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Needed: lap and belly rubber. Adopt Maverick. #chihuahua #wirehairedterrier #mustlovedogs https://www.instagram.com/p/BpKKcwjARDI/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=v36t5713o4w1

#chihuahua #wirehairedterrier #mustlovedogs

Working dogs. You see a lot of them at the shelter. I’ve written the line “really needs a job” on a lot of dog’s info sheets; so many in fact, I have begun to wonder if the need for working dogs is fading away. Retrieving ducks. Pulling sleds. Hunting rats. Guarding property. Herding. Once upon a time we needed our dogs to do their jobs. We relied on them and took the time to mold them into a valuable work force. But now we have machines. How hard is it to get into your motorboat to fetch your own duck (and lets be honest, we don’t hunt out of necessity these days). A dog sled is an attraction now and no longer the only transportation in the north, we have snowmobiles for that. Have rats? Pull out the poison! Why pay and train a guard dog that can be shot in a moment, when you can simply install a security system and never have to worry ever again? And herding? Really? Do we even raise animals on pasture anymore? Most of us have a dog for company. So often people tell me they fell in love with their dog’s eyes, or coat or size. And then for ten plus years they put up with a restless four legged soul trapped inside their home, moaning to friends about their pet’s anxiety and laughing at the dumb things their dog does when fighting their boredom. Our working breed dogs have become icons - symbols of power and purpose. Symbols because I believe we are losing our working dog’s purpose day by day as our philosophy about work changes.

You see, working people are fading away too. Our adventurers are finding themselves in cubicles that are looking more and more like the shelter’s holding pens. Our hunters are getting fat on Sysco. And our farmers no longer own their land and only stay profitable by running their animals like prison camps. We’ve lost meaning to what we do every day. I think we find ourselves bored and anxious just like our “pets”. How many of us wrestle about our purpose in life? How many of us feel unfulfilled? We know we’ve been born for a purpose but this lifestyle we find ourselves in just doesn’t seem to fit. Deep down we know we weren't meant to live cozy comfortable lives. We were meant to live! And living means working hard in freezing cold waters or blistering blizzards. It means standing up for yourself and fighting those who infringe on your freedom. Living means being outside the sheep pen and reminding the sheep everyday that you are not one of them.

We should be wary of trying to turn a working dog into a pet. A pet is a source of entertainment. He’s not needed but just simply enjoyed. A companion is someone who has gone through thick and thin with you. This is someone you’ve taken the time to get to know, to teach and to love. This is someone you risk feeling great loss if something were to ever happen to him. You share life with a companion and life is work. Lets enjoy the work we do and lets not be afraid to face the extremes it will throw at us. Too many of us are dying to a broken system. I know this because so many of our working dog breeds are not leaving the shelter’s doors.