In the first category, are the dogs in dire straits. Abandoned. Abused. In killing stations. All of them desperate. All of them in need of a home. All of them, via the clever and equally desperate person writing the post, appealing directly to YOU to save them. Oh, and how you want to. How you wish you could.
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| Skye - a young podenco on the kill list in Badajoz last year |
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| My Spanish Family |
Every member (myself included) of every adopted dog group is guilty. We are guilty of loving our four legged adoptee(s) so much that we want to share our state of bliss with the whole goddamn world. We want to show everyone that we adopted this wonderful, loving, comical dog and the lives of all concerned have been magically transformed. We all do it. All of us.
What we rarely do, is show the other side. We don't talk much about the patience, time and effort it sometimes takes as these dogs adapt to their new homes. We often skirt around the times the dog is naughty or demanding. We omit to mention lack of sleep or the need to completely turn our lives and our comfortable routines upside down to accommodate our new family member. These things, to a greater or lesser degree, are true for all of us, if we are brave enough to admit it. Let me use my own situation as an example:
I post pictures of my dogs, all three are rescues from Spain. The landscape is breathtaking, the dogs are running free and enjoying nature or they're curled up all together, sleeping peacefully on my sofa. It's idyllic, and anyone contemplating adopting a dog could very well be forgiven for thinking, that not only is there nothing to this adopting a dog story, it also enhances your life and puts a smile on your face from morning 'til night every day of the week. But that's not the whole story, is it. What my pictures don't tell you is that Rico wakes me at 5:30 every single morning or that Leo, being a pup, can't be left for a second without the risk of him grabbing something to destroy. What you don't know, is that it takes a lot of time every day to walk them because I'm alone with three dogs with no-one to help me. I do this rain or shine, and whether I'm well or ill, busy or not. Leo's energy level is high, Rico has nightmares, Nala sometimes has off days and I worry her leishmaniasis is flaring up again. These are all the things that go on in the background and are a b s o l u t e l y n o r m a l. Most of the time I don't miss a beat, but I'm human and occasionally, it does get to me. I love my dogs unconditionally. They are my family, it's that simple. But, that fact doesn't make it idyllic, because it isn't.
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| Leo - Part Angel, Part Devil. A Typical Puppy |
What concerns me, is the message that romanticising life with an adopted dog (or any dog for that matter), sends to potential new owners. Adopting a dog is an exciting time, you can't wait to get your baby home with you. Whilst most dogs will be fine in most cases, others might need much more input, time and patience. Yes, many people will have seen it all and worse, and they'll just get on with it, but maybe others aren't prepared for a dog who's having trouble settling into his new environment, a dog who barks or tries to escape, a naughty and destructive pup, a nervous dog or one with high energy levels, a dog who hates the cat or the other dog in the house. What then? Best case scenario, you hang in there because you know that 90% of the time it will settle down. Worst case, the dog is bumped to a new home because the fit just isn't right, or simply sent back to the rescue.
In most cases this scenario is nobody's fault. The rescue did their job, the home check was done but sometimes, for no obvious reason, the transition isn't smooth. To new owners, I say - acknowledge the problem, look for help and know that we have ALL been through some nightmare or other. To those of you reading this, I say - let's take the rose coloured specs off and tell our adoption stories like they really are, the downs as well as the many ups. Maybe then new owners wouldn't feel inadequate because their new fur baby hasn't immediately been absorbed, as if by osmosis, into their family. Maybe then they'd be hoping for the best but be prepared for the worst. Maybe then, we could avoid such great expectations.
(P.S - Yesterday Rico pulled me off my feet as he took off up the road after next door's cat. Leo was angelic. Today Nala stole my breakfast and Leo is the devil incarnate. Signing off now to go and walk them all in the pouring rain. Tomorrow is another day.)
