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| HUH ???? |
For the past year I have been a supporter of an organization
called Warrior Canine Connection (WCC). www.warriorcanineconnection.org. Their mission and focus is fairly straight
forward: Help warriors of any military branch learn to resolve some of the
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) symptoms
by working with future service dogs. By teaching the dogs that it is okay to be
in a crowd, that a slamming door is just a noise and nothing to be scared of,
how to interact with people in public and expose them to a wide range of
situations and environments – the warriors also relearn these lessons. There is
the added dimension for the trainers that they know these animals will one day
be working dogs for a fellow warrior with physical limitations.
Now even though I would probably describe myself as a “cat
person” – I like puppies, I like any sort of baby animals actually – so I
checked out the site. And learned they had a live webcam on Explore.org. Boy
were these puppies CUTE! Two week old
Golden Retrievers who were just beginning to scootch around their whelping box.
I was checking in several times a day to see what they were up to and to read
the other viewer’s comments. Some of which were silly, some sweet and some just
… out there.
I began to get to know these other viewers and did a lot
more reading about WCC, the founder and other research into the various ways
that human and animal connections can help both – sometimes in ways we still
really do not understand. I read a lot about service animals: history, training,
breeding, rescues and testimonials. I even talked to vets I knew about their
pets or animals they have known and/or taken care of while deployed.
I have become passionate about finding ways to not only
inform others about this group but to help them as I can. And I have gotten to
know some amazing people who, for their own reasons, also feel strongly about supporting
this group, some of whom have gone above and beyond merely being an advocate to
reaching out to get media coverage or physical improvements made to the
facility.
But amid all these positive intents and intentions – I have
also run into what I think of as the “Others”.
I believe that the Others are no less passionate or
committed. And perhaps it is just that their reactions are the norm for them.
But all too frequently what they chose to share online with postings or
responses to postings cause me to raise an eyebrow in confusion. Perhaps it is
just that hyperbole has become so common in our media it makes people feel as
though replies and reactions need to be as well in order to have value? Or am I
just a cold hearted wench?
For example: Last summer the first litter of puppies that
had been on the live camera feed were leaving the main facility to go live with
their “puppy parents” – people that would raise them for the next year or so
and school them in basic obedience as well as make sure they attended special
Service Dog trainings. WCC allowed the
cameras to show the process live, and there were many of the Others who were
commenting about how upset they were, that they were sobbing while at their
computers and some who said they could not bear to watch.
THIS is where I start to feel like a b!tch, when I want to
respond to these folks – THESE ARE DOGS !!! Yes they are cute and fun to watch.
However they are not yours, they are not being taken to the river to be thrown
in while in a weighted sack – they are going to homes, receive training and
then go on to do what they were bred for. To SERVE a wounded warrior. Do not get me wrong, I have strong
attachments to my own pets and mourn when one dies – I guess I can just see the
greater purpose these puppies have in fulfilling an important function.
Then there are those who feel the need to “dog-i-fy” words
and phrases as if that would prove to the Others their true support. So posts
are now full of OMD (oh my dog), paw-some, high-paw (instead of high five) and
LMWBO (Laugh my wiggly butt off).
And finally there are the “writers” among the Others. And I
put the word writers into quotation marks deliberately. And because I do
acknowledge that I am a bit of a snob when it comes to other people’s writings.
I don’t think spelling, punctuation, spacing, tense consistency or sentence
structure should be optional. And yet, no matter how cringe worthy I may find a
specific story or fictional scenario there will be a host of the Others who
will laud the author with accolades, comments about genius and more weeping
with deep emotion at their keyboards.
Is it any wonder that while I may have a cute paragraph or
two come to mind, or maybe re-word a song’s lyrics to match an amusing event, I
don’t share them with the Others. I am too afraid that their leader will
somehow find a way to assimilate me into their mother ship – like the Borg.
I would make a very bad Seven of Nine.
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