adopt the internet day

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Wilbur Gilbert was a stray dog in Kentucky. We don't know if he ever had a home.

During the summer and fall of 1999, when he was just shy of one year old, he hung out near a bunch of summer homes.

He was charming, and friendly, and got along with almost everyone.

(We discovered, years after we got him, that he'd been shot -- the metal in his leg and one of his ribs shows up in xrays.....)

A kind person met him near her parents' summer house.  She set to work to help him find a home before winter came. She found my name on the internet as someone interested in corgi rescue. She told me what a nice and good dog he was, and told me that she was positive that he was "for sure a corgi mix, if not a purebred corgi."

I had never done any hands-on rescue. I contacted local corgi rescue, and they agreed to help me place him. I told her I would take him.

My daughter and I put a crate in the car, and went to get him from his rescuer's suburban Detroit home.


His rescuer had a Rottweiler.

Compared to a Rottweiler, maybe he looks like a corgi.

Compared to a corgi, he looks a lot like a beagle.

(Not that he looks like a purebred beagle, but he really doesn't look anything like a corgi, aside from his coloring.)

With trepidation, we took him anyway.

He came to us with kennel cough, tapeworms (despite supposedly having been wormed), fleas, and testicles (one of which was up inside his abdomen).

We helped him get healthy (and get rid of those testicles), and we helped him learn about being a pet.  He was so pleased to learn that if he barked at the back door, we would let him in!

I discovered that I couldn't stand the part of rescue that is "finding a new home."  (Corgi rescue's ability to help was very limited, as you might guess, given that he's not a corgi........)

He had been through so much, and I knew he was ok with us...  I decided to spare myself what turned out to be the incredibly stressful "interview prospective owners and make decisions as to whether they were ok" part of rescue.

Burt is no corgi, but his rescuer got the most important thing right -- he's a very nice dog. He faces life with a smile and a wag. Everyone loves him. All vets tell me what a *good* boy he is.




Burt was a good dog with no home.  There are SO many *good* dogs in need of homes.

Please.

Check out the good dogs at shelter near you, and think of bringing one (or more!) into your heart and home.

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