Category Archives: Thoughts On Life

Apathy Warrior

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, Thoughts On Life, ,

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I decided to title this piece Apathy Warrior but it could just as easily be titled Having a Melt Down. It’s a fine line. I suppose one leads to the other. This is my journey.

Above you see Sassy and me. Sassy, affectionately referred to as Miss Sassy Pants, sometimes as Miss Bossy Pants. I love this little girl. She is filled with spunk and character, the likes of which you won’t often see. She is one of our sheltie rescue dogs that got returned last week. I thought her new home was a great fit. But apparently not good enough. Due to a behavioral incident she was returned. I find it suspicious that her “family” is now going to be doing long term travelling. That is neither here nor there. The policy of our rescue, as is the policy of most rescues, is that no matter the circumstance, we take our dogs back. So back she came.

As it worked out, she needed to go to another home for fostering, rather than ours. In the photo I am waiting to turn Sassy over to her new foster parents. She figured out she was going somewhere else and cried during the drive to the transfer spot. Hence I cried during the drive to the transfer spot. Once I turned the car off to wait for the other person, Sassy became nearly hysterical. She cranked up the crying and bit the seat a couple times to displace her hysteria. I pulled her onto my lap to wait and you can see she is anxiously looking out the car window.  Now be aware that the foster home she is going to is a wonderful place. The couple is loving and two of the finest people I know. I am proud to call them friends. But still. This is one of my babies. Every dog that comes through our rescue is one of my own. I deal with their adoptions by pretending that they are still my dogs and are just going to stay somewhere else. That someone else is just keeping them for me. And that really is the case. You never stop loving them. How fortunate I am to have such a large family!

Sassy

When it was time to move Sassy to the other car, she shut down. She knew she was getting ditched again. I bent over the seat to say good bye to her and she was non-reactive. She looked straight ahead, wouldn’t make eye contact with me, and didn’t move. This was her way of dealing. So I just left. I thought it was easier  for her in the long run rather than me making a fuss. Thank goodness she was going to stay in loving, caring place. But she is still my little girl.

And as I drove away, that’s when the tears turned into meltdown. How could I live in such a world where there are dogs without homes and people don’t want them? And the ones that come into rescues and shelters are the lucky ones. There are so many more that are nameless and unrecognized and suffering out in the world. I am really not cut out to live in this place my mind said. A world where people kill even each other, that is filled with hate and violence and unrest. We should have compassion for each other and not do each other harm and intentionally cause pain. If we can’t do this for our fellow humans, what chance do God’s poor creatures have? And then I saw the road kill. First, a dead rabbit on the road. A few miles later a dead opossum. I have noticed road kill abounds in the spring when the animals start moving about. No one can have a meltdown like a rescue worker in the throes of emotion. Our very way of life, driving automobiles, causes death I thought.

As I got nearer to home I told myself you really need to get a grip. This is not good. You are not functioning well. You can wallow in this or you can do something about it. So I pondered, what can I do about this situation? How can I make it better? How can I be an instrument of change? Well, I knew that I was making a difference for these dogs. One of Sassy’s new foster parents said that at least she got returned to us and didn’t end up in a shelter out West where we would have had no idea what happened to her. See, I told you these were good folks! I can save the next one, and the next one, and…

By deciding to do something, anything, I became an Apathy Warrior. I will not tolerate the way things are. I will take action to try to make the world a better place. For these dogs, and for those people I encounter as I go on my life’s journey. When my daughter was in high school and working at a fast food drive-thru I told her, you never know if you might change someone’s entire day by smiling at them. A kind word or gesture could change the course of their day. I am fortunate to have a daughter that actually listens to me and repeated that phrase back a few years later. And so I issue this challenge to you. Will you also become an Apathy Warrior? We can have an Apathy Army and we just might change the world.

Sassy in a Sunbeam

Early Mornings

Thoughts On Life, ,

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This is the time I arrive at work in the mornings now. That is a.m. as you can probably tell because it is very dark. We were given the option of working 4 x 10 hour days. The catch is we must start at 5:30 a.m. if we want to do it. We are fortunate to get a 30 day trial first to see if we like it before committing to the new schedule.

