Thank You

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your interest in Cesar.  He is a wonderful, loving, smart, cuddly, beautiful (handsome, then), you name it, he is all things positive in a dog, plus he retrieves...uh...mostly.  He would make ANYONE a perfect pet.

I know there are some families who would love to adopt this dog. 

I know he would be perfect with their children, aged six and up.  I know that the families would work with him so he could walk nicely on a leash and be safe and NOT chase cars, like he likes to do. 

He's a young dog.  He needs a firm hand.  He needs socialization.  He needs to go outside to go potty on a regular basis.

I know that in families both adults have to work in order to make ends meet.  We are one of those families.  Regrettably, I'm...uh..not holding up my end of the deal right now.  I know that dogs get left at home either to roam free or kennelled so they don't destroy the house.  Some lucky dogs, like Axe, get to go to daycare.  Some really lucky dogs, Chancey & Jasper,  get to go to work with their dads and moms.  Ours, as you read previously, get kennelled or...they...destroy...the..furnishings.  I tried to trust them to behave but...it didn't work out so well.

I know that all people are basically good and have good intentions.  I know that people who love dogs and especially people who love rescue dogs are are breed apart.  We know there is something special about a dog who has been brought out of a place where it had been kept kennelled twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and only brought out during pheasant hunting season. We know that the dog has been abused (kicked, mostly) and needs a gentle but firm hand so it understands that all humans are not bad and will not hurt them, but still understand that the human is in charge.  We know this because we live with one now and at any given time or another, we've lived with more than one.

A rescue dog is a special dog.  They deserve to be spoiled and treated better than family.  Dogs that have been brought to Fluffy Dog Rescue are special.  They have been abused, ignored, neglected, underfed, overbred,  undertrained, misunderstood.  They have travelled a great distance in a van in a crate just to get to us.  (Most dogs come from down south where they don't spoil their dogs the way that us "Northerners" do.)

They have been taken in by Fluffy Dog Rescue and bathed, shaved, fed, dewormed, er...neutered (sorry 'bout that one, boys)(but for Isabella now Ella, you are so welcome.)  These dogs have been pulled out of kennels and shelters and off the streets where they were cast aside and treated like garbage.  A couple of these dogs are dogs were puppy mill breeding dogs who never knew the warmth of a hug or a decent meal. 

The foster parents do these things for the love of Dog.  We work very hard to be sure that we give the dog the best home possible.  We don't want to see our dogs, our babies, locked up in a kennel or laundry room for eight to ten hours a day.  What have we rescued them from?

Dogs are pack animals and believe it or not, they want to be with you.  Most of the time, they are content to be in the same room as you;  laying on the couch or in a kennel while you tappity tap and blog on.  Sometimes, ok, most of the time, they have to be touching you.  Even if it means, following you into the "loo".  (Just once, I'd like to be in there by myself, no dogs, no cats, just me and my thoughts)

And while we anthropomorphize, or give human characteristics to, our pets, uh... they aren't people.  They don't wave buh-bye to you as you drive down the driveway on your way to your job, twenty minutes away,  for eight hours.  They don't crack open your laptop and check out their old friends on Facebook.  No, they are, at least at my house, confined to a crate.  Why?  Because without you, without me, they are bored.  And a bored dog is a naughty dog.  You are their only, only source of joy.

Let me say that one more time.

You are your dogs only source of joy.

You are the bringer of food and toys.  You are the one who lets him outside.  You take her for walks (in the snow and rain) or better yet, a CAR-RIDE TO THE DOG PARK.  You are the one he cuddles on the couch with, after your seven mile bike ride.  Yeah, it's really all about you.

So criticize if you will, if we foster parents get a little picky about how many hours our foster dog, your future dog, will spend without you while they are confined in a crate or in a laundry room.  We've done a lot to rescue and rehabilitate these dogs and we don't want them to go thru that again. Don't want to see their little phyches unravelled.  You understand, don't you?

I know that people have to work.  I know that people who love dogs have to work. How else do you pay for dog chow or all those cute little toys that they just shred in twenty minutes (twenty-two at the most).

I don't mean to sound snobby, though I'm sure it could be perceived as such.  I'm proud of our dogs and I'm pleased to say I'm pretty darn happy about the families that my fosters have gone to.  Lori has some pretty tough choices to make, on all aspects of the rescue (which dogs to save, which dogs to pass on, which families to approve and regrettably, which families to say thanks but, no thanks, to) and she does a damn fine job of it. 

Cesar is a Fluffy Dog.  Cesar is a special dog. 

Thanks for reading.