Pound Puppies

Way back in the 1980s, Tonka introduced a line of stuffed animals called Pound Puppies, plush little hounds with floppy ears and droopy eyes. Each came in its own little carrying case (or kennel, I suppose) and brought with it an adoption certificate. They came in all sorts of colors and shapes, and each one had a heart-shaped emblem near its tail that sported a "PP" logo with a little dog peeking around it. They were cute toys ... stinkin' cute; in fact, they were so stinkin' cute that over a 5-year period, they generated sales of $300 million in 35 different countries.

I've written in this blog before about how much my dad loved dogs and how we always had a canine buddy around our house as I was growing up. As Dad became more and more ill with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, Mom struggled with the decision of finding a better home for their dog Rocky ... a home where the owners would have time to spend with Rocky and give him the attention he needed and deserved. When one of Dad's friends who lived on a large farm said that he would like to take Rocky to live with him and his wife, Mom agreed and Rocky lived out his final years running the wide open fields of Jim's farm.

Even though Daddy's mind had no grasp of reality or time, he somehow knew that he loved dogs and would constantly ask for a dog to be placed in his lap. One day when I was home for a visit, I was out running errands for Mom and was at Walmart when I had a thought. I headed for the toy section and began to look for a stuffed dog for Daddy and settled on a giant-sized gray Pound Puppy named Buford. I took it home to Daddy and placed it in the hospital bed next to him ... and for years, my sweet old daddy would pat that Pound Puppy on the head and say, "Now that's a good dog, Rocky, a good dog, old boy." The $15.00 I spent on that stuffed dog may well have been the best $15.00 I've ever spent in my life.

I've had a lot of real-life pound puppies over the years, dogs that I rescued from various shelters or dog adoption groups. And I've noticed something about those hounds ... they are good dogs, grateful dogs, loving dogs, loyal dogs, sweet dogs. My son Matt and daughter-in-law Becca have served as foster parents for wiener dogs for several years, and I've lost count of how many pups have passed through their home. Becca and I were talking a few evenings ago about dogs that have suffered abuse (the pup currently with them has a severely damaged paw from an old injury that was never cared for), and she said something that I've often thought over the years. The dogs who have suffered the most, the ones who have been through the most, the ones who have been abused the most ... those are the dogs who appreciate love and kindness and care the deepest. Those dogs know how awful life can be ... those dogs know what it feels like to be hurt ... those dogs know what it's like to be hungry and cold. And those dogs thrive when they experience true love and concern from a human who cares for them.

I haven't been able to get my conversation with Becca off my mind, or perhaps it's more accurate to say that I haven't been able to get the very basic concept we discussed off my mind. I think there's a huge truth to be gleaned, and I should learn a lesson from the rescued dogs. Hurting and wounded people are like those dogs ... the ones who've been through the toughest times are the ones who need others the most, and they are often the ones who appreciate true love and concern the deepest. They are the ones who thrive when someone offers them a place to belong, a place that is safe and where they are able to trust without fear, a place without pain or suffering or hunger or cold.

Hmmm ... now that I think about it, I think I have Daddy's Pound Puppy somewhere ... seems like a good night to see if I can find Buford in the basement and bring him upstairs with me and Julie and Ollie ... a good night indeed to find an old friend and bring him home.