A heartbreaking experience

You all know how crazy I am about dogs.  If you offend my dog, you offend me.

A woman at work came into my office today, knowing what a "dog person" I am, to ask my advice.  Her initial comments were, "We got a rescue dog this weekend that was abused. . . ."  That is really all I wanted to hear.

"Sit down!"  I told her.  Another lady came with her.  "I'm going to be honest with you.  I'm going to tell you right up front where I come from as far as dogs are concerned."

"This is like being in the principal's office!" she mocked.

[You don't ask my opinion unless you are ready to hear it!]

I told her I am a very strong advocate of purebred dogs from a QUALITY breeder and not every breeder is a quality breeder.  I happen to think the ONLY dog in the world is a Labrador Retriever.  I can relate dozens and dozens of true horror stories of people getting rescue dogs.  On the other hand, I know of a handful of success stories.

I wasn't happy to learn that she got the dog this weekend and this morning everyone left for work and school and after only two days in the house, this dog was confined to a cage for the day.  The dog is nine months old, a mid-size mixed breed.  She doesn't like men.  My friend has a husband and a teenage son.  The rescue organization told her the dog had been abused by a man.  We don't know how and to what extent.

"I want you to come over to my house and tell me what you think," she said to me.

"Okay."

While the dog at first acted afraid of me, it didn't take long before she discovered I am a friendly person.  She came to my side and allowed me to pet her and talk to her.

"You know, this isn't something that I can tell you what to do," I told them.  "I see positives and negatives here.  This dog is going to require a tremendous amount of patience and effort.  But that would be true if you went to the best breeder in the country and paid hundreds of dollars for a new puppy that was guaranteed for health and temperament."

I asked them questions to try to get them to think about how they really felt.

I was in their home for about a half hour.  Actually, a couple of times, her husband was able to get the dog to come to him and he petted it and spoke softly to it.  Then after a minute or two, she would walk away and hide behind furniture.  It broke my heart.

I drove home with tears in my eyes.  I'd like to get my hands on the man that harmed this animal.  It wouldn't be pretty.