You can't replace one dog with another......

Everyone in our area has become aware of the little munchkin "Minnie" who was lost on October 9th.  Each and EVERY dog or puppy is just so special and unique - it is just simply impossible to replace a lost, missing or deceased loved one - canine, feline, human, whatever. And all of the TLC volunteers and fosters who go into the local shelters or watch the websites have been diligently on the lookout for little Minnie, to no avail. 

For the past few weeks, every time I saw a missing Minnie poster, I would think to myself, "What would I do should I lose one of my girls?  What an incredible amount of sadness I would feel - would I be able to overcome it were I forced to walk in these folks' moccasins?"  And it seemed that every time I was outside my home, I would see a Minnie poster and the thought process would start all over again.


There is quite a bit of difference when your canine BFF is growing older and you start to slowly accept the realization that one day they will be gone over the Rainbow Bridge waiting for you.  Or if your loved pet becomes ill and shows no hope of recovery.  But a sudden and unexpected loss seems to strike our psyche harder because we had no time to prepare ourselves for it.  The loss becomes profound and one way of dealing with the grief is to 'let no stone unturned' until we drive ourselves into exhaustion in the hopes we have done everything possible that could (or should - or would) be done.

These are all thoughts that have percolated inside my pea brain for about six weeks now.  

As a side note to all of this?  In rescue, the warning bells go off inside our head when we meet up with someone still in major grief, and seeing one of our dogs up for adoption, immediately wants to adopt it "because it looks just like our dear, sweet Molly who we lost recently". We humans are visual creatures and fall in love based upon a dog's appearance much faster than we do their personality, and I think I worry more about a placement when it is based upon someone trying to replace their lost dog with another that looks like them.  For us in TLC, it is all about the dog and people should fall in love with a dog or puppy from the inside out for it to be as successful as possible.


Yesterday the owners of Minnie came to our adoptions event and brought us one of her photos.  We seem to become 'the place' for Chihuahuas, so it was only natural that we be contacted.  My heart had long ago gone out to Bill and Penny, although I had never met them in person before, but I could SO relate to what they had been going through for the past 2 months. I felt like I already knew them as odd as that might sound.

They spent quite some time with us yesterday at adoptions and each time I looked at Penny, I would see puppies chewing on her hair, her hands surrounded by little ones as she leaned into an Xpen or if she was sitting, one of our dear TLC dogs or puppies in her arms.  This is the kind of medicine you can't bottle up and sell, ya know?  There is something about puppies and dogs that reach inside of us on a level that is indescrible, so I won't even try.

I do know that dogs sense it within us on a certain level and despite the naysayers who say dogs can't "feel", I know they are wrong - dogs DO feel and WILL try to comfort, the same as a momma will do to her pups.  Granted some dogs do it better than others, but all dogs have the potential to feel our feelings.

And one of our baby foster mommas (Susan) has the unique knack of instilling unconditional love and kindness in all of her fosters.  It is a gift and not everyone has this, but Susan has a PhD in unconditional love.  As I watched Penny interact with the puppies in our adoption Xpen, my thoughts turned to one particular puppy who was a show stopper and very unique little munchkin - Lexy.

Not just in appearances, but in personality, Lexy has caught my eye at the past two adoption events.  She has a distinct knowledge at an early age of who she is and what her place in this world should be (or will be if she has anything to do with it!).

You can almost spot this in some of these little ones at a very early age - they don't have a clue how little they are but they have the heart of a lion and the love that is unlimited for those they have picked to be their 'very own'... this is our dear, sweet Lexy.

Taking a risk, and not wanting to hurt, I put Lexy in Penny's arms at adoptions.  If nothing else, her small size and loving nature could do nothing worse than to be comforting to Penny.  You absolutely cannot replace one dog with another, but you can refocus yourself onto another dog even if you have lost the love of your life, ya know?  In dog training, we use this practice all the time - rechannel and exchange... give a puppy a toy and he'll drop your favorite pair of shoes without the need for a scolding or harsh tones.

It was a good feeling to see Lexy immediately start working her magic.  Cuddling up, she reached upwards and place a puppy kiss on Penny's chin.


Later on, one of our volunteers caught this beautiful photo of Lexy sitting on Bill's lap... almost as if Lexy was listening to the pearls of wisdom Bill was sharing with her!

This is the 'juice' that keeps us rescuers going... and through all the hard times when we think that we haven't made a dent in the huge number of adoptable pets that show up in shelters and will be put to death if they can't be adopted in a certain time frame.

Each successful 'furever' home is another building block in our determination to make a difference.  And there are times our efforts seem futile, without reasoning and apathy would be the easier road to travel... turning away so you don't have to know or feel.  I believe each TLC volunteer yesterday felt rejuvenated as they watched Bill and Penny interact with many of the puppies and dogs at adoptions (and we had 62 dogs and puppies there, waiting for their furever homes, so there was a LOT of that good positive energy and magic going on!).

There is not replacement on this side of the Rainbow Bridge for sweet little Minnie, but it was with a great deal of internal good feelings when I was told Penny and Bill were going to adopt our sweet little Lexy.  They vow to never give up looking for Minnie, but they will have the love of Lexy along this journey now.


For you see?  Lexy is truly a unique little one that might have had a calling beyond even her own knowledge... in Lexy's case, she does not 'wear her heart on her sleeve' but on her side for the world to see.  And if I know Lexy?  She will do her utmost best to give Bill and Penny all of the unconditional love and kindness at her command, plus her internal strength and character to be sweet, funny and special - all wrapped up in one!

Season's Greetings to one and all!
Congratulations to Lexy, Bill and Penny!

As always, Linda and the TLC volunteers

P.S.  Please help Bill and Penny in their quest to find Minnie:

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/oct/19/couple-searches-for-lost-dog/?print=1


http://www.classifiedads.com/pet_lost_and_found-ad8096128.htm