0522HarfordSpring22 - Flipbook - Page 52
Donald Rhodes with his rescued dog, Yankee, at
his Abingdon home. Rhodes, who spent 24 years
in the military, adopted Yankee seven years ago.
PHOTOS BY KENNETH K. LAM
From the start, the dog slept with her folks.
“She likes to cuddle on her own terms, with
her head on our legs, touching us in some
way,” her owner said. “In a deep sleep, she’ll
snore, and when she dreams, she whimpers,
her eyes go crazy and her tail wags a bit.”
Seven months later, the couple was
deployed to Camp Zuma, a military post 25
miles from Tokyo. Autumn followed suit,
skirting Japan’s strict six-month quarantine
regulations for dogs because she would live on
the U.S. Army base. Soon after, the Martins
added another dog, a 2-month-old mongrel
with a ripped ear who had been rescued offbase by soldiers who’d seen children picking
on the pup.
“We’d been exploring the option of a second
dog,” she said, “and ‘Jasper’ kind of fell into
our lap.”
Now the two mutts are pals.
“We call Jasper ‘the librarian’ because he’s
kind of boring,” said Martin. “To Autumn,
he can be like an annoying little brother. If
she has a toy, he’ll try to steal it, though he
really only wants it as a means to bother her.
Autumn has a personality. Sometimes, when
she’s excited, she gets ‘the zoomies” and starts
running back and forth, knocking over stuff
while Jasper just stares. Jasper never gets the
zoomies.”
Autumn is a doting aunt to the Martins’
daughter, often resting her head on Summer’s
legs as the baby sleeps.
“She’s a family member in every sense,” her
owner said.
Donald Rhodes recalled the day his
Abingdon family browsed the raucous aisles at
the same Harford County shelter.
“One dog, a boxer mix, jumped against the
side of his cage to greet us,” said Rhodes, 52.
“Our daughter, Layla, looked at him and said,
‘Calm down. Sit.’ So he did.”
And Rhodes, who’d spent 24 years in the
military, thought: any dog who will take
orders from an 8-year-old is the dog for me.
They adopted the pooch through Pets for
Patriots. Seven years later, Yankee — once
emaciated and abused — is a strapping and
beloved 110-pound house pet who can read
Rhodes like a book.
“Yankee cues into my mood routinely,” his
owner said. “If my wife and I are having a
dispute, he gets concerned and tries to calm us
down. He’ll nuzzle up and lick your hand.”
Not until he retired from the service
52 | SPRING 2022 | harfordmagazine.com
“If my wife and I are having a dispute, {Yankee] gets concerned and tries to calm us down. He’ll nuzzle up
and lick your hand," said Rhodes.
did Rhodes get the urge to adopt. A
communications technician, he logged 14
years active duty in the Air Force and 10
more in the Air National Guard. He’s now
an engineering contractor for the Army at
Aberdeen Proving Ground.
Yankee, he said, is a big galoot who, even at
11, keeps him busy, as with his recent run-in
with a skunk.
“A week ago, I let him out at night to do
his thing. When I went to get him, he came
running out of the dark, along with this
enormous odor. So there I was at midnight,
washing him in the driveway. He still stinks.”
Since Yankee’s arrival, the Rhodes have
rescued yet another, a Chihuahua named Lilly.
Guess who’s alpha dog?
“Lilly rules the roost,” Rhodes said. “Yankee
could swallow her if he chose to, but when she
calls his bluff, he acts like a scaredy-cat.”