Our news paper runs an occassional feature, Love Stories. They have covered a couple married over 70 years; a younger couple, she is a nursing home wiith Alzheimers; a teenager who has a sister with handicaps and how much he cares about her. Many others.
Today's Love Story is about Myles, a Boxer.
“This is Myles,” says Brenda Rodrigues. Myles is a two-year-old purebred boxer who was adopted by this Cranston couple last year. “He wasn’t in good shape,” says Diane Keller. “He had been neglected and possibly abused.”
Self-proclaimed dog-lovers, the two had been looking for a boxer, a companion for the elderly one they already have. “So when we got a call from the Providence pound that some man from New York had dropped off two boxers, we decided to go take a look,” says Brenda. “As soon as we saw Myles, we knew we had to bring him home.”
“His name was Mike. We didn’t want to keep that name – afraid that it might trigger old memories,” Diane explains. “Since he came from New York, it was a lot of miles away, so Myles it was!
“He was weak, malnourished. He couldn’t even walk or run properly. When we brought him home, he weighed 50 pounds. Now he’s 75 pounds, extremely strong and eager to learn. He’s like a sponge – the more attention you give him, the better he gets. Abandoned dogs come with baggage, with history that you’ll never know. No one gives up an animal unless there’s an underlying reason. When you get an animal from the pound, you have to give it time to adjust, and you have to take the time to understand what the dog’s behavior means. If you don’t have the time, that’s when you’ll have problems.
“t first he would bite me,” Diane continues. “It only happened when I got excited about something. He wasn’t comfortable with my excitement. And it wasn’t playful nipping. He was disturbed by something.”
“Look at him now,” says Brenda, sitting beside him on the floor. “He would sit here for hours with you just being cuddled.”
“If I take him outside, I can take him off his leash. He has a favorite ball,” says Diane. “I can throw it a thousand times and he’ll go get it a thousand times. Boxers have a lot of energy. They need to run, and if you don’t let them, they’ll trash your house.” Brenda and Diane get up at 4 o’clock every morning to walk their three dogs. Yes, they now have a third boxer, Boswell, a puppy for Myles to play with since Sage is too old to be bothered. Then the two women go to the gym before their work days begin. They’re always on a schedule. The dogs are never alone for more than 5 or 6 hours.
“Ask us the last time we went on vacation!” says Brenda.
“If we’re out with friends, I’m constantly looking at my watch because I need to get home with the dogs. Our friends and family have trouble understanding this,” adds Diane. “We realize they’re animals, but there’s no reason not to treat them with respect and dignity, like a human being. Maybe we’re a little extreme, but they give us unconditional love and respect, so we treat them like we want to be treated.
“When we got Myles, we wanted him to know that he was safe with us, that he was going to be happy with us, that he was going to like it here.”
“He’s so appreciative – like a human being that had been cast aside and then taken in,” says Brenda.
http://www.projo.com/news/content/ls...2.178ab01.html
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks