Update BY Jingle - May 2010
Well, I have a lesson in life for you all this month, based on my own personal experience, and here is the rule:
Don't be burdened by something that you once valued but is now worthless. Liberate yourself. Be brave, and look to the future, and don't let the past weigh you down.
I have learned this since my old non-functioning eye was removed, and it has also been a massive comfort to Donna, my human carer, who worried so much about me going "under the knife" for surgery yet again.
But she shouldn't have worried. For one thing, I am much tougher than I look. For another, my consultant is BRILLIANT! And for another, as my life lesson says, all that old eye was doing was weighing me down. It wasn't causing me any pain until right at the end, but I knew it was there but I couldn't see out of it, and so I used to be very careful to look after it. But why look after something that doesn't work? My consultant said that even under the anaesthetic, the second he cut the optic nerve to remove that eye, my whole unconscious body relaxed, my breathing became easier and all was well. My brain knew I was being liberated from a burden. And as soon as I had recovered from the operation, I realised how much better things were for me now. With just a nice, tidy furry face on that side, I no longer have to worry about bashing the old eye when I play with the other dogs! I can run around more confidently, and have even started to play with the bigger dogs. All my worries are gone, and I am much happier, and because I know I look so good now - because my consultant did such a neat job - I am even flirting with a very handsome boy dog called Yoda who I used to admire from afar but wasn't confident enough to approach. Don't worry, there won't be any canine indiscretions, as both Yoda and of course I have had the necessary operation to make sure we never add to the unwanted dog population!
Sometimes I look back at the past life I used to endure - but I am so happy and well now, that it really does seem like another lifetime. Sometimes something happens to scare me - a particular voice or noise - and for a minute I will be plunged back into my nightmare former life, but then I hear the voices I have come to love speaking reassurance to me, or realise the presence of my loved friends, both canine and human, and I am OK again.
It's like that for all dogs like me that have had traumatic pasts, but oh my goodness, how we value our new lives! With kindness, comfort and understanding replacing the abuse, deprivation and mistreatment we used to know, we really have been rescued, and we seek to repay the kindness as best we can, bringing great joy into the lives of our human carers. Since my last blog, two more little Schnauzers have just been through this very process!
One cute little chap, Tea Leaf, was fostered by Debbie and Guy, and they did a great job with him so that he very soon found a lovely new home. He was a right little character, very bold and happy, but he had not come from a puppy farm, but was saved from a Pound, bless him. He has already made his new owners so happy that they want a friend for him! We Schnauzers are rather addictive, but it will have to be a very bouncy one to keep up with Tea Leaf, who was way too pushy for me!
Then along came little Deidre, a poor, terrified, sad little girl indeed when she was taken in by Janet.
She came from the type of past misery that I had endured, but gradually she came to feel safe and secure with Janet's care and empathy, and when DeeDee, as she became known, was well enough to meet me and my pack, we got on straight away!
Then a wonderful thing happened! A lovely lady called Karen, who really cares about Schnauzers, came to visit Janet and all of us with her little Schnauzer boy Jake (who is VERY handsome!!). Karen and her husband were thinking that one day they might get a little friend for Jake, and wanted to see whether Schnauzers with past traumas would be the sort of friend he would enjoy - and it was good that she came, because she saw at once that dogs like us just LOVE other dogs - it's humans who have made us unhappy in our former lives after all. And guess what? Little DeeDee stole Karen's heart as well as Jake's! And then Karen's husband came and met DeeDee, and he loved her too, and now just a few days later, DeeDee has gone off to her new home where she is settling in already to the sort of life she so deserves.
If only there was light at the end of the tunnel for all the little dogs who suffer for the callous profit of the humans who exploit and enslave them. I know I am among the lucky ones, as are all the creatures that come into the care of DBARC, although it is so sad that they are so numerous, with many people discarding what should really have been a lifelong friend without a second thought.
So maybe I should now clarify my life lesson:
When I talk about liberating yourself from a burden, I certainly DO NOT mean from the "burden" of an animal that a person has FREELY CHOSEN to share their life with, and then seems to think they can get rid of onto DBARC or other organisations when the said animal has become a little inconvenient or expensive.
