The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

This week has been a tough week on DoodleKisses.  I am at a loss for words and that almost never happens.  Peaceful sleeping has eluded me and I know I am not alone.  I would like to say I can’t eat, but that is not how I deal with stress either.  For me, it started with the DRC “Home 4 the Holidays” slideshow.  I watched the show from beginning to end and was so touched by all the stories, but I couldn’t shake the image of Moses.  His story broke my heart. He had been beaten or kicked by someone and dropped off at a shelter. The DRC stepped in to save him, but his injuries were too severe and he had to be euthanized. 

 

I walk almost every day with my wonderful neighbor.  She is a very upbeat person and faces every test in her life by saying, “everything happens for a reason.”  I wish sometimes I could face life that way too, but then along comes a Moses and I have to ask myself what possible reason could there be for something like that to happen to an innocent, trusting animal?  Is it supposed to teach us that people are capable of incredible acts of cruelty?  Don’t we already know that and see it every day in the news?

 

Next, I came home to find Joanne’s beautiful tribute to Starlit and I am still in shock.  How can this happen to a member of our DK family and to a beautiful dog that many of us remember from the moment she showed up on the front page looking for a home?  We have watched her grow, discussed her, and many people on DK have benefited from Joanne’s training with Starlit, and Roger and Joanne’s experiences along the way.  It is hard to explain to people not on this site how you can get so wrapped up in DK and feel like you are part of a community that “gets it” when it comes to the love you feel for your own dogs and other dogs on this site. Most people think we are nuts, but we know we are just nuts about our dogs.

 

Yes, this has been one of the toughest weeks I can ever remember on DK.  The “Home 4 the Holidays” slideshow showed us that there are tons of dogs, just like ours, only not as lucky, thrown away by people everyday.  They end up in shelters, through no fault of their own; except they had the bad luck to start out with the wrong humans. Luckily, for the dogs in that slideshow, DRC jumped in and most of them got a second chance and hopefully, dealt a better hand this next time around.  Thankfully, we were able to see some of those happy endings that came about through the hard work and dedication of all of the volunteers that work so diligently to save dogs.

 

I really can’t come up with any reason either why Starlit passed away.  It just seems so unfair and wrong.  The only thing I can say is that I am proud to be part of a community that wrapped its collective arms around Joanne, Roger, and Spud, at this heartbreaking time.  I hope it helps them to know that as dog lovers, we know that losing a dog takes a big piece of our heart and anyone who says, “it is only a dog,” never truly experienced the love of a dog.  We really are like a family.  We fight, we makeup, we laugh, we cry, and we are there for each other through the good, the bad, and the ugly.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Carol, Thank you! I am grateful for this great community too and proud to be a part of it!

Thanks, Leslie and Becka!

F, I know just what you mean. I have so many people on DK I want to meet in person and I think, someday, we will meet! I just happened to meet a woman at the dog park that told me about DK. Happenstance, too! Who wants to do more chores any way?

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Deanna and Bonnie, Thank you!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Thanks, Karen and Camilla!

Jane, Very well said and I agree :)

BG, I really do think you have to love dogs to "get it." I am glad you have a good friend who understands.

Donna, I totally agree with you about the "everything does NOT happen for a reason." Thanks!

Pat, I have the same calendar and have been looking a lot at that picture :)

Karen, Thank you for the nice comment, as always. You have added to my post with your comment. Thank you!!

Jennifer, Very well said! I am glad DK wrapped their arms around you, too :) We really are a family!

[Karen and Bridget]

Wonderful post Laurie.  Thanks for putting the words to what so many of us are feeling this week.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Wonderful post, I feel exactly as you said. I have been shocked and saddened since I heard, and I didn't know how to put it into words. I'm glad DK is a place where we can all be supportive, and be there for each other, it's an amazing thing.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

As always, Laurie, you were able to put into words what so many of us have been thinking and feeling this week.  We really are like a family.  It has been a sad week, but there have also been so really happy posts...new Doodle puppies...lots of them.  New Doodles for us to swoon over as "babies" and watch grow.  We'll follow along with the happy times, the frustrations, the worries, the pride, the silly, goofy, and sometimes naughty  times, and we'll mourn as we lose them.  I think that's what being a "family" is all about.  The best part is that we'll experience all the ups and downs of each of our Doodles....TOGETHER.

[BG and Gavin]

It has been a heart breaking week. 

My friend and her Ridgeback mix rescue were here yesterday.  I was trying to explain how sad I am about the loss of Starlit.  How do you tell someone?  "Okay, I belong to this on-line site where people who have doodles talk to each other" and thats when their eyes glaze over as you stubble on to explain that you have a dear friend on this site who lives in another country and you have never met in person, but she is a wonderful person and she rescued this dog who we watched her grow up and she had some struggles with this dog and her shyness towards stangers and she and her husband worked really hard to help this dog that anyone else would have thrown away and...So that when they really start to think you are crazy.  But my friend (and you know I would have not wasted 35 years being friends with someone who wouldn't understand) said "Oh no, that is terrible.  Do you have any pictures?"  So I showed her the slide show and she watched intently and went on and on about what a beautiful dog she was.  She's a dog person - she got it.

[Donna K & Quincy]

Thank you Laurie, very well said. DK really is a family, more understanding of us sometimes than our real life families are. I am not a believer that everything happens for a reason because too many things happen  that couldn't possibly have any reason at all.

[Pat and Traveler]

Amen!  I find myself touching Starlit's picture on the January DK calendar--it hangs at eye level in the kitchen.  Such a sweet and happy photo!  I found DK when Trav was about a year old, and over time got to know and care about so many dogs and people.  Joanne, Roger Spud and Starlit have become family for me, as so many others have.  Yes, Laurie--it's been a hard week. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thank you for this, Laurie. Yes, a very tough week here on DK, lots of tears, lots of love, and all of us sharing the pain of the loss of one of our own.

One sentence in your post stands out for me:

"... there are tons of dogs, just like ours, only not as lucky, thrown away by people everyday.  They end up in shelters, through no fault of their own; except they had the bad luck to start out with the wrong humans"

I would ask everyone who reads Laurie's blog here to remember these words. PLEASE remember them the next time you enthusiastically encourage someone to purchase or adopt a doodle, or any dog really. Most of the dogs in the DRC slideshow were not abused, they were obtained by people who were not cruel, evil, bad people, they were well-meaning people who just had no understanding of the responsibility involved in owning a dog: the costs, the time, the commitment.  Everyone should not own a dog, no matter how nice they may be.

I am very grateful to be a part of this community of people who do understand.