whatever you do for a dog, they end up doing so much more for you

[Luminous Animal]

Glenn Greenwald's story about how he and David ended up with 10 dogs and their commitment to rescuing them and others.

https://www.thedodo.com/greenwald-the-dogs-you-rescue--389145041.html

This is the key point I always try to convey whenever I’m asked how we can have so many dogs. Of course, when you rescue or adopt a dog, you do great things for them. But the dogs you rescue do even greater things for you. It’s not just that it’s a deeply gratifying experience to save a loving and innocent creature from a life of untold hardship, though it is that. Even more, each dog emotionally touches you in profound ways that stay with you for life. They each teach you something new about yourself and the world. The dogs you keep become the most loyal companions for life. But the ones you rescue and find homes for leave their own deep and important mark on your life.

David and I have fostered and found homes for numerous other abandoned and abused dogs since then. We never see it as charity, but rather as opportunity. That’s because whatever you do for a dog, they end up doing so much more for you.

[democratisphere]

1. So True!!

A dog's (and cat's) unconditional love and support is unmatched.

[Luminous Animal]

2. My 3 cats are so happy to see me when I am home from work it makes coming

home a very gratifying experience.

[democratisphere]

4. I know exactly what you mean!!

It's a beautiful thing!

[awoke_in_2003]

41. I haven't had a cat in years...

I need to change that.

[Lint Head]

3. Letting go when they die is the hardest. I just went through this again and cried for days.

They are so innocent and love you unconditionally. I can't even type the rest of what I want because I'm breaking down again.

[Luminous Animal]

5. Oh, I am so sorry.

[Lint Head]

6. Thanks. It's tuff.

[BrotherIvan]

8. Hugs for you

It is so hard that they go before us. I'll know I'm in heaven if I'm surrounded by my loving companions. That's really all I want.

[Prophet 451]

21. I am so very sorry for your loss

We've lost four of our own and it's always hard to say goodbye to such a close friend.

[alittlelark]

7. Same w/ the kitties....

That's my niche.

[HangOnKids]

9. Hey I Have To Ask

I got my daughter a rescue kitty from the shelter, this cat has ripped furniture, crapped on the floor numerous times and been a disaster. I have lovely bedding for her, a CLEAN litter box, great food, and a warm home. What gives? Not getting the kitty love. I tried to do the right thing but this cat is a nightmare.

[BrotherIvan]

15. Don't mean to butt in, but I rescue cats as well and maybe can answer some questions

It depends on if the cat was feral or just a stray or an unwanted pet. Ferals are the hardest to deal with but it is possible. Strays and abandoned pets mean the cat was at one time in a home or contact with humans. He/she will talk to you which ferals won't do and will allow you to pet or hold him.

That said, I recommend to everyone having litter box problems to try a product called Cat Attract scoopable litter (Amazon has the best price that I've found) It has herbs in it that attract the kitty to use it. Plus it's absolutely the best clumping litter I've used with very little dust or smell.

Cats are very easy to litter train. Depending on when this kitty lost his mom, he may not have learned. If he/she poops outside the box, put it in the box and then use his paw to cover it. Cats have a natural instinct to dig, do their thing, and then cover. They do it in the dirt outdoors. They are also very clean animals and most will stop using a litter box that smells (and their smell is far better than ours). I know you said yours was clean, so it's not that. They also like deep litter, so sometimes a bigger litter box will help. And if you have the kind where kitty has to crawl or jump into a little hole, get rid of it. Those are made for people, not for cats and it traps smells in like a nasty public toilet. Avoid heavily perfumed clay or crystal litters as the smell is too strong for most cats and very bad for their respiratory systems.

Second, if the cat is ripping up couches or chairs, get or make a nice TALL scratch post and put it right in front of the area that was scratched (we got the Smart Cat Ultimate scratching post). A lot of times scratch posts are not tall enough for the cat to stretch and give it a good scratch. When I got my new furniture, my cats wanted to scratch the corners. Put a scratch post right in front of the first corner when entering the room. Then they learned to use that instead of the furniture and I could move it, but they like to have it when they walk in, do a little stretch and a bit of a scratch as their way of making an entrance. A cat flourish if you will. Scratch posts and trees for them to sit in and look out the window in every room or the main rooms where people tend to hang out is a great idea.