Worse, some of these heartless people, who are giving up an animal just more or less on the same whim that they originally took it on, seem to be surprised when they are not exactly popular with the hard-pressed people involved in rescuing animals! I often keep my eye on the admissions at DBARC, and it breaks my loyal, steadfast little heart when people bring in an animal because their children have lost interest, or because the animal is out of control (whose fault is THAT?!), or similar.
Of course, there are very genuine reasons too, and these are the people that animal rescues really exist to help, not pet impulse buyers having second thoughts!! So, if you are one of the latter, be responsible.
Firstly, never take on any living creature without doing a lot of research and soul-searching to make sure this is a lifetime commitment. And secondly, if it is too late for this, please do your best to help your animal by asking for help with plenty of notice, so that you can prepare the innocent life you are about to hand on by making sure you minimize stress to your animal and expense to the charity. Work with the people who are going to get you out of trouble by being as honest and generous as possible. Animals are a responsibility, and we rely on our humans to live up their responsibilities, and to those who do, we are a source of joy!
Of course, some animals, myself included, do feel it is OUR responsibility to also be a source of occasional frustration - it keeps our humans in their place!!
While Janet was still caring for Sammy Jo and Cardi, and I was still training Jasmine, THREE more little Schnauzers suddenly needed help, again discarded breeding dogs. Boogaloo (Boo) went to stay with Janet, while Bubbles and Babycham came to stay with me! All three were happy, friendly little girls, and my two were very little indeed! And so cute, especially after a bit of a trim to get rid of their matted coats! Little Bubbles was found to have a heart murmur as well as an old scar round her sweet little face, but despite this, she and Babycham soon found themselves a lovely new home together (and new names, thank goodness!).
They quickly settled with their new Mummy and Daddy, and are now enjoying the love and care they so deserve. Darling Boo was discovered to have a serious problem, with a life-threatening hernia and had to have emergency surgery. She was very poorly afterwards, but with expert care from Janet, who is a qualified Veterinary Nurse, ably assisted by Florence Munchkingale, who is a self-taught Schnauzer-Nurse, she gradually turned the corner, which was a huge relief, as she too had a new home waiting, and has just gone to!
In the meantime, a wonderful thing happened for Jasmine and her mother Sammy Jo, and Sammy Jo's new Best Friend Cardi, because they all got a new home TOGETHER!! Off they went to Staffordshire to live with a lovely family and two more little Schnauzer girls!
And while all that was happening, yet another Schnauzer needed help, this time a BIG chap called Jiggle. He came to stay with me for a few days and I did my best, but found he wouldn't fit into my donut bed for cuddles, and he seemed so sad and scared, but there was the ideal foster home waiting for him with my little friend Nora, and her big brother Rupert and big sister Tiffy, and their lovely human carers Debbie and Guy, and because their dogs are big too, and because Debbie and Guy are such caring people, Jiggle became their first ever foster dog! They did such a good job that he found a new home in little more than a week, so now they are ready for their second foster dog ……………
But what about me? Well, things seemed pretty good. I had a trip to my beautician, and enjoyed a battle with Penny (though I declared a truce once she had struggled for a bit) and was looking and feeling fantastic, but Fate had a nasty surprise waiting for me.
I had gone to check on DBARC for the day, which was just as well, because Janet noticed my non-functioning eye looked sore. The DBARC Vet checked me, and said there was a problem, and maybe it would be better if that eye wasn't even there.
Donna was really upset by that: she dreaded me having more surgery as I have endured so much stress in my life. Why doesn't she understand the rule that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger? - and I am one strong-minded, strong-willed character after all I have been through. So yet again Janet had to drive me to my Consultant, and thank goodness she did! He found the pressure in my bad eye, which had been normal just a few weeks ago was now THREE TIMES what it should be, and because he knows things and knows me, he said I must be in pain, and that I must be immediately hospitalised and prepared for surgery, giving Donna no chance to dither, and just a day later that useless old eye was gone, and along with it all the discomfort I had been feeling recently, and I was soon able to go back home.
I am very lucky that people care so much about me, and not only did Janet quickly see I wasn't right, but I also had the very best of Veterinary treatment straight away. I feel FANTASTIC now!
Since my op I have been under Janet's supervision during the day - as if I would rub my stitches or interfere with my Consultant's work! But it is nice for her to have my company instead of just the naughty collies and cheeky little Gracie, and I can keep my eye on them for her (yes, just the one eye of course!).
