Everydog is our December 30, 2012 Pup of the Week

Today I woke up under the covers in my warm bed with Mommy, Daddy and Pocket. It had snowed, then rained, then snowed overnight. Daddy got out of bed first and made sure we had a dry spot to do our business. When we went out we had warm jackets draped over our backs to protect us from the elements. After coming back inside we were given a nice treat. While Mommy was showering Daddy tossed the ball for Pocket who chased it down barking and wagging her tail. While Daddy was showering Mommy gave us some more treats and then Pocket climbed up on a recliner and I sat in my little chair waiting. After breakfast Daddy cleared off the table, then put me on it so I could be rubbed, scratched and give licks as Mommy finished reading the paper and Daddy read the computer. After that we were fed breakfast with kibble mixed with pumpkin treats and dental chews so our teeth are cared for. Pocket got a little pumpkin stuck on her tooth and Daddy carefully removed it. Then we went outside to pee again, for which we received more treats, and I nestled back in my chair.

And then I started thinking about Everydog. I don’t know Everydog. He doesn’t have Mommies or Daddies who like to talk about him on their computers. No one has ever posted a picture of him anywhere. He didn’t wake up in a warm bed this morning. He woke up outside on the cold ground, or in a cold, wet, inadequate shelter, or in a cage, in a rescue, or at a puppy mill.  There were no warm blankets, no warm, sibling, no warm human, no warmth, just a cold chill that never goes away.

No one went outside to make a dry spot of him to do his business. He had to go on the icy ground, supported by trembling legs, and then try to use his body warmth to melt the snow so he could lie somewhere warm, or he had to pee in a cage where it either dripped down on the floor or settled into a low lying corner. He had no warm coat to protect him from the elements. In fact the natural coat he had was matted and needed to be cleaned.

There were no treats for doing his business. Sometimes food is thrown out the door for him. If he is in a shelter sometimes the nice people bring him a treat when they have them but not on a schedule. If he is in a puppymill he does not know what a treat is. No one comes to play ball with him. Sometimes, in a shelter, someone will play a little bit, but again there is no routine, no knowing when playtime is, even though he knows the good people do what they can for him, he needs a home.

There is no nice couch to lie on, nor nice chair with a warm blanket.  There is no human food slipped to him on the sly. He is never picked up and put on a table to get extra scratches and to give kisses. There is food, most of the time. But there is no pumpkin mixed in. The kibble is inexpensive and not healthy for him. There is nothing baked in an oven, or shared by their humans. Sometimes the food is forgotten altogether. There is no food mixed in for his teeth or digestion. If he has trouble chewing some food no one will carefully open his mouth and remove the food so he doesn’t hurt his teeth or try to swallow it prematurely.  There is no second trip out, no second treat.

Later that day, as Pocket and I lay snuggled with our humans, he didn’t have one, he didn’t have the human touch that we all long for.

I wish I could help Everydog. I think about him a lot when I am considering all I have in my life, my wonderful parents, my great friends, and all the comforts I enjoy. I would like to give all of them to Everydog. And each one of the hundreds of thousands Everydogs going asleep alone tonight, cold and hungry, and awakening colder and hungrier.

Maybe someday Mommy will adopt one of these Everydogs, but, because of the human laws where we live, it won’t be while I am here, because we are already over the dog limit. I don’t believe in dog limits, I believe if a human can take care of dogs that they should be able to have as many as they want, but humans have reasons for their rules

Mommy says she is going to try to do more to help Everydog this year. She is going to buy food, sponsor a dog, do what she can for Everydog. I know lots of Moms are doing much more than that now, fostering, transporting, saving. I know Everydog is very thankful.

But I promise to think of Everydog every day. And I promise to pray that Everydog finds a home. And on this day I honor them and pray that next year, if I write this again, there will be a lot less Everydogs than there are now.