Baxter had his first visit to the nursing home last night. It went well. Of course it did, this is Baxter we’re talking about. Our friends who normally visit with us weren’t able to come so I thought it might be a good time to introduce Baxter. The folks we visit have heard all about him so I thought they might like to meet him. He was a hit. Our friend Bob said that’s my kind of dog.
Of course Shelby was a hit too. She’s the most reliable of my dogs on a visit. Always happy to work and spend time with mommy.
And the ever popular Nikki is a crowd favorite. She’s so cute that sometimes I liken her to a stuffed toy.
This is the face of a dog that just tried to pick up the TV remote.
This is particularly funny because our last greyhound ate two TV remotes in her early days. This resulted in dog piles with numbers sticking out of them.
We have been fortunate that our dogs always seem to have the constitution of goats. Putting remotes up now.
Cassius was fascinated by the cat running through the living room this morning. He never touched the cat and I was there in seconds. He seemed surprised. “Oh, you want to chase the cat too? What? Oh, I’m not supposed to chase the cat? You guys are weird.”
So on went the muzzle until he was suitably calm. We had one more time where he got up from his bed to look at a cat. I told him no and said “no cats”. He looked at me in puzzlement and laid back down. There were several more instances where he looked at the cats as they went through the room. I calmly told him no cats and as he continued laying on the bed told him “good no cats”. He still thinks I’m weird but I could see the process of working things out in his head. I’m glad I the day off from work so we can start dealing with these things now.
Never fear. Cassius will not be unsupervised with cats anytime soon. If we must step outside or go in the basement he will wear a muzzle if no one else is home. And he will definitely be crated when we go away for the forsee able future.
New dog is here! It has been 4 1/2 years since we’ve had a new dog. That’s a long time for us.
His call name at the track was Tomm. That is my ex husband’s name so we’ve been working on a different one. So far the one that seems to stick is Cassius, with a nickname of Cash. A Roman name for a boy with a Roman nose. We are starting by calling him Tomm Cash so we can get his attention. Soon we will drop the Tomm.
Cash is a retired racer that we adopted from Greyhound Adoption of Ohio. They have a website if you are interested in one of their wonderful dogs. There are also other groups across the country dedicated to saving these dogs. Cash was apparently fast. He ran many races and was at the track for quite a while as he will be 4 years old early next month.
We brought him home yesterday. He is doing great with our other dogs and fine with our 4 cats as well. He is our fourth greyhound but the only one currently. Our other dogs are a doberman/black lab mix and the 3 shelties, one of which is a foster dog. We are also watching another sheltie this week, while her family is away.
Cash is totally clueless about life in a home, having lived at the track his whole life. I have never had a dog that seems so totally puzzled with the boundaries of life with a family. I’m sure this will make great fodder for future posts. Right now he is learning about what is not acceptable in regards to procuring food. His current attitude seems to be, “Oh, you have food? I also like food. I think I will have some.” It does not occur to him that food on your plate, or kitchen counter, might not be meant for him. And when you tell him no, he seems to be thoroughly confused by this concept. Stairs also confound him, which I understand is common for racing greyhounds. We only have 4 steps to go in and out so this is manageable.
But I must say, we are loving having this big dog as a part of our family. More tales to come!
Life changes no matter what. There are ups and there are downs always. Hang in there the bad times are temporary. Cherish the good times because they are not guaranteed.
I have survived some hard times in recent months. The death of three very close friends and the death of our beloved greyhound along with other life turmoils.
Now come the good times. Things are definitely looking good. A recent promotion at work, a new greyhound arriving next week, and a long holiday weekend with lots of time to spend with family.
This is the face of a confident dog. You would think that’s a good thing. And most of the time it is. I can take her anywhere. Shelby is good at dog events with hundreds of people present. Shelby is very good at her job visiting a local nursing home. She is good around new dogs because she is confident enough not to be afraid. She is also pretty obedient so she is easy to take places.
Shelby, exuding confidence
But sometimes her confidence crosses the line a little. She thinks she knows how the world should be. Such as on Monday mornings when I head out the door for the start of the work week. Shelby gives me the stink eye. She glares a dirty look at me for leaving the pack again. Maybe she does know how the world should be. It would be great to stay home.
Shelby also gets upset at heavy rains and thunderstorms. Not like any normal dog though. She is not afraid. She gets angry and barks at thunder and high winds to tell them off. I suspect she thinks that she is in control because the bad weather does go away after she voices her opinion for long enough. Sometimes we put her in her crate during bad weather so we can have some peace and quiet. This makes Shelby indignant because she can not do her job.
What a blessing to have a dog like Shelby with so much personality. Bossy dogs rule!
My daughter, that I dearly love spending time with, and me.
I have been spending some time in contemplation lately. What is really important in life? Making the world a better place and improving the conditions of living things certainly is up there. That goes without saying.
I have begun to realize though that making time to spend with those you love is much more important than I have given it credit for in the past. We go about our busy daily lives. There is always more to do. We tend to take our loved ones for granted. I’ll spend time with them next week. I’ll make the trip to see my dear friend next month. Often, when next week or next month arrives, we say, ok I’ll really go see them next week or month. And so on. We think that we will always have another opportunity to see them. This may not be true.
Making memories with my grandchildren at Lake Erie
This fact has been becoming more plain to me and the point was really driven home last night. I went to calling hours for a friend’s daughter. The daughter was only 30 years old and succumbed to a short term battle with breast cancer. The funeral home was full of people who were stunned that this young, beautiful, successful lady was taken from them with so little warning. The father said to me, take the time to make those memories. It is important to spend time together, be there for each other, and spend time making the fun and meaningful memories too. Then we will have something to cherish and hold near to our hearts.
