Friday Fun Video -- Shelter Dogs, Surfing Dogs!

We've always had shelter dogs. Partly because we hate the idea of good doggies being killed because of overpopulation, but mostly because we're convinced they just make the best family members. We currently have three dogs. The first one was Shadow, whom we adopted because we were so lonely after Allie the Wonder Hiker died of cancer. He's a Shih Tzu/poodle mix who'd spent his first six months being kept in a tiny crate 24/7. Because he was punished whenever he peed in it, it took us a while to teach him it was okay to drink when he was thirsty. For the first few days, he'd only drink from my hand. Plus, he had such separation anxiety, my sweetie and I went six months unable to both leave the house at the same time because the poor pup would work himself into a panic frenzy in about two minutes of being left alone.

But noticing that he really enjoyed playing with other dogs at obedience school, we adopted Toby, a Maltese/poodle from East Tennessee Small Breed Rescue. He's the one in the above picture having a bad hair day because he'd just arrived at our house, so we hadn't yet had him styled.

Toby and Shadow instantly bonded, Shadow took on the role of alpha male big brother, and we were able to take them to the beach in South Carolina the very next week. You can see Toby, in blue, now looks much more stylish after a shampoo and clip. That was about nine years ago and we've all lived happily ever after. Shadow, the ultimate couch/bed potato, has even learned to enjoy our occasional Southern snowstorm. Well, sorta. Gortex helps.



Then, last January I was watching morning TV while making my cards for troops when the local news featured Jessie, a shelter dog, that we just knew would be perfect for our little family. But common sense told us that we already had two dogs. We really didn't need a third. So, liking to think of ourselves as sensible people, we talked ourselves out of it.

Fast forward two months later. It's March, and once again, I'm sitting in front of the TV on Sunday, making my soldier cards, when the Adopt-a-Pet segment of the news comes on, and the reporter's saying how they're bringing back a very special dog. Then went to a commercial break. Well, I told Sweetie that I knew it was going to be Jessie. And it was! Feeling bad that she'd had to wait for us to figure out that she was meant to be ours, we raced down to the shelter, arriving an hour before they opened and sat next to the door, prepared to claim her before anyone else could. As you can see from this photo, she settled in her first night home. She also gets along great with the boys, and even has Shadow chasing her in great laps around the yard, which is more exercise than he's gotten in years!





Jessie's also in her final training to be a hospital/nursing home visitation dog. As she's whizzed her way through the various courses, the trainer says that in all her years of teaching dogs, she's never seen one more suited for the task. Having spent many years volunteering as a "Friendly Visitor" at a nursing home, I know that pet visitation day is always a special treat, and we're thrilled that our darling Jessie's going to be able to make so many other people happy.

The one thing none of our furry babies can do is surf like the dogs on this week's Friday Fun video. Then again, we haven't given them an opportunity to try. Yet. So, who knows?