Regarding Dolly: An Update

 

Just a quick post here to honor a dog and her human.

Three years ago, in August of 2021, I took my neighbor Linda on a day-long jaunt to find a dog. Her beloved pug mix, Abbey, had passed away some months before, and she and her husband were feeling the absence of a dog’s magic in the house. You know, that quality they have of somehow brightening everyone’s spirits. So Linda asked me to help her find the right dog.

We went looking for “a younger dog” and came home with a fourteen-year-old. Yep. You can read that story by clicking here.

Linda and her husband Bob took that old dog that had been uncared for (and unbathed) for so long, and they scrubbed her up, brushed her out, gave her warm, soft bedding, and started feeding her cooked chicken breasts every night. I kid you not. (Thus the roly-poly Dolly you see in the photo above.) I remember Linda telling me at the time that they were committed to giving her a great life for whatever time she had left, whether that be days or weeks or months or—if they were lucky—years.

And years it was. Nearly three exactly. Dolly passed away this week at the age of seventeen. Seventeen, y’all! And that dog…. Boy howdy, was she a happy girl in her last days! Oh, not at first. She was quiet and reserved and withdrawn (and very wary of Bob). But her humans were patient. And they had chicken. And daily love and encouragement. And that dog finally began to respond, so much so that she found her happy feet. I will never forget stopping by one day and Linda telling me: “Every evening after dinner she goes into the den and dances around.” Dolly might have been too old to do zoomies, but she was never too old to dance.

A good lesson for all of us who are easing into the silver muzzle stage of life, I reckon.

Dolly

 

Dolly

Who wants to adopt an old dog?

Well, no, I mean, not this cutie. She's already been adopted. But I mean, in general, how many people go looking for an older dog? My neighbor didn't. She went looking for a "younger" dog. As we know in the dog world, though, we don't always get the dog we want; we often get the dog we need.

Let me backtrack just a bit. My neighbor and her husband lost their beloved pug mix just a couple of months ago. I can attest to the fact that she was the sweetest girl, and much loved by her humans. But her loss left a void, so they decided to look for another dog. I volunteered to help, which ended up with the neighbor and I on a wild goose chase at first, driving all the way to Riverside County Animal Shelter, only to find it closed due to COVID restrictions. Arrrgh! We turned around and drove all the way home--well, almost.

As I navigated the freeway system, my neighbor called several other local shelters--all closed. "Well," I told her, "before I take you home, let's pop up to Cherry Valley and stop in at BARC. Maybe they have a little dog in the store right now."

BARC is Benevolent Animal Rescue Committee. They keep their small dogs on a large property in Cherry Valley and the big dogs on an even bigger place in Apple Valley. The rescue also runs a thrift shop in Cherry Valley, and the proceeds go to rescuing dogs and cats. I've dealt with these terrific volunteers before, and they're one of my favorite local rescues.

The thrift store (located at 39245 Vineland in Cherry Valley, right next to the feed store on the corner of Vineland and Beaumont Avenue) was open, so we wandered in, and my neighbor shared that she was looking for a small dog, "preferably young" and female. A volunteer pulled out her phone and began to show us photos of the small female dogs they had available.

Here's where the story gets goose-bumpy: My neighbor, a woman of strong faith, had already mentioned to me that (1) she had prayed for guidance and direction in making this decision and (2) she had already picked out a name for whatever dog she might adopt: Dolly. The photos on the volunteer's phone showed the dogs' pictures and their names.

"Stop," my neighbor said. "Can you go back? Was that dog's name Dolly?"

Yep. Goosebumps. Well, when you ask for a sign....

"Yes," the volunteer said, "but she's a senior. She was actually one of our rescues years ago, adopted by an older couple. But the husband passed away, and the wife is now in the hospital with serious medical issues. She can no longer care for this dog or her other two, so her daughter brought them back to us." Of the trio of dogs that were returned, Dolly was the only female.

Within the hour, my neighbor had filled out an application, the ranch had been alerted we were coming, and there we were, moments later, walking Dolly around and getting to know her.

"Well, Dolly, they say you're an old lady," I heard my neighbor say as she walked her new friend around the yard. "I'm an old lady, too, so that should work just fine."

In short order, Dolly was meeting her new dad, exploring her new home and yard, and receiving plenty of love and good food and treats.

Already potty trained and used to snuggling on the couch, Dolly fits right in with her new family. She is a mellow, sweet girl who will help her humans heal from the loss of their previous dog, and they will help her heal from the heartbreak of losing her family after all those years. Win. Win.

"I don't care if she lives two months or two years," my neighbor told me. "We'll deal with that when the time comes."

I will say Amen to that.

By the way, as of this writing, Dolly's two brothers are still available for adoption. Alex is eight and Pepper is eleven. Both are housebroken, well-behaved dogs. I'll just leave their two adorable photos below. If interested, just click on the link to BARC and fill out an application. A volunteer will call you.