The right attitude!

I love this email we got from a wanna-be adopter, he has just the right attitude:

 

I have a question for you guys. Do you have a dog that can live up to the reputation of Nadia (our english pointer). Do you have a dog that can swim for 6 hours, pass out cold on the ride home, and after an hours sleep chase a laser pointer for an hour? Do you have a dog that can break into any garbage can? Do you have a dog that will steal my fish and eat just the head? Do you have a dog that will not leave your side. Even if you get up at two in the morning to get a glass of water? Do you have a dog that is content eating at least one tennis ball a day. (We have an endless supply from a tennis club. It also makes poop patrol easy for the kids.) Do you have a dog that if left at home will pee on your wife's pillow for spite. Do you have a dog that can climb fences, break out of a dog crate with NO damage, A little explanation on the last two. Nadia can jump or climb any fence. We just did not realize that she just wanted to lay on the front porch. We tried a dog crate for training. She just got out and again peed on my wife's pillow. My lab was a rescue from milwaukee. He had personality and we loved him. He passed of old age. We got Nadia when I volunteered and the Kenosha animal shelter (before kids). Nadia is hit or miss right now. Our vet specializes in flat coat pointers, but says Nadia is just aged and is having problems. She can still see a little and is hard of hearing. I have to carry her upstairs to bed. Speaking of beds I got my daughter a Dora the Explorer kids couch when she was 2. She did not like it. Nadia has slept on this same little Dora couch for the last 5 years. We take that damn thing everywhere. Do you have a dog that will dig up all of the neighbors drain tile in an attempt to kill a gopher? The next pooch we get has big shoes to follow. But as I said the kids are going to pick "The One."  Thanks

 

What this guy understands is, pointers are CHARACTERS....I WANT THIS ADOPTER! 

What is this world coming to?

This is what I woke up to this morning... sometimes I wonder why I bother?

Death Of Dog Sparks Call For Change - Milwaukee News Story - WISN Milwaukee

8:53PM, November 23, 2010 WITI-TV, MILWAUKEE —
A pit bull believed to be used in dog fighting was dumped in a Milwaukee park to die. Animal advocates want to find out who did this. It appears that someone tried to find this dog a loving home, but things went horribly wrong.

We want to immediately warn viewers some of the video you're about to see is graphic. A dog was eventually fished out of the lagoon behind me. It's believed she may have been in the 40 degree water at least an hour.

The noises of nature in Washington Park was eventually drowned out by an animal drowning on Friday. Willie Karidis of Milwaukee's Urban Ecology Center left the building and headed to the nearby lagoon. As the animal struggled for its life, Karidis noticed that struggle may have already spanned years.  Karidis tried to save the female pit bull, but her abuse was too great. The dog named Lucy had to be put down, a casualty of dog fighting.

Program Director of the Battle Against Dogfighting Jill Brown believes Lucy was used as a bait dog, essentially a chew toy for fighting dogs, then disposed of.

Lucy was micro chipped so animal control knows she was adopted from a shelter in Illinois by a woman who tried to find the dog a caring home online.

Brown believes an owner interested in dog fighting eventually took advantage of the ad. The advice is to anyone looking to give away a pet, do it through more protected channels like the Humane Society.

If you have any information call the anonymous tip line at 1-800-TIP-HSUS. A tip could be worth up to $5,000 for an arrest or conviction.
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What I want to know is, WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS WORLD? This dog came from a shelter, who microchipped the dog. I find "follow-up" in shelters to be pretty much non-existant. And really? How can it be? The sheer numbers alone... how can one really do any follow up at all? I go to bed at night wondering how many dogs (cats, critters) are being abused tonight, while my dogs are safe, warm, tucked in bed next to me. I worry what if one of my dogs escapes and lands in the wrong hands? I obsess about making sure they are attended to even in my own fenced yard! In this dog rescue business, I hear EVERYTHING. People love to share this shit. I don't really take time to wonder what the motive is, cuz anything beyond education, is just a waste. I believe it's all we see and do in rescue that set us up for Compassion Fatigue of Animal Care Work. And in my opinion, that is killer. Oh you can try to bury your head in the sand, pretend it doesn't happen, but fact is, it's probably happening in your very neighborhood, in one form or another. We could go thru the "what- ifs" all day long, but the bottom line is, if we know of this and do nothing, aren't we as much to blame? Indeed.... ponder on that for a while folks.

I think it's time we put our mouths where they belong... and start with JUSTICE FOR LUCY. Make the abuse stop, find the dog fighters and shut them down. Put an end to the madness. And do it now. Now I have to go puke. Because as often as I hear or see this, you never get hard to it. KNOW WHERE YOUR DOGS END UP PEOPLE. And that's all I have to say about that...

