What can we learn from Doobie the rescued Rottweiler?

Just wanted to post some follow-up information regarding the new member of our family. Jules an I have been expecting the arrival on a new Rottweiler puppy from a breeder that we contracted with who is in Tennessee. The puppy (Roscoe who was whelped on Jan 4th) was scheduled to arrive the 3rd or 4th of March. There was a slight problem with his arrival, which my wife happened to mention to the folks at our Rottweiler club meeting on the Wednesday the 7th. On Friday the 9th, Jules got a call form the president of the club who said that he had taken in a Rottweiler puppy as a rescue from the Sherriff’s department, and asked Jules if she would like to come out and see him.

Julie came back and was deferential, but thought that the puppy was very cute and that his temperament was very good. She asked me to go out and take a look at him. I was concerned about his background and the fact that he had no pedigree, but agreed to go take a look – so we planned on Saturday morning. Just to be prepared (I was an Eagle Scout ya know) we made sure that we could make it to the Vet’s office while he was still open and before we brought the puppy home.

When we got to the Benkiser’s property (they have about 22 acres in Forsyth or Cobb, but well north of the city) it was about 11:00 AM. The puppy was outside in an isolation pen, since no one really knew the status of his immunizations. He was well marked; also very confident and curious. The circumstances of his arrival at the Benkiser’s were pretty unique. It seems that the Sherriff had called the Benkiser’s and asked if they could take the puppy from them, because a woman in their jurisdiction had been left with the dog when her drug-dealing son was hauled off to jail. The puppy (who we now call Doobie for reasons that should be starting to become obvious) was given to the drug dealer in payment for some drug debts. The dealer had taken possession of the dog only 3 days before, and had planned to make the dog into a vicious attack dog to protect his drug stash. Now the dog was with his mom after his arrest and she wanted to see him go to a good home where he wouldn’t be abused.

So after spending about 30 minutes with Doobie (whose name given by the drug dealer was "Player") we decided that his temperament was just right for our household and we took him with us to get checked out at the vet. We started him on shots, de-worming, got him weighed (he weighs in at 47 lbs) and the vet puts him at 4 months old. We have a return visit scheduled for some booster shots in a couple of weeks and then neutering when he hits 6 months old. The only real flaw is that he has a pretty bad overbite, so we won’t be in any conformation shows even if we do come up with a pedigree. But since he is a pure-bred, we can enter him into agility trials and any of the sporting events, so that should be a lot of fun.

Now for the lesson. One may be wondering what a rescued Rottweiler can possibly have to do with employment. Well aside from the fact that this is my blog and I tend to write anything I want, there really is a lesson in the story. You see Doobie is a pure-bred, but doesn’t have a pedigree… ergo he doesn’t have a great deal of value, at least not compared to most Rottweilers. But because of his great demeanor, he was rescued and given a great home to live in rather than being put down. So you see it is exactly the same in business. You may not have a pedigree (read perfect work history, degree, or graduate degree) but if you have a great attitude, you too can be "rescued."