Mountain Views News          Saturday, September 5, 2015

11

JUST FOR BEST FRIENDS

Mountain Views-News Saturday, September 5, 2015 


LOOKING FOR A BEST FRIEND?

IN THE MOMENT

Learning to Live From A Pup’s Perspective

Meet the lovely Lady! She is a 13-year old Cocker 
Spaniel mix with a beautiful brown-reddish 
coat. She came to the shelter as a stray with no 
identification, and has not been claimed. 

 Lady absolutely lives up to her name! She’s a 
real sweet lady with lots of love to give. She has a 
very kind face and very soulful eyes that make her 
absolutely endearing to anyone who meets her. She 
is a gentle girl who loves to 
cuddle up to her humans, kiss 
them gently, and be petted…
especially her head and ears.

 Lady is very easy to walk 
and doesn’t require long or 
strenuous walks. In fact, she 
is the kind of girl to walk to a 
nearby park, sit down, be silly 
for a few moments, and then 
just watch others do all the 
running around.

 Lady’s grooming needs 
are moderate and would 
include baths and regular 
brushing. Her sweet and 
docile personality makes her 
a breeze when it comes to 
baths and brushing; though 
she prefers to air-dry as 
opposed to noisy dryers.

 This lovely girl deserves 
to have a safe and secure home where she is an 
important part of the family. Lady would be a loyal 
companion who would love to go for an easy walk, 
and then share the couch with you to watch TV 
and munch on popcorn. She is sure to enrich the 
life of the lucky person who is able to appreciate the 
affection she has to offer. Please come in and meet 
her! 

 Her adoption fee is $130 which includes her spay 
surgery, a microchip, first vaccinations and a free 
wellness check-up at a participating veterinarian. 
She is eligible for the shelter’s reduced-fee ‘Senior 
For Senior’ adoption program. She currently 
resides at the San Gabriel Valley Humane Society 
located at 851 E. Grand 
Avenue in San Gabriel. We are 
located off San Gabriel Blvd., 
north of Mission and south 
of Las Tunas. To arrange a 
‘Meet and Greet’ with Lady, 
please stop by any time from 
10:00am to 4:30pm Tuesday 
thru Sunday. 

 If you are interested 
in meeting Lady or any of 
the other wonderful pets 
at the shelter, visit the San 
Gabriel Valley Humane 
Society at 851 E. Grand Ave., 
San Gabriel, Calif., 91776, 
Tuesday through Sunday. For 
more information, call (626) 
286-1159. 

 Readers are invited 
to join the San Gabriel ‘Strut 
Your Mutt’ dog walking team 
and the ‘Race for the Rescues’ team to raise funds 
for shelter animals. The Walk is Saturday, October 
10th at Exposition Park and the Race is Saturday, 
October 24th at the Rose Bowl. Go to the shelter’s 
website at sgvhumane.org for more information 
and how to sign up! 

Happy Tails

by Chris Leclerc

2015 has been a year of unprecedented 
introspection and self-analysis for me. In 
January, I decided it was time to focus my 
energies on taking a moral inventory to better 
myself and to become more valuable and 
available to those around me. So far I have 
indeed managed to make a few adjustments to 
my lifestyle and that alone has given me a more 
positive outlook. Not a bad start, but there are 
still many characteristics of who I am that I find 
to be less than the best I could be, and so the 
pursuit of improvement continues. Progress is 
paramount.

 One of the most influential aspects of my daily 
life is the time I spend with the kind canines I 
am so fortunate to have befriended over the 
past 5 years that I have been pet sitting and dog 
walking. Although I do consider myself very 
blessed to have several true-blue two-legged 
pals, I can honestly say that few are the human 
companions I have who can boast the attitudes 
of sheer gratitude that I find among my furry 
four-footed friends.

 Nothing eases internal tension like walking a 
grateful dog. It’s like cutting butter with a hot 
knife. I wake up in the morning, happy to be 
alive and feeling good for the most part. But by 
the time I walk out the door to embark on my 
day of dog walking, I have dodged the darts of 
negativity dealt by the media I’ve tuned into. 
(Why I subject myself to such grief is beyond me). 
I’ve mentally managed to combat an entourage 
of talking heads who thrive on sharing wicked 
tales of harsh reality anywhere from capital hill 
to a crime-ravaged dark alley in an urban sprawl. 
I am feeling the stresses of everyday human life.

 In my best attempt to shake off the would-be 
heavy cloud that might otherwise overwhelm 
me, I get into the driver’s seat of my car and 
immediately begin to pray. I thank God for the 
opportunity to live. Just to live. That should be 
enough, as life in and of itself is such an amazing 
gift. But there is more to be grateful for so I 
continue my prayer with sincere thanks for the 
chance to be part of a community that, in my 
opinion is socially nourishing and awe-inspiring. 
I then finish my prayer in thanks to God for the 
beautiful beasts He allows me to walk alongside 
each day and I ask Him to guide our every step.

 The tension begins to melt away. When I arrive 
at my first canine client’s house, I enter the door 
to be greeted by a more over-the-top enthusiastic, 
fun-loving, energetic, carefree individual than 
a fiction writer could even begin to attempt to 
conjure up as a character in a whimsical nursery 
tale. But this is not fiction. This is my reality - 
every day! The dog embellishes me with his 
unique brand of hairy hugs and canine kisses, 
I leash him as quickly as possible through the 
exciting chaos, and off we go on our way.

