Chapter Ten: White Flags & Stuff

I suppose now is probably a good time to tell you that this is NOT your typical rescue story.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the stories we tell ourselves. The ones that make the Universe drive negative feelings & consequences into our lives. And how if there isn’t some kind of intervention to challenge those stories, they just become how we define ourselves. They are the catalysts for our decisions, the orchestrators of our relationships, and the voices in our heads that play over & over. Let me try to explain..

David’s Story:

For the last few years, David has been a witness to the abandonment of neglected and deceased dogs at a remote site just east of Houston where he often goes hiking with his great dane Noble. He has emailed rescue groups and public officials who work in the area, but has been unable to receive any assistance. The thought of doing anything about it on his own has been very overwhelming. He feels very guilty. Sad. Hopeless.

He called me on Sunday for help. But why now? Why did he make yet another attempt when he’s been seeing dogs come & go for over 3 years out there? What was the X-factor this time? I wasn’t sure, but it definitely made me curious & I agreed to help if he was willing to assist with the mission too.

Most of Monday was spent setting up a great plan and strategy for the 2 dogs David had been seeing a few days in a row. One of them was injured. I contacted my friend Liz to discuss and she put me in touch with Paige who is a vet tech and the director of Foxtail Pet Rescue, who immediately agreed to take on these 2 dogs. In a matter of hours we had enough money raised for all their initial boarding and vetting, a place for them to go, & several new doggie admirers. BAM! Paige named them Reptar (tan dog) & Anjelica (white dog) after the Rugrats cartoon characters. 2 girls.

As you’ve probably figured out, David is the guy in the photo on my homepage & above. He’s gorgeous. Successful in his career. Strong and resilient kind of dude. I hadn’t seen him in a couple of months until he picked me up to retrieve the dogs together yesterday. He said he hadn’t been sleeping much & was not pleased with some of the choices he’s been making of late. It sounded like he’s going through a really rough patch in his life right now.

Our conversation on the ride over was mostly about what wasn’t going well in his life. It hurt me to hear this. I just listened & prayed for his healing quietly. I know David to normally be a very happy & positive person. Not only that, he was such a caring confidant during the time I really needed it not too long ago. He gave me excellent advice about my dogs and was brutally honest with me when not many people were. I appreciated this so much.

The one thing I knew for sure was that David is a total dog whisperer. I brought along all the usual rescue stuffs..slip leads, collars, treats, etc. I asked David the best way to approach this for when we arrived? He said, “Oh, I don’t need the leashes. I’ll get them to walk in the crates on their own.”

After I snorted, I said, “Yeah right! I’m serious, we’re gonna be there in a few minutes. You know these dogs. What’s the freakin’ plan??” He wasn’t joking. I said OK, & that I would listen for instructions & play photographer. LOL!

Well, sure as shit if they didn’t hear his car coming & run up from the dirty ditch to greet us. And then he proceeded to do exactly as promised. Dogs in crates on their own. Check! Whoa. Hells yes & I cried after he hinged the second crate!

With dogs now safe & in tow, our car conversation took on a totally different tone. David was so jazzed and grateful and concerned about the dogs. They looked really bad and he hoped they’d be ok.

He was now out of his own head. He had taken significant action, & was giving of himself. There was power where none was before. That’s quite the change from feeling guilty, sad, & hopeless, wouldn’t you agree? We didn’t solve all of David’s problems yesterday. We saved the lives of 2 innocent dogs. When I got out of the car to say goodbye, his face looked years younger and it was positively full of joy. And I told him so.

We just CANNOT see this stuff in ourselves. Ok, so I may have lovingly pointed a few things out to him just before I got out of the car. Someone else might have had a problem with that. He thanked me.

Then I told him that I believe the way to find our purpose is through our talents and passion. Everything else just falls into place. David’s talent is training dogs. He understands them in very unique and intimate ways. Now it’s time to do the soul work. Being of service is the best way to do it. It gets you back on the right path..the one you were meant to be on in this lifetime. Building on the success of this mission is a great place for him to start writing his next new chapter.

Oh wait. The dogs. The ones who came into David’s life to inspire him. (And others. But that’s a different blog post & this one is already a quarter of a novel.) They are now at North Durham Animal Hospital. Report from the awesome Dr. Dawson below.

Reptar: Snapped, broken right femur, Upper respiratory infection, Emaciated, Entropion, Heart murmur, Heartworm negative

Per Paige, “And Robyn, it’s the worst case we’ve seen all year..”

Anjelica: Respiratory infection, Heartworm negative

Surgery for Reptar’s leg & eyes is tomorrow. If you would like to donate towards this, please do so via paypal.com. Click on “Send Money” & add Foxtail’s email address: Foxtailpetservices@gmail.com. Your donations are tax deductible. All funds above & beyond what is needed for the treatment, surgery, etc. for Reptar & Anjelica will be used towards care of other animals in the Foxtail Pet Rescue program. Thank you so much! These human & canine stories are definitely.. To Be Continued..

XO,

RA

“All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed. For after all, he was only human. He wasn’t a dog.” —Charles M. Schulz

Reptar video showing injury: