Hanging with rescuers

I'm back from my wild Rat Terrier Jamboree adventure and once more sighing in wonder at the energy and dedication that my eastern and southern rescuer friends put into New Rattitude. It's an emotional thing, rescuing dogs. You see a side of people sometimes that you really don't want to know about when you take a hurt and broken dog into your home. But Jamboree is a chance to see a side of the rescuers that you don't hear about. I see people who give more of themselves that I could ever give and watch in awe as they give some more.

Honestly, I can't be that unselfish. I know the line where I will go into overload zone and do my best not to cross it and to make sure that the volunteers that I work with don't cross it. But non-profits survive because of the folks that will always go a step further and I honor them for it, even if I can't be that person.

This year what I most took away from the Rat Terrier Jamboree, is that New Rattitude is made up of an incredible array of people: the touchy-feely people, the laid back, the uptight, the doers and the talkers, the easy going and the control freaks.... When focused on individually it can make a person a little crazy but mix it together and be amazed and the miracles that happen.

So I left feeling not so full of myself but also more clear about where my limits are. Also more clear is that I have a support system out there that, although a little irritated by me at times, they have my back. Once again I feel refueled for another year of rescuing little spotted dogs with attitudes.

Pictured is Nugget. Her mom is a rat terrier and dad was something a bit bigger. She has the most laid back temperament I've ever seen in a puppy and was the best girl ever at Jamboree. Even the old crabby dogs didn't seem to mind her goofy exuberance since she had good manners for a pup. Nugget is being fostered in Indianapolis. Here she's busy keeping her foster mom's seat warm for her.