Celebrating man’s best friend

CRESCO - National Dog Day was held on Saturday, Aug. 26. Not surprisingly, 36.5 percent of households own a dog and an average of 1.7 are owned per household. With an estimated population of 10,000 people in Howard County, there are 820 dog owner households and an estimated 1,403  dogs. That’s a lot of four-legged friends.

Information from nationaldogday.com states, “National Dog Day celebrates all breeds, pure and mixed, and serves to help galvanize the public to recognize the number of dogs that need to be rescued each year, either from public shelters, rescues and pure-bred rescues. National Dog Day honors family dogs and dogs that work selflessly to save lives, keep us safe and bring comfort. Dogs put their lives on the line every day - for their law enforcement partner, for their blind companion, for the disabled, for our freedom and safety by detecting bombs and drugs and pulling victims of tragedy from wreckage. 

“And while we feel that American's have the constitutional right to purchase a pure-bred dog, we strongly discourage buying dogs from pet stores supplied by puppy mills, backyard breeders, the internet and newspaper ads. Rather, we encourage those seeking new canine companions, to consider choosing adoption first.”

A few dog owners shared their thoughts on their irreplaceable dogs.

• Linda and Gordon Dornink

The Dornink family owns more than one dog, but shared a bit about their most recent rescue; a Chocolate Labrador named Hannah.

“Hannah is around 13-14 years old,” shared Linda. “We love senior dogs. We’ve had her almost eight months now. We rescued her through HSNEI. She had been starved and was emaciated and couldn’t move well due to her bad arthritis. We fell in love with her immediately.”

Not all senior dogs are so lucky. Many owners surrender or abandon their elder canines. Hannah was one of the lucky ones to find a wonderful home for her later years.

 “She is one of the sweetest dogs we’ve ever had,” Linda shared. “She’s come a long way, and her resilience and will to live has inspired me personally. She brings us much joy every day and her love with trust towards us. I think she rescued us!”

• Ginger Mielke

Mielke has two dogs, Mickey, a Yorkie, is six-and-a-half and Harley, a Peekapoo, is eight-months-old. Both dogs were from friends. Mielke decided to get Harley as a companion for Mickey and couldn’t be happier with the decision.

“The decision to get Harley was the best decision I made,” said Mielke. “These two give me so much love. You come home from a bad day, and they are just excited to see you. So faithful. They are like my kids. Harley is so funny because he tries to get the air when you blow on his face, so he’s biting the air, and Mickey holds a squeakie toy because he thinks it is hurt. He protects it, and when he puts it down, he lays on it to protect it. They are just so wonderful.”

• Kim Shipley

Kim and her partner, Eric, are a family to two dogs, Zeus and Sadie.

“Having our dogs is like having children,” shared Kim. “We love to walk them and take Sadie to the dog park as much as we can for exercise. Zeus is 12 and still energetic but does not require as much exercise as Sadie, who is still a pup at six-months-old. The love, trust and affection we both have for them is immeasurable. They are part of our family and the bond that is created makes life richer.”

Dogs. They are an intricate part of the lives of many. Their love and loyalty is unquestionable. You don’t need National Dog Day to remind us how special they are. And you don’t need National Dog Day to celebrate them as our family members.