"Diamonds in the Rough"
Written by Marie Evans
This is the story of two terriers, rescue terriers Doc and Brody are rescue terriers of unknown lineage, and just plain names.
Doc, who lives in Illinois, went through several homes before ending up in his forever home. He is one of the sweetest terriers around and everyone that meets him shakes their head and wonders why it took so long for him to find his family.
Doc had his final adoption in October of 1997 and went home to live with another Jack Russell, a Rat Terrier and a LHasa. He gets along with all of them. Soon Doc began to go to trials and race, lure course, GTG, and do agility. Winning many ribbons at local trials, Doc went to the JRTCA Nationals this year and won 3rd place in Novice On-Lead Agility. What a wonderful win for a wonderful terrier and the people that love him!
Doc's friend Brody, lives in New Jersey. While Brody did not travel from home to home he certainly had some "issues" when he went to his forever home. Brody was a bag of bones, snarling at all living things and just plain not very trusting. We think he spent a lot of time being teased by children. Well after much work learning new social skills. Brody is now happy to be around people and children. Brody also has started to show his talents and does it all at trials. He does racing, lure coursing, GTG, and agility.
Brody, met up with his friend Doc at the JRTCA Nationals, was just out of the ribbons in Novice On-Lead Agility and we are proud and happy to report, took 2nd place in Adult Open GTG!
Does it appear that we are bragging? You bet! But the main reason for this story is to let the world know that these rescue dogs are not "losers", that these rescue dogs, once placed in the right loving environment just blossom. Not all of them will compete at trials or win anything, but in the right hands they will have "won" new hearts to love them forever.
They might not all be conformation champions, they may not have papers to prove their lineage, they might just be of plain names, but to the people that have taken them into their hearts and homes, it doesn't matter.
These dogs are winners in the game of life, they have overcome being sometimes abused, neglected, unwanted. They have trusted people again and opened up their hearts one more time and will do anything for their new family.
Please consider these rescue dogs, many of them are in rescue through no fault of their own. Given the right home, they will blossom and thrive and we can guarantee you this, whether they win ribbons or not, you will not find a bigger reward than the day you know that you have taken away their fear and they are at peace. In some respects, you will love them more than the puppy you raised. These rescue dogs ARE "diamonds in the rough" just waiting for someone to open up the world of possiblities to them.
****This story was used by permission. These are not dogs that we have placed ourselves but they were placed by the JRTCA. Marie Evans is one of the many tireless volunteers for the JRTCA Russell Rescue.****
