I don’t even love dogs.
Let me start by saying I have a dog, Charlie, a Puggle. I like him.
We rescued him from the York SPCA to provide the dog/childhood experience. Tim grew up
with a dog in the house, but my history with dogs involved gnarly
German Shepherds behind a fence and the strong caution to stay far away.
So when Cara asked me to join her on a dog shelter / book
tour road trip for her new book
Another Good Dog, my first thoughts weren't dogs. Instead, they were: 1) I’d
love a distraction from dropping my first born at college and 2) I’d love the
rare opportunity to get two busy friends together in a vehicle for 7 days.
Add in my strong affinity to surround myself
with passion-driven women, I was in.
Immediately falling into the personal assistant role of
tweeting, posting, and tagging, our first event was super easy, a dog-centric
festival in downtown Arlington,
Va. Dogs everywhere you looked, small dogs, large
dogs, even a dog that looked like Charlie. Dogs with loving owners that carried them in totebags, snuggies, and
baby carriages, clearly loved and adored.
And then came the other dogs.
The next day, we visited our first shelter,
Lenoir County SPCA.
Girding my heart the best I could, the tears
spewed out with zero warning. Dogs everywhere with no loving owners. No sweet
bowtie collars, no perfect grooming.
Cold cages, concrete floors.
A
small staff of women working tirelessly to clean and heal but the incoming
exceeded the outgoing quickly creating maximum capacity.
There’s a quote I live by: When you know better, you do
better. You can’t un-see some of the
things we saw or un-hear some of the stories told. Dropping off dogs to a kill
shelter while families went on vacation knowing full well their dog would be killed. Returning from vaca to find the family pup euthanized and leaving with a kitten instead. I witnessed Cara transform into Superwoman on
this trip. A soul-stirring occurred that
couldn’t be settled. Reaching out
immediately for community help, it came in spades. Friends shipped much
needed supplies to desperate shelters while volunteers rose up and fostered
dogs.
Powerful truths witnessed:
1) A
handful of people, bonded together under one cause, can make a huge difference.
2) Technology
can be used for the Power of Good.
3) Understanding
a problem is one thing, actually doing something is altogether better.
4) Dogs
can undoubtedly see the depths of your soul.
5) Never
underestimate the power of a fired-up-woman.
6) For
every bad, there are many good people doing many good things.
7) Sometimes
you have to look hard for the good people doing good things.
8) A sweet treat, delivered with love, can soothe the soul... as well as the pup.
9) Eventually,
you are rewarded for your hard work.
10) Never,
ever, ever, ever give up.
Lots to ponder during the long trip home…what’s my own
personal passion? What fires me up? Which Good is most in need? Should we become
a foster dog family?
One thing was for certain, Like transformed to Love towards
Charlie.
