In Loving Memory of Owen
When a misunderstood homeless dog finds his purpose and acceptance . . .
It was 2012 and Camp Cocker Rescue saved a five year old dog from the Baldwin Park/Los Angeles county animal shelter that had a respiratory infection. We named him Owen. He had a lot of medical bills in the beginning, hospitalization for pneumonia, then cherry eye surgery and knee surgeries for his luxating patella. Once he was fixed up, he ended up being a healthy dog.
Owen struggled with finding a forever home.
You see Owen was one of those dogs that had fear reactivity. Things that would trigger Owen could be a variety of things. He was triggered by people that were not confident, women with high pitched voices, he hated "baby talk". He didn't like to be touched or spoken to when he was laying down. He didn't like his paws touched, or strangers handling him or any procedure type stuff at the vet. He didn't like being approached when he was in a space he felt trapped in (grooming cages or a medical cage if he had to go to a vet). Owen never wanted to hurt anyone and he was never looking to start any trouble, but he could quickly get triggered and would growl, bare his teeth and snap if people were not respectful of his needs to feel safe.
He always preferred men over women and for years we had hopes of finding him a forever home with a dog savvy man. Unfortunately, after one failed adoption attempt, Owen never found his forever home and settled in to his foster home permanently.
Once it became apparent that Owen was not going to get adopted, he needed a job . . . a purpose. So he became the face of Camp Cocker's fundraising. Owen would sell things in the store, hold raffles, auction off items for donations. He was a great salesman and he always took his job seriously. Owen was a professional, that's for sure! Of course he had to get his "paychecks" (treats) and he was very food motivated and eager to please if he knew he would get paid.
We aren't sure where it started . . . but Owen became the unofficial "Mayor" of Camp Cocker Rescue. One of the fans may have suggested this title and it stuck. He was called "The Mayor" or "Oweee" by the fans.
After ten years of good health, Owen suddenly stopped eating. We took him to the vet for diagnostics, then took him to an internal medicine specialist for an abdominal ultrasound, then he had a surgery to get biopsy samples on his intestines and bladder. The biopsy results broke our hearts . . . it was Lymphoma and Owen was going down quickly.
He had stopped eating, would not take his medication. Because of Owen's fear reactivity, he was not the kind of dog that you could force to take medication. Everything with Owen had to be with consent or he would get triggered and try to bite. He was rapidly losing weight and he was pooping out a tar-like substance, which was his intestines bleeding.
We knew it was time to help him over the Rainbow Bridge by giving him the gift of a humane euthanasia. Owen went peacefully and after he passed, his foster mom was finally able to kiss him all over his face and head - something she wished she could have done when he was alive (he was not a dog that would have been comfortable with so much affection and handling when he was alive).
It has been bittersweet because although our hearts are broken right now . . . we are reflecting and realizing that this dog that was so misunderstood and had so many handling issues, ended up feeling accepted and loved and seen. Simply because we set him up for success and created an "Owen bubble" for him where he didn't have to be handled when he didn't want to be and he didn't have to be forced to have any interactions with strangers if he didn't want to. (except for when he had to be hospitalized)
When we posted Owen's diagnosis update on Facebook earlier this week, we were so touched by how many people posted kind comments about him and what he has meant to them through the years. If you want a good cry, you must read some of these comments from his fans that are posted HERE.
Thank you to everyone that has been a fan of Mayor Owen's. It means so much that so many people have loved him.
