Ohio – The Perfect Dog Will Go Into a Shelter

Look at him! Glancing at his human with loyalty in his eyes. They don’t know each other for too long, they just met. Mark took ownership of the dog three weeks ago when a young girl who had the dog before needed to rehome him. That’s where Drama’s story begins. How it will end? I don’t know but I am trying my best to change his future.

I love dogs. I always joke that I like them more than humans and while it’s not true in general, lately it seems to fit more and more. I suppose jokes often have a kernel of truth.

Somehow I got involved, because that’s what I do, I help when I can. It has nothing to do with religion or belief, I am not trying to be a good person, it’s just that I got raised that way and it stuck with me.

Don’t gossip, don’t pretend, be honest, and help when you can. My grandmother’s rules were straightforward and easy to understand as a child.

Drama, the dog who is all but drama, had a home. I don’t know if it was a good home, but he was loved. A young woman who owned Drama’s dad, kept him when there was a litter of puppies. A decision many dog owners make, because puppies are just too cute and I totally understand but don’t always agree with – not that anybody ever asks me.

How do I know about Drama?

My last cleaning lady, who also happened to be my hairstylist and I sat down for lunch. We were not friends but liked each other well enough to enjoy each other’s company. We shared some of our life and that’s how I found out about her daughter.

Is the story true, or was it exaggerated to get my attention? I don’t know and quite honestly it doesn’t matter. In the end, it’s just one of the many stories I hear and it’s not my place to judge.

The young woman’s father had just passed away recently. He committed suicide and the young woman didn’t know how to cope with it. She has family. Obviously, there is her mother, my cleaning lady, and her two siblings, all adults. Her father had left the young woman some insurance money and she spent it quickly. “She burnt through the money,” my cleaning lady explained.

Then she got laid off, and when she couldn’t pay her expensive rent, she got evicted.

Trying to find a home with big dogs is not easy. As many of you know, I dealt with it years ago as well, and it takes lots of persistence and a bit of luck to find the right landlord. They don’t grow on trees, and they don’t knock on your door. You have to reach out and then reach out some more. Been there! Done that!

And so Drama was forced to find a new home. The young girls wanted to keep the older dog, drama’s dad, which makes sense. I could have just gotten up after our lunch break but of course, that’s not what happened. I got involved. Why? Your guess is as good as mine.

I designed a flyer with a cute picture. You need more drama in your house was the headline and my husband took the flyer with him to work and hung it on the bulletin board.

Mark, one of his co-workers who had lost his dog last year, saw the flyer and reached out. “I miss my dog,” he explained, “I have been depressed ever since I had to put my dog down” he went on, and he thought it was time to welcome a new dog into his life.

Mark and Drama met on a Friday three weeks ago. It was love at first sight and Mark took him home.

The End? Sadly, no.

Mark loves the dog and says Drama couldn’t be more perfect. “Drama is all but drama,” Mark’s words not mine. Drama is well-behaved and doesn’t destroy or chew on anything. The first day, when Mark had to go to work he kenneled the dog. One hour later he could see on his phone that Drama had broken out. The dog waited beside the front door for a couple of hours and stayed there until Mark came home.

Drama doesn’t like to be kenneled and Mark understood. The next day he went to the office. Mark owns a mobile home in a trailer park and when he introduced the dog to the staff, they said, “NO”.

No bull terrier mixes, or pitbull mixes are allowed in the park, even though they allow a Rottweiler and a Cane Corso to live there. Humans and the regulations they come up with. They just don’t make sense.

Mark was heartbroken. “He is the perfect dog,” he told everybody and almost cried. Mark is in his 50s, he has a ladyfriend who lives close by. “That’s why I bought the trailer, to be closer to her and my grandkids,” but he is not going to fight the park’s decision. He lived there for four years, “I don’t want to cause any trouble,” he said and I try to understand.

I would fight the park. (You know that about me, don’t you?) I would collect signatures from my neighbors, I would threaten them with the local news station, and I wouldn’t leave a stone unturned, but that’s me. I need more of Mark’s character and perhaps he could use a bit of mine?

I called my cleaning lady, who, of course, didn’t answer her phone. I called her daughter. No luck there either. Both didn’t answer the phone for a week. I got ghosted by my cleaning lady. Well, that’s something you have to wrap your head around. 🙂

After one week of trying to get ahold of her, I finally got a sign of life. I was temporarily un-ghosted.

Let’s give her the benefit of the doubt and let’s consider it is true (I hope it isn’t) couldn’t she have texted the same earlier?

I neither have the time nor the patience to deal with her now.

Regardless of my cleaning lady’s behavior, we found a solution. Mark’s daughter Maggie took the dog in. She has kids and just had a baby, that’s now nine months old. She got married last weekend, and yesterday was her honeymoon. Maggie spent one day away from home with her new wife.

Maggie is nice. I have never met her but we talked on the phone. How exactly did Drama become my problem?

The nine-month-old is curious about the dog and doesn’t know how to act around it. “Drama is perfect,” Maggie told me. (Sigh) “I would love to keep him, but I don’t trust the baby.”

She told me more about Drama. He loves to go for walks. He goes outside sits on the front porch, doesn’t run away, and waits to be put on the leash. He is curious about other animals like cats and squirrels but doesn’t charge them. “He is perfect.” (Exactly how often did I hear this in the last three weeks?)

Drama loves to cuddle and snuggle. He loves to sleep on the couch (sigh, don’t they all). He is loyal to his family and he is good with kids. He loves to play with them. He sleeps a lot. The dog doesn’t do anything wrong. He will be three years old in July. He is young and mature.

Maggie is afraid the baby might pull his ears or do something wrong. Why she thinks that? I don’t know.

Her mind is made up. The perfect dog needs to go and find a new home. I didn’t even try to reason with her. I asked for a few days yesterday evening when she mentioned she would give Drama to the Humane Society, our local animal shelter.

I got so mad inside but didn’t display it on the phone. This is so ridiculous.

There is a dog who is perfect for any single man or woman, who is the ideal family dog, yet he will go to a shelter if I don’t find another home. I contacted everybody and I wish for a happy ending, which will have to happen soon. I don’t think I bought myself more than a few days.

Why don’t we take him? Well, our dogs Patches and Vader are joined at the hip. They are perfect with each other and we are older now too. Three big dogs would be a bit much. I am crazy busy right now.

And so I hope for a small miracle, hope someone who got my email will want a new four-legged family member.

Sorry I vented a bit today, I just had to.

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