I’ve been thinking a great deal about “play” lately. My mother once proclaimed that I am too serious. And I believe she was right. I am trying to fix that - it is a new direction for me.
Mariner’s Compass Quilt Under Construstion (Moda fabrics - Portobello Market, Heritage and Peace on Earth)
I have a story about play and how it saved a life.
About six months ago a young sheltie was homeless in Charlottesville, Virginia. The local animal control officer finally captured her using a humane trap. A sheltie rescue fostered her and provided medical care incuding heartworm treatment. Five months later she was adopted by a Washington DC family. They called her Gigi and she had a sheltie sister, Lucy. Three days after moving to her new home she slipped out the door and was gone. It was February and the frigid winter storms had just moved into the area, and Gigi reverted back into survival mode - terrified of people.
Her family and the sheltie rescue began a unrelenting search for her using some very high tech methods. Such intervention was necessary given the weather conditions as well as the very urban elements of the neighborhood. They began a blog with many frequent updates of sightings, they had an aggressive campaign of fliers throughout the neighborhood, they used a robot dialing service which called every neighbor in their area and provided information about Gigi; a scent dog tracked her; a humane trap was positioned in the area that she was frequenting that also had cameras and motion detectors; her foster mom from Charlottesville returned twice to try to lure her and people were holding night long vigils throughout the night near the trap.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the story is that what saved Gigi’s life was the desire to play. It wasn’t the fried chicken (a favorite of dogs on the lam) in the humane trap that lured her, it was play. And It is pure serendipity that Gigi’s new Dad is the vice president of a non-profit organization which helps communities build playgrounds - Kaboom. If you would like to read how the desire to play saved Gigi’s life, the story can be found here -links for each part of the story, part one through six, are found on the right.
I’ve been reflecting on Gigi’s story and the importance of play. And I also must say that Gigi’s story is very different than the life stories of the little companions who now reside with me. Probably the greatest constrast is Poupon’s story-a little gray, senior poodle who was brought into animal control. It was reported that she was living under someone’s porch. It was February and it was very cold.
She was deaf with very little sight remaining. How far could a dog like that travel? No one began a blog for her, no tracking dog was employed, humane traps baited with fried chicken were not set out for her, there were no fliers or motion detectors or cameras. There were no all night vigils for her.
She was taken to animal control, put in a cage in the coldest part of the facility - the area where they frequently keep the door open so that trucks can pull right up to the building. She was cold and wet. My friend, Tammie, pulled her from that hell, groomed her, and provided the best possible care for her. She was in horrible, horrible shape.
She then came to live with us. Dr. Jones did a dental and told me that the tartar came off in big chunks and you could pick up a chunk and rap it against the counter and it would not break.
She settled in. She began to feel better. She ran and played a bit, more than what I would expect of a dog with such limited sight.
Her blood work looked very good and we decided to try to save her sight sight via cataract surgery on one eye - sight in the other eye was not possible. Unfortunately the cataract surgery was not successful. Shortly after the surgery her health began to decline. She was treated for kidney disease (most likely caused by the amount of bacteria that had been in her mouth for the longest time). Last summer her health began to decline further. Her quality of life was marginal, and she did not respond to medications.
She was my constant companion - she always wanted to sit next to me - whether it was a desk chair or an easy chair. She cried if she wasn’t sitting with me. She sat next to me for every stitch I knitted, and while I was teaching, for every paper I graded, every bit of preparation before class.
When her quality of life reached a low point, we helped her get to the Bridge. That was last fall. I could not write about her life because I could not find a positive perspective. In fact I did not write a post for three weeks. I was looking for a way to honor her life and I was out of ideas. I wrote to a number of people asking for ideas for a memorial and no one had any.
Shortly after Gigi was found, an idea emerged. Peachy’s rescue, the Friends for Life of the Robeson County Humane Society- a NO KILL SHELTER- has begun a fantastic new program - the New Leash on Life and it involves a partnership with the Robeson County Correctional Center. Here’s an excerpt from their web site that describes the program.
"All of the dogs selected for the program are homeless animals and many of them were destined for euthanasia at the local dog pound. By bringing them to the Humane Society, we have saved their lives. And by putting them through the New Leash on Life program, we've made the dogs more adoptable.
Three dogs are selected at a time and paired with an inmate, who housetrains the dog and teaches him/her how to heel without pulling, sit, down, stay and come. They often teach them tricks such as roll over and play dead. The training is done on the Reward system, NEVER punishment. The dogs remain with their inmate trainer for 8 weeks and are also taught to overcome anxiety issues and behavioral problems. At the conclusion of the course, a graduation ceremony is held at Robeson Correctional Center.”
Dogs who have completed this program have been adopted to forever homes in many location - as far away as New Jersey. (A transport can be arranged to the perfect forever home.) What is particularly exciting is that all of the dogs have been adopted prior to graduation - which means that they go to their forever home, not back to the shelter, after graduation. This was especially meaningful for Reba, a German Shepherd mix, who had lived at the shelter for TWO YEARS. Here’s a video of Reba and her trainer, James, going through the paces:
You can see all of the dogs here as well as more videos of the dogs working- (click on Prison Dogs on the left hand menu.)
Recently the Friends for Life newsletter mentioned that the trainers were interested in doing agility with the dogs. I realized that I had some agility equipment that I was no longer using, and I did a little shopping on the web for a tunnel, a ring jump and weave poles. The equipment has been donated to the New Leash on Life program in Poupon’s honor. It is the perfect memorial for her.
Agility is a form of play for dogs - it is a wonderful source to channel energy and provides a challenge for problem solving. It provides a terrific foundation to build partnership, and it is just plain fun. It truly is play. (Thanks Gigi for the reminder of the importance of play!) And a possible new direction for all.
(Mariner’s Compass - new audition)
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