saw ANY bowls, but I got lotsa pats an tummy rubs. I get along great with everybuddy.”
“Whaddya like to eat?”
“In Puerto Rico, I did lotsa Dumpster Divin.’ I’d score the occasional leftover McDonald’s hamburger. But not any more. I’ve discovered fish an scrambled eggs, an I get haffa slice of coldcuts or chiggen or roast beast with my kibbles. It’s WUNNERful!
“Mom’s teachin’ me how to Snuggle. Me an Dad do Guy Stuff. Every morning he comes down, an sees my ears stickin’ up over the couch, so he knows I’m ready for breakfast. We go for walks an car rides, and hang out on the beach. It’s a long way from bein’ a street mutt in San Juan. I’m sure lucky the Humane So-ci-uh-dee rescued me!”
Heading home, I was thinking how wonderful it is that so many humans reach out to help Pooches In Need. I wonder whether humans help each other like that.
Till next time,
The Bonz