WARM AND FUZZY
Dog for a Lifetime
Fergie, Duchess and Bird Dog
She smiled at us with her whole body, her white flag tail waving madly, a grin on that sweet doggie face. How could we resist this gorgeous animal who clearly wanted to go home with us? It was love at first sight, remarkably, for both of us.
The Search for the Perfect Companion
My partner and I had been visiting all the shelters in our area, looking for a sweet-tempered adult dog that we could both love. We came at this decision from opposite ends of the dog spectrum. When we got together, he had a Great Pyrenees mix, a placid giant named Alley, for the backstreet where she was found. My rescue was a Pekingese with a smoker’s bark and separation anxiety.
Compromise, of course, was necessary. I prefer dogs I can scoop up when they run amok. Davis thinks any dog under 40 pounds isn’t a Real Dog and detests “yappy dogs.” A mid-sized dog, then. One that would enjoy long walks and hikes in our rural neighborhood.
We worked our way through the shelters. I wanted to take every sad-eyed puppy home from the crowded and loud conditions they lived in. I was afraid they’d all be euthanized before they were adopted. Davis was much more level-headed, turning down beagles and chihuahuas, hounds and bulldogs. No barkers. None that were too timid or aggressive.
Finally, at the no-kill shelter, we found our sweet girl. Her shelter name was “Fergie” after Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. We kept that name, with its Black-Eyed Peas echo. Now I can’t imagine her as anything else.
If you have a chance to support a no-kill shelter, please do. Of course, all shelters need support, and “high kill” shelters may simply need more support to lower their kill rates. Every shelter needs donors, adopters, and community support to help animals.
But no-kill shelters place all possible animals, retraining those with behavioral issues and treating those with health issues whenever possible. The shelter where we found Fergie “fixed” and microchipped her. The microchip, they told us, would direct people back to the shelter so that they would know if we weren’t being responsible owners. They also tattooed her belly to signify that…
