Lisa,

I honestly think that most people give our dogs the pity looks because they are not familiar with the situation and are afraid our dogs are handicapped or suffering. Last year, while in The Villages in Florida, we often took Sammy down to one of the "town squares." He was a huge hit! Although we heard the chorus or Ohs and Ahs as we walked around, we also heard honest concern in the voices. We could barely get two or three steps without being approached. People just flat-out asked what happened to his leg and we were glad to share our experience. Sammy thought he was a star — his tail waved like a flag and the smile never left his face. Of course, he loved getting there in the golf cart, too. Just for fun, I included a picture of him riding. My job, as passenger, was to keep his tail in the cart and Rick's was to keep him from getting his head knocked off by other carts. He really liked to stick his head out the side so his ears could flap in the breeze!

Also, just FYI, everytime I see your avatar I grin. Zeus has the sweetest, silliest smile. What a cutie — I think I would love your dog! He looks like he has personality to spare …

And, Shari, you are really funny!

— Beth and Spirit Smilin' Sammy

Ge'Lena, I can imagine the comments.  On that note, I will tell you that right after Greg and I married I convinced him to go by the animal shelter (we lived in Gastonia, NC at the time).  It was (and still is, unfortunately) a high-kill, horrible county-run shelter.  As we walked around, I noticed a dog with a deformed front leg – it was as if someone shrunk her front leg to 1/4 the normal size.  She was in the "unadoptable" section which was always full b/c that shelter was horrible and any dog with any problem at all was classified as unadoptable and was put down after the reclaim period.  She was standing at the kennel door smiling and wagging her tail.  I left there in tears b/c that dog was being punished and killed for absolutely no reason.  That dog has haunted me for 14 years.  I can still see her face as if she is standing in front of me right now.

That began my work in animal rescue.  I became a volunteer with the no-kill 501(c)3 shelter in that area.  The founder would go and "claim" as many dogs as possible each week.  They knew these weren't her dogs but surprisingly they let her get away with re-claiming hundreds of dogs per year.

I thank you all for your comments above because they remind me of what I already knew about people's ignorance (I truly mean no disrespect using that word – I do believe it is ignorance and not usually stupidity).  I had lost sight of that b/c this time it is personal and it is my family they are criticizing and I become a bit defensive.  I need to go back to my rescue roots and use this as a teaching opportunity.  Thank you for reminding me of that!

I felt compelled to update this thread.  I think it maybe it was us all along!  I think, very early on, I did feel sad about what life has thrown at my boy not to mention the exhaustion from recovery that presents as slow movements, slumped posture and bags under my eyes the size of cow boobies.  As time has passed Zeus gets around great, is SO happy and has amazed me to the point that I can't explain and I have learned to truly appreciate this one day for what it is – a gift.  We are at four months and 5 days – 125 days more than we almost had when the pessimistic diagnosis caused us to seriously consider letting him go rather than amputation.  That said, I think we "present" differently.  We walk with our heads held high and a smile on our faces.  We are so proud of Zeus as he bounces along next to us.  He is no longer our poor baby – instead he is our hero.  We still get the pity look on occasion, but mostly I notice people look at him, their eyes dart to me and I am smiling.  Now, with a tiny tilt of their head, they smile back.  A true, sincere smile.  Go figure….