But spending time in her office makes me realise how lucky I am, and my pack is, and her pack is, and the foster Schnauzers we care for are, and how lots of the dogs and other animals that DBARC home are. We have carers who look after us when we are ill, deal with things when we have problems fitting into the human world, and who put our needs first time and time again.
But not all animals are so lucky, and if you spent time in Janet's office and heard the people who are not so nice about their pets, your blood would boil like mine does. Why do people take on a dog, give him or her NO TRAINING and then complain they can't control it, and want to give it away?? Why has their former companion become an "it" anyway?? Have they forgotten what gender their supposed pet is? Why do people take on a young dog, then complain the dog is LIVELY?? Why do people get dogs of breeds that were created for guarding, then complain they are finding the dog is aggressive and they can't cope? Why do people give animals up for rehoming, "forgetting" to mention that the animal needs veterinary treatment? Why don't any of these people take responsibility for their own actions, but why instead do they think other people should?
Some members of the human race are very strange indeed, and if I owned one, maybe I would want to give THEM away for rehoming!! But as I said before, I am one of the lucky ones. I am always thankful for the love and care I have been given, and so many other have been given, and that is thanks to DBARC and to people like yourself who care and support their work.
PLEASE keep helping DBARC help more innocent little souls who are down on their luck.
Then yet another sad little Schnauzer girl came along. I got quite excited, thinking I would get to do my therapy stuff, but little Cardamon, now more sensibly called Cardi, got to stay with Janet and has become a loving little friend for JoJo. It is so sweet, and they are giving each other great support, so I will just wait until my skills are needed again.
I had some fantastic news myself! A lovely Spaniel boy called Bradley came into DBARC to find a new home. He had been a stray, and had been in a sorry state until a fosterer started to care for him, and although he was well on the way to recovery, there was a worry about his eyes, and he needed to see my Consultant, and I went along for the ride.
The fantastic news for Bradley was that although he does have some abnormalities in his eyes, it is old damage and won't cause him any problem, which is great because he has already found a lovely new home. The fantastic news for ME was that when my Consultant checked my eye, he was delighted with how well it has healed, and I shouldn't need a check up for another whole year (touch wood!).
It's a year now since I had my sight miraculously restored in my one good eye, and I know this meant a lot of expense (and I can never thank sufficiently those who helped with that), a lot of trips to Abingdon to my miracle-worker Consultant (and I can never thank Janet enough for driving me there, even sometimes via the Vodaphone Roundabout for variety) and a lot of stress and worry for Donna (and she can never thank me enough for that because she NEEDS things to stress and worry about) but I can only say it has all been worth it as I have a wonderful life now, and my precious gift of sight means I can enjoy running and playing with my friends, and daily joy instead of the darkness and terror of abuse that was my daily misery until I came into Rescue.
During the past year I have met many other little dogs who would have had no future at all were it not for the efforts of my human friends at DBARC and elsewhere in the world of animal rescue. Luckily these people know that we may be damaged, and we will certainly be distressed, but with effort and time, we can become fantastic friends. If you have welcomed a rescue animal into your home, I hope it is as joyful a mutual experience as it is for me and my human carer.
And please, when you get a minute, please put pen to paper, or finger to keyboard, and let those who cared for your little one along the way know how you both are doing.
The fosterers in particular never forget the canine houseguests they have helped, and to hear how they are doing is a tiny reward for all their efforts. If you are not sure who that was, DBARC will be able to forward any updates to the carers of any dogs who have passed through their gates, and at the same time share good news with all the rest of the DBARC team who may have looked after your dog and made his or her time in Rescue as happy as possible. And if you have added a feline friend from DBARC to your family, everyone there would love to hear news of them too!
With the weather warming up, I will soon be making my regular day trips to DBARC to keep my eye on things there, but in the meantime I know they have been very busy helping lots of animals into their new lives.
Not just dogs and cats, but birds, guinea pigs and LOTS of rabbits too. Just recently two beautiful rabbits were callously dumped at the gate in a cardboard box. They were found there at 7.30 am, so would normally not have had any chance of being noticed until opening time, and they could have been attacked by predators, or got out of the box and been run over! Luckily they were safely taken in to DBARC, but then they were discovered to be one little boy and one little girl, and were busily doing what rabbits do, oblivious of the danger they had been in! They were soon at the Vets being neutered, and vaccinated, for their own good, so they had quite a day of it! Soon they will be looking for a new home, but why did their cowardly former owner not arrange for DBARC to take them in DURING OPENING HOURS, and with the chance to know a bit about them, their age, likes and dislikes etc?
