Category Archives: Dogs & Other Animals

Pit Bull Envy

Dogs & Other Animals, Thoughts On Life, , ,

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As per my e-mail moniker, I am the Sheltie Queen. I am one of the founders of our local sheltie rescue group. I love their furry bodies, their long noses, and their herding attitudes. For the most part, I live and breathe shelties. I am happy this way. Life is good.  Why then, for the past couple of years have I had this increasing obsession with getting a pit bull? I see them or pictures of them and am reduced to cooing, ohhh…a pit bull.

Well, for one thing they are beautiful dogs. They have sleek bodies, chunky heads, and their coats come in so many gorgeous colors. I am partial to the brindles, chocolates, and blues. That really narrows it down. Not! They are active dogs and that fits in with the hiking, walking, and playing that we like to do. I have met some wonderful pit bulls and been the recipient of more than a few affectionate kisses from them. Above is Xena, a pit bull that I met at the local pound, she jumped up so as to be close enough to deliver kisses all over my face. Heaven!

Ultimately though, one of the reasons I am drawn to them is I see them as the underdog of the dog world. They are maligned and discriminated against.  It is in my nature to help the downtrodden and needy. That’s how I got started in rescue work in the first place. My goal is, when I am ready, to get a pit bull and train it for therapy dog work. Then we can work as a team to combat this stigma. And I will have another canine friend to assist with the therapy dog work that I love. It seems the ultimate win. As we visit and brighten the days of people who aren’t fortunate enough to have the joy of their own dogs, we show how loving pit bulls can be.

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Feline Ghandi

Dogs & Other Animals, ,

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Having numerous animals often involves playing nurse. Poor Lacey has been suffering with an abscess on her face for weeks.  After rounds of three different types of antibiotics and draining the abscess twice a day there was still little improvement. Finally the vet decided that a bacterial culture was necessary so we could identify the strain and get the correct antibiotic. Once we had the right medicine it started clearing up within two days. We are all very happy about this, especially Lacey. This picture was taken once she started to heal up. I didn’t want to take a photo before because it’s not something I want to remember!

Lacey must be the world’s nicest cat.  Through all of the pill and liquids I gave her, and all of the treating of the wound, and the ointments, she was always pleasant. She was an easy patient to work on.  And she would still come to sit with me and hang out even after all the “abuse” I had to put her through.

Lacey is 13 or 14 and has always been an extremely nice cat. If I had to give all of these treatments to some of our other cats, I would be covered in bites and scratches. Lacey is also the cat that loves dogs. She never runs from any of the dogs, even those who are new in residence. She just sits and looks at them and assumes they will be nice to her. She befriends our foster dogs, especially the older ones. She sits with them and gives and receives comfort in their company. Below, she is with Maizie our foster dog from last summer who was suffering from renal failure.

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Lacey is a peace loving soul. We could all stand to be a little more like her. The world needs more Laceys!

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Tales of Baxter Puppers

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals, ,

 Baxter puppy face

This is Baxter. He looks so innocent, doesn’t he? Don’t be fooled. He is the protector of his home. Last evening I opened the door for all of the dogs to go out in the fenced potty area. The fence is only about 3 1/2 feet high but our dogs have never tried to leave the area. I opened the  door  and out the dogs went. Baxter went out the door and sailed over the fence without even touching it. He ran just out of my site in the dark. The other dogs were barking within the fence as back up. Turns out there was a opossum in the yard. Baxter was on the job checking it out and patrolling his territory. Although the opossum was hissing and carrying on, the incident ended without apparent injury to either party. Baxter is a good boy and came back when he was called. He came in and resumed napping on the couch. Enough excitement for one night.

Baxter close up

Blitz on the Job, Even at his Foster Home

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings,
Sheltie, Blitz
Shetland Sheepdog, Blitz

Blitz would like to alert you to crimes in our neighborhood. He barked and chased them off but not before two men wearing coveralls in a large, marked vehicle stopped, stole our trash and drove away! They have the nerve to do this throughout the area and come back on a regular basis to repeat said crime. Blitz says thank you for allowing this public service announcement.

(Ummm…Blitz, we pay them to do this. We call them the trash men.)

Three Dogs

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals,

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Three dogs enjoying the balmy weather before the next cold wave. We have a  brief respite with temperatures in the 30’s before we plunge back down to zero tonight. These guys insisted that they must go out and enjoy it. From left to right are Blitz the foster dog, Baxter, and Shelby. They were watching me while I  hauled more wood to the house. Note that the dog house is not there because the dogs spend lots of time  outside and need shelter. It was left here by a previous owner and our guys like to use it for extra shade sometimes in the summer.

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This is Blitz keeping an eye on me.

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And Shelby supervising me. She usually goes with me to get the wood so is not happy to be behind the fence. She doesn’t know what I might do if left to my own devices.

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And Baxter wants to know why I  don’t throw the Frisbee instead of trudging back and forth with pieces of wood.

The other three dogs stayed in the house.  I imagine Phoebe the greyhound thought she might get her sweater dirty, Nikki, the petite sheltie, does not like dogs ( we don’t tell her that she is a dog ), and Roxanne the 15 year old sheltie is waiting for spring.

So the three dogs pictured above were my audience as I did my outside chores. I wouldn’t want to do it without them. They are good company.

