Who's the Rescue Here?

When we wrote Follow the Dog Home, I told everyone that they would see themselves and their stories in ours.  Here's just one example of that.

Several months ago my neighbor, Bob, lost his beloved Bulldog named, Shakespeare.  Shakespeare was as cool as his name.  He'd ride with Bob to the town dump every morning.  A Bulldog riding shotgun in a white pickup truck?  He really was a junkyard dog.  It was a crushing loss when Shakespeare passed away, and Bob wasn't really sure he could go through the pain of losing another dog--which always happens somewhere down the road.  Eventually the loneliness wore him down.  A couple of days ago I saw Bob walking a new dog, a rescue named, Marlo.  Bob and Marlo looked so happy together.

Bob and Marlo

Bob's story reminds me of another Bob--my dad.  Like my neighbor, Dad went through a tough stretch after losing what he thought was going to be his last dog.  It's hard for us to imagine why Dad was so sad about losing Daisy the Dalmatian, because that dog was almost impossible to love.

Crazy Daisy

If you touched Daisy, she went bonkers.  In the book, my brother Mike describe it as something close to living with a wild animal, not a pet. Somehow Dad loved this troubled dog and took her loss very hard.  He admits he was in a funk for months after her death.   It got bad enough that his wife, Mary, told him "Go get yourself a dog."

He did, a Corgi named Annie.  She rescued my dad, and he's been smiling ever since.

Happy Annie

Happy Bob Walsh

 I'm wondering, have you lost a dog, then said "That's it, I'm done," only to change your mind later?

Super Dogs at Super Bowl

I saw a lot of football at the Super Bowl, naturally.  I also saw quite a few "Super Dogs" in Indianapolis.  So I thought I'd tell you about them.

Below are Brody and Kaiser, German Shepherd rescues.  I don't think I've ever seen more handsome rescue dogs in my life.  I don't know who would give up on such beautiful dogs; but their owner, Sean of Indianapolis is thrilled to have them.  I've seen a lot of well primped dogs who don't look as good as these two.  Brody and Kaiser enjoyed the whiz sound of the zipliners zipping past St. John's Church in front of the Convention Center.

Brody front, Kaiser back

There were lots of working dogs too.   As to be expected, many were German Shepherds.  

Diesel, Ft. Wayne, IN

Above is Diesel from Ft. Wayne.  He's trying to listen in on his handler's cell phone conversation.  After the man hung up, Diesel did his thing--sniffing my bag and the bags of other reporters and cameramen.  I couldn't get Diesel  in action because the Super Bowl Super People were rushing me along; but here's another dog in action that did pretty much the same thing.  It happened so fast, that it really was--like the picture--a blur.

Then there were Rowdy and King.  Both worked for the Department of Homeland Security.  Both were Labs.  King is the black Lab in the top picture.  From the nose down, I kinda think he looks like his handler.  Rowdy is the yellow Lab below King.  He looks like his master too.  Isn't that the way it's supposed to be?  The dogs and handlers did a masterful job sniffing around media headquarters of the JW Marriott Hotel.

And then there were regular dogs who just took a walk, or a seat around the Super Bowl Village.  Below are Goldendoodles Finlay and Jackson.  Neither is golden, but their personalities were.  Both charmed the passersby who wanted to pet them.  They loved it, and their owners did too.

Finlay, brown Goldendoodle

Jackson, black Goldendoodle

So there you go for Super Dogs.  They really were a part of Super Bowl 46.  It just goes to show that the Super Bowl is for everyone, and that includes the dogs.