 As we commence our journey, his enthusiasm 
remains at a level higher than mine will probably 
ever be in this lifetime, as he walks on the same 
trail we walked just the 
day before. To him, it 
is all brand new…every 
single day. To him, that 
blade of grass he just 
sniffed, the same one 
he sniffed yesterday, 
was like a little bit of 
heaven that he‘d never 
sniffed before. To him, 
that light breeze that 
just passed through the 
trees was like the feeling 
I felt as a kid when the roller coaster dropped 
from top to bottom on it’s tracks. To him, that 
cat in the neighbor’s yard was put there just for 
his own personal entertainment, no other reason 
whatsoever. And to him, nothing else matters.

 He is in the moment. There are no concerns 
about what took place yesterday. There is no 
stress about what he should be getting done in 
lieu of taking a walk. There is no urgency to 
finish it up and get to the next task. There are 
no thoughts of regret, no angst over memories 
of last week’s blunder, and no burning desire for 
more than exactly what is happening right here 
and now…that dog is in the moment.

 Suddenly he raises his snout up toward the 
sky to catch a whiff of a passing scent, or to 
inspect the flashing movement of a flitting 
hummingbird. Then down again it goes as fast 
as it went up, to resume his mission of reading 
“pee-mails” unwittingly left by the canines who 
passed this way before him. He casts periodic 
glances my way, just to reassure himself of my 
presence and I return his glances with a nod and 
a wink. I stop for a moment, lean down and give 
him a peck on the cheek followed by a loving, 
“You are such a good boy! Why you are nothing 
but an angel straight from heaven!”, to which his 
eyes roll back and reply, “I love you too.” Then, 
down to the trail returns his intent focus, head 
swinging to and fro, floppy ears bouncing up 
and down on either side. In the moment.

 And there it is, plain and simple. A subtle 
yet (oh-so) valuable lesson to be learned from 
a precious pup. I know we humans don’t get to 
just “live” like a dog lives, as if there is nothing 
to be planned for tomorrow and no amends to 
be made for yesterday. We must bear the burden 
of responsibilities that are inherent to being 
human. But must we spend our days planning 
future events that we likely won’t bother to enjoy 
because we will be so busy thinking about the 
next activity to be planned? And if we spend our 
days regretting the fact that we wasted time in 
the past, have we not wasted yet more precious 
time in fruitless regret?

 I don’t know about you, but I want to learn 
how to live in the moment, like my canine 
companions do. They don’t even have to try, it 
comes naturally for them. I believe I was better 
about living in the moment as a child, but I seem 
to have lost that skill somewhere along the way 
of becoming an adult. Today I am on a new quest 
to restore my skill of being in the moment, and 
I am pleased to have the best teachers one could 
hope for on the subject. I’d be lost without my 
beloved dogs, and the other animals I get to spend 
time with. I hope you will join me in learning 
important lessons from the animals. They teach 
us through their simple ways of living if we are 
willing to learn. There is a reason why God made 
them the way they are and put them by our side. 

Love, learn and let live.


PET OF THE WEEK TEDDY: ANIMAL ID #A4867847

Puppies do not get any cuter than Teddy 
(A4867847)! Teddy is an entertaining 
1-year-old white male West Highland 
White Terrier and Dachshund mix puppy 
who was found in Walnut on August 18th 
and brought to the Baldwin Park Animal 
Care Center. Weighing 11 lbs, Teddy is a 
plucky little pup who wears his heart on 
his adorably fluff sleeve! Teddy gets along 
happily with the three other small dogs 
with whom he shares his kennel, and he 
accompanied his handler out of his cage 
without hesitation upon first meeting her. 

This baby loves to crawl right up onto 
your lap and smother you (in the best way 
possible) with kisses! He is just generally a 
happy, friendly, wiggly puppy who stands 
ready to meet his forever family and learn 
the training basics that will make him the best canine citizen he can be. He will be a great indoor pet for any 
active family in the market for a puppy to keep them company and delight them at all times...and who also 
happens to look like a miniature mop! To watch a video of the adorable Teddy, please visit the following 
link: http://youtu.be/2pP-Sw0cPaI

 To meet Teddy in person, please see him at the Baldwin Park Shelter, located at 4275 N. Elton, 
Baldwin Park, CA 91706 (Phone: 626-962-3577). He is currently available now. For any inquiries 
about Teddy, please reference his animal ID number: A4867847. The shelter is open seven days a week, 
12 pm-7 pm Monday-Thursday and 10am-5pm Friday-Sunday. This is a high-intake shelter with a 
great need for adoptions. For more information about Teddy or the adoption process, contact United 
Hope for Animals Volunteer Adoption Coordinator Samantha at Samantha@hope4animals.org. To 
learn more about United Hope for Animals’ partnership with the Baldwin Park Shelter through its 
Shelter Support Program, as well as the many dogs of all breeds, ages, and sizes available for adoption 
in local shelters, visit http://www.unitedhope4animals.org/about-us/shelter-support-program/. 


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