RE-HOMING A WAR DOG STORY: MWD Emirs intervention story of how he came to his final home. Its not a story we have told very often but I want to tell this very special story about Emir and honor Mr. West the man who would adopt Emir when he first retired. Emir was an emergency re-home, mom was not the person on Emirs dispo paperwork, Mr. West was. When one needs to re-home a war dog and has the integrity to do the right thing they are heroes!! Mr. West is our hero, he was Emirs hero. Once upon a time, back at Kirtland AFB NM lived Emir and Mr. West who had a residence on base. Oh Mr. West loved Emir with all his heart, would walk Emir around base, they walked everywhere and even took the bus off base. Mr. West did not drive. When Emir was too weak to walk he would push him in a wagon/cart he made just for his war dog. Emir was everything to him. Emir did have issues, from a mile away if Emir saw another dog or a child he would loose his mind, although Emir had limited physical abilities he was a powerful dog, mom was not even sure she could handle Emir from the report she received about him. He was a very high drive war dog who never understood the meaning of retirement. Emirs health was failing rapidly not sure if it was time for him to go to the Bridge. It was in December 2011 mom got the phone call, Emir needs re-homed asap or he may need PTS. Just like our mom/owner who has had periods of rapid deterioration in her health, 2013 our owner was extremely ill but we all made it thru because mom had lots of back-up of friends and family that would come and help our pack. Our owner knows exactly how Mr. West felt when he became sick and his health was failing as well. As a fellow disabled veteran how much more painful it would have been for Mr. West who was alone, just him and Emir without a car or social network. But he was a man of character and knew both Emir and himself needed help. Emir continued his medical care at the Kirtland Veterinarian clinic, Emirs first handler wife worked at the clinic and took care of Emirs health care. Pam loved Emir, because of Emir she met her now husband, Emirs handler. a sweet story of handler meets vet tech falls in love.... but Pam was invested in Emir- her husbands dog even into retirement and she knew Emir was a very sick dog. The Vet Clinic took care of Emir, Mr. Wests income was only his disability, no way he could have afforded everything Emir needed but people were on board helping both of them and it would be Pams love for Emir that would help him. One does not necessarily need to be rich to adopt a war dog, the war dog is just as happy to be with their owner as they were 24/7, Mr. West and Emir were inseparable. Pam had many conversations with Mr. West about what Emir needed. Xrays, treatment, hydrotherapy, MRIs, wheelchair the list went on and on. Emir was in bad shape. Even after mom re-homed him first visit to our vet here in Colorado only gave him at most 6-18 months to live with aggressive rehab. without rehab Emir was not going to make it even another couple of months. Mom got Emir a full body xray work up and it was real bad.....Mom got Emir a full blood and lab work up and it was real bad...... Was Mr. West a failure? ABSOLUTELY NOT. They could have PTS Emir but it was their love for him that something needed to be done to save Emir. It was their personal commitment to Emir to do their best. Pam got on the phone and started calling anybody that could help. Pam did get positive response from then Military Working Dog Adoptions- there was this woman in Colorado who did awesome rehab with a very sick MWD Billy B041 who also had animal aggression issues and was very high drive. The Billy story was told, how this Colorado woman involved Billy in treatment and handling of him that was successful. The experience with Billy sounded just like what Emir needed. This Colorado woman also fostered a CWD for rehabilitation from a leg amputation with success. She came highly recommended for Emir. then Pam was able to contact this lady and talk about the situation of Emir and Mr. West who also called and talked to the lady in Colorado. Mr. West loved Emir enough with the integrity it took for him to accept and let go of Emir to save Emir. He could have been selfish or too proud thinking he could handle all this on his own, but he was not an arrogant man. it takes incredible amount of honestly and humility to accept ones limitations. Mr. West was never a failure and if we could ever find him again (he moved from Kirtland, may be in Southern California?) we would tell him what a great man he was. A mans greatness is measured by his humility (Srila Prabhupada) The decision to let go of Emir to save Emir may have been the most courageous thing Mr. West could have done. it takes intestinal fortitude to have that level of honesty. and so it would be. The Colorado lady drove down to Kirtland to pick up Emir and YEP.... he was a handful!! but in less than 30 seconds of meeting Emir the lady fell in love and there was no doubt or question she would give him everything. Emir was so elated upon meeting this lady he did not know how to contain his outstanding enthusiasm and had her whole arm in his mouth. out Emir let go. He was a howling, whining and making all kinds of noise, Pam said, he is a very vocal dog. Emir rarely barked but he had an entire vocabulary of howls, whines and sighs. First impression this lady, our mom, could see Emir was jacked up. Emir needed lifted into the car, and to help him from the first moment mom brought along her Silky Terrier for the car ride. Emir was going to have to get used to other dogs so why not from the start? OMG was that a mess. That night in the motel in Albuquerque NM Emir and Gopi secured to different sections of the room declared war upon each other. Dont worry Emir... there were two more at home just like her. LOL. Emir was going into a multidog household with 3 little dogs (at that time) THERE IS ONE PROBLEM..... Mom was expecting me to arrive anyday, the great handlers, kennelmaster and service members at Pearl Harbor were wrapping up my dispo. MWD Uli would retire any moment now. Mom signed notarized and was 100% committed to adopting me. That responsibility was for my adoption not Emirs and what if Emir and I did not get along? I did not have the same dog aggression as Emir had, I was fine with dogs once I got to know them. Emir was the one with issues. I arrived 2 months after Emir, Emir would knock off his dog aggression in 30 days and we lived happily ever after. The moral of the story is NEVER judge any war dog re-home because you may not know what is really best for that dog or what the situation is. Any person who reaches out and asks for help is a person with integrity to do the right thing. By judging, condemning or talking shit about one who feels they need to re-home is putting all future re-homes in danger or at risk. it does not help. To love war dogs means to be honest about ones limitations and reaching out for help or re-home we all need to rally together and knock off the superior know it all judgment of others. if that situation is due to aggression, medical, health or needing to relocate its always about what the war dog needs. Thank you Pam and Mr. West you gave Emir 17 months of joy he would not have had without your love for Emir.
Posted on: Sun, 18 May 2014 18:03:45 +0000
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