Patriot story: Andrew and Scooby
ClosedDeadline: 06/08/2015
Story Details
Background:
Andrew is an elderly Army veteran who in October 2014 adopted Scooby, a then four year-old Mini Pinscher, through our partnership with Paws and Prayers. **Veteran sent only one photo of Scooby only; need a few pictures of Andrew and Scooby together.**
- Assignment goal is to synthesize the information provided by the member patriot into a compelling story
- It is not necessary to tell the veteran's story in the order that s/he provided the information unless that is the best way to tell the story
- It is not necessary to use all the quotes provided
- You may make minor adjustments to the quotes only to correct for grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc.
- Punctuation always resides inside the quote marks, e.g., "like this," and not "like this",
- Close the story with a compelling call to action or question based upon the story's narrative and place in italics at the end, e.g., What are you more willing and able to do now that you have a pet in your life?
Quotes:
| Pet's Name | |
| Scooby | |
| A little about me | |
| I'm in my early 70's and I have been retired for 10 years and it went by fast. I like to putter around in the yard, I have a large flower bed that I am currently fighting with the weeds, so I can plant some flowers. I like to watch sports on television, mostly baseball. I currently bowl in to leagues in the winter and one in the summer. I also am the secretary for all 3 bowling leagues so that keeps me busy. I also like to take the car out and just enjoy driving around and especially now, as I have a buddy to hang with and he loves car rides. | |
| My military experiences | |
| I enlisted in the Army in 1962 and served honorable for 3 years and in 1965 I was honorably discharged. My boot camp was at Fort Knox and the rest of my tour was at Ft. Dix. My tour was an uneventful time, as not much happened. I would say the one scary time was when President Kennedy got shot and the Fort was put on lockdown and everyone had to carry their firearm or rifle with them at all times. My job in the service was a 'chaplains assistant', and believe it, I volunteered for it. No one ever told me not to volunteer for anything, but this time it worked out good for me. | |
| My most memorable experience from my time in service | |
| Well my most memorable experience was when I was discharged, because I knew they were starting to send troops over to Vietnam and I was keeping my fingers crossed and saying a lot of prayers. That's when I heard that they could freeze discharges so they would have enough troops to protect the country and still send some overseas. | |
| Why I chose to adopt a pet | |
| I choose to adopt a pet only cause I live alone and it was kind of quiet with no one other than me in the house. Prior to adopting, I had bought a Labradoodle and it was the best dog I ever had, it was friendly, hardly barked, and learned fast. I had him for 10 years, I had trained him to be a therapy dog and we visited a few nursing homes for a while, till he got cancer, then I stopped going. He was treated with chemo for 2 years and the cancer went into remission. But he passed on just after it went into remission, as his back legs just gave out and I couldn't see him suffering, so I had to put him to sleep. I decided not to get another dog, only cause I have had a few hardships with other dogs my family had and didn't want to go through it again. But it was kind of lonely in the house and so I started to try to adopt a rescue dog. I figured I wanted to give a rescue dog the best life he could ever get, cause I do spoil dogs a lot. Along came Scooby the complete opposite of the dog I just had, but he is a good dog and buddy and friend. | |
| Why I chose to adopt through Pets for Patriots | |
| Well to tell you the truth, I didn't know I was adopting a dog through Pets for Patriots. The group I thought I adopted from was 'Paws and Prayers', but I guess they sent my adoption paper to 'Pets for Patriots'. I filled out a lot of adoption papers but the dogs always went to families, so I was going to give up till spring time. Then I received an email from someone from Paws and Prayers stating they think they have a dog for me and they were right. | |
| How my honorably adopted pet has changed my life | |
| Well I have always taken care of someone in my life. I took care of myself, until my dad got sick, then I helped my mom take care of him. When he passed on, I stuck around and took care of my mother, till she passed on. Then I took care of my dog and when he passed on, I didn't want to get another, as I was getting older, but soon found out, that it was to quiet in the house and that I was watching to much television. So I adopted Scooby and he has made me feel needed, I just hope I can live longer than Scooby so I can give him the best life a dog could ever have and when he passes on he can brag in heaven. | |
| What I love most about my new pet friend | |
| the thing I love best about him, is he loves car rides and I love to take him for rides or wherever I go. If the garage door is open and I let him out, he runs right to the passenger car door and sits there. My last dog did the same thing. I don't mind that he messes up the windows and messes up the back sit or jumps in the front passenger seat and tries to get into my lap, cause he is my friend and buddy and he gives me a reason to live and take care of myself, so I could take care of him. | |
| What I would tell other veterans or service members who might be thinking about adopting through Pets for Patriots | |
| It's a good organization and they do a lot of checking, making sure everything is going good between you and your new friend. If you have problems with your adopted animal, they will work with you. |
From post adoption update in October 2014:
Just wanted to give you an update on my adoption of Scooby. The first 2 weeks were ok, as he had a cone on, as he had surgery over his eye. The cone made it a little rough when your trying to
get connected. But the cone has disappeared and we are getting alone fine. He is very well trained and a very good companion. He loves car rides and when I go out, I always took my dog
with me and he is a good trooper in the car. So I am happy I adopted Scooby, we might have been made for each other, we both like to curl up on a nice chair, with a blanket and snooze. The
neighbors all like him and the neighbors dog likes him too. Although he keeps eyeing the rabbits
next door, thank God I have a fenced in yard. Took him to the vet and he is on a regular routine for heartworm and flea protection except now the bills are a little lower compared to the last dog,
which was a 90 lb Labradoodle and the vet gave him a wellness checkup and said everything is
good. So that is the report from Scooby's new forever home.