Visiting Gypsy & Gomez at Southwest Pennsylvania Retriever Rescue Organization

The Southwest Pennsylvania Retriever Rescue Organization was just a short drive from the motel.

Stark Drive, the road that the dog rescue organization was on, was a very narrow one-car-at-a-time road.

S.P.A.R.R.O. was right at the end of the road before it turned around in a loop.

I parked my car, grabbed my camera and Emi, and went to meet Joe. He introduced me to his wife Barb.

One of the first dogs that I saw was Xena. She was 19 years old ~ a very long age for a dog, especially a big dog. Xena was blind and deaf. Like many of the dogs at S.P.A.R.R.O., hers was a sad tale. She spent almost her entire life tied to a chain. But here at S.P.A.R.R.O. Xena can spend the last part of her life in an environment where she is loved and cared for, where she will never be subjected to a chain.

Another dog was a cute 12-week male Lab puppy. He was the last of his litter, and Joe said that nobody wanted him because he had "black dog syndrome." Apparently people aren't interested in black dogs because there are just too many of them.

How can anybody not want that adorable and friendly pup? If I didn't already have 2 animals coming with me to Texas, and if the apartment where I was moving moving to allowed more than 2 pets, I would have taken him in a heartbeat.

After having been introduced to Barb, Xena, and the pup, Joe and I made our way down the rickety stairs, that had gates at either end, to meet Gypsy and Gomez.

Joe had kept them in a separate part of the house, in the cool basement area with 3 other dogs. They were not yet integrated with the rest of the shelter dogs because they still needed to finish making their adjustments. They had their own dog yard where they and the other dogs at the rescue could see, smell, and hear each other so that they could get familiar with each other.

Gypsy and Gomez were in the house, and Joe went to get them.

Gomez came out right away while Gypsy stayed in the house. He had to go in and get her. The reason for her not wanting to come out probably had to do with the fact that Gypsy is apparently blind and was probably confused as to where to go.

Now I knew that Gypsy was losing her sight because she would make her way slowly across the dog yard and occasionally bump into things. But because she lived at one place just about all of her life, she was familiar with the placement of things in her surroundings. It was only after Joe brought her to S.P.A.R.R.O. that it became obvious that she was pretty much totally blind. It also explained why she stopped going up the stairs in our old house.

Gomez was very happy to see me. He kept jumping up and down all over me. And he even bopped me on the face with his wet nose, getting his doggie snots all over my face and eyeglasses. Normally I would have reprimanded him for this bad-mannered behavior. But because I was seeing under very bittersweet circumstances, I let him have his own way with me.

Once Gypsy was out of the house, she too was very happy to see me. She stuck her head between my legs and had me give her a "doggie hug" by squeezing her body with my legs.

Emi and the 2 old dogs pretty much ignored each other.

But after visiting for awhile Emi started hanging out with Gypsy, the way she used to do years ago when I worked at the animal shelter and would bring both Emi and Gypsy to work with me.

Barb and Joe commented that they noticed that Gypsy was a digger, and they cheerfully pointed out the holes that Gypsy dug in the dog yard. And in the picture above, the one with her and Emi, Gypsy is resting in her favorite spot, which is in a hole that she dug in the corner of the dog yard.

The dogs still have not completed their adjustments at S.P.A.R.R.O., though they have made strides.

When they first got there, Joe said that they would not go anywhere in the dog yard. But now they are more comfortable with exploring it.

They still aren't eating as much, maybe eating only half of what they would normally eat. Gomez's waist did look a little thinner.

Gomez had a "boo-boo" on his nose, probably from banging into something. And Gypsy had scabs on the backs of her hind legs that were healing over. These injuries were not present when she left the house. And it was my suspicion that she could have sustained them through stress chewing on the backs of her hind legs. But fortunately there are no new sores, and the sores that she had appeared to have been well on their way to healing.

Gypsy and Gomez are in good hands with Joe and Barb at S.P.A.R.R.O. And their tale is one of the happier ones there.

Joe said that every dog has a tale. And many of the dogs at S.P.A.R.R.O. have a sad tale.

Dante, a large unkempt black Lab, is a dog that had been so abused that he is probably permanently emotionally damaged. He cannot be put with other dogs. And it took a long time before he allowed Joe to come near him.

Sandy is a yellow Lab who is such an escape artist that he puts Gomez's escape feats to shame. Joe said that he would put Sandy in a crate that was inside another crate, which was again inside a third crate. He would then lash the outer crate with leashes and ties. And yet the next morning, Sandy would be running around loose.

Once, while Joe and Barb were on a very rare vacation (while their son was still there to help take care of the dogs), Joe said that he got a call from his son asking, "Should Sandy be in the same kennel as Dante?"

Apparently Sandy had chewed through the fencing in the kennel and made his way into Dante's kennel.

Because he and Barb were due back the next day, Joe instructed his son not to put any food inside the kennel, otherwise there would be blood.

Now Sandy has double and triple fencing on his kennel.

In addition to unwanted, abused, and neglected dogs, S.P.A.R.R.O. also has dogs with special needs, like Bobble who has cerebellar hypoplasia.

Bobble, along with Morgan, and another special needs dog named Alce are the 3 dogs who are friends with Gypsy and Gomez and who hang out together in Joe's basement.

S.P.A.R.R.O. is on 3 1/2 acres of farm land in Plum, Pennsylvania, which is just outside of Pittsburgh. (Joe used to own 500 acres when he was a cattle farmer. But he had sold off most of the land and just retained a small portion for his dog rescue organization.)

It's very obvious that Joe is deeply committed to rescuing dogs, especially unwanted, abused, and neglected dogs, and that this is his calling and life mission. (Barb said that Joe was a "dog whisperer" who has a special way with dogs.)

And he has a special spot in his heart for the old dogs. He has rescued many an old dog and allowed them to live out their natural lives in comfort and in an environment where they were deeply loved and cared for.

I visited with Gypsy and Gomez for about an hour. I would have loved to have stayed longer, to visited with Gypsy and Gomez until it was their time to cast off the shell of their old bodies and cross over the rainbow bridge.

But that wasn't possible. I had my own journey to complete, and that journey had to be completed without my 2 beloved old dogs.

But those two old dogs, Gypsy and Gomez, were in good hands with Joe and Barb at S.P.A.R.R.O.