Born To Be Free
Doobie: free spirit, a dog on the move, a dog on a mission, a dog in perpetual motion. Who said that dogs cannot experience emotions? Certainly Doobie is unable to verbally communicate his sheer joy to be running, but it is shouted out in the gleam of his eyes and in the lithe fluid movements of his Labrador body virtually airborne over the ground. My boyfriend often says he is nearly flying. Do you recall car commercials talking about going from zero to sixty in seconds? Yup, this is Doobie. Full stop to flat out racing in a heart beat, launching into action when called from across a field. This dog goes nowhere slowly. Can you imagine this dog living in a cage?
Doobie has not lived a normal life. The sheer sin lies in his previous life, as a puppy mill breeding dog, and finally rescued at 4 years of age, by the Lab Rescue of L.R.C.P. (www.lab_rescue.com) It hurts me to think of this free spirit, reveling so in off leash freedom, living in a cage. It hurts me to recall the painfully thin, beaten down dull coated dull eyed and fearful of everything Doobie of May 2009. He was one of the lucky ones, rescued along with 53 other labs, from a puppy mill in West VA. He was only meant to be a foster, but I was a goner when my eyes first met his, on a Rt. 95 transport rendezvous. Yes: failed foster, but still active volunteer with the Lab Rescue.
Fast forward a year and three months to a vigorous gleaming black lab, who has learned to play, socialize with other dogs, greet strangers, and even participate in my group classes, being handled by students that I mentor. Certainly there remains ongoing work to be done, and fear resurfaces in the wrong situations, but that is entirely another blog. I have entered many homes to encounter abnormally fearful puppies and adolescent dogs, called in by concerned owners. Sadly, many well intentioned folks have no idea their adorable pet store puppy could have come from a puppy mill background. Happily, cities in some states have banned pet store sales altogether; admittedly the subject is controversial. Read of further recent events from this msnbc article. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37359894
As a professional dog trainer, I feel ethically bound to educate clients and all who will listen, to the abhorrent backgrounds of puppy mill dogs. As a dog owner, I cringe to think of any dog suffering a deprived and loveless existence in a cage. As the owner of free-spirited Doobie, resilient enough to overcome much of his past, I owe it to him, to tell his story. If you wish to read more about puppy mills and how individuals can help, the following link is very helpful. www.stoppuppymills.org If you are generously giving a new life to an adult puppy mill dog, I wish you all the luck in the world, in what can be a challenging rehabilitation, but one filled with joy. They are born to be free.