Spending time showing my niece how to train Nikki
I have lost a number of people who where close to me in the last year. There is not one of them that I don’t wish I had spent more time with. I have learned. In the future I will try more often to spend time with people. I may not have the chance again.
This is our foster dog Kammie. She is 8 years old and has been with us about 4 months now. She came from a large city kennel in our area to our sheltie rescue. Her owner died and she was taken to the kennel. Shelties generally do not kennel well because most of them are too sensitive. Kammie went to one of the kennel’s foster homes so she could get out of that environment. With the stress of being there she had developed a green nasal discharge that she was being treated for as possible kennel cough. From the report I received, it sounded as if she did well in the foster home. She got along with another dog and a child. She was not eating well but I didn’t consider this to be much of a problem. The kennel noted her weight upon arrival at 59 lbs. She was down to 53 lbs. when I got her. I estimate her ideal weight should be 35 lbs.
I actually have a potential home in mind for her. Kammie would be perfect for one of our previous adopters that is ready for another dog. She has had a string of annoying small things that keep going wrong with her that have prevented me from calling about her new home.
First she still had green discharge from her nose. I gave antibiotics for that. We are working on getting her thyroid hormone levels under control. They were too low which explains a few things. She gets pills twice a day for that. She has already lost a few more pounds so that is going well. Her blood work also showed problems with her liver. We ran it again a couple weeks later and it was better after her various treatments and time to de-stress. Her blood work also showed abnormal kidney function. We discovered a urinary infection and got more antibiotics. They didn’t work so we did a culture and got different antibiotics. Thank goodness for my pill shooter gun.Things seem to be improving.
Soon we will retest the thyroid levels and check for kidney function again. The vet said it is possible that these kidney numbers are just normal for her. Then…if all goes well she can get a dental and have a benign cyst removed. And once she heals up… then she will be ready for her new home.
Luckily, Kammie is an easy dog. She barks a little but aside from that she mostly just lays around. She comes up to us for petting but if we don’t oblige, she just goes and finds a quiet corner. She does like to spend time outside with the other dogs. I am glad to have the pleasure of being a part of her life.
I had the most wonderful experience this past weekend at a post funeral dinner. The funeral was for my one time mother-in-law (MIL), and forever mom and friend. The service was beautifully orchestrated by the aforementioned MIL. It was a fine send off, with some tears, and a whole lot of celebration of her life. And there was a lot to celebrate.
Afterwards, there was “the Luncheon”. This was a somewhat uncertain event for me because it would be the first encounter with my ex-husband since our divorce some 17 years previously. And calculating out just how long it had actually been, makes me wonder why I gave it any credence at all. That is one heck of a long time!
I have remained family and friends with the ex-husband’s relatives over these many years. They continued to play an important part in my life, even becoming friends with my new husband. This was as it should be. I got divorced from one person, not a family.
There were some minor concerns in my mind about how the whole day would go. I didn’t know how my reception would from my ex and his current wife. Over the years I had thought there were some negative thoughts and impressions of me, and no doubt at some point there were. That would be natural and expected.
However, at “the Luncheon” my ex’s wife approached me with something to say. And what she had to say was this, which I will paraphrase. “Thank you for coming. It was very kind of you to come. Insert MIL’s name, loved you and she would be happy that you are here.” There were a few other pleasantries of a similar nature passed back and forth but this was the crux of it.
I can’t think of a more kind, compassionate, heartfelt gesture she could have made. This was a true gift. I didn’t have to wonder any more how things would go. What a special person she has proven herself to be.
I take a lesson from this encounter. Be kind. Always. It makes the world a better place.
Me and my friend Becky in Bar Harbor, Maine, 1998.
The last year has been quite a time of change and loss for me. Last June my mother died. Two of my very close, dear friends died of cancer related illnesses, one in March and one in May of this year. In June we lost our beloved greyhound, Phoebe, to a traumatic injury as a result of cancer. And yesterday my one-time mother-in-law, and always mother, left this earth.
For a while I was feeling very mortal, not to mention old. I dare say I was somewhat depressed. This seems understandable considering the losses I have had to bear. Now I am reaching the point of being retrospective. I would not want any of my loved ones to continue to suffer their worldly pains and infirmities. Ok, maybe a selfish part of me wants that so I could still have them with me. But the other part of me knows that it is selfish and too much to ask. Sometimes love is letting go. At least for me.
And so it is time to reframe my outlook on life. It is time for the last pictures of me and them, taken during their end days, to come down and be replaced with pictures of us in the good times. Pictures of us living our lives and embodying the joy we shared. Pictures that embrace life! My friends and family were not their illnesses. I will honor them by remembering the love.
Family-my brother, me, and my then mother-in-law at Stan Hywett in 1998
The memories and love are but one part of the experience though. The rest is what I choose to do now. My loved ones are gone. I am not. It is still my time on this earth. Time to live by one of my favorite quotes, the author is unknown to me.
“I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do… or any kindness that I can show-let me do it now for I shall not pass this way again.”
It is my time to show perseverance, caring, helpfulness, occasional goofiness, and undying love. I shall take the parts that they have left me and use them to help pave the way for the rest of my life. The life that is still to come. They will go with me and continue to make a difference in the world. We are but a sum of our experiences and what we choose to do with them. And my friends, I choose to go on joyfully living, taking the bits of each I have known who have gone before me, with me. Onward!
Sanctuary Acres 