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In the News: Tails of Marin Ask Not For Whom the Dog Barks: It Barks for Thee
Sharlene and Joel Moss of Fate has a funny way of giving people what they need. Less then six months later, Joel’s co-worker Gloria was desperately seeking a home for a thirteen year old female Golden Retriever. The dog’s owner had gone into a nursing home, and now Gloria was keeping the dog in her garage. It was an impossible situation. Impossible, that is, for Joel and Sharlene to refuse to take “Lady” into their lives. They couldn’t turn Lady away. “No thirteen year old dog should be living in a garage—she should be on the couch.” Shortly after adopting Lady, life took another strange turn. Joel’s mother, Betty, fell ill, and could no longer care for her fifteen year old Golden Retriever, Sadie. Joel explained, “It wasn’t too long after we had gotten Lady, when my mother moved in here with us for a while, and so we got Sadie.” Betty’s declining health forced her to move into an assisted living care residence. Joel and Sharlene brought the two dogs to visit her every week, until her death in June 2005. All the residents showered Lady and Sadie with attention, who would “stand there and let you pet them all day long.” Lady and Sadie had their daily routines. During the week, Sharlene would walk the dogs to the bus stop. Sadie, in particular, loved these outings, because she got to see the kids waiting for the bus. Every morning two neighborhood girls ran down the street towards them, calling out, “Lady! Sadie!” and then stop and pet them. Lady’s and Sadie’s personalities were quite different. Whereas Lady was adventurous, confident and quirky, Sadie was timid and passive. Lady used to bark at Sadie to make her move, and annoy Sadie by lying as close to her as possible without quite touching her. Sadie retaliated by stealing Lady’s food. While Lady enjoyed being outside, staying up late with Joel, and ripping whole branches of apples off the tree, Sadie preferred the indoors, cuddling, and always slept on Sharlene’s side of the bed. The Moss’s prefer adopting older dogs. They reason, “Their personalities are more developed. And they are more mature. They’re housebroken, they’re not chewing things up, they’re not digging, and they’re not destructive. And they are happy, especially Goldens.” They also noted that older dogs are easier to care for, because one doesn’t have to exercise them as much as a younger dog. About a month ago Joel and Sharlene were walking down the street with only one dog. Sharlene’s eyes brimmed, as she explained that they had had to put Lady to sleep. Despite Joel’s and Sharlene’s pain, it was obvious that this couple’s capacity for love exceeded their sorrow brought on by a loved one’s death. "Ask not for whom the dog barks. It barks for thee” is the saying on Sharlene’s and Joel’s front door mat. This could not be truer of Sadie and Lady. These two dogs greeted whomever they met, and, by this simple action, provided joy to neighbor, and aging residents in a retirement home. An acquaintance might notice Sharlene and Joel adopting these two older dogs, and think how kind they are to do so. And that person would be right. Nevertheless, that same person would not realize that these two dogs have enriched the lives of so many people, through the simple practice of love. Leslie Lee is a supporter of the Marin Humane Society, which contributes Tails of Marin articles. Write to Tails of Marin, 171 Bel Marin
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