Soon they will be looking for a new home, and as with all the DBARC animals, the charity will have made sure they have had all the care and preparation they need. Often this is at great expense, especially when Vets fees are involved, so if you are thinking of adopting, do bear this in mind, and please, help them help animals by being generous. DBARC always makes it clear that a good home for their animals is what matters, but it doesn't take a mathematical genius to figure out that even the less needy animals still cost a LOT of money to prepare for rehoming, and then there are the ones like me that cost a LOT more!!
But, as the well-known cosmetic advert says: "We are worth it!"
Now for the next bit of exciting news:
One of my house mates, Imagine (who we called Magic, because she is!) has been in foster with us for 8 months, and really was part of the furniture, because it seemed like nobody wanted to give her a home except us.
Then suddenly last week someone emailed about her. They wanted to come and meet her, and they are only a couple of miles from DBARC, so GUESS WHAT?! Within a couple of days, Magic's new mummy Melanie came to meet her with her two handsome Schnauzer boys, Dexter and Darcy (even handsome without the wet shirt!) and they all got on, and the very next day, Magic went off to her new home!!
Donna was very worried for two reasons. She was worried that I would miss my beloved friend Magic, and that Magic would be upset by a change after so long. She is good at worrying! Well, I have plenty of other friends, so I was OK, and it just means they get extra turns at cuddling up in bed with me - after all you can only fit so many dogs in a donut bed!
I did wonder how Magic would do without us all, but she is such a clever little girl, she knew at once that she had a wonderful new home, and she has been getting on great! She has even been to the seaside for a day trip and was a good girl. She is a very lucky little Schnauzer to have been chosen by such a lovely new mummy, but she does deserve the fantastic home she now has, because she has been so brave about all her eye operations, and has come along so well from the terrified little scrap when I first started working with her.
Now we need darling Hetty to find a lovely home too! Janet has been working very hard with her, and Hetty is much braver about things.
She is a sweet girl, and will make a lovely friend for someone to love, as long as she has a nice doggie friend too.
Janet has been smartening her up, and she is beautiful inside and out now. You can read about her in the Dogs section on this website, and see photos of how sweet she is.
I am expecting a new houseguest - but more of that in the next blog, as sometimes foster Schnauzers don't arrive when expected!!
Because of all the horrid weather, I have not been visiting DBARC myself, as me and my pack prefer a nice warm bed in the kitchen at home, but we do send Jedi George off to Doggy Daycare with Janet as often as possible so that we get some peace, and we send Donna to DBARC also as often as possible, because I know that is not the same as me keeping an eye on things there, but at least she can report back to me!
She told me that in all that snow, things were very difficult there, and Janet had to look after the animals on her own sometimes! Thank goodness she was there! I hated the snow; it got stuck in all my furry bits and made me very cross so I'm glad it went away.
Lots of animals have been coming in to DBARC, and lots have been finding new homes, so it keeps all the humans busy and out of mischief. They might get naughty if they get bored, like puppies do!!
But, on behalf of the animals who can't speak for themselves like I do, I would like to say a massive thank you to all the DBARC team for the extra effort they put in both during the Big Freeze, and since because there was a big queue of dogs waiting to come in for rehoming, and I would also like to say an equally massive thank you to all the wonderful fosterers who cared for many of those dogs in their own homes for much longer than they expected! I hope they enjoyed their houseguests as much as I do when we have foster dogs, but I really sympathise with the hard work they have to put in.
I would also like to thank all the kind people who adopt animals, and who accept that we won't be perfect at first, but that all the work one puts into any relationship will pay one back many, many times over in time. (I am living proof of that: many people have put a lot of time, love and financial support into me, and you just ask Donna how irreplaceable and inspiring I am).
And I would like to thank my friends at DBARC for somehow tolerating the people who are not so kind and patient, and who don't give a poor, confused animal the time and effort, and love and understanding that it needs, and instead think that a trip to DBARC to discard their "friend" is an OK thing to do.
