#fetchmaster

His paperwork read “found in dumpster”. That’s right, somehow or another this old lab had been found by animal control trapped in a dumpster and for better or worse, was brought to the shelter.

The lab walked as if he was crippled with arthritis. He didn’t really seem to be interested in anything. He just carried his glum self into the yard for photos and plopped himself down, resolved to die. He had such a stuffy atmosphere about him that I started to call him just that: Stuffy. It stuck. He acted just like a life sized stuffed dog which made the name fit for many reasons.

But just then, a light returned to his eyes. He got up, as if the arthritis in his body had all been an act and he picked up a tennis ball with his mouth. He gripped it, chewed it, even threw it for himself a little and as he held that ball between his teeth, I thought I heard him cry.

“Stuffy? Are you ok old boy?”

Suddenly the dog transformed before my eyes! I have never seen anything like it before or since. That old grouchy dog turned into a seventh month old pup! Up he bounced! He raced toward me like a graceful shadow and with no words spoken he dropped the ball right at my feet! I was stunned! I could never have foreseen this dog who was quite literally thrown away, have any life left in him. But now he tells me he plays fetch? I picked up the ball and gave it a toss, not wanting the old guy to have to run. But run he did! He raced after that ball like it was the key to doggy heaven. I soon learned that for Stuffy, playing fetch truly was doggy heaven to him! The dog had ticks all over him, he had no hair on his elbows and was clearly an old timer. But that dog could play fetch better than any other dog I have ever met!

Stuffy would give all he had to not only chase the ball but also to bring it right back to you. He would then immediately spit the ball out at your feet and tremble on his tippy toes as he stared at the ball, willing it to try and escape him again. I threw the ball for him over and over until I became concerned that Stuffy would quite literally kill himself. He would have died a happy dog if his heart had gone out during his play!

Fortunately Stuffy’s story ends happier than that. Though he was truly a professional tennis ball fetcher, he had many issues. Heart worms, and internal parasites were just the beginning to the poor dog’s bad health. We wondered if anyone would value him. But only a few weeks later, an elderly woman came through our doors. She didn’t say much but after she had walked the adoption floor she turned to me and said she wanted that “big ol’ stuffy dog”.  I smiled and told her of Stuffy’s incredible story but also explained the health issues he was suffering. She thought about it for a moment.

“I don’t have the money to spend on getting him well,” she said almost embarrassed, “but I can give him a home. I live alone and I really just want someone who will keep me company and who I can love.”