Volunteering... APR

I volunteered yesterday with Fred for Atlanta Pet Rescue selling calendars and accepting donations at the Westside Urban Market. The photographer for the calendars is Leesia Teh - and she is fantastic! I would love to have her take pictures of Fred one day.... Anyway, as I was looking at her blog I found a poem that is so sweet I wanted to share:

He is my other eyes that can see above the clouds; my other ears that hear above the winds. He is the part of me that can reach out into the sea. He has told me a thousand times over that I am his reason for being; by the way he rests against my leg; by the way he thumps his tail at my smallest smile; by the way he shows his hurt when I leave without taking him. (I think it makes him sick with worry when he is not along to care for me.)

When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive. When I am angry, he clowns to make me smile. When I am happy, he is joy unbounded. When I am a fool, he ignores it. When I succeed, he brags. Without him, I am only another man. With him, I am all-powerful. He is loyalty itself.

He has taught me the meaning of devotion. With him, I know a secret comfort and a private peace. He has brought me understanding where before I was ignorant.

His head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things. He has promised to wait for me... whenever... wherever — in case I need him. And I expect I will — as I always have. He is just my dog.
--Gene Hill, Tears and Laughter

Fred earned APR a $100 bill yesterday. A woman in a lovely fur coat walked by and said, "For that dog, I am donating!" We didn't look at how much she had left until much later, and we were delighted! Another couple left a nice donation and offered to adopt or purchase Fred. I had to tell them that he was my personal dog, but that there were many more like him at the shelter. The husband said he liked Fred in particular... he is a friendly dog! I think that Fred was extra-charming yesterday because I dressed him warmly in an argyle sweater. This was not the first time that a stranger has offered to adopt my dog. At the Buckhead PetSmart (the worst grooming salon in Atlanta, more on that later) I had barely entered when a nice, older lady said she wanted my dog. She said he was just what she was looking for! He is a sweet pup...

One more quote from Gene Hill:

I can't think of anything that brings me closer to tears than when my old dog -completely exhausted after a hard day in the field — limps away from her nice spot in front of the fire and comes over to where I'm sitting and puts her head in my lap, a paw over my knee, and closes her eyes, and goes back to sleep. I don't know what I've done to deserve that kind of friend.