That's Augie on the left, Missy on the right. They're dachshunds rescued from abuse and neglect. As you can see, both are doing fine right now.
I call them "kids" because, against all good sense and rational behavior, my wife and I treat them like they're human children, not like dogs. I suppose if we had children already, the dogs would be just dogs.
So I guess it's a good thing we don't have children; they might wind up competing for our affection with the dogs.
I've heard though that this tends to be normal behavior among humans because dogs and other pets satisfy a paternal or maternal instinct in all of us. But dogs respond to our overtures better than just about any other animal, hence the special relationship all dogs seem to have with humans.
That special relationship elevates to another level regarding discard dogs, which are the kinds of dogs my wife and I prefer to have. These are the animals who suffered in some way by dint of being born into cruel circumstances or merely falling into them ... such as when owners feel their dogs are no longer cute or cuddly, or are bored with them, or perhaps more tragically are unable to care for them due to economic concerns.
The dogs we've acquired (four, over the past decade) all have suffered from one or more of these things. Augie, for example, was rescued from a puppy mill where the workers were indifferent to her health; she lost all her teeth and contracted a virus that destroyed her hearing. Missy, on the other hand, spent her first year cooped up in a cage that was too small for her; her ears have tears from banging the sides of the cage when she shook herself.
Our previous dogs, Tara and Lindy, who have since died, were discards, too. My wife and I like to think they passed away happy and comforted knowing their last years were much better than their first ones.
We think this way because we're not convinced that dogs were born to suffer. They enter the world as meek and unaware as humans do, and they're just as hungry for affection. Unlike humans however, dogs remain loyal to the source of affection, and they're intensely loyal to anyone who relieves them of agony.
Augie and Missy have shown us as much. Tara and Lindy did, too. And as long as that continues to happen, my wife and I will continue to try giving abandoned or abused dogs a better life.