Lessons from Dog Rescue

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, ,

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This is our current  foster sheltie named Blitz. He came into our rescue as an owner turn-in. He is only 5 years old and had been with his owners since puppy hood. Usually it doesn’t sit well with me when someone turns over their dog. Sometimes there is a case where I understand and this was one such case. Blitz was intensely loved. I  felt very bad for the poor lady that had to turn him in. It was very hard for her.  The story is one that I have, sadly, heard too many times recently. It was an older woman and her husband had passed away so she had to sell her home to move closer to her children. Blitz was use to having many country acres to patrol and watch over. To be fair,  the nice lady did take Blitz with her to her new condo and tried  to make it work. But this winter has been so cold and icy. Blitz had already pulled her down three times and there is much more winter weather to go. The chance that the lady could have been badly hurt was just too great. But boy was he loved.

20150226_175153 These are all of Blitz ‘ s belongings that came with him. There is  a large fleece dog bed, a buckle collar, a choker collar, a retractable lead, and a whole host of toys. Also a box of biscuits and a large bag of dog food.  Notice that the bears do not have ears. They don’t have tails either. Apparently Blitz likes his toys!20150226_175416He also came with this picture of his mother, and his litter mate and himself at one day old. Blitz is the tiny brown one near the mother’s foot. And if that doesn’t convince you that he was loved, he was also sent to me with his baby teeth. They were lovingly kept and labeled.

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My point is that we (I) should remember not to judge too quickly or harshly. Sometimes people must do things that they don’t want to do. There but for the grace of God go I, and all that type of thing. I will try to honor this owner’s love by loving Blitz, taking care of him to the best of my abilities, and finding him his next loving home.

The Blessing of Roxanne

Dogs & Other Animals

FB_IMG_1424661520063 Happy , happy day . Received the best possible gift today. We were pretty sure we were going to lose 15 year old Roxanne. She became quite ill and seemed to be failing. She had two seizures last week and potty issues and was  refusing food. We set up a crate with the top off in the  living room so she could be close without us cleaning up so many  messes. She did still  continue to get up for water and to go outside. She went so many days without food that I got lunch meat and gave it to her like pills. I  have been expecting the worst for more than a week. Yesterday she ate some rigatoni that she begged for and some dog treats at bedtime. Today she ate all her dry dog food on her own and wanted more at both meals. Also begged from our plates and seems like her old self. I  never thought I would shed tears  because a dog ate dry kibble!  She is also getting up to bark when we go outside or it is time to eat. The sound that we previously found annoying and a nuisance is now beautiful music to our ears.  Oh glorious day! Looks like we will have Roxanne to enjoy for a while longer. 

The Kitchen Challenge

Cooking, Dogs & Other Animals,

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Cooking has its extra challenges around here. Most people just go into the kitchen and cook. Not us. Cooking in our home involves a multi-species audience. Our animals are eternal optimists. They are certain that we will share with them or at the very least that some morsel of food will fall. They are rarely disappointed.

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Even the cats insist on getting their fair share. Above, Lacey waits her turn as Baxter eats his treat. Our animals will eat nearly anything. The cats usually prefer meat or cheese but sometimes will have bread or squash.  The dogs will try anything we give them. Having this many bodies in the kitchen does make for some rather acrobatic moves as we try to maneuver from counter to stove to refrigerator and back.

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Shelby is a very intense beggar. She takes it seriously and sees begging as a job.

At this point in my life I would find cooking alone without these challenges to be boring and lifeless. I love my life as it is with all my furry family members and the challenges and the joys that they bring.

Girls like to be Pretty

Dogs & Other Animals, Thoughts On Life,

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Phoebe is no different than any other girl. She likes to feel pretty. She loves her necklaces and sweaters. For Valentine’s Day she got a new necklace. (One dollar at Walmart. ) I held it up and she hurried over and stood in front of me so that I could put it on her. She also loves her sweaters. She waits for you to put those on her too. I don’t think it’s so much what she is wearing as the fact that she gets loads of attention when she is wearing it.

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That’s ok, it’s as much fun for us as it is for her!

Nikki’s Visit

Dogs & Other Animals, ,

Nikki in car

Nikki is a small, timid sheltie. I have to admit that she’s not particularly bright either, not for a sheltie. She is remarkably cute.  And I’m learning that she does have priceless gifts.

I take Nikki with me to visit at a nursing home/assisted living facility. I started taking her because, being so small, she is easy for me to hold so that people in wheel chairs can pet her. I didn’t think she ever really liked it. She would just be still and tolerant while people petted her. Apparently I was wrong, she does like it. This week I took Nikki visiting and when we got there no one was in the lobby to visit with us. They didn’t get the message that we were coming and forgot to post the sign for people to gather. I know some folks look forward to our visits so I sought them out. One gentleman, Larry, visits with us every time. He never misses. So we found his room, knocked on the door, and entered at his request. He was indeed happy to see us. I put Nikki on his bed and she sat for petting as usual. Larry paused in his petting to talk to me. Nikki sidled closer to lean on him and get more petting. She was really enjoying it. She leaned into Larry even more and got the biggest grin on her face. And then Larry got the biggest grin on his face. It was such a “feel good” moment that it will last me for a long time.

This is the miracle of a therapy dog.