Do Blankets Really Matter?

Can a blanket really make a difference? What’s the big deal?

I haven’t actually been asked these questions, but for those who are unfamiliar with rescue or haven’t given it much thought, it’s a valid train of thought. Animals get rescued and go into homes, so they would get a blanket or share one anyway, right? Why create a group and put that much time and effort into blankets? Couldn’t we use our time and effort for something else actually necessary like food?

Why blankets?

I’ve been thinking about this and how to put it into words that would do it justice. Wrapped in Love: artisans with a mission is more than making blankets. There’s far more that goes into it. From the outside observer it appears that we go through a series of steps.

1. We announce a rescue

2. We ask for blankets

3. We make blankets

4. We send blankets

5. When they need more we start over at #1

It doesn’t seem all that special when you look at a list like that. It doesn’t seem special when you remove all the feelings from that. You have to dig a little deeper to see what it really is all about.

Imagine, and it’s difficult to do so, living the first years of your life in a cage. That’s it. Just a cage. You occasionally get fed and occasionally get water which often ends up sitting and getting dirty and filled with algae in hot weather. Cold weather isn’t better. If you are lucky, you have a cage mate to huddle with to stay warm. You’re a breeder dog. Your hair is matted and you’ve never had a bath. The only humans you know are the ones who are rough with you. They take a power sprayer to your cage and you’ve been hit by it more than once and you know it hurts. Some animals have gone blind when the powerful stream hit their eyes. You are surrounded by other dogs just like you. Your entire life is filled with fear and you aren’t fed nearly enough or nutritiously enough. You never feel good. You’ve been living this way your entire life. Fear, hunger, discomfort, and your spirit has dampened. You don’t remember what it’s like to be a playful puppy. You’ve seen other dogs pulled from their cages trembling in fear never to come back. You’re scared. All of the dogs in all of the cages are scared every minute of every day.

One day it’s your turn. A human comes to your cage and you try to hide in the back. You don’t know what’s going to happen. Another mating session? Or something else? You tremble with fear. You and a handful of other dogs are put in crates and loaded in a van. You have no idea where you are going or why, but gentle voices and hands are new to you. You don’t understand. After traveling for hours your crate is taken into a building with new smells and voices. The gentle voiced humans touch gently and you get your very first bath. You aren’t sure you like it because it’s new but your skin feels better. You get a haircut. You get food. This is really good food. You decide you are going to eat it all. They give you clean water. You lap it up because it’s really good water too. You glance at the humans every now and again because you aren’t sure when you have to go back to the scary place you are used to.

And then it happens. They wrap you in a blanket. It’s soft. You’ve never experienced a soft surface like this before. You realize that this place isn’t filled with whines, yips, scared barking, or all of the overwhelming smells of cage upon cage of frightened dogs. Yes, you are placed gently into a crate, but it’s lined with soft blankets. Your belly is full. Your skin for the first time is clean. You sniff your blanket and decide you like it. You take your paws and move it around a bit until it’s just so. You circle and lay down and fall asleep peacefully. Your dreams are filled with what life was like before. You wake up scared. It’s all you know. Your blanket is still there though and it reminds you that there is such a thing as soft and welcoming. For the first time you have something that is yours and yours alone. The gentle humans take you outside and you don’t want to leave the comfort of your blanket. You explore the outside and grass feels strange on your toes. You don’t know what to do. You do your business and when they take you back inside where you gladly join your blanket in your crate. You are comfortable there. Every day you spend a little more time away from your crate. Then one day you and your blanket are moved to a different crate and you meet another gentle voiced human. You are experiencing a home for the first time. You don’t understand it. It’s scary, but you have your blanket and it’s familiar. You have started exploring your new world a bit more. You went to the vet and that was scary, but your blanket went with you so it’s okay. Sometimes your blanket disappears for a bit. It always comes back without all your smells on it, but you know it’s yours. You can tell. You’ve had teeth pulled, toenails clipped, another haircut, more baths with medicine and your skin is losing all the itchies. The one consistent unquestionably good thing is the blanket that you sleep with every night and nap on every day. When you figured out that life is safe now, you started playing with it. Your favorite thing is to grab it in your teeth and lift it up and then bury your head in it and growl. You have other toys that are fun, but your blanket is the best. You wag your tail now when your gentle voiced human calls you and feeds you. Wagging feels good. You still dream about your old life. It haunts you, but sometimes you have other dreams now too. Sometimes you dream about running and playing. You get scared when you hear loud voices and sense stress, and you really don’t like the hose in the yard that sprays water. Some people smell wrong and you hide from them. But mostly life is good and now that you know what your gentle voiced human wants, which is to potty outside, you get to sleep in bed with them. You take your blanket and try to share it with your human in their bed. Your blanket is the reason that life is good now. As soon as you got your blanket, everything changed. Your blanket is your best friend. Your blanket is soft, warm, welcoming, and represents Love. That’s it. You know what Love is now and Love is good.

Get it? This is why we make blankets.

Your blanket, YOUR BLANKET, can be the first soft consistent thing in the life of a puppy mill dog.