SIR WINSTON

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After losing a loved one, P.S. happened upon a special dog in an
animal shelter close to home. We think many of you can relate to
what happened next.

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SIR WINSTON
by P.S. Gifford

For everyone considering bringing a four legged creature into
their family, I urge you to please visit a shelter.
Recently I had to put my beloved Tasha, a gorgeous
Shepherd/Collie mix to sleep, as her kidneys had shut down. I was
gutted and the last thing on my mind was bringing a new dog into my
life.
However, on Saturday we ended up at Orange County Animal
Shelter. Seeing the number of Shepherd mixes there tore at my heart
strings. I thought about bringing one of them home. But, somewhere
deep inside of me, I knew that would be an attempt to replace Tasha,
and she was irreplaceable.
It was in one of the last cages we saw a dog huddled at the back
as far away from the front bars as possible. Most dogs are eager to
be up front as you walk by, but not this dog.
We read that he was a two year old stray called Benji. They had
him down as a Bearded Collie. Eventually, after a little coaxing, we
encouraged him to come and say hello. He was a bundle of overgrown
matted fur, but inside that fur were two little eyes peering up at
me. There was a level of sadness and desperation in those eyes I had
not seen in a long time.
I wanted to meet with him but because the shelter was closing
soon the visitation area had been closed. We went back to the office
and waited in line to get as much information on Benji as we could.
However, we decided that it wasn't fair to our other dog Chester,
another rescue, and that we needed to re-consider the whole thing.
My fifteen year old son started to tear up.
That night at home our thoughts kept going back to Benji. By
the time Sunday morning rolled around we had not only made up our
mind to adopt him, but we had renamed him.
He was going to be Sir Winston.
We raced down to the shelter and this time we got to meet him.
He looked even more pitiful than we remembered. His coat was an
abysmal mess. After visiting for him for a couple of minutes we knew
we were making the right decision. With our hearts all racing we
went back to the office to complete the paperwork.
We had already made an appointment to get him groomed that
afternoon. But there was a snag -- he still needed to be neutered.
We were disheartened a little but understanding. We were advised
that it would be up to ten days.
On the way back home we made a stop at the pet store and loaded
up the cart. New bed, collar, leash, bowls, etc. It was at 7:30pm
that same night we received the phone call.
Sir Winston had been cleaned up and operated on and would be
ready the following morning. We were also advised that they now
considered him to be a Lhasa Opso. We were overcome with excitement!
The next morning, after a few hours of restless sleep, my son
and I went back to the shelter. The girl in the office took our
information and clicked on the screen. Her eyes lit up with joy.
"You are not going to recognize him!" she said excitedly.
Minutes later we watched as a dog, appearing half the size of
the one we had adopted, we being carried out. They were the same
eyes as I had seen yesterday, only now the sadness was gone!
Despite coming in at a meager 11 pounds, Sir Winston dragged us
out of there. It was like a completely different dog! The shelter
had done him proud. They had to shave him completely, except his
face, which they neatly trimmed and cleaned up. He is absolutely
adorable.
That was a couple of days ago, and since then, Sir Winston
quickly made himself at home. He is an extremely mellow and highly
affectionate little dog. Chester, who is eight time his size, took
to him immediately.
As I work from home, Sir Winston never leaves my side. As I
type, he is snoring away underneath my office chair. Though there
could only be one dog as special as Tasha, we also know now there is
only one dog as special as Sir Winston.

-- P. S. Gifford

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You can visit P.S.'s website here: http://www.psgifford.com/home.html
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got this via email... Hope you all have a nice day! :)