Never Too Many Dogs
I have always loved dogs. My childhood dog was a mutt named Brownie that had traveled across the country with my brothers and mother before I was born. He would walk me next door and wait outside while I visited at the neighbors and then walk back home with me.
Like so many childhood memories, he looks much smaller in photos than I remember him. He is memorialized in a line drawing on a cereal bowl that my mom made for me in 1961. I still use it regularly.
There have been many dogs in my life since Brownie. I guess I have learned a little something from each of them. There have been homebodies, social butterflies, dock-divers, nanny dogs, fierce door protectors and those that would happily have met intruders with a wag and a lick.
We had a foster dog that had 11 puppies in my dining room (yes, we kept one). Literally hundreds of foster dogs and puppies have gone through our house! This seems to be the right place to mention that a supportive spouse is critical to this lifestyle.
For the last 14 years I have been involved in Redwood Pals Rescue. We are a nonprofit that helps dogs at the Humboldt County Animal Shelter with walks, enrichment and outings. We also help with all the spays and neuters we possibly can and welcome donations toward that activity.
Redwood Pals helps homeless dogs in the community with vaccinations, supplemental food and hardware like leashes and collars. And, of course, there are the fosters — puppies, medical cases, and adult dogs that are at risk at the shelter. Two of my dogs were fails at the shelter, both due to horrible treatment by former owners, and were two of my most loyal canines.
Everyone’s favorite question for me is how many dogs we have; the current answer is four, with the last being a 2-year-old deaf pit bull named Frannie that challenges us and keeps us laughing every day.
When I was in my early 20s, I was fired from a job. I called my father to tell him, but between my crying and his poor hearing, he couldn’t understand what I was saying. After several attempts to make myself understood, he finally said, “Oh, so you got fired. I thought something had happened to one of the dogs.”
And it wasn’t only my father. My mother had a way of unexpectedly turning up with new pets. When asked about a Labrador that she brought home one day, she replied that the dog had “just hopped in her car” and that was about the end of the conversation as far as she was concerned.
My father’s relaxed attitude about employment didn’t really stick with me, but his love of dogs has.
Mara Segal of Arcata is one of the mama dogs of Redwood Pals Rescue (redwoodpalsrescue@gmail.com) and coordinates the volunteers at the Humboldt County Animal Shelter in McKinleyville.
Email: mscd@humboldt1.com.