I am surprised to say that I love it. I get up at 4:30 a.m. and as before my schedule involves mostly me taking care of the animals and a few minutes getting myself ready. Then I go outside into the dark. And surprisingly, the magic begins. First I see the stars. And then in the peaceful solitude I begin to hear the birds. As I get in the car and drive down the road, the peace continues. I am one of only a handful of cars that is on the road. No more cursing the school bus that pulled out in front of me or the driver that thinks he should go 20 mph below the posted speed limit. And I can still hear the birds. Not many other morning noises to mask them at this hour. I am alone with my thoughts. I find joy in this. I no longer turn the radio on in the morning. I am free to ponder life’s challenges and figure out ways to save the world. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Coffee

As it is so early, this is how much coffee I take with me to work now. But hey, I need some caffeine for energy if I am going to save the world! Maybe I’ll just start off with a less lofty goal and change the world. I’ll have to work my way up to saving it.

Pack Walk

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals, Thoughts On Life,

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The day was so beautiful yesterday that we had to go for a walk. The temperature was perfect and the sun was shining. We went to a dedicated walking and biking path near our house. Phoebe, Baxter, and Shelby are so good that they get to walk off lead. Unless a bicycle or other people with dogs come along, then we leash them back up, lest the others become afraid. This is Shelby ‘ s first year of being reliable off lead and she is quite proud, as am I.

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Nikki does walk on lead. She is so skittish that she needs the security of the leash. Even though she is small, she is fast and I wouldn’t want to try to catch her. I  just slip the leash through one of my belt loops and that is enough to keep her with us. Alas, poor Roxanne stays home. She is now only able to walk across the house and that takes a while.

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So this was our view as we walked. It’s a spillway and reservoir that was constructed during WW II. Often I think of all the houses that must be under the water. The land was previously farms until the land was used for this purpose. But soon I am back to watching the dogs and appreciating how much fun we all have on the  pack walk.

A Sanctuary Acres Weekend

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals, Gardens, Thoughts On Life, , , , ,

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I spent a couple of hours cleaning out the rose bed this afternoon. I foolishly thought I could get it all done in that amount of time. So far I have spent twice that working on it. One more session should finish it up. Unless you count the bulbs I want to plant next to the roses. I also have numerous punctures and scratches covering my arms that make it look like we have a kitten. These are from encounters while trimming the roses bushes, and they won. Oh well, by summer time I will have glorious pictures of flowers to show you.

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 After working outside I took a walk through the woods. Beautiful daffodils are in bloom. We did not plant them. Someone who came before put them there and we are reaping the benefits.

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And I came upon this cross section of log that I thought was intriguing to look at. All the rings bespeak of years of life and make me ponder what happened on this property in the years before we came here.

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I stumbled upon this fallen nest. The high winds we have had must have knocked it down. It is early enough in the year that it is probably a nest from last year. Of course it has copious amounts of dog fur woven into it. How soft and warm for the hatchlings.

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And what first got me out in the woods today. The ground was finally thawed out enough to bury my Romeo Kitten. His grave is marked with the cross and unmarked stone. Soon it will have his name engraved on it. Beside him is dear Trevor whose stone already bears his name.

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More daffodils on the way back to the house. They look so happy with their sunny faces saying “look, we survived, spring is here”.

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And to complete an enjoyable weekend, hanging out with the family. Baxter puppers and Lacey cat shown, snuggling on the couch. And once again, life is good!

It’s Not Always Black and White

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, Thoughts On Life, , , ,
Shetland Sheepdogs Gracie and Zoey
Shelties, Gracie and Zoey

This is a blog post that I first published in 2015, and am sharing again in the hopes that you will enjoy the dogs’ stories as much as I do! Some of them have since gone to the Rainbow Bridge, but all went to loving homes.

