You Have Rescue My Life [VERIFIED]
Over the course of the last few years running this rescue, alongside my wife Amanda, I have personally learned so many lessons, many painful experiences but many amazing ones as well. The concept of welcoming a random dog into your established home may cause doubt or uncertainty but it has truly been one of the best decisions of our lives and I wanted to share that with you all here.
You Have Rescue My Life
If you do not follow us closely, I will remind everyone here that we had two dogs from before rescue and then we decided to add in three more, all rescues from China. There were many trials and tribulations but now that we are through them all, I can see so clearly how worth it the entire experience and process was and more importantly how much I have grown as a man in more ways than you would imagine. After reflecting on the entire experience of rescue, I wanted to share some of my highlights with you all, in hopes that it speaks to your heart as well.
I can think back to when we first brought home Winston and more specifically when we took our first photos of him at home. He had such a confused and insecure look on his face, looking back, it was heartbreaking to imagine how lost he must have felt. As humans, we tend to forget all these dogs have been through. He had just gotten off a 15-hour flight and before that, he was living in a crowded shelter with tons of random dogs and no human affection and before that, pulled off of a meat truck in which I am sure involved abuse and pain. I cannot even begin to imagine all that was going through his mind coming home with us that day.
The ability to change your thought process to a more positive way of thinking is EXTREMELY difficult so the fact that my dogs have altered my life in this way is just profound in my opinion and I think it could happen with a lot more people, men specifically, as well. This is the formula breakdown-
Another example of how adopting a dog has strengthened our relationship is having to work together as a team to give them a better life. Vet visits, cooking their meals, giving them their first bath together, going on walks, adventures and watching them blossom and grow, you really become a tight little pack and it has brought us all so much closer, overall. As they grow, you grow.
As someone that has an intense and emotionally draining job, coming home to seeing a happy dog with a wagging tail does wonder to your mood, I can promise you that. I cannot tell you how many times I have had a horrible day and simply walking in the door to my dogs and wife, completely erases all of the pain.
About a year ago, Amanda and I came across a dog that needed help and instantly decided that he had to be our next rescue pup after seeing only one blurry photo of him. He was rescued directly off a meat truck next to a German Shepard who had passed away. Amanda and I both just felt a huge pull towards him and knew we needed him in our lives.
We picked Pickles up from LAX and spent the night with him at a hotel near the beach. We probably gave him his first bath in that hotel room and he was such a floppy land seal. After the bath, we went to bed and he slept with us the whole night; probably the first time he got to experience true unconditional love. That would be the only night we would get to have with him though. As sad as it was, Pickles was very sick with a few hidden infections that would prove to be too much for him to fight.
After the dust and the emotions settled, Amanda and I made a call to Sally (an animal communicator) for a bit of closure. Sally relayed to us Pickles was here on this earth for a very specific mission and to impact the lives of many people to spread compassion and to help as many different rescue dogs as he could. Pickles told us to not be sad and he would always be with us to help with our mission of rescuing dogs; almost as if he was our guardian angel.
The many different stories of Pickles are for a different time but I will say his presence has been made known many different times since his passing. I have not been the same person since the moment Pickles passed away. I felt a change in my heart and in my brain chemistry. Pickles made me realize how precious life is and how in one moment you can be on top of the world and the next, the very bottom.
Your story, life and experiences with rescue dogs and Pickles is so touching and heartfelt. I cried reading this on the bus back home. Thanking you for being vulnerable and brave enough to write this message. You guys are awesome! Thank you for all that you do for the one that have no voice.
Kyle you are a very eloquent writer and your blog post was really good. It takes a lot to lay yourself open like that but you are very obviously speaking from your heart and it shows in your words. We also rescued a golden from Yulin and we lived him from the first moment we saw him and new we had to give him a new life in Canada even though we had 3 figs already and another one was certainly not in the works at the time. Is incredible to see how mucn love these beautiful pups have to give despite how they have been treated and what they have endured. It certainly makes you rethink things and be so grateful for everything you have and that you have the opportunity to make a difference in their lives. Kari was rescued from No dogs left behind and we tell him all the time he will never be left behind again. Thank you for sharing your thoughts
Thank you for writing this. It was very poignant and reminded me why we have rescued 5 dogs of our own. One is actually a Jindo from Korea. Thank you for inspiring us to continue to help dogs who truly are on deaths door.With gratitudeKyla Preston ?
Just found your site. Lovely to see the fantastic work being carried out rescuing these wonderful animals. Good luck to you kind and generous people. We have two rescue Borzoi. Funny, loyal and the most important members of our family. Every human should know what a dog can give and make sure they are loved and protected. But keep up the good work. Every dog is precious and you have saved so many! Kind Regards.
Hi Kyle, I love your compassion and appreciation for dogs in need. Thank you for what you and your wife are doing to bring awareness and change to these dogs lives. I rescued a golden six years ago who was abandoned and showed signs of abuse. She was brought to us on a transport from TN to our home in MA, along with a truckload of other rescue dogs needing homes. It was the most impactful decision we have made and has also positively changed our lives these past six years. I have children who both live in SF and we hope to take residence there within the next few years. I would love to adopt one of your dogs then. I will continue to follow you on FB and pray for change, as you and others bring awareness to this dire situation dogs face in China. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
This is beautiful, Kyle! Both you and Amanda have hearts of gold. I am so grateful that people like you exist, and that we all have these pups to love, cherish, and live along side of. Thank you for taking the time to put these thoughts together.
Beautiful blog Kyle thanks for sharing. I was with Pickles the day he was rescued and he also touched my heart very deeply. You and Amanda are doing an incredible job thank you ?? I love your instagram stories and look forward to all your updates !
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I was bound to be addicted to something, even from an early age. I grew up in a dysfunctional household, even though it was a loving home. After arriving in Jacksonville in 1987, I was living a chaotic life, driven by my addictions. I had passed by the New Life Inn on State Street and told myself that I would never end up there. I had no idea that my help was inside that building.
My struggle with drugs and alcohol has always been connected to anger. As a child, I was angry at my mother for returning to an abusive relationship. As a teenager, that anger led me to a life of violence. I started with drinking and smoking weed as a teenager, but my drug and alcohol use increased when I joined the military.
I started drinking at the age of 14. After 2 failed marriages, I was a raging alcoholic and I had experimented with powdered cocaine and acid. As my addictions progressed, crack cocaine took a hold of my life and I was a highly functioning addict, on and off, for 30 years.
I knew I was in the right place as soon as I arrived at City Rescue Mission, but I traveled a rough road in my life to get here. I grew up in a small town in Georgia as the seventh of nine kids in a two bedroom, one bathroom house. My father passed away when I was two-years-old, and my siblings and I were raised by a single mother who worked all of the time to provide for us.
My father, Gert Berliner, was 14 years old in 1939, when he escaped from the certain death of Nazi Germany. He left via the Kindertransport, a rescue train organized to take Jewish children away from harm and place them with families in other countries. 041b061a72