One man's trash

Hi all.  Cocopuff gave me permission to post this piece.  We apologize for our lack of input here lately, just caught up in the business of life and usually crazy-tired.  All is well here.  I'm still looking down at the ground and the girls are happier and fitter than ever.  We've been going to the local park (130 largely deserted acres) several days a week now and the girls love it.  It has become their "thing" and, once they come to the realization that I'm not gong to the mill, they drive me crazy until I take them.  Cocopuff, who is no longer young, has lost weight and now cavorts and runs like a 5 year old with our darling Lilly who has never put on an extra ounce or seems to have aged beyond 2 despite her crappy start in life.  We have decided to dispense with our "Cocopuff's Chronicles" blog which was created as an effort to explore dog-friendly venues within our state and general geographic area.  While it is always a worthy goal to seek out dog-friendly venues where you and your pet can enjoy some memorable moments, we have come to the realization that special trips happen on such an infrequent basis that they, in reality, don't count for much (at least, in our world).  Having the park 5 miles down the road and doable several times a week despite my crazy work schedule provides what we were searching for and the girls literally live for it nowadays.  Okay, that said, that is not the main focus of this post.
I'd searched back posts sure that we'd already done a piece entitled "Another Man's Trash" convinced that we'd done a like piece over the years.  I'm amazed that none seems to exist as it is a theme that we've visited way too often.  This piece deals with our little Susan.  She came to us (original name /Shu Shu or some such)  at the recommendation of one of the banks with which we do business.  The tellers there were routinely horrified by her exploits in the middle of route 80 in the middle of Pooler and dreading the day when, inevitably, she would become just one more ground up mess in the highway.  They had brought their concerns to the attention of my wife who took it upon herself to seek out the owner and convince her that a better life was available to this young Terrier.  The girl that had her gladly gave her up, saying that she was just a "pain in the ass" and Joy brought her home to introduce to our family.
I fell in love with little Shu Shu, now Sue and eventually Susan,  immediately.  I get to meet in the neighborhood of 1000 dogs a year around here and have a pretty good inkling of when I am presented with a seriously superior specimen.  Typically, 3-5 dogs annually qualify in my book and I have been  known to tearfully let some go on to greener pastures.  Susan is one of that rare breed, perfect in almost every way and possessing enough heart, spirit and personality for any 6 dogs.  Unfortunately, this level of "Joi de vivre" does not usually mix well with a full-house of dogs, especially in light of her diminutive size,  and it was with great sadness that I informed Joy that although I loved Susie, she had to find her a home soon before she was ostracized by our indigenous population.
As it turns out, my girl had plans of her own and was not fated to be adopted anytime soon.  Like so many Terriers, she is fiercely protective of her family (me, particularly) and she does not show well at adoptions.  Meanwhile, a strange thing was beginning to manifest itself on the home front, Susie was was beginning to integrate in a positive manner with the larger population.  Over a period of 6 months, she taught a half dozen of our misfits (I call 'em the Blind, crippled, crazies) to appropriately play and has done wonders to help rehabilitate these dogs far beyond our meager abilities.  Grudgingly, I admitted that her worth to the sanity of the greater population probably outweighed any imagined danger to herself, I agreed to keep her on in spite of the fact that she would operate in close proximity to my girls and other large dogs who are not particularly fond of small dogs, particularly small Alphas.  Damn, for all I've got it figured out, I got it all wrong!  Susie has endeared herself to everyone in the household, particularly my Coco and Lil who, like I say, are not normally fans of small dogs.  At first, they would roll and wrestle and bite on the bed and I kept waiting for it to get out of hand but I soon realized that this was safe play and not likely to go awry.  To watch my beloved girls with their little "sister" is such a marvel (Susan is officially an honorary "Red Girl") and to see Susie kicking the crap out of them is just one of the most hilariously rewarding things I can lay claim to. I watch in total awe as my Cocopuff, herself much the  Alpha, actively seeks out this little Alpha whom she adores, chews her up and clobbers her only to the effect that Susie redoubles her attack in,, despite the intensity, well regulated, safe play.  Priceless!  Absolutely priceless!
My point?  To the poor ignorant individual who originally kept "Shu Shu", you were too ignorant to realize that you had a literally, once-in-a-lifetime prize. Seriously, most folks have dogs all of their lives without ever experiencing the best of the best.  Susie frustrated you because she would not stay around when you let her outside.  All that was needed was a fenced yard.  She  took over my back (fenced) yard as well as the task of supervising me whenever I'm working out there. Had you but put the time and interest into her, she would have rewarded you with a BFF relationship the likes of which are not to be had in the human world.  As they say, "one man's trash is another man's treasure" and  I pity you for your loss but I sure do thank you for my little Susie, wouldn't trade her for a bucket of gold..