Home Jeff Louderback's Columns The Companionship of a Faithful Dog

The Companionship of a Faithful Dog

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January 1 was my dog Boston’s unofficial 14th birthday!
Unofficial because when I adopted him when he was six months old, the veterinarian estimated is birthday was the first week of January, so I’ve always celebrated it on Jan. 1!
Back in the fall of 2011, I made one of the most rewarding decisions in my life. I adopted Boston from Dunedin Doggie Rescue.
When I started volunteering for Dunedin Doggie Rescue not long after I moved to Clearwater, I met a brown mutt with black streaks that I quickly bonded with and adopted in October 2011.
Dunedin Doggie Rescue is a remarkable organization. Operated solely by volunteers, it rescues strays who have days and sometimes hours left before euthanasia at rural Florida animal shelters, and provides foster homes where the dogs are neutered, trained, socialized and vaccinated so they are prepared to find lifelong homes.
The mutt that I adopted from DDR was named Tiger in honor of the dog on The Brady Bunch. Tiger was one of eight dogs rescued off death row by DDR from an animal shelter in rural south Florida. There were four males and four females, and each dog was given a name from The Brady Bunch.
One Saturday morning, I visited DDR’s adoption booth at a farmers’ market in downtown Dunedin. That is when I first saw Boston, the name I gave him in honor of my love for the city and the Red Sox. I took him for a walk that day to see if we would bond, and he pranced down the sidewalk like he was a proud show dog.
DDR has a strict adoption process to make every effort that it is an ideal match that will be lifelong for the dog. If you are interested in a dog, you spend a few hours with him on a weekend. The next step is, after a week apart, keeping the dog for a weekend, and then an entire week. If all is well after that period of time, then the adoption is finalized.
Good ole’ Boston has the same energy that he exhibited that first moment I saw him when he was a pup. When we lived in Florida, it was rare that Boston did not accompany me on car rides, day trips, weekend adventures and frequent visits to patios of our favorite restaurants and pubs.
When I landed a contract to spend a month in the secluded mountains of north Georgia to write a series of articles for a vacation cabin management company, Boston joined in and was my lone companion in a place where driving to the convenient store was a task.
When I decided to return to my native Ohio to be close to family, and to experience the four seasons once more, I sold everything but what I could fit in my car, made Boston a bed on the front passenger seat, drove 16 hours straight and started our new chapter.
We lived in Centerville until September 2023, when we moved down here to southern Ohio to be in the country and live a more sustainable life. Boston, of course, has no clue what that means, but he does love all the parks and preserves we visit and hike here.
Boston has accompanied me to around 25 states. He’s been with me to the Field of Dreams in Iowa, to Times Square in NYC, to Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and to the Washington Monument. He’s accompanied on the Route 66 adventure through Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma. He’s been hiking all over the West Virginia and Virginia mountains, the prairies of Nebraska, and wetlands in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
He’s seen many homesteads and farms, including Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farms in the Shenandoah Valley. He’s been with me all across North Carolina, with the Helene aftermath recovery and covering the presidential election in November. He’s been to East Palestine and Amish Country. He went with me to appropriate RFK Jr. outdoor rallies I covered when they were on farms. He’s even been in Andy Griffith’s Mayberry Jail in Mt. Airy, N.C.!
He is my workplace pal, too, since I work from a home office.
Dogs are a human’s best friend, and Boston is rarely not by my side, and he greets me with exhilaration whether I am gone for a couple days or for two minutes after I return from going out to retrieve the mail.
I love that dog and am grateful for him, and God’s gift of dogs.
If you are searching for a dog, and you are willing to make a 10 to 15-year commitment, I highly recommend adopting a rescue dog from one of the many organizations in your community.
Wherever you live, there are shelters and private organizations with dogs awaiting loving, lifelong homes!