Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Memoir of a Rescue Dog by Valentino Shoup

Mom has been pretty busy these days managing a lot of different things. While she walked away muttering something about "awful neighbors" and "180 proof", I decided I would start my memoir. Was that a snicker I heard? I'm almost 9 in human years, which puts me at 63 in dog years. That's nothing to scoff at, especially when you've led the life I have and I've got a lot to say before my nap, so listen up!

What kind of life HAVE I lived, you might ask? I started life not being wanted. I am a beagle/basset mix. Nobody plans to make basseagles...or would it be beassets? Nevermind, I'll just stick with beagle/basset mix. I digress. While I am darn cute, and I KNOW it, I guarantee that the owner of an unfixed basset and the owner of an unfixed beagle didn't plan to see what kind of puppies they would get. It's a pretty rough start, knowing that you aren't wanted.

That's not to say my life totally sucked from the beginning. I was placed with a family who kept me for a couple of years, until they got tired of me always running away. What can I say? I gots some long ears and I like to feel the wind beneath them. I also got a bad rap with the family. The little boy used to torment me. I have a very long fuse with almost limitless patience (except for my annoying canine foster brothers, but don't EVEN get me started on that) but I had enough and when I was forced to defend myself, I was lucky that the family agreed it was the boy's fault. I'm not going to blame my wanderlust on my circumstances at the house. I've got beagle in me, it's what I do. But the family felt it wasn't a good fit and when I wound up at the Montgomery County Humane Society, they decided not to reclaim me.

I'm not going to give you the statistics on the number of homeless animals that are euthanized every year. I will tell you that nobody should have to endure what we dogs endure in homeless shelters. Cold floors, no warm laps, a crumb of affection tossed here and there...it's no life for anybody (pssss...spay and neuter people). I was fortunate that a very nice man I will call "Uncle Dick" saw in me what my family could not - a true gentleman, with a heart of gold. He brought me into a rescue that would ensure I was placed in a loving home.

For many months, I was overlooked. I couldn't really understand why I wasn't in a warm, loving home. I couldn't understand why none of the families who looked at me didn't see what a catch I was. The adoption days were boring - I spent my time showing how cleverly I could escape ANY restraint. Never underestimate the intelligence of a beagle. Finally, this couple with two dogs took pity on me and brought me into their home to "foster." Little did any of us know, this wasn't the temporary situation any of us envisioned.

Shoot! Mom is coming back! I'll write more later.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

'Tino you're great. Lucky you you got a neat Mommy, a patient Daddy, and an admiring Sister in KIC. The other furry sibling just don't realize how truly magnificent and admirable you are. Persevere and eventually the world will recognize what you and I have known all along