Saturday, December 24, 2011

It's that time of year when special and inexplicable things occur.

In light of the holiday season, I thought I would share with everyone
the email one of our foster mom's sent to all of the TLC volunteers last night:

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It's that time of year when special and inexplicable things occur.

Bartholomew is like a big brother to Samson. Samson was the baby of his litter
and was sent here to grow up and learn to socialize with other, larger dogs. He
and Bartholomew are crate mates and Bart watches over him all day long.

So it came that this week the "pack" heard a commotion by the pine trees and ran
to investigate. The neighbor was dragging his trash cans to the street and the
dogs were complaining at how close he was coming to "their" yard. As many times
as I apologize to the neighbor for all the barking, all he says is, "It's just
barking!" And so the chorus went on. But someone was missing. Samson looked
around and noticed that his friend Bartholomew was not in the crowd.

Samson left the pack and alone retraced their route looking for his friend but
Bartholomew was nowhere to be seen. Samson did not give up and eventually heard
a faint barking echo near the pool. Samson knew better than to venture near the
big water, but that was where he heard Bart so he climbed up on the deck
anyway...and there was his friend, Bartholomew, standing on his tip toes keeping
his head above water but unable to climb out.

So Samson did what all good and loyal friends do. He sat on the deck by
Bartholomew's side and he barked. He barked non-stop until he finally summoned
help from a human in the house. Bartholomew was scooped out of the water,
bundled into towels and whisked off into the warm, dry house to recover.

Samson does not know that he may have saved Bart's life this week. And
Bartholomew has little understanding of having been saved. But that's because
dog's behave this way by their very nature. Dog's stand vigil by dead companions
or by the grave of an owner. Lassie saves Timmy from the well. Dog's are BORN
loyal and will remain loyal until their last breath...whether we deserve it or
not.

It is cold tonight and Bartholomew and Samson are cuddled together in the fuzzy
bed in their crate dreaming doggy dreams just like every other night. One day
soon, each of them will get adopted by a loving family and they will be loyal to
their new family...just as they have been loving and loyal to each other...after
all...they're dogs...it's what they do...it's who they are.

(By contrast, our cat, were she allowed outdoors, would have watched curiously
as Bartholomew slowly drowned...go figure!)

BTW...out newest TLC rescue is Timothy, a 3 month old chi weenie with a serious
eye injury. He looks and acts like a puppy version of Stevie and so we could not
leave him to his fate at the shelter.  The vet is giving the medicines and bed
rest until next Tuesday to work their magic, or it will be surgery and/or eye
removal. We need one more Christmas miracle ...for little Timothy.

Paws crossed...

Merry Christmas!!!!!

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If you haven't seen Samson or Bartholomew on our website yet,
here are their profiles so you can put a visual to each of these dogs:


As for little Timothy mentioned by the foster mom at the end of her email, he's been to see the eye specialist yesterday.  If the meds prescribed are not helping, then Timothy will need a $2,000 surgery next week.  So if you are in a giving mood, have some extra to share after all of your shopping and/or are needing a tax deduction before the end of the year, Timothy and all of us TLCers would be greatly appreciative of the help!

Happy Holidays to one and all!
Linda and the TLC volunteers

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