Some people recommend the hormone Feliway or even Bach's Flower Essences to calm a new kitty in the home. They didn't work for me but they're worth a shot.

Last but not least, if it hasn't been done already, get kitty spayed or neutered right away. There are probably low-cost places that do it. Especially if it is a male, that will change his whole temperment.

Don't give up on kitty yet! Cats are extremely smart and their behavior is usually telling you something. They're just waiting for you to figure it out! There's a show on animal planet called Cat From Hell which actually has some good advice too. Like playing with your cat every night to get their nervous energy out and tame aggression and bad behavior.

If you have any more questions I can help with, I'd be happy to. You can PM me if you like. Hope this helps!

[liberalla]

16. Excellent post and advice!

[BrotherIvan]

38. Thanks!

Hoping kitty gets it together so he/she's not out on the street again!

[Prophet 451]

22. Well said

We adopted a feral stray once and had similar problems. What you've said is pretty much what we learned through trial and error.

[BrotherIvan]

37. That's great!

Adopting a feral is not for the faint of heart, but how wonderful when they open up to you. One of my cats was young but feral and it took about 4 years for him to evolve into a cuddler like he is now. He always has wanted to be within eyeshot, has always loved pets and attention. But he's more skittish and scared of new people, unlike my other cat that was born as an unwanted litter who is a complete ham and totally tries to charm everyone for maximum pets. I'm on to him though.

I wish more people would do as you have done! Hope you are surrounded by furry love to this day!

[Prophet 451]

40. Still have two now

Jelli (the feral stray) passed away of a stroke. Since then, we've had Mac (abandoned on our doorstep, died of a sudden heart attack at two), Sandy (shelter cat, died of FIV) and Suki (shelter, died of old age at sixteen) and are currently blessed with a thin black bundle of yowling energy called Cracker and a marmalade flump called Lily (both shelters).

[Enthusiast]

18. My rescue kitty

has nearly destroyed my wife's new recliner. I yell loudly at him when he attacks the edge of the chair. He runs off. But I get the impression that he loves me to yell at him. He likes the attention, finds it fun. But we love our kitty.

[BrotherIvan]

10. You've got to have a good heart to care about "thrown away" animals

What beautiful people!

[Live and Learn]

11. Agreed, but I do think "throw away" people

(which are admittedly harder to care for) are often left out of the debate and undoubtedly offer even greater rewards.

[BrotherIvan]

12. We all have to add to the good

And there's so much damn bad out there, it seems like a Sisyphean task. But if we all do our best and give our utmost, that's something.

[Live and Learn]

13. True, and anything we do has great rewards. nt

[pacalo]

14. There's a lot of substance in Glenn Greenwald.

I respect his high standards in regard to his field of journalism & now I'm very touched by his love & compassion for dogs (I presume this includes all animals as well), particularly those who need extra love for healing.

[newfie11]

17. We have 4 Newfoundlands, a Pom, and 3 cats

We would be lost without them. Yes the all live in our home, yes the drool, yes they shed, but life without them would be miserable.
We've made many friends because of dogs.

[Enthusiast]

19. The Pom is the boss?

Our's was.

[newfie11]

29. Yes she is

She bites toes or chops if they get to unruly near her

[Enthusiast]

30. They seem to be quite assertive.

[newfie11]

32. She lives with 4 dogs that weigh over 130 pounds

She has to be assertive lol

[Douglas Carpenter]

20. I happen to live in a place with lots and lots of stray dogs - but only one vet within hundreds of

miles. Thus veterinary bills are very expensive. I have fully adopted one abandoned dog and gotten him neutered and all fixed up with his proper medical treatment at a cost of more than $1500. The moral quandary I have is that I have about four other dogs coming around looking for some food and no doubt would like a place to live. I can afford the food - and they can stay around my place as much as they like - but to fully and properly take care of them with all their routine medical needs is simply something that cost way beyond my budget. There are not adequate public or private services here on Saipan to deal with such issues - nor are local attitudes toward animals very enlightened. Most local people only feed dogs scraps and never take them to the vet and very, very few animals here have been neutered or spayed.

