After reading some of the responses to the Cesar Millan post, I’m just curious. How many dogs do you have to rescue to make you a good person? How much do you have to do for rescue dogs to be good enough?
I vote…um…one. No wait! Um…none! Wait a minute, what is the question? Do I have to rescue a dog to be a good person? Why would anybody think that? And if I rescue only one dog, am I good enough? Or do I have to rescue thousands, millions of dogs to be good? I rarely think questions are stupid but apparently there are stupid questions, this is the proof of that. LOL!
Rescuing dogs isn’t the only thing in the world that a person can spend their time helping with, we have hunger, abuse, rape, murder, unsolved illness, homeless people, people who just need someone to say they count to somebody…the list is so long.
Although I love being part of it, rescuing dogs doesn’t automatically make us the only good people on Earth.
If you have rescued one dog successfully and have lived with, worked with, and enjoyed that dog’s company, you’re probably a good person. Don’t let anyone make you believe for one second that you’re not doing enough, that you have to do more than that to be a good person, to do it right.
There are a lot of people involved in the rescue of dogs in this nation. Thank Goodness there are so many, there are certainly enough dogs to be saved. Granted some of those people are doing it to make themselves feel better, to get some reward for themselves, a pat on the back or money, or even to get back at someone who dared them to be a better person. Some are involved because they think they know better than anyone else how to do it right. Some feed on the fighting, the politics, the nastiness of life. They choose to do this wonderful thing so they’ll get noticed and maybe get a really good seat in Heaven. Those are the people who really maybe should step aside from this most important task. Life is easier for the dogs and the people who want to help them when it’s not a fight. A long suffering spirit, a being who feeds on other’s suffering, is not a spirit I like to be around, I’m positive that the dogs don’t either. It’s the person who is working with fear in their heart, the angry person, the ones who don’t know yet that they really are good and they’re safe and worthy but continue to try to prove they are worthy at any cost, those are the spirits who make us and the dogs back away or worse yet, to continue the fight. Those are the people who think constantly about how things can be different, better, they spend time in the past and in the future, not knowing that now, right now is the good stuff. The thinking mind is going and going and going. There is no rest, peace, or Heaven in that. The stable dogs know what’s good and right. Dogs live in the moment. We can do it, too. And when we do it, there is no malicious intent or self righteous sacrifice, it’s Heaven. So maybe for those who fight and scratch to feed their inner demon, maybe it’s time to stop trying to help the dogs. Stop and watch the dogs instead. Learn. Live in the moment and know that you are good.
There are a ton of people working in dog rescue who do it solely for the dogs and for the people who love them. They are quietly going about the matching up of dogs and people to their best ability. They don’t have to yell to make themselves heard. They don’t have to push to get things to move in the right directions. They only have to wish for the right thing and it will come. These are the spirits who have their hearts open to the animals for all the right reasons. These are the people who will get the best reward. The rewards come every minute for these people. The pleasure, the joy, they feel is genuine and it didn’t come at the expense of a dog or another person. They don’t have to wait for a Heaven, they’re living in it right now.
Am I a good person? Does it matter that I’ve rescued a bunch, transported dogs from here to there, consulted and helped train and donated to rescue and made a website to help even more. Those things don’t make me a good person. What maybe makes me a good person is that I get pleasure from now, right this very second. There are a lot of people just like me who believe that if we train from our quiet place, if we live and do what we can to help, if we believe in right now, a stable world, people being kind to each other in word and deed, and a lot of dogs waking in the morning without fear will result.
I want to be without fear of past or future, without guilt or rage or pain, just like the dogs. I believe that with every day, every second, that I am here in the now, I am good. I treasure the energy to keep living that way.
If I’m right and I think I am, it only takes saving one dog at a time for me to know that you care about all of them.
[Do what you can, if you can. Know your limits. Know how much money, how much time, and how much space you can share with a dog before you rescue. If you don't have the resources and the time right now, wait. "Now" comes again and again, just a second later. Tell someone you love that they're good. We can all use a little bit of that. http://rescue.sitstay.com ]
Dear Darcie, Only it isn’t really “rescue” when it’s just rehoming dogs. “rescue” is getting a dog out of real and immediate danger. Just helping place a dog is “rehoming” the term “rescue” always slanders the previous owner of the dog who had to give it up for whatever reason. If the word “rescue” was dropped in favor of “rehoming” it would be a step in the right direction in helping stop this neurosis that’s very well described concerning “animal rescuers” in your article. Well said. Sarah
[Dear Sarah, "Rehoming", in my opinion, is when a person has a dog already in their home, rescued or not, it's not working out for whatever reason and they find a new home for the dog for the dog's own good. Nothing that anyone says about that person who rehomed can take away the good deed that was done. A dog needs to live where it can be well taken care of, physically, mentally, and emotionally. People get themselves into trouble with dogs all the time, it can take a brave person to give up a dog they can't care for properly or one that isn't a good match for them. Me rescuing a dog from a bad place and giving it shelter doesn't make me the only rescuer in this dogs life. I may have saved his life in the immediate but the person who rescues the dog from my temporary shelter and will commit the next fifteen or twenty years to the dog is a real hero, too. "Rescue", in the dog world, can and does mean more than saving from immediate danger. Rescue is taking the dog home, out of it's former life or shelter, and giving it the rest of yours. Thanks for your note, I appreciate it. Darcie]