And Trace, whose enthusiasm and energy aren’t hampered by her missing front leg, inspired poetry in her human, Joanne Sebring.
Joanne Sebring of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, adopted a year-old black Lab named Tres from Louisiana in 2009. Tres is Spanish for “three” and Tres is missing his left front leg. He’s what’s known as a tripod. Tres (now Trace) arrived in Pennsylvania during a blizzard. Unlike most rescue dogs, Trace was driven north by his foster, who was on her way from Louisiana to Massachusetts to visit family.
“There was at least a foot of snow on the ground,” Joanne told me, “and it was coming down fast.” Because Joanne lives on a mountaintop, she drove into town to meet Trace and his foster in her truck. “When I arrived, southern boy Trace was romping in his first snow, making it fly here and there, eating it as fast as he could, and greeted me with a hug.”
With four dogs now—Trace, Roxy, Ziggy, and Buddy—Joanne, who is 65, says the dogs keep her busy and “feeling young.
“I have to keep up my energy level to care for them,” she told me. “They make me exercise.”
Joanne sent me a short ode she wrote that reflects the youthful spirit that life with dogs can inspire:
Trace, my funny, loveable boy, teaches me—
Be cheerful in the face of adversity
When you fall down, shake yourself off and get back up
again
Snuggle every chance you get
Find the JOY in everything!
Meet the day with enthusiasm ●