One of the things I sometimes hear about animal rescue work is “Why don’t you spend your time helping people?” This irritates me for a number of reasons.

Reason number one is because animals are God’s creatures. The God I know wants us to be kind to every living thing. Animals are God’s creation just as we are. Do you really think that God will think it is ok if we let animals suffer when we could have helped? I think not. I realize that not everyone is capable of dealing with the things I encounter in dog rescue. But I am capable and it is my passion so I should do the work.

Reason number two for me is, helping animals is not mutually exclusive to helping people. Doing one does not take away from the other. Helping humans, and animals, can coexist. Just because there are people who need help does not mean it is ok for harm to come to animals until all humans are safe.

And lastly, (for this post anyway!), if you think that I don’t help people while doing dog rescue work then you really don’t understand what I do. I have a few stories to illustrate this point.

Pictured above are Gracie and Zoey. Their owner had terminal cancer. He knew he was not long for this world but he stayed at home as long as he could for his girls, Gracie and Zoey. He didn’t want anything bad to happen to them. But eventually he became too ill. He had to drop his girls off at a local shelter on his way to hospice. He was an older gentleman and didn’t know about breed rescues. He was so sick by this time that he had to sit down and rest on his way into the shelter. I’m sure it broke his heart to leave them there. A couple of nice ladies that volunteer at the shelter saw that the girls were not doing very well in the shelter environment as most shelties don’t. They tend to shut down in this setting. The ladies took Gracie and Zoey home with them for a few day and then set about finding a rescue because, of course, there would be more who needed them. This is how these two shelties came into Northeast Ohio Shetland Sheepdog Rescue and specifically came to be fostered at my house. Their owner wanted them to be adopted together and that is what I agreed to do. I knew this poor man must being worrying about his dogs all the time and did not want this to weigh on his mind during his final days. I called the shelter and got the man’s phone number so that I could try to call and let him know that his girls were ok. That I would make sure that they got a good home. The man was not at home but I left a message on an answering machine with the hope that a relative or friend would stop by and hear the message to let him know his dogs were ok. I don’t know if that ever happened but I desperately hope so. By the way, after spending a few months at our house, Gracie and Zoey (now Selah) did get adopted together to a wonderful new home where they are dearly loved.

Shetland Sheepdog Princess
Shetland Sheepdog, Princess

And here is Princess. She is a wonderful girl that I would have loved to keep. She played so beautifully with our own dogs. Her owners have a story too. They also loved Princess dearly. Her owners had to separate and live in different house holds even though they didn’t want to for reasons I won’t disclose. Neither was able to get housing that would enable them to keep her. Luckily they did learn about breed rescue and were able to drop her off at my house. They cried and I cried with them. I listened to their tale and sympathized and hopefully made them feel just a little bit better. They had fallen on hard times and saw this as their last option. I was blessed to have Princess in my life for the time we fostered her and to find owners that loved her.

Sheltie, Blitze
Sheltie, Blitz

And then there was Blitz. He also came from a loving home. The husband of the couple passed away and the wife had to move to be closer to her children. She did try to keep Blitz. She brought him to her new condo but the ice of winter was too severe. She was an older lady and while taking Blitz out for potty breaks, fell on the ice three times.  Blitz is a good dog. The weather conditions were just too harsh for the owner to safely care for him. The lady loved him very much. He arrived at our house with a large bag of dog food, an entire garbage bag of toys, his bed, vet records and a card with his baby teeth taped to it. This boy had a good life. I went to pick him up and the lady cried. Her family was present to support her. I stayed for an hour and talked with them to ease yet another loss. I told them how we care for the dogs and take them in as a part of our family until their forever family comes along. I told the owner she could call me to check on his progress and she did. I told her how he plays with our dogs and has fun. I called to let her know when he got his permanent home and it eased her mind and the guilt she felt. Blitz on the Job, Even at his Foster Home

So, tell me again how I should be helping people and not animals. I hope at the end of the day that I have helped all living things that have crossed my path and left the world to be a slightly better place.

