Gotcha

I know you are sick and tired of hearing about my dogs. I know my friends are REALLY sick of hearing about them. Bear with me one more time--just a few more paragraphs. It's their anniversary/birthday, after all.

We celebrated their one year with us by attending the TracysDogs Gotcha Day event in Darien, IL. Now, I don't usually write about specifics in blogs (to protect the guilty--er, I mean innocent), but today, I shall make an exception. Thanks to TracysDogs, everything my friends have been telling me about rescuing finally makes total sense. I heard what they said, but I didn't hear what they said. Now, I hear it loud and clear.

We spent the day with other alum pups as well as with new families, which was more than fabulous. Think of all the gushy adjectives you can and slap them on this day. The majority of our time was spent with two specific alums and their delightful owners. We are kindred spirits on many levels. It was Rosita and Bandido's first time hanging out in a hotel room (well, as far as we know). It's also the first time they've gone to a dog-friendly restaurant.

Photo: Rosita and Bandido making new friends.

For the record, Rosita did not poop in the hotel room and Bandido did not pee in the room. I was certain both of these things would happen. I tried to be vigilant as I didn't think bodily functions on a hotel rug would be appreciated by anyone.

Too bad it was Rosita who peed in the room. Sigh.

Not once.
Not twice.
Three times.

I was mortified. Little tinkles, but urine nonetheless.

Four dogs in one hotel room is mighty entertaining. There's not a lot of room to run or hide or escape. Rosita did manage to escape the room and zipped into another room but other than that, it was confined quarters. It didn't take long for the pecking order to be established. Soon everyone was getting along handsomely. Okay, so it took longer than a few minutes but it did eventually happen. After spending the day together, they formed their own little pack. That came in handy as the day progressed. After all, there is safety in numbers.

Pictured (clockwise, starting at 9 AM) at the hotel: Senorita Martiza Bandido; looking away (probably for a place to pee) Senorita Rosita Luisa Amelia; Dexter; and, Mr. Beasley. The owner of Dexter shall remain anonymous.

Surprisingly to us, Rosita hopped on the bed without effort and certainly without second thought.... surprising to us because she does not sleep in a bed at home. I daresay that's not the first time she's been in bed--she was a pro, second nature. She went right for the pillow and was proud to stake her claim. Bandido did not jump on the bed or do anything exciting.

We did learn that Bandido does NOT take kindly to being mounted by any other dogs. Who can blame her?

Lunch at the restaurant went pretty well, too. The only time things got rowdy is when another dog walked by. It got a little loud on the patio. I don't think any table food made its way to the mighty mutts but they seemed happy enough to be outside and safely tucked under a table. Photo: Dexter, Mr. Beasley, Rosita and Bandido peeking out from under the table. They had been laying down but my attempt to capture a photo led to everyone hopping up. Dang.

The wife and I hope to find local dog-friendly restaurants. We'll see. We don't live in the most dog-friendly towns, so we may have to travel to enjoy dinner with the grrrrrls.

For this Gotcha Day, forty five or so lucky families met their new pups for the first time. Yes, the first time. These are basically sight-unseen adoptions; you meet the dog for the first time when they get off the bus. Oh, you know lots and see photos and talk to adoption specialists, but the unveiling is the moment the face-to-face contact is made. There is lots of ooooohing and ahhhhhing as each dog comes off the trailer.

A wee bit about TracysDogs: The organization goes once a month to the kill shelters in Texas/Mexico border towns. Facing certain doom (after all, dogs are euthanized at a ridiculous pace on a daily basis--on an unimaginable scale), Tracy and her team pick dogs to take back to the ranch and rehabilitate them as needed. They don't discriminate--sick dogs, mangy dogs, pregnant and recently-pregnant, old dogs, puppies, dogs with distemper, dogs with heartworm--any dog can make "the cut." Tracy has the gift of finding the "right" dogs. I know she'd love to save them all but somehow she makes heart-wrenching decisions on who gets in the van. She probably cries through the whole thing.

It takes about an hour for all the dogs to meet their new families. Some dogs pee on the spot. Some dogs pee on Tracy's team, including on Tracy herself. Others don't miss a beat and have their tails wagging with happiness. Some dogs don't look exactly thrilled but it'd be hard to be on a bus for two days and then be handed to some strangers. Life probably wasn't very good before being saved from euthanasia, so trusting strangers immediately is understandably not their strong suit.

In case you think otherwise, let me assure you: THIS is what it's all about: Tracy hugging an adopter, Tracy and the new mama crying. The team gets to know the dogs and tell their stories.

Sometimes, it's hard to let go.

The dog in this case is a distemper survivor. This little pup was very, very sick and nursed back to health by this team.

This dog would have had zero chance if Tracy hadn't rescued her. Zero.

(Distemper is cruel. Look it up... and, vaccinate to protect your beloved pup from ever having to worry about it.)

We are fortunate enough to know the lady who adopted this lucky dog, so we will be able to follow the antics of this dog. I'm sure there will be lots of funny stories.

As with all adoptions, I'm not sure who is luckier: the dog or the new family.

It's hard to imagine Bandido and Rosita were on the chopping block. For some reason, Tracy saw something in them and thus these two party pups are alive and living the dream in Illinois.

Yes, rescuing local is wonderful. Vital. I know there are local people who totally disagree with our decision to rescue from out of state. But, to me, rescuing is rescuing and thus I can't say enough good about this organization. We would have loved to rescue locally but that was not to be. Thank god we were deemed too old by a local rescue. Had they not found us too old to even consider us, we now have two TracysDogs and couldn't be happier.

If only Rosita would stop leaving gifts in the house....

And, so it was the perfect way to celebrate the one year Gotcha Anniversary of Bandido and Rosita. It was made all the more perfect when Tracy had a little "chat" with Rosita about all the barking she was "sharing" in the PetSmart. Happy Gotcha Day, perritas! Gracias for a great year.

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The best way to learn more about this group is to talk to the new families. But, seeing as you probably won't have the chance to do that, go to their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TracysDogs/) or their website (www.tracysdogs.com). Note that TracysDogs is all one word, no punctuation.