She’s not really sure what happened. How she ended up here.
She knows things weren’t that great at home, but she didn’t think it was this bad.
Her dad brought her to the shelter and said something about not being able to potty train her. So now she’s in a kennel surrounded by other dogs and she’s so scared.
Sometimes she made messes on the floor at home. It just got so hard to hold it. She knew she wasn’t supposed to and dad would get really mad, but his work sometimes kept him out of the house for nine or 10 hours.
It was so hard to hold it that long.
Sometimes her stomach would hurt because she had to go to the bathroom so bad.
So really, it’s not that big of a surprise that dad got rid of her.
She remembers when dad first got her as a puppy. It was so fun to play with him. Dad got her a toy that they played tug of war with every night, and she would growl – even though she knew she wasn’t really all that tough – and dad would laugh and hug her and it was amazing.
When she was little, dad didn’t seem to mind cleaning up her messes so much.
As time went on, though, dad didn’t seem quite as enamored as he once was. He would stay away from the house for longer periods of time. It was always hard to predict how long dad would be gone. Some days he would take her out to go to the bathroom in the morning, but then other days it wasn’t until later.
It was tough to figure out when dad wanted her to go to the bathroom.
When she got older, he didn’t want to play tug anymore, either. It was a shame because she’d gotten really good at it, and her growl was a lot deeper and stronger.
It only took that one time for dad to hit her in the nose with the tug toy to make her realize he didn’t want to play that way anymore.
As she sits in the kennel at the shelter at night time, she wonders if she’ll ever be good enough for anyone.
Probably not. No matter how hard she tried for dad, she never seemed to be what he wanted.
That’s why he gave up on her.
The people at the shelter get her into a routine with going to the bathroom and eating. Even if she messes in her kennel overnight, they never get mad at her like dad did.
It’s really nice when one of the animal care technicians walks her to the play yard and she gets to run in the fresh air, and the person will pet her and kiss her and make her feel like she’s maybe worth a little something.
She’s reminded of the days when she was a puppy and dad seemed to really love her, and she gets a funny feeling in her chest.
It makes her sad that she couldn’t be good enough to keep that.
Still, she’s pretty lucky. She’s got people who care about her during the time that they spend at the shelter. The volunteers take her for walks and talk about what a nice dog she is and even though a silly part of her would like to believe that’s true, she knows it can’t be.
Dad wouldn’t have given up on her if she really was a good dog.
She knows this place is supposed to find her a home and get her adopted, but it probably won’t happen. Dogs like her rarely get second chances.
The thing is, though, this sweet dog doesn’t know how much the staff talk about her. How the volunteers make social media posts about her. How the flyers on the walls talk about her history and how much she needs someone to love so badly.
The pup in the kennels at the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter doesn’t know how much is done to find her a loving family.
But that understanding will come on the day she gets adopted and she will never have to doubt her worth again…
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Jennifer Vanderau is the public relations coordinator for the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter and can be reached at [email protected]. The shelter accepts both monetary and pet supply donations. For more information, readers may call the shelter at 717-263-5791 or visit the website www.cvas-pets.org. CVAS also operates a thrift store in Chambersburg. Readers may help support the animals at the shelter by donating to or shopping at the store.
