WOOF

I sleep with one dog against my right side,
head buried up under my arm,
body tucked up against my torso,
and another on my left,
same position
and a big, giant cat sleeps on my leg.

It's wonderful.
The only thing that sux,
is that it makes it almost impossible to get up in
the morning,
Who would want to disturb that?
Little snuffles of doggy dreams,
and the peaceful snooze of a happy feline.

The other day, I tried to lie down and take a
quick nap,
(although that's never happened for me,
can't nap, so I listen to my i-pod and pretend to)
and I realized that my pillow smelled
like dog food.
And I thought it was adorable.
Yup,
Things become incredibly endearing
when you live for your pets.
Doggy drool on your pillow...
Sweet!

There are also the really strange moments
like when one of my pups gingerly brings me
a present out of the cat's litter box
and places it in the palm of my hand
as a gift while I'm sleeping...
Gross?
Yes.
Adorable?
well... Yes.
And when I have company over and
one of mine happily presents them
with one of my undergarments
as a sign of friendship...
Embarrassing?
Yes.
Adorable?
Yes.

A friend of mine was telling me the other week
that one of his friends who is also an animal rescuer
had said something about him having such a
big apartment in Manhattan that he should
have more cats.
(in addition to his beautiful, wonderful
pound princess kitty that he adopted several
years ago).
My friend said she acted like it was some sort of crime.
I laughed and answered him honestly,
"God, I have DONE that!".
I work at rescue and have always worked at
rescues and with animals my whole life.
Whenever I see someone with a big,
delicious fenced in yard and no dog,
I think about the hundreds of pups sitting in
rescues all over the place,
and yes, I think,
"Why oh Why don't they go rescue a dog?"
Or if they have one dog, I think,
"Man, why not two?"
and yes, I have said it to people.
Of course, it is none of my business.
BUT...
I know how edifying pet love is.
People with pets live longer, by the way.
And pets with partner pets live longer, also.
And kids brought up with pets have advantages
and security that those without will never know.
And I also know how many beautiful dogs and cats
are sitting, waiting for someone to take them home.
And yes,
that leads me to
THE PROBLEM WITH BREEDERS.
There are SO many wonderful animals that need homes,
and deserve them,
and have so much love to give.
Then, there are people who are forcing
other animals to breed,
creating more and more
only for financial gain,
when there are too many already.
That is INSANE to me.
Also, inbreeding,
animal and human,
is a bad idea, folks, hello.
Bred dogs are not as smart,
often not as healthy,
and are CERTAINLY not as grateful
as some lonely mutt rescued after
being abandoned.
I support all animal rescues,
and love the people who work for them,
work with them,
donate and pay attention.
The one I actually work with now is
www.chihuahuarescue.com
(although we have many other breeds).
Just go LOOK at those faces!
And there is a similar rescue in A Town Near You!

There is a certain celebrity type person
who has an online journal that I frequent.
I am a big fan of his political views, humor, etc.
But one time, he wrote this thing about
trying to adopt a dog in NYC and the process not
being easy enough, not that it was difficult,
even by his own account.
I can explain this VERY simply.
Yes, you can go to a breeder and buy a dog,
or even order a dog from a breeder
over the internet and have it shipped to you.
Breeders often don't really care, as long as the
check clears.
Rescue facilities want to know that the animals
are going to a good home, often do house checks
and, by definition, are about the welfare of the animal.
Sorry if that seems burdensome, but we
don't want to put an animal who has already been
rescued into a situation that may be detrimental to them.
We aren't going to ship an animal to some unknown
someone in another state who wants to impress their
neighbors with some sort of pedigree paper and price
tag. How about impressing your neighbors with your
philanthropy, generosity and your awesomely unique
rescue mutt?

OK...
I'll stop the rant.
Ummm...
Did you know that they interviewed tons of criminals
to see what would prevent them from breaking into
a house and the number one answer was a dog...
Any kind of dog, no matter what size?
Did you know...
Cats are a fantastic way to lower your blood pressure?
Did you know there are thousands of little guys
(or big) sitting there waiting at a rescue near you,
just waiting for someone to come take them home?

A few nights ago, I went to visit a couple that I
hooked up with this wonderful dog we had at
our rescue. The dog was sweet and funny and smart
and amazing, like so many of them. I knew my friend
had a love of "fuzzy faced dogs" and this mutt was
as fuzzy as can be. I sent them her picture and they
fell in love and adopted her. I walked into their home,
where this little girl doggie from my rescue is now the
center of the universe in this family.
They are wonderful people who did a wonderful
thing, and all they do is thank ME for introducing them
to this little mutt.

My rescue mutts are hard to identify, as they are mixed
as mixed can be, and one is kinda funny looking,
in that way that makes it the cutest dog ever.
People always ask me "What IS that?"
inquiring about breed,
and I say "A Dog".
Because what REALLY matters, is how they run in circles
and make me laugh, talk to me in some unknown
dog/cat languages, understand english so well that I have
to spell important words like "out" and "car",
sit on my lap (all three of them at once sometimes,
like right now while I'm writing this)
and stare at me for hours, and, yes, sometimes bring
me little presents from the cat's
litter box while I'm sleeping...
NOT what "breed" they are.

My pillow smells like dog food,
and that makes me VERY happy.