Thankfully, that animal will indeed be better off in the loving, caring environment that is DBARC than with someone who lacks the responsibility and dedication that all animals deserve, but it would have been even better if that sort of person didn't mess up those animals' lives in the first place. I don't know how my DBARC friends manage to be so polite to people like that. If it was me, I would treat them like I treat my groomer - but that's another story for another blog!!!
Lots of exciting things have happened since my last Blog! I have seen some more foster Schnauzers come and go, which was very exciting!
Little Ursula went off to a lovely new home with a very handsome Schnauzer boy to teach her more about life!
Then a new Schnauzer called Hopeful came to stay at my place, and her friend Hetty came to stay with Janet! They were both very sad, scaredy girls, although Hopeful was the bigger and braver one. She palled up with one of my other students, Anastasia, so I didn't need to do much work with her.
Then ANOTHER little girl called Light came to stay too! She was a really happy, bouncy little girl, and soon found herself a lovely new home.
Good things kept happening, because adorable little Pamper, one of Janet's long term guests, found herself a loving new home.
Then something REALLY exciting happened for Emma, who had been a dreadfully traumatised little girl, and who had been staying with Janet for months getting the very best of care and rehabilitation. Janet had worked so hard with little Emma, and I had done my best with her too, and guess what? All our hard work paid off, because a lovely couple with a sweet little Sheltie girl decided to welcome Emma into their lives. Wonderful!!
Donna and I were so glad for Emma, but we would look sadly at Anna and Hope, always playing together or cuddled up in the same bed, with so much love to give to someone, but always overlooked. We would say that the impossible dream would be a home for them together.
Well, I'm here to tell you that DREAMS COME TRUE! Anna and Hope have been adopted by a lovely person called Sarah, who was recommended to meet them by another lovely person also called Sarah!! My little house guests went off to their new home on the day of the Big Snow.
So they have spent their first Christmas as loved companions instead of the sadly exploited victims we all used to be, and it was a lovely thought that so many little Schnauzers that I have met this year were all enjoying the Festive Season for the first time, and for me and Imagine and Pamper, we all got to see Christmas presents for the first time ever due to our wonderfully successful eye surgery! And we got to open the presents, and keep the lovely toys we found inside! I should just add here that it is a big responsibility being Pack Leader at Christmas, because I have to make sure all the rest of the pack look after their new things, so I just keep collecting everything up and putting the toys and chews in MY bed. That way I can keep track of things!
Just before Christmas, another little Schnauzer needing help arrived for Janet to care for, and I do mean little!! Only about 8 weeks old, and rejected by her "breeder" (aka puppy farmer) because she was blind.
Little Valour is SO TINY that she was renamed Mouse, far more appropriate. She was so scared but she has a very very brave spirit, and in no time at all she was bouncing all over the place. She is very clever, and has already learned how to get all around Janet's house, and oh my goodness she has a temper if she is crossed! She has been offered a home, so I hope her new owners will be ready to cope with a very small puppy with a VERY big personality, whose disability doesn't slow her down one tiny little bit! Once Mouse moves out, there will only be Hetty and Imagine looking for homes of their own. They are lovely girls, whose special someones must surely be out there somewhere, waiting to give them new starts.
And I have a new puppy of my own too - although not a Schnauzer!
Jedi George is a collie puppy whose pregnant mummy was saved by wonderful Gill White. Janet had given a home to one of the pups, a pretty little girl called Gilly. Then suddenly Jedi George became available, and Donna said he could come and live with us!
He is not a Schnauzer, I know, but my friend Jenny will enjoy having another Collie to play with, and it will mean all us little dogs will have two big dogs to look after us! He's not much use at the moment, but I am training him (luckily I get a rest each day when he is in Doggy Daycare with Gilly at Janet's place), and it makes a change to have a dog to get to know that has only ever seen kindness and love.
He is one of the lucky ones to have had such a good start, but I count myself, my pack members and my friends as lucky ones too, along with all the other dogs that DBARC has helped, because we are now out of our lives of sad and lonely deprivation or abuse and into the new lives of love and happiness, and I would therefore like to start 2010 with a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has made this possible for all of us, whether our rescuers, carers, fosterers, homecheckers, donors and wellwishers: we have a lot to thank you all for.
My carer Donna would say that it is SHE who has to thank US, because we fill her life with joy. DBARC will be continuing to work tirelessly this coming year to change other lives, both animal and human, so please, your help and support will be needed more than ever.
