A dear friend I’ve known since tenth grade came by today with her little dog Toby, and the little sweetie she is currently caring for until a suitable family adopts her. Gracey is a rescue from Whitecourt Homeless Animal Rescue Foundation (W.H.A.R.F.). You can read a bit about her at the W.H.A.R.F. website, and you can keep reading to see more about our day of canine fun.

Gracey is a shih tzu mix who came to stay with my friend shortly after surgery to remove her right eye. The dog is down an eye, not my friend. The back story is that the poor little dog’s early life was spent popping out babies so her owner could make some money, until wee Gracey suffered an injury that irreparably damaged her eye. At that point, the vet said Gracey’s eye could not be saved but that it could be safely removed so Gracey could make a full recovery and live a normal life. Unfortunately, the original owner did not want an imperfect dog, which is ridiculous to me. Seriously, with all the Pirates of The Caribbean Hype, a curly little one-eyed pooch would be cool: yarrrr! Gracey’s first owner decided to euthanize her rather than pay for a brief procedure, which makes me want to throw up in that woman’s purse and/or sneakers and/or deep freeze, where/whoever she is.

Luckily for Gracey, the veterinarian saw the sheer lunacy of killing a healthy dog simply because she doesn’t have all her original parts. Gracey’s surgery to remove her injured eye was successful and she doesn’t seem to notice that anything has changed in her life. She’s a perky little dog, and her sweet hairy butt (and the rest of her, too) is up for adoption to a family that will love her forever and give her the kind of home she deserves.

My friend was really worried when Gracey refused to eat, and did not poop for days. She also threw up a few times and refused to play or walk on her leash. A vet found nothing wrong with Gracey on exam, but decided that she was depressed from all the upheaval in her shaggy little life. I invited my friend to bring both her mutts over to play with Sherm to see if we could perk the little girl up a bit.

Toby and Sherman played very nicely.

I left Sherman Merman in his kennel and my friend I took the tiny dogs out for a walk. I took Miss Gracey on her leash, convinced I could get her to walk for me, because I’m pretty no-nonsense about dogs and I figured I could get her to walk. Walk we did, and Gracey was surprisingly good on her leash.

Then, amazing things happened. Well, maybe not amazing, but definitely excellent. (All signs point to me needing to get out more). Gracey pooped. She pooped three separate times, great big nasty turds, which we had to carry until we found a garbage can. Funny thing is, after each deposit, the little thing got perkier and perkier, and by the time we got back from the walk, she was prancing about and looking for a snack. Truly, she was transformed.

I suppose if I lost three pounds on a fifteen minute walk, I’d have a little extra sway in my step too.

Apparently, Gracey was never really depressed. Based on the steaming heaps of evidence she presented today, the poor thing was absolutely full of crap. We figure she was bunged up by the anesthetic and pain medications after her eye surgery last week, in a major way, and didn’t want to eat because there was no room left in her poor GI tract. After her big walk, she was herself again, after a week of moping and refusing her food. Hooray!

I really hope Gracey finds a phenomenal home soon. She is three years old and fully housebroken; we all know that poop is only a good thing if it happens outside. Since she’s been in foster care, she has been excellent with my three year old godson and is constantly looking for a warm lap where she can hunker down for a snuggle. Currently, she is timid but gentle, although after the mass exodus and a couple pieces of dry chicken, she stuck to me like a hairy house arrest ankle bracelet.

If Gracey sounds like the kind of friend you’ve been looking for, please inquire about her on the W.H.A.R.F. website. She has just started her “new” life of good living and there are many wonderful things ahead for this sweet little dog.

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