Pet Adoption Stories
The Tale of a Dapper Dog
iStockphoto
Jacque Lynn Schultz, CPDT, ASPCA National Shelter
As I walked into the holding kennel, my eyes were drawn to the mature fawn and white Whippet lying quietly amidst the bouncing and barking canine adolescents. With front paws crossed and chin resting atop them, he was the picture of regal repose. His former owner claimed he was ill and the veterinarian couldn’t figure out what was wrong, so she brought him in to be euthanized. Lucky for him, she stalked out without signing the forms which would have mandated we put him to sleep. Our shelter manager gave her a call to get the whole story and asked if we might place him with purebred rescue. Having already broken her bond with the dog, she gave permission to do whatever we wanted with him.
I took it upon myself to track down a Whippet rescue group. Curses! The local representative had just moved to Florida and no one had taken her place in the Northeast. I could have left it at that, but his soulful brown eyes haunted me. I couldn’t leave him in the kennel. At eight years of age and struck by a mysterious malady, he was not considered an adoptable dog. (This was prior to 1994, when the ASPCA still held the animal control contract for New York City and received over 60,000 animals a year.) I told myself I’d just take him up to the animal hospital and see if they could figure out what was wrong with him. If it were treatable within my budget, maybe I’d take him home.
When the hospital clerk asked for his name, I gave her a blank look. His former owner had not filled in that box on the relinquishment form and he wasn’t my dog – yet. “Name?” she repeated. My mind raced. He was such a suave-looking dog, so dapper. And the shelter director who stretched the rules and okayed the hospital visit was named Dan, so the dog became Dapper Dan – just Dapper to his friends.
That Saturday, all the doctor could find was a case of giardia and a serious heart murmur, so Dapper became my first senior adoption. The following Monday, I spoke to his former veterinarian to try to get a more complete medical history. It seems his former owner never brought him in for testing. She expected to cure his health problems through a series of phone calls. After being referred to the ASPCA’s hospital for low-cost testing, she never got past the relinquishment desk. The dog lost his home and family because he was ill.
As the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. What a gem! Dapper was easily assimilated into my furry family of one Italian Greyhound and three cats – all rescues. He aced his obedience class and went on to a career as a therapy dog, working with de-institutionalized mentally challenged adults and nursing home residents. However, his most important work was with young men and women dying from AIDS-related illnesses. His story of being cast out because of an illness struck home with many. By empathizing with a skinny, old Whippet, they could finally express their own pain and anger.
Dapper was part of my life for six and a half years, several years longer than veterinary estimates. His peaceful countenance was perhaps his greatest gift to all that met him. Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Well, I don’t recall teaching Dapper any new tricks per se, but he did learn a new name. Thirty-six hours after he was named Dapper Dan, I asked his former veterinarian what the dog’s name was. “Shasta,” he said. I hung up the phone and called out “Shasta.” No response; so, I tried “Dapper” and was rewarded with eye contact and the soft thudding of a wagging tail tapping against the floor. In less than one weekend, a new name was learned and an old name shed; a new life begun and an old life let go.
By Jacque Lynn Schultz, CPDT
ASPCA National Shelter Outreach
Next in
Before You Adopt: Pet Adoption Stories:
Bountiful Love
