Year of Giving

My mother and brother playing with my Uncle Jack's dog Spike in 1973. (photo courtesy of Ryan Sandridge)

Americans love dogs.  The Humane Society reports that there are more than 77 million dogs in the United States.  From other sources I found that this is more than twice the number of the second largest dog populated country, Brazil.  

I grew up around dogs.  We had a little mutt named 99 until I was about seven or eight.  My grandmother on my dad’s side was a Collie breeder and my mom’s sister Sue was an Akita breeder.  I even picked out a dog from the Humane Society when I was about nine.  I named him Paws.

Heather with Petunia and Bear Bear (photo: Reed)

Anyway, dogs have made their way into my blog on numerous occasions.  I quickly counted more than 25 posts involving man’s best friend.  Although I couldn’t find a figure for how many dogs we have in DC, I did read that the Humane Society reports that four out of every ten homes have at least one dog.  Today’s recipient has two dogs who you will meet.

I found Heather walking Petunia and Bear Bear along the park at 23^rd and P Streets.  Petunia is a rather fierce looking dog that appears to have some pit bull in her.  Don’t let this little three and a half year old fool you though, she couldn’t hurt a fly.  “She just wants attention,” Heather tells me as Petunia licks me to death.  Bear Bear is quite large and I know that I have seen this dog in the neighborhood before.  It’s the kind of dog you don’t forget easily.  Now three, Heather has had Bear Bear since he was five months old. 

Heather poses with Bear Bear (left) and Petunia (right) (photo: Reed)

“They are both rescues,” Heather told me as she explains how she found Petunia wandering around in Charlotte, NC.  She rescued Bear Bear from a home where he was being neglected.  “I got the owner’s permission.” 

These two dogs are lucky that they have found a loving home.  According to the ASPCA, five out of ten dogs in shelters are destroyed simply because there is no one to adopt them.

The $10 I gave her will be donated to the Humane Society of Charlotte.  

Petunia is really affectionate despite her looks (photo: Reed)

Originally from Ohio, Heather recently moved to the DC area from Charlotte.  She is married and in addition to these two loveable guys, is the proud mother of two cats as well.  She teaches English as a Second Language (ESL) and is working on her doctoral thesis focusing on international policy and development in the Middle East.  “I just got back from a trip to Syria where I was doing some research.”

We were distracted from our conversation several times as Petunia insisted on being the center of attention.  Heather is using a plastic bag full of water that she drops on the ground to get Petunia’s attention when she gets excited.  While I think that Petunia needs some additional training on this, it seemed to be helping.  

I gave both dogs a little pat and headed home.