Thursday, April 28, 2011

A story, with Paco Collars as its hero

Once upon a time there was a puppy named Garth. You might think him unlucky—after all, he was born deaf in a litter of hearing pups, and was scheduled to be culled at six weeks of age. He was taken home by a soft-hearted college kid instead, and renamed Paisley. He learned sign language. He grew to be a beautiful, majestic animal.

When Paisley was four, he suffered a simple fracture of the ulna in a freak accident (tripping on the lawn, actually). Do to a comedy of errors involving one bungling vet and three concerned specialists, the leg was ruined for life but saved from amputation. His bone was removed, and his joint healed at a bizarre angle.  Paisley limps, but feels comfortable. He is what one might call "pasture sound."

When Paisley was six, he was diagnosed with epilepsy. His grand mal siezures occur several times a year, with or without medication, and last about three to five minutes each. Each time he seizes, his human wonders if he'll ever wake up. He always does—terrified, confused, and unrecognizing.

When Paisley is not siezing, he is joyful. He is not a brave dog, though. He has lived on this one acre farmlet for six years now, and he has never yet set foot beyond the wire gate that separates the Dog Yard from the Goat and Chicken Yards. He is afraid of goats and chickens, even though they have never hurt him and even though he has never had a bad experience with livestock in his nine years of life. He is simply positive that they will kill him if he invades their territory, and so he watches from the porch.

Paisley is a good dog. He is a handsome dog, and a pretty one at the same time. He is covered in clouds of the softest, whitest fur. His nose is pig-pink and speckled like a dalmatian dog. He gets a new freckle every few months. (His humans hope that one day the nose will reveal a portrait of the virgin mother or the holy son and thereby secure a fortune.)

Paisley is not the most sensible member of the family. He is terrified of dogs in t-shirts and all hooved animals, but he is the most socially benign dog in the world when it comes to canine/canine and canine/human interactions. He has never so much as glared at a child, and he has never risen to a single challenge when it comes to doggy disputes over resources and supremacy. He is the definitive "nice guy," with all his gentle goodness and geeky mannerisms.

Paisley was lucky to get a spiffy tag from Fetching Tags of Georgia several months ago, and from the get-go he wore it proudly—even though his human asked that it say "One Sandwich Short of a Picnic" on the side opposite his contact info., and even though it hung from a $3 grocery store collar. He was luckier still when, yesterday, he received a present in the mail from Paco Collars of Berkeley. The folks at Paco Collars sent him a beautiful collar. A strong collar. A collar to be proud of. It's a work of art, and it fits perfectly.

The greatest thing about this is that they sent him the collar because he deserved it. Because he is a good dog, and because he has a good heart. They sent him a collar because he is special, and because he is beloved, and because—despite his many eccentricities—he is perfect. They sent a perfect collar for a perfect dog.

Thank you, Paco Collars, for making Paisley feel special. He is. (And we don't just mean "short bus" special.)


FOR MORE ABOUT THE SIMPLE TWO TONE COLLAR FROM PACO COLLARS, CLICK HERE. 

4 comments:

  1. What a way with words & nice collar, Paisley. I'm an addicted Dog Whisperer fan and he often works with frightened canines...Maybe you could suggest his show to Paisley, so he might find out that not everything is so scary!!

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  2. What a wonderful thing for Paco Collars to do!

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  3. "And we don't just mean "short bus" special." LOL!

    What a nice post. Good dogs deserve good things! :)

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  4. It's enough to break your heart. What a wonderful dog.

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