By Joseph Wilson
I love dogs. Always have. But I walk with a cane and thought my dog days were long gone. I went to Woofstock in Prescott Valley figuring I could get a dog fix with no commitment. Sort of like “It’s Just Lunch”. I had no idea what I was in for.
I stopped by the tent staffed by Saving Paws AZ. They described their fostering program called Seniors for Seniors. I qualified for one half. Not long afterwards they called with the canine half – a female German Shepherd. Off I went to Glendale and, with the staff’s help, got the big dog up and into the backseat. Just in case she got away from me the first day, I had an ID tag made up that said: CALL with my phone number.
This dog had a rough beginning. She toiled in a Phoenix puppy mill until she could no longer breed. She was then dumped in a remote area and fended off attacks by feral dogs and coyotes.
When Maricopa Animal Care and Control got her, she was covered with bite wounds. I can feel the scars. She also had an ear infection that was so severe that both ear canals were removed. Skin was harvested from each of her ears and sutured over the holes where her ear canals had been. Consequently, her ears droop and she’s stone deaf.
We had a rough beginning. She would wake up at 1a.m. and bark until dawn. This went on for three weeks, I was so sleep deprived the bags under my eyes looked like carry on. Then she started at 2a.m. Then 3, then 4 and then stopped.
With the barking, another issue was eating. She hated commercial dog food, kibble or canned. I experimented with all types of inducements. Then discovered she liked what I eat. So, mornings we have poached eggs on toast together – hers in a bowl on a bed of fancy trout kibble. Evenings she cleans her bowl of chicken vegetable stew made in a crockpot.
We have made fair accommodation of each other’s frailties and idiosyncrasies. I don’t walk well. She doesn’t like going for walks. I can drive. She LOVES going for drives. She can’t hear but can read my hand commands, lips and mind.
Hands down the smartest dog I’ve ever known. This dog is thriving. It makes me so happy to see her trot across the backyard dragging her extra large dog bed. Chase her tail.
I have a lot of mismatched socks because she has taken to burying them in the backyard. And, best of all, we are each other’s biggest fans!
When she wakes from a nap I can hear her barreling around the house crashing into door jambs, walls, furniture and appliances hell bent on finding me. I get her. She gets this three legged man. The initial aggravation pales against the dividend of unconditional love and friendship. I love this dog to smithereens.
When I picked her up at Saving Paws I learned her name was Mary Anne. But she’s deaf. No point in getting a new ID tag. She’s CALL. Warrior dog.