A Sunday Walk

Dogs & Other Animals, Thoughts On Life, ,

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We like to walk dogs at a local cemetery. It is an old cemetery and some of the stones are beautiful pieces of art work. It is a rather large place too. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times we go there, I always see something that I never noticed before. I always learn something too. From the surnames on some of the stones, I learn how some of the streets and roads in the area were named. I notice that some first names seem unusual and have gone out of fashion. From seeing the different types of monuments you call tell what medium holds up the best and what was in fashion at the time. There is zinc, marble, and granite. Some are plain, others are ornate, big, small, with urns, human likenesses, floral carvings, or symbols.

You can also tell how some of the people likely passed from the period of time. Lots of folks have dates on their stones from the time of World War I and World War II and also from the time of the great flu epidemic early in the 1900’s. Also lots of infants and young children have grave stones from times when growing to adulthood was not so certain.

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The dogs are just happy to go for walks.  They don’t care where. Blitz and Shelby are pictured. Since this cemetery is large, paved, and picturesque, many people exercise here. There are other dog walkers like me, and lone walkers and joggers too, with sometimes occasional picnickers thrown in. Once in a while I encounter someone I know who is also walking. It is an especially nice place to be in the spring and early summer months. The old plantings of trees, shrubs, and flowers are beautiful.

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I think it is rather nice to take a place that was set aside for the dearly (or some not so dearly) departed and infuse a bit of life into it. I know it would make me happy to know that the final resting place of my earthly body was a place that brought joy to children, dogs, and other fellow humans.

Team Work

Dogs & Other Animals, Thoughts On Life, ,

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This is the sight I came downstairs to this morning. They are hunting. Something is obviously behind the baseboard heater cover. Most likely it is a mouse. I have been seeing evidence. Mortimer and Harley didn’t even leave their post when three of the dogs came in to see what was going on. On my way out I shut the door so all the drama and carnage would be contained.

Mortimer, aka Morty, is on the left. He is about 4 years old. On the right, in the shadows, is Harley. He is about 13 or 14 years old. These two cats are not related, both are male, and they vary greatly in age but Harley taught Morty to hunt. They both live in the house but as our house was built in 1830 there is often prey to be had. Harley has always been an excellent mouser although he is not limited to mice. He will also catch moles and baby squirrels. He taught Morty how to hunt when Morty was still young. Around a year old. They often work in tandem. Now after they make a catch Harley will usually let Morty have the prey after he has chewed on it a few times. I ponder over their relationship because none of our other cats would willingly hunt together. Hunting amongst the other cats usually involved much growling and hissing as they tried to defend their prize and would run away with it to keep it safe.

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We explain this by saying that Harley is Morty’s honorary uncle. In reality I have no idea why they work so well together. I can’t help but feel that if I could figure it out, I would have some insight as to how we could all get along better in the world.

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Stockpiling

Country Life, Thoughts On Life, , ,

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Having a stockpile of things that you need is a good feeling. You can never have too much dog food, dog treats , or cat litter. In fact I am never able to keep a stash of cat litter. We seem to go through it like water. There is a certain comfort to knowing you have enough supplies. I imagine the pioneers and how good they must have felt looking at their larders and fuel supplies as they were heading into winter. Of course it is vastly different for us. If we run out of something, we can just by more.

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We spent a portion of Monday splitting wood and now have a full wood box. This means we will have heat until this long winter is over. We have fuel oil heat too but the tank is running low and we don’t want to have more delivered this late in the season. Burning wood will stretch out how long it will last.

Having these reserves is very comforting. Kind of like a squirrel hoarding his stash of nuts.

Saturday Mornings

Dogs & Other Animals, Thoughts On Life, , ,

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Saturday Mornings are a treat that doesn’t come often enough to suit me.  I don’t usually get to see animals in their sun worshipping poses. On weekdays I am gone before the sun is up enough to cast much of  a shadow. By the time I come home from work the sun is usually too far behind the trees to make a  sunbeam suitable for lazing in the house . I think we can learn something from the animals about meditation and relaxation.

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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