The Rescue Dog That Rescued Us

The Rescue Dog
That Rescued Us

by Charles Christy

My wife and I, both retired, moved to Egg Harbor Township 10 years ago, to be near our daughter and grandchildren, an 11 year-old boy and 9 year-old twin girls. It was great being busy, always having something to do, going to school events, boardwalk rides, the beach, helping out with transportation to here, there, and everywhere.

Then, as they got older, things slowed down for us. We were called on less and less for transportation and events. Started spending more time in front of the TV and on the sofa. Blood pressure creeping up, arthritis getting worse (among other reasons to just not do much). Doctors were on us to exercise and move more.

At some point, our daughter said, “You two need a dog!” “No, no, not again,” I said. Since we were married, back in 1958, we always had a dog. We had outlived four dogs and didn’t want to go through the pain of losing another dog. But our daughter, never one to take no for an answer, said “You have to come with me to see something great.” We went to the Atlantic County Animal Shelter in Pleasantville and met Itty Bit, a 14-pound part-Westie. Our daughter said, “Mom, just hold her for a minute.”

She held her and I could see it was love at first sight, and I knew, right then, it was a done deal. We named her Itty Bit, because all our other dogs were large. She was the perfect dog for us then, and now, five years later, even more so.

Itty Bit had a plan from the beginning. For the first two weeks, she slept in a crate in the kitchen. Never had to put her in, just said go in and she went and, although she barked a lot during the day, she never barked at night. Then after two weeks I said, “Get in your crate,” but she went to the bedroom door and just looked at me. So I took her bed out of the crate and into the bedroom. About a month later, she put her paws up on the bed and again looked at me. She has been sleeping in our bed ever since.

The part where I believe she rescued us is that from her first day until now, five years later, we took her for a walk every day all year long, hardly ever missing a day. It helped our blood pressure and our arthritis, among other things. She keeps us laughing a lot, playing with her toys. And every time we come home, she makes us feel like the most important people on earth.

Our daughter was right, we needed our dog even more than our dog needed us.

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One Response

  1. What a great story. It is hard when they leave us but I don’t think I could live without a dog or 2 (currently have 3 dogs and 2 cats). They give unconditional love and they keep me buys. Thanks for sharing your story and for adopting Itty Bit! She’s beautiful

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