My involvement in the story began in December of 2006 when my friend Kat messaged me that she was on her way to meet up with some ladies from an online cocker forum that she belonged to that had become involved in the rescue of 28 Cocker Spaniels from a "Breeder" in Washington. They had went in response to the lady saying she was having to get rid of her dogs to go take care of her sick mother. This lady having been known as a breeder of quality show dogs they were interested but sadly when they got there the dogs were being kept in deplorable conditions. They convinced the "lady" to release 28 of the cockers to them. They had been kept in crates and used only as breeders. They had not been groomed or their crates they lived in cleaned in a long time. They were matted had feces and urine soaking their coats and were nearly starved to death. *Kat's vet said very fact they were so restricted to crates probably had saved them from starving to death.* Kat and her husband opened their hearts and home to 3 of these unfortunate dogs. You can learn more about their journey back to health and happiness at her site Kattery Kennels Thanks to her and her husbands love and patience and the help of the wonderful people at Betsy's Cocker Place all three dogs are now happy and healthy.
I knew from the very start that I wanted to help these poor animals and offered to adopt one of them. Kat kindly told me she wanted to see how bad things were after seeing the vet and unfortunately Toby became very agrresive towards other dogs almost immediately and besides being in need of basic care and feeding also needed to have surgery for his severe cherry eye. They also had him neutered in the hopes of that curbing his aggression towards other males. I cried the night Kat called and told me that Toby was still showing agression and she didn't think she would be able to place him in our home since she was scared of him accidently getting one of the kids if he encountered another dog while they were walking him. He never showed any signs of agression towards people though her husband did get bit once trying to break up a fight. then one night they had a tornado and had no choice but to place him with the other dogs as the rode to safety. Something clicked that night and Toby became a part of the cocker crew at Kat's . She waited a few days to tell me as she wanted to know for sure but when she did I was told that as long as things went well when I came up to meet both her and him in person that Toby would be coming home to join me,the kids, and our kitties as part of the family.
May 17,2007 I arrived to meet everyone and being the animal lover I am it was not long till I was sitting in the middle of the doggie yard surrounded by cockers. It was like Toby knew as I focused on him and they had been telling him for awhile he would be going home with me and getting kids. It took less than 5 minutes before he started pushing the other dogs away from me. He slept with me every night and the bond between us grew quickly. On May 21st we headed home to Oklahoma and it was with tears in my eyes I watched Kat disappear from view. She is and always will be a wonderful friend and I will never forget all she gave to Toby and to our family by allowing Toby to join it. Toby came home and soon settled in like he had always been there. He took to the kids instantly, prefers to be near one of us at all times. It warmed my heart the very first night he had been resting in his crate and didn't realize that my son had went to sleep so when he came out and his boy wasn't moving he walked up close to him and snuffled his breathe like he was making sure he was ok then gave him a big kiss walked over to my daughter and gave her a big kisses and got some love then it was my turn after which he went and layed down for the night. It was so like he was tucking each of us in that I just had to call Kat and Terry and tell them. I know that letting go of Toby was and still is hard for them as its only been a few days but Toby is well loved and cherished in our family. And already I can't imagine life without him. I will be updating how Toby and his family is doing as time goes on. |
