The Rescue Dog That Rescued Us

By: Murry and Julie Walton – Boise, Idaho
December 7, 2012

Why We Needed to Be Rescued

Imagine yourself in our situation. The wife goes through two thyroid surgeries and cancer diagnosis. After being home from the hospital for just one week, your beloved 5 year old dog dies. This was our sad circumstance in the fall of 2012.

Having lost our treasured pet Maggie to sudden sickness and death, we were both devastated. Life was a struggle. Oh how we missed our early morning puppy play before going off to work. There was no longer a loyal companion to greet us when we entered our home. No longer a best friend to play fetch, find the hidden squeaky squirrel, sit up, roll over and to give praise with a treat. Our routine dog walking workout came to an abrupt halt. Our tail wagging puppy had filled our home with smiles and laughter. Our happy feelings were replaced with grief, a strange emptiness and a great big hole in our hearts.

Together we soon decided that we needed to look for another dog as our home was not the same without a canine companion.
We wanted a young beautiful really smart dog (preferably one that would never die) We both realized the responsible thing to do was adopt another rescue dog. We started to camp out on the Petfinder.com web site to find a dog that we felt might best fit our family situation. We preferred a female dog of the herding breed, since that was the type of dog we were most familiar with. Murry found a nice female border collie named Misty that was in Thayne, Wyoming at the Animal Humane Association of Star Valley, also known as Lucky’s Place.  Julie really liked the look of Misty so she contacted Mary Ann Ahrens, the President and Director of the animal shelter.  It looked like Misty was already going to be adopted, but Mary Ann thought we should look at a dog named Bella. Continue reading

We Are So Sad – Our Dog Maggie Has Died

Our dog Maggie has died.

Maggie – The Best Dog

A Dog’s Eye View Dog Blog and the BestDogBlog.com are sad to report that our beloved dog, Maggie, became terribly sick and died suddenly. Even though our veterinarian and the emergency animal hospital tried their best with numerous tests and medical support, Maggie could not be saved.

For those of you who have lost a dog to death, I know you can relate. The loss is like grieving a family member. Five and a half year old Maggie was our only living pet, and truly a member of our family. She was always with us in the house. When we came through the door, she was there to greet us. When strangers knocked at door, she alerted us. When one of us was home alone, we weren’t really alone, she was our loyal companion.

We have been through the death of a pet before. Our adopted Australian Shepherd, Scout, died at age 14. We survived that loss by searching and finding our rescue dog, Maggie. She wasn’t a replacement for Scout, but she filled a hole in our family, and in our hearts. We are definitely dog people, we need a dog in our house. Our house is just not a home without a dog.

Our Dog Got Sick – We Don’t Know Why

It was so painful to see our dog get sick. Not knowing what made her so ill was driving us crazy. We were questioning everything – how did she get so sick so quickly? This made us paranoid and nervous to get another dog. We couldn’t stand to go through this again – losing a dog to death. It was just too agonizing. But we needed to fill that void, that paw print on our heart was digging deeper and deeper.

Searching to Fill the Void

So once again we began a search. We knew it would be best to find another rescue dog, but we did want to make sure we would be the best match for a dog in need of a forever home. We now have a one year old granddaughter which required we find a dog that would be gentle. We searched around locally, but the dog that was the perfect fit for our family was not to be found. Maybe the loss of Maggie was too fresh on our minds.

We continued to search. We even played with some dogs, which brought a temporary smile to our face. I will always remember while visiting our vet after Maggie died, everyone was very comforting. I told them about our search and said that we just were not finding the perfect fit for our family. One of the staff, Margaret, said to us “your perfect dog will find you”. She was so right. We have found the perfect match for our family. We call her our miracle dog. We will soon introduce to you our adopted rescue dog, and the newest member of our family and dog blog canine contributor Blue Belle. Stay tuned. She is an amazing dog.

We Still Miss Our Best Friend

We still have moments of sadness, missing our best friend Maggie. But we have once again found a way to heal our broken hearts, and move forward with our life one paw print at a time.

