Benny, The Rescue

I first saw a picture of Benny–then called Mendell–on the Carolina Corgi Rescue FaceBook page on July 16, 2015. I felt an immediate connection with the sweet puppy staring back at me, but it was too soon. Melvin had just passed away on June 29, and Mendell was clearly a senior dog with some health issues. So I looked away. I thought of him over the coming days, but each time I put him out of my mind. When the time is right, the right dog will come along, I told myself.

I spent the rest of the summer missing Melvin and trying to enjoy my new freedom. Melvin had required extra attention the last year or so of his life, so why not take a break from the responsibility? It’s so much easier and less expensive to live life without a dog. No more vet bills. No more carrying Melvin up and down stairs that he could no longer navigate. No more planning my day and week around my geriatric dog. Yes, that made so much sense.

But my heart ached. I missed Melvin.

By mid-September I decided to complete a foster application with Carolina Corgi Rescue. They serve the Carolinas and Georgia, and I had been following them on FaceBook for a year or so. That’s where I had seen that picture of Mendell back in July–the one that tugged at my heartstrings. I figured I could foster a dog in need, help the organization, and perhaps find my next dog.

After checking my application and references, I was approved to foster. Within a week or so, Walton who runs Carolina Corgi Rescue, asked me to foster a dog named Benny. Benny was currently in a foster home in Savannah undergoing treatment for heartworms. Once the heartworm treatment was complete, he could be moved to a new foster home. Walton’s email explained that since current foster-mom, Edith had three dogs of her own, a new foster home with no other dogs would be better for Benny and also give Edith a much-needed break. Her email went on to say that Benny could come to me around October 17 and noted that a picture was attached.

I quickly scrolled to the bottom of the email, eager to get a look at Benny. And there it was,

Benny, then-called Mendell, on July 16, 2015

the picture of Mendell from July 16. Isn’t that something, I thought. What a coincidence that Walton should ask me to foster the very dog that I had felt so drawn to earlier.

As I anticipated Benny’s arrival, I learned more about him from Edith. A kind man in North Carolina found him one night in early summer, lying in the road during a thunderstorm. A trip to the vet revealed skin and ear infections and the presence of heartworms. When no owner came forward, the kind man decided to turn Benny over to Carolina Corgi Rescue so that he could get the treatment and care that he needed.

We think Benny is about 8-9 years old. He has an overbite, so the wear on his teeth isn’t reliable as an indicator of age, but his eyes show age-related changes that typically begin around eight years old. He’s playful, full of energy with no mobility issues. He’s bossy, confident and talkative, and wonderfully soft and cuddly. He enjoys being an only-dog but gets along well with other canines and tries to control himself with the felines. He loves people and needs a strong leader to keep him from being too bossy, as is the case with many corgis. He is simply a joy. I’m happy to be sharing life with a dog again. Call me a foster-failure, ‘cause I’m keeping this one.

After I arrived home with Benny on October 17, I sat down to review the folder containing his veterinary records. I noted when heartworm treatment began and ended, which vaccines he had received, his weight, that his age was listed as unknown, that he was first called Buddy by the man who saved him, then Mendell, and eventually Benny. And then I noticed the date of his first trip to the vet after his rescue on a stormy night in North Carolina. June 29, 2015–the same day as Melvin’s departure.