Well, I got a disappointing, but perfectly understandable, email today. Because of our impending move, GDA is going to transfer Jethro’s sponsorship to another puppy. They figured with the distance involved, if the SoCal-based sponsor were ever to wish to meet Jethro in person, it just wouldn’t be feasible. So the little man will be sporting the standard yellow GDA puppy in training jacket instead of the one with his (now former) sponsor’s name on it. Irony: we just got the sponsor jacket in the mail last week!
It’s a bummer, because it’s an honor to be asked to raise a sponsored dog. There is some extra work involved in submitting quarterly reports, of course. My first one for Jethro clocked in at 46 pages of photos and stories (which is way more work than anyone asks for, but since I keep this journal anyway I might as well give the sponsors more for their money, right?). There’s another bummer in that we’ll be missing out on the free dog food that comes as a benefit…but honestly, we were going to forfeit that anyway once we moved, so it’s not a big deal. The subsidized dog food came in quite handy while the pack leader was out of work, and these nice little perfectly-timed bonuses tend to be how I am most aware of God’s faithful provision in my life. I’m grateful for having had the privilege as long as we did.
I’m fine with it, but it’s a good thing Jethro has no clue what’s going on, because the poor little fella is scheduled for neutering tomorrow as well — de-sponsored and de-dude-ified in the span of just two days! That is some serious demotion (cue Mr. Banks’s humiliation scene from Mary Poppins here).
LabradorRodeo 