Since having to put my well-loved, almost 15-year-old shepherd/lab mix Debo down last month I have been reflecting on dogs and what they mean in our lives. We got Debo from the shelter and it was estimated that she was 8 weeks old. Even in that small amount of time, something had happened in her short life to make her frightened and aggressive. We worked with her – even visited with a doggie psychiatrist – and by the time she was about 7, she was a really good dog. I grew up in a family of dog lovers and was introduced early to Ben Hur Lampman’s essay entitled “Where to Bury a Dog” from his book How Could I be Forgetting. The text is easily found on the internet. Lampman tells us the best place to bury a dog is in your heart.
The following titles are stories of shelter dogs who, like Debo, have “landed on their feet”.
Found Dogs: Tales of Strays Who Have Landed on their Feet compiled by Elise Lufkin
Second Chances: More Tales of Found Dogs compiled by Elise Lufkin
To the Rescue: Found Dogs with a Mission by Elise Lufkin
Debo – August 2012
