Pups and Pilots and Love
February 15, 2020
Remember that time I said I was never going to get another dog again?
Well I did it again. Succumbed to my husband’s greatest desire and caved to the crushing intensity of family pressure.
Welcome to Allie, our newest four-legged Sherman.
Last year I wrote about being the doggy sandwich generation – caring for our aging dog, Curley, while managing our still growing puppy, Moe. Curley left us last April. She was both feisty and cuddly until the end.
Her loss coincided with the sale of our family home. When we told our son we had sold his childhood home he said, “Oh that’s all right, Curley’s not there anymore.”
Everyone was bereft, most especially Moe.
Moe came to our family three years ago as a puppy when in another moment of weakness I gave him to my husband Father’s Day. For years my husband only wish was for a second dog. I kept telling him it would happen with his second wife.
But I’m a sucker, and Moe instantly brought the aging Curley back to life and provided much puppy joy to our family.
Moe loved his big sister and after she died his behavior changed, growling and barking at everyone or moping sadly.
As our anniversary approached in December my husband started his “if you loved me you’d get a second dog” refrain. Our daughter who doesn’t even live at home kept asking for another dog. I kept reminding her college graduation is approaching and she doesn’t get a say.
And then I learned that Moe had fallen in love with a new sister at our dog sitter, a rescue dog from Duffy’s Friends named Allie.
Oh darn, I could never un-hear this news.
How could I not consider that a dog in need had found a dog in need for a man who was clearly in need of another dog to love?
Allie came to us through a network of good people who work to ensure that dogs will find their forever home including Lori Mufford, founder of Duffy’s Friends a non-profit rescue organization.
Lori says that often rescue dogs will have had multiple homes before they finally are adopted by families with the patience to help them transition. She works to ensure that the dogs she matches to owners will be safe and loved. Rescue dogs often require special attention because, she says, “Each place they go they’ve left a little bit of their heart behind.”
She is aided in her work by the non-profit, Pilots N Paws which engages pilots from all over the country to volunteer their time flying rescue dogs to the organizations who ultimately place them.
Darrin Nelson, 55 of Webster, NY became a pilot seven years ago despite a fear of heights and small planes. He decided to conquer that fear and eventually bought his own plane. That’s when he realized he could put his new skill to use to make a difference. Upon his daughter’s urging he signed up to become a pilot for Pilots N Paws and started picking up dogs and bringing them to Rochester.
While Darrin and his family don’t have their own dogs he is grateful for the opportunity to help other families, and most important, the many dogs he’s saved. He and Lori have transformed many dogs’ lives through their journey with them.
Allie’s rescue journey has definitely transformed Moe who has welcomed his new sister. She’s helped us in our own transition by making our new home her forever home.
I suppose I can say that she has rescued me by making me the best wife a husband can ever have…at least that’s what my husband is required to say to me every day since she’s arrived.
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First Published in the Democrat and Chronicle and USA Today Network