Rudy with his new family!

Edie lived with our family for eleven long years. When we were told that she had extensive lung cancer, and would have to be put down the next day, to say that we were devastated would be an understatement. We walked around in a daze for weeks – two to be exact – until it dawned on us that the only way our family was going to recover from this loss, would be to adopt another dog.

I sat down to write a letter to online adoption services. Edie was a rescue, and a pit-mix, and although age, size, color and breed didn’t really matter to us, what did matter was demeanor; we have two little boys ages 3 and 5, as well as a thirteen year old cat. I included this in my letter, along with the fact that I could not, under any circumstances adopt an aggressive dog. The responses were few and far between, and the ones that I did receive told me that they didn’t ‘know’ their dogs well enough to say how they would behave with young children.

I then received a response from DDR, telling me to call Lori, which I did straight away. She told me that there was a dog I should meet…his name was Rudy. Rudy’s family’s home was in foreclosure, and when they were unable to take him upon moving, they tied him up in the yard and left him there. He waited…and waited, but they never returned. Lori received a picture of Rudy waiting in front of his house and went to get Rudy that same day.

We piled in the car and went to DDR. Rudy was big – and mellow. In retrospect I think he was just indifferent to people (besides Lori) for fear of being abandoned again. We went home, slept on it, and decided to have Lori bring him to our home. Our boys were thrilled when we decided to give it a try – Rudy seemed less so. It took my five year old almost a full hour of coercion via dog treats, to get Rudy up the stairs to the second floor. With patience and kindness, he finally succeeded, and it was beautiful to watch. I realized just how much my kids had missed having a dog around, and when I saw how Rudy responded to them, I knew he was the one.

Everything Lori told me about Rudy was dead on; that he grew up around a lot of little kids and was good with them, that he had no prey drive whatsoever, and that “He’s not the smartest dog, but then again he won’t try to find the best seven ways out of your yard.” What he is, is perfect for our family. People on our neighborhood walks were leery at first, crossing the street when they saw him coming, acting nervous when walking by. Then they grew to recognize him, his playfulness, submissive nature and love of other dogs. Now? He’s pretty much The Mayor. Everyone knows him on the nightly runs with my husband. When I take him to the market on my own, people I don’t even know will walk by and say, “Hey Rudy!”

But the best? The best is my kids. Rudy is the still point of their turning earth, their best friend and playmate. They pile up on the floor and watch movies, throw parties with him in their room, and feel proud when we let them share the leash on our walks. What they have never been is afraid. Rudy is the gentle giant who has never so much as growled at my boys – doesn’t make for much of a watch dog, but that’s not what we signed up for. Rudydog (as the boys call him) was rescued, but in turn I’ve come to realize that he also rescued us, from the heartache of the loss of our Edie. He can’t ever replace her, nor would we want or expect him to, instead he showed us what it feels like to love a dog again and in turn, to be loved.