Bonnie - Every dog I've ever loved!

by Connie
(Alabama)

There is no denying the synchronicity of Bonnie coming into our lives. We moved to Missouri in 2004 with one dog, Chloe, an Eskimo Spitz I had found in the newspaper and brought home Oct. 18, 2003. I lost my dog of 16 years in the Spring of that year and our home just seemed empty without her. When we moved we stayed in temporary housing for two months and Chloe stayed in a local pet motel. The owner suggested we get another dog, perhaps a medium sized dog because Chloe was a dominant female and they thought she would do well with a companion. In our search for another dog we found Sam, a blue heeler needing to be rehomed because his family had a new baby. Sam went to the pet motel and spent that day and night getting to know Chloe. They both came to their new home together the following day. I put two and two together until much later, Sam was adopted on Oct. 18, 2004!

Moving forward to January 2007. Our teenager daughter had been asking for her own dog for a couple of months. In December I agreed she could get one, but it had to come from a shelter. She found a JRT puppy that had been purchased for a three year old and turned into the shelter because it was "too wild." Interesting, the dog was too young to be adopted out! We went to see this puppy and agreed she could adopt him when he was ready to go to a new home, but there were several people interested and they had already put in applications to adopt him. The shelter suggested my daughter fill out the adoption application in case no one showed up on adoption day. She went to visit this puppy every day after school and we visited as well. On adoption day I checked her out of school early so that we could be there when they opened the gates. She bought him a lack bow-tie collar, a new leash, and a new toy believing she was taking him home.

The procedure was to call out those names that put in the applications first. The first name was called and no one spoke up, our hearts jumped with anticipation. Then the door flew open and a man rushed over, signed the papers and walked back out the door, without greeting his new puppy! Our daughter was devastated. I suppose the man taking ownership was on his way back to work, but my daughter with tears in her eyes went outside and handed him the items she brought for the puppy. He thanked her and left, she went inside to say goodbye. It is with tears in my eyes that I recall that day and how heartbroken she was to leave without him.

Outside I hugged her and told he that is wasn't meant to be. That for some reason little Opey wasn't meant to be a part of our family. She said she understood that, but was crying and heartbroken. Within a few minutes a volunteer came out and told her that they had Opey's breeders information and maybe she could get one of the puppies. She declined, telling him she couldn't afford to buy a dog from a breeder. He went back inside and came back with two other people that worked at the shelter. They told her that if she wanted one of the puppies from the breeder that they would help her get one. I was shocked, mentioning to them that they had 50 dogs inside needing homes and they were wanting to help her get a breeders dogs. They felt bad for my daughter, they had grown to know her over the 3 weeks she visited with the JRT puppy. She thanked them for their kindness and decided to wait.

I went home feeling so bad about what happen that afternoon, she was my girl and it hurt to see her so sad. I thought about if for a while and decided to call the shelter and get the Breeders information, to see if they had anymore of the puppies. I called and they had two left so I arranged to go see them. I called my daughter home and told her we were going to get one of Opey's litter mates.

It took a while to find these people with the dogs. They were in an isolated area out in the country, so isolated there were very few road signs and so far out I lost my cell phone signal. Finally I saw a trailer and a barn back in some trees and figured that must be the place. As I turned down a dirt road approaching their home I got a knot in my thought, I saw a rabbit hutch in front of my car with dogs in it! I got out of the car and the first words out of my mouth was, "How long have you been breeding JRT?" The man said, "Oh, about 4 or 5 years". I felt sick, I didn't know what to do, but I knew breeding and living in a hutch was wrong! It was not clean, they had no food and water, and with six dogs inside it appeared they would compete for any food they received as there was only a small divided cat food dish turned over with 18" of poo underneath! I asked to see the dog with the brown face, she clung to my daughter having never been out. I paid for the dog, he handed me some papers, and we left. Once home I got on the phone and started calling everyone I could think of for help, including the JRT Society. That night we had 6" of ice followed by 13" of snow! I don't know if anything was ever done about those dogs or their living conditions. I beat myself up for a long time for not taking the other puppy and the 4 adults that I left behind!

Bonnie was in our home a few weeks when I decided to organize a stack of papers that had been piling up on my desk. When I found those papers I was given I looked over them to see what it was. There were two sheets giving information on her family tree and the papers where they had docked her tail and given her shots. Low and behold I saw her date of birth listed as Oct. 18, 2006 and I was stunned!

I have fallen head over heals in love with this dog! In truth she is more my dog than anyone else as she has bonded more with me. She is not very affectionate, not a licker or cuddlier, but she sleeps with me and loves to lay at my feet when I'm watching TV. Unless she is outside, she's usually someplace close to where I am. She is the reason I could not go through life without a JRT. She is the reason I became a rescue transport volunteer, a dog rescuer and foster mom, and have helped save 11 dogs and/or rehomed them in the last three months. Most recently I rescued a male broken coat JRT from a pound and was going to foster him until I could find him a home. I've been wanting to get another JRT as a playmate for Bonnie, even though we have two other dogs it's something I had planned on doing someday. Our most recent rescued JRT has become that dog. My Bonnie is every dog I have ever loved!