Mom's leaving again

 

This is the look I get every time they smell the perfume. They know the only time I wear it is when I am headed out, and they aren't invited. Tomorrow is the one year anniversary since the day we got Cosmo..the beagle mix. If you weren't reading then, I will get you caught up with his story. We had Harley and frankly he was a little bored being the only canine in the house. Throughout my life I had had single dogs and had twosomes. The twosomes always seemed a little happier so S2 and I decided that we would sort of, kind of, maybe a little bit, look around for a second dog. He wanted BIG and I didn't. Our shepherd Boz was 130 pounds and had paws the size of hubcaps. I was ready for something a little more manageable. I started looking. I even visited a few from one of the local rescue agencies. They were all cute but S2 and I kept finding little things about them we didn't really like. One was a little too hyper, one was too young, and they were all cute so we knew they would find homes as this rescue is a no kill rescue. Looking online I found a "courtesy" post on Pet-Finder from a rescue group in the next city over. He was cute and we went off that morning to see him. I will be truthful that when I first saw him, I was a little underwhelmed. He was just laying in a gated area at the rescue "store" and really didn't have a ton of personality. We took him for a walk and when we came back he barked and barked and barked at the store cats. We have a cat. Anyway, we told the people we would think about it and went to get some lunch. As we were eating S2, kept badgering me that we HAD to get him..."Mom, didn't you see how sad his eyes were"? Well one thing led to another and we did go back. The lady then told me his story. He and his "sister" (they were identical in appearance so they were thought to be litter mates) had been found wandering, very hungry, and shivering, in the streets of an Amish community about 45 minutes from here. Apparently they see a lot of "dump dogs" in this area. The Am's use them for breeding then when they are too old or not interested any longer, they just take them to the county line and dump them. That county has no fines for dumping so it is easy for them to dump and leave. Coz and his sister were picked up by the dog warden and taken to that county's pound that gasses the dogs if they are not adopted in 48 hours. This rescue group went in, did a sweep of the place and rescued 9 dogs that were scheduled for the gas chamber in 45 minutes. Little Coz and his buddies were literally 45 minutes from dying. This explained the look in his eyes. He was lost. He had no home and probably never really had any human interaction. Well, that did it, I was hooked. I wish I could tell you the change in him since that day. We brought home a dog that didn't wag his tail, when there was a noise he would go hide beside a piece of furniture and just stare at us. He ate like he was starving, and other than barking at the cat, he never made a peep. Fast forward one year and he is an entirely different pup. He runs, plays, he laughs (no I am not crazy, he does), he has learned how to play. He didn't even know the simplest of dog games like playing tug with a sock or chasing a ball. He had to learn ALL of those things, along with not peeing whenever he felt like it. It was a transformation that is nothing short of amazing. He sleeps on our bed with us (if you think its gross, oh well, get over it) and is the most gentle loving dog I have ever had, and I have had many in my life. I had always heard that when you rescue a dog, they know it. I wasn't sure really what that meant till this little guy. He adores us. He has a light in his eye now, that he did not have when we met him. He is absolutely the perfect dog. I am glad I listened to my son. He knew what he was seeing.