In her previous life her name was Diggs. Once I found out that she was coming to me I knew that I wanted to find a new name for her, a special name, a name with meaning. Off the top of my head what I thought of was Hope and Faith. But those two names just didn’t fit this little lady’s story. You see this girl is about 13 years old and for 13 years her life consisted of living in someone’s basement and being bred-she’s had more puppies than any dog should. Neighbors had repeatedly been calling animal control to report a very skinny dog but every time an officer stopped by the person showed them a different dog-a nice healthy dog. Finally someone called and said that they thought that the skinny dog was being kept in the basement. So when the officer went back and the person attempted to show the healthy dog the officer said, “We want to see the dog in the basement.” Diggs was relinquished to Animal Control that same day.

So you see Faith and Hope were just not fitting names. I thought about this little lady and about the time that we would soon be spending together. What could I possibly give this little girl to make up for the life that she had had? The resounding answer was love. More than anything she needed love. So that’s what I decided to name her. Her new name is Amora. It’s a combination of the Spanish amor and the Italian amore but with a special twist for a special dog. Amora.

Amora is skinny. She’s old, she has some bumps and she has more than a couple sores on her body. She moves slow, she’s rickety, she’s hand shy and she’s so unused to being touched that when you gently lay a hand on her her skin shivers under the touch. But she’s oh so sweet. So sweet. And she’s now happy. With just a couple days worth of love Amora has developed a permanent smile. She’s lovin’ this new life, the good life.

As sad as Amora’s beginning was, it is now a happy story. Although I cannot take back the first 13 years, although I can’t change the beginning of her story–as much as I want to–the truth is that quantity of time can be measured in years, but what cannot be measured is quality of time. That’s what Amora now has for the rest of her days, that’s what I’m giving Amora-quality. I’m letting her finally experience what is good about life. And Amora is loving taking in all of the good stuff.

Amora now has good food for her belly and a bit of yogurt and oatmeal each morning. She has dog beds with extra blankets piled on top so that her old body can rest on comfort. She had a bath the first night and 40 minutes of soft brushing, petting and touching–Amora literally melted with all the touching. She loves, loves, loves contact with people and she’s getting lots of attention from everyone that meets her. Amora has a little bit of medicine to help her old and arthritic body. Amora has a yard to explore, leaves and grass to sniff and squirrels and birds to gaze at. She now has sunshine, rest and relaxation. After more than 3 hours of laying outside in the warm sun this afternoon Amora is now sound asleep on the floor next to me.

I imagine that that is what dog heaven will be like for Amora-a warm spot in the sun, just taking in everything around her. But until it’s decided that it’s Amora’s time, she’s going to be getting all of the quality that a dog could possibly want or dream of. Amora is happy. Amora is in her heaven on earth and is if to prove it she just rolled over on her back–that’s her sign that she wants her tummy rubbed. She’s now on her back with her little old legs in the air, making happy noises and smiling. Yes, Amora is happy.

** Editors Note:  Amora is ARLP’s first Compassion Hold. What is a compassion hold? A compassion hold is when an “unadoptable” dog (read old, sick, frail) is taken out of animal control, off of death row, and brought into the home of a very special foster. In this home these richly deserving dogs are lavished with love, wonderful food, soft clean bedding and those other creature comforts that make life that much better. They are given the best few weeks any dog can ask for before they are delivered from this earth in the arms of someone who loves them. Every dog should be so lucky.

It takes a very special foster to make this possible. THANK YOU Michelle K.!

If you think you have what it takes to offer a compassion hold and give dignity to a dog in need, please contact Lara.

Filed under: Foster Updates