I am often been intrigued by the dogs of the homeless.
A few years ago on a rescue run to the Mendocino County Shelter, a colleague and I were cruising through the kennels looking for animals to take to another shelter. (One of the secrets of rescue work is location. What doesn’t get adopted in one county is often in demand in another.) It was there I spied one very large dog, who didn’t appear all that concerned about being in a shelter. While the other dogs were barking for attention or hiding from fear, this big ole’ dog sat on his bed as if to say “Yeah, this is cozy.”
Not only was I impressed by the dog’s calm demeanor, but his pedigree was a fun one to figure out. Part husky, part malamute, part lab with one blue eye and one brown. His tri-colored coat was thick, like he was designed for a life outdoors.
One of the first things you think about when a dog is so calm is they are sick.
When asked about the dog, Sage Whitefire, the adoption coordinator at the Ukiah shelter told me,” That’s Sam. His owner is homeless and when he gets into trouble and ends up in jail, the owner gets three hots and a cot and Sam comes here for the same.” But this time, the owner was in for longer, and Sam was now really, truly homeless. My colleague said, “Dogs’ don’t know they are homeless. They just think it’s one big long camping trip.”
“Should we take him?” I asked.
“Of, course,” said my colleague. “Often dogs of the homeless are very well socialized and they get a lot of companionship. Their diet sometimes is not very good, but by the very nature of being homeless, they tend to pretty sturdy.” Sort of a spin on what doesn’t kill them makes them stronger.
We took him.
Sam ended up being my project. When we arrived at our shelter, I took him straight to the grooming room where I believe he enjoyed possibly the longest, if not the only bath of his life. The grime that came off was impressive. Off to the evaluation room where he passed with flying colors. He was getting ready for his neutering when a clinic volunteer was equally impressed with his personality. She adopted him.
Sam went through a series of training classes with his new owner and aside from not liking other dogs rushing up into his face, he was a pleasant calm companion. Several years later at a holiday party, his adopter told the story of Sam and relayed he was dying of cancer. He lived another five years in the civilized world. She just recently adopted another dog of the homeless.
I am not saying all dogs of the homeless have it so great. I cringe when I see them being used as panhandler tools on hot days, but more often than not, the dogs are calm and used to the comings and goings of life. They are usually tolerant of discomfort but perhaps some day, like Sam, they will get three hots and a cot.