Maggie the Rescued Dog and The R.O.A.R. Squad

It wasn’t easy being a dog on the run. But one day, when life was oh so rough, somebody came to my rescue. I must have been quite a sight and in some human’s estimation a bit too much to handle. Thankfully, people who truly cared didn’t give up on me. In fact, I was taken to live with guys who actually dwell behind bars. Yes, they call these men prisoners, or inmates. They live in the "big house". They gave me the attention I needed, taught me some dog gone manners. And before I knew it, they considered me rehabilitated.

One day the men who live behind the great big high razor topped fence told me it was time for me to go. A nice family came and picked me up. They knew all about dogs and forever homes and knew I had some ruff stuff baggage to deal with.

My new friends had this look in their eyes like they needed me, so I decided to "rescue" them. I got to ride in their car and went to live in their house. It was a new experience being a member of a real family, and I had so many things to learn. But now I am happy to report that this inmate trained pup is doing great. Thanks to the prisoners who trained me, and the rescue shelter that saved me (Second Chance Animal Shelter), I am experiencing a happy and healthy life – Yes It’s a Dog’s Life – and it’s GREAT!. We are excited to see our Rescue Animal story featured in FidoandWino.com as R.O.A.R. Squad members from the State of Idaho.

The R.O.A.R. Squad (Rescue Owners are Rockin) is the ingenious idea of a lady named Shauna who lives in a great smelling country, our neighbor to the north, Canada. She has a couple lovable canines in her family, and has first hand experience in compassion for pets that have found themselves as outcasts in society, "throw aways". Shauna had this terrific idea to encourage humans to help us non-humans (some people call us pets) by inviting a rescue animal into your family and giving it a forever home. She created an awesome blog that features Rescue Owners and their rescued animals from every province in Canada and every state in the USA. We think that is DROOLIN COOL!

So wag your tail and jump on over to the FidoandWino Blog, say hello to Shauna, John, Mickey and Kayloo. While you’re at it check out the article about our family. Julie, Murry and Maggie – R.O.A.R. Squad Members from Idaho.

Maggie the Rescued, Canine Contributor
Read More About Our Adoption Story

Blog the Change for Animals

THIS WEEK! July 15: BLOG THE CHANGE FOR ANIMALS – Get the badge & spread the word!

Here’s our dog adoption story featured in the BestDogBlog.com. We really missed having a dog after our beloved 14 year old Australian Shepherd/Blue Heeler, Scout, died. We seriously questioned the wisdom of searching for another family pet. It was so difficult to grieve the loss of such a good companion and member of our family. But we soon realized that our house was not a home without a dog. READ ON . . .

Blog the Change

Adopt a Pet Stamps to the Rescue

Adopt a Shelter Pet Commemorative Stamps

Joining The Humane Society of the United States’ Wayne Pacelle and representatives from the United States Postal Service, American Humane Association, and Petfinder.com on stage at Hollywood’s Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for a press conference, Ellen DeGeneres unveiled the new 44 cent stamps featuring the adorable faces of five dogs and five cats, all of whom had been adopted from animal shelters and rescue groups.

Mr. Pacelle made the following observation: About 8 million dogs and cats are funneled through shelters every year. They come to shelters for a variety of purposes, they have been found on the streets, or people relinquish them to shelters. There is this stigma that is attached to animals at shelters – that there is something wrong with them, that they are defective, or have some behavioral problem, or some physical problem. Those of us who have adopted animals from shelters know that is false. Contrasting with dogs who are sold from puppy mills, shelter dogs are properly socialized with tremendous attention from shelter workers. The animals at shelters are actually the best socialized animals. They get excellent veterinary care.

The dogs and cats know what is going on. They know that someone has come to rescue them. They are enormously grateful to their new owners for the rest of their lives. What he sees as one of the most tragic things is that only 20% of dogs in people’s homes come from shelters. Four out of five dogs are coming from other sources. If just a small percentage of people who are getting dogs, this year or next year, got them from shelters rather than from a puppy mill or pet store, then we would solve this problem.

Maggie (the rescue shelter dog), Julie and Murry of the DogBlog: A Dog’s Eye View and the BestDogBlog.com agree whole heartedly. We encourage you to buy some Adopt a Shelter Pet Commemorative Stamps and remember there is a dog or cat waiting for your love at a rescue shelter. Please remember them when you need a friend.

Get your stamps here.