[Prophet 451]

23. I wish you guys had a PDSA

Here (the UK), we have a charity called the PDSA (People's Dispensary for Sick Animals) that provides free or extremely cheap vet care to poor people. Since I became disabled a few years ago, they've provided all the vet care for our cats and the only thing I had to pay for was their annual shots (about $50). My SO and I have agreed to donate a million to them if we win our national lottery.

Do you have a local spay/neuter-and-release program? Even if you can't take the dogs in, that would prevent them having any more feral puppies.

[Douglas Carpenter]

26. at many places in America they do - but not here - the only option for spaying and neutering is the

one private vet. The cost averages about $400 to $500.

[Prophet 451]

24. My cats have saved my life many times

I suffer from Major Depressive Disorder, GAD, "visions" and voices. Between them, that means I get suicidal ideation most days. When I start thinking about suicide, it's my cats that prevent me. My SO would know my reasons; she would, on some level, be able to understand why, but Lily and Cracker would just know their daddy was gone and that breaks my heart so much that I can't go through with it. They sit with me when I self-harm and when I'm not functional, they curl up with me and try to purr me better.

[BrotherIvan]

39. Ok, that teared me up.

Hugs to you and your beautiful family, both furry and non. I hope you are getting all the help you would like. I know what you mean, I've had a close brush with death, and my only thought was who would take care of my pets?

Peace to you.

[xchrom]

25. du rec.

[shenmue]

27. Amen and amen

Dogs are good!

[Katashi_itto]

28. I miss having a dog so much. Im in an apt and cant manage one.

[KG]

31. but, but, Glenn Greenwald! argle blargle bargh!

[hobbit709]

33. At one time Donna and I ended up with 8 dogs.

They were all rescues and they all lived long happy lives for dogs.
Once they got here, they never left.

[Oilwellian]

34. We adopted one of his puppies

When Glenn originally wrote about the mama dog he rescued, we jumped at the chance to adopt one of the pups.

Glenn's ex-editor with Salon created The Dodo, a website dedicated to animal rescues, and contacted us for pics. He featured Gigi and all of her siblings that Glenn found homes for. Please share the web link on Facebook and follow on Twitter. It would be great to see this newly launched site take off.

https://www.thedodo.com/glenn-greenwalds-rescue-dogs-b-389142329.html



Home Page link:
https://www.thedodo.com/

[Luminous Animal]

35. That is so cool!

[Oilwellian]

36. Proud to say...

Glenn is my bud. Didn't get to meet him when we went to DC to pick Gigi up, but we did get to meet Jane Hamsher.

[smokey nj]

43. GiGi's adorable!!!

[Oilwellian]

44. Thanks, smokey nj

She's the coolest little dog. We asked Glenn for the runt. LOL Here she is all grown up:

[smokey nj]

47. Such a sweetie!

I bet she gives great kisses.

[99Forever]

42. Those that haven't experienced it...

... are missing something very profound in their lives.

We have 5 dogs now (and many that came before), each holds a special place inside me that I lack words to describe or explain. Indeed, the gift of a rescue, is mostly to the rescuer.

[Samantha]

45. No matter how much you love your dog, she loves you more

My vet told me this once about my dog, Jasmine. I looked at her and could not imagine how she could love me more than I loved her. But I am sure he was correct because I believe this is generally true of all dogs (and even cats).

Sam

[roguevalley]

46. my last six dogs were dachsies, five at one time and they lived

between 11 and 20 years. I adored them. They saved me. I just got a rescue chihuahua. What a great dog. I can't live without a dog