SAKE AND SOUNDER ( 桑克和桑德 )
I did something I just knew I would never, ever do: I brought home two, yes TWO, puppies to raise and housebreak in an apartment. I know it can be done and I know that many people the world over do exactly that but it wasn't for me or my family. First of all, I usually adopted or took in older cats and dogs, the ones that have a hard time being adopted. I wasn't even sure I would know exactly what to do with a puppy. Secondly, I hadn't lived in an apartment since the early 90s so the thought of not having a private yard for the dogs seemed like a real inconvenience. I also resisted adopting in Taiwan because all but one of our pets had died within the last few years and the thought of going through the sadness of that period again was not something I was keen on revisiting. Then, I volunteered at Animals Taiwan and my well laid plan of waiting to adopt until I returned to the States went right out of the window.

我做了一件我以前覺得我永遠不會做的事情：我帶了小狗狗，而且是一口氣兩隻小狗狗回到公寓裡面來養。我知道這 檔事不困難，世界上有很多人也做的來，可我和我家人以前就是不行。一來，我以前帶回來的貓狗都是年紀比較大的，沒什 麼人肯認養的。可我對幼犬實在是一點把握也沒有。二來，我已經有十幾年沒住過公寓了，所以總覺得沒有給狗狗的專屬院子蠻不方便的。而且我的寵物中除了一隻 碩果僅存的之外，在過去幾年裡都相繼過世了。我不想再承受失去他們的痛苦，所以也很排斥再認養動物。結果我志願加入動物台灣之後，原本回美國前不要再認養 的美好計畫立刻就被 拋到九霄雲外去了。

I took home a puppy we named Sake and a few days later came back for the last remaining member of her litter, her brother; we named him Sounder. Technically, we were fostering the pups but I knew that unless something extreme occurred, like one of them ripping off one of our faces, that they'd be with us for the rest of their lives. Sounder took to training quickly, Sake came along more slowly but is now up to speed. Everyday is a day in which the pleasure of just having them around greatly outweighs the challenges of training two puppies. I have missed having dogs as part of our family. They continue to amaze me with their motivation to learn and please even when they don't have the slightest idea what I am asking them to do. It was clear from day one that they wanted this to work out even more than we did.

我先是帶了一隻我們取名叫桑克的狗回家，過了幾天又帶了她僅存的兄弟桑德。儘管從技術層面來 說我們只是暫時照顧他們而已，不過我很 清楚除非有什麼十惡不赦的事情發生，像是他們把我們的臉抓的稀八爛之類的，不然我希望他們這輩子都能跟我在一起。桑德很快就被訓練的很好，桑克的動作比較 慢，不過也逐漸進入 狀況了。每天他們圍繞在我身邊的喜悅，早已超出了訓練他們所遭遇的困難。這些孩子學習的動力總是 讓我驚艷，而且即使他們對我要求他們的原因一點都不清楚，卻都還是乖乖照作。打從第一天起我就發現，他們對自己的要求甚至比我們期望的還要高。

So, thank you Animals Taiwan for doing what you do. There are so many lovely homeless animals in Taiwan who deserve a shot at a good life and all of you make that happen. My family and I want to personally thank you for rescuing Sake and Sounder and for providing them with a good home until we could bring them into our family. They are interesting and sweet, smart and loving, funny and endearing. Every morning they remind us that there is joy in just being.

感謝動物台灣所作的一切。這邊有好多無家可歸的小動物，他們有資格過個好生活，而這些都可能因為你們而實現。我和我的家人都想謝謝你們，謝謝你們救了桑克 和桑德，還讓他們在被我們認養之前有個 溫暖的家。這兩個孩子 既有趣又貼心，聰明可愛，風趣可人。 每天早上只要看到他們，就會讓我覺得，人只要活著就會有喜悅 。