On a daily basis...

For some reason this year is the one...  an old boyfriend found me, perhaps that started it?  Then I got to thinking about others from way back, I have thought of often, but have not seen or heard from in years.  It made me wonder how they were doing?  Some I have found, others apparently don't want to be seen or heard.  It's not a big deal.  There is no ulterior motive for this.  I think it's perhaps closure?  Or perhaps finding myself, making amends with myself?  I did not wish to find any of these fine fellas to spark up a relationship, cuz afterall, as you well know, when you save dogs, you have no time to do that properly AND have a relationship. Not everyone feels about dogs like I do! When they start ordering me around on how to properly disapline my dogs, that's when I know, they are not the ones for me, and they get the boot.  Can anyone really be a part of my life anymore?  I think I'm STUCK.  Stuck in pain?  Stuck in dogs? Stuck in love?  Stuck, stuck, stuck?  Perhaps seeking out and being sought out is the key to helping me find that closure or the purpose behind all this so I can become UNSTUCK?  hmmmm, one thing I know for sure, I make time every day to love my dogs.  We roll around on the bed, we act silly and we love each other.  We dance, we run, we toss toys to play fetch, we do errands together, they never complain about what I want to watch on tv, or how fat I might be, or that I don't want to do something. They are glad I am around for them, but not nearly as glad as I am to have them in my life.  However long that may be, we take time to enjoy every day with each other, and I am grateful they chose to come to me.  If I never have a normal life again (whatever that is), I know I won't ever be lonely with a dog in my life.  We care for each other, no strings attached.  How can life get any better then that?

Decisions, decisions...

Boy oh boy, when I see those gorgeous eyes looking up at me, I want it!  Here we go again, decisions to be made. I just recieved an email in a round-a-bout-way about this 2 yr old female (and heaven knows we need females!) not doing well in a shelter way, WAY up north.  She does not have her tail docked, and her fur looks longer, like lab.  Is she purebred GSP?  Hmmm.  See WGSPR rescues purebred german shorthaired pointers from Wisconsin's shelters. We do not take mixes.  It's about what people want folks!  So, what to do about little missy?  Indeed what to do. A shelter will only hold a dog for "so long" and after that time, they very well may euthanize the dog.  Mainly it will be about lack of space, if the dog has passed temperament testing.  Our state has a 7-day stray hold period.  If the dog is owner surrender, there is no hold period. The shelter immediately takes ownership of the dog, and it can be rehomed, or disposed of immediately.  Most shelters in our state are pretty lax about that hold period, IF they have space and IF the dog has no temperament issues, and IF the dog is adoptable.  Others don't deal with the public and only deal with breed rescue.  Our state is pretty forgiving for animals needing new homes.  But it comes back to rescue.  Rescue never has enough space for all the dogs needing to be rehomed.  And once again, adoptability factors come into play.  This particular dog has a few good things going for her.  #1 she is female, #2 she is YOUNG female, #3 ok with kids, #4 ok with other dogs.  Unfortunately our adopters come to us for purebred shorthairs.  We can pretty much tell by looking at them if they come from good breeding, or if perhaps they are mix breed, or maybe not the best breeding.  Does it matter?  It does to us.  Because our wanna be adopters come to us for purebred dog.  Some will be very picky, about for instance that long tail this female carries.  OK, I think that's pretty riduculous...but they don't!  Some adopters have a color code in their head, what the dog can or cannot look like.  Some have a size factor, they want smaller dog, therefore they think females will be smaller.  Not always.  Some think they are calmer and sweeter, cuz they are female. HELLO?  Now you are jumping off the deep end.  Most females I have handled or owned are bitches...hence the proper name for a female.  So when we get pictures and sad sap stories about dogs needing our help, we have to look at the BIG PICTURE.  Because after all, our first priority are to purebred GSPs in WI shelters, but we also are responsible to our potential adopters and their needs and wants.  It's a business this dog rescue stuff.  So ya know what?  If I can find a foster home for this girl, tail and all, crummy breeding or not, I will!  Because, she has alot of things going for her in the adoptability categories, and I think it will work out to everyone's advantage to give her a chance.  There is no black and white in rescue. I wish there were, but doesn't work that way.  We have to weigh everything out and go from there.  I think Dusty's gonna get lucky.  And she deserves that.      

Runners, cont'd...

Yes indeedy folks, our jobs as volunteers, with a dog in our charge, means KEEP THEM SAFE.  And after bailing Louie from shelter, and all the trauma that inflicted on him, I kept him safe, cuz I had a repeat adopter wanting him rather he hunts or not!  Whoohoo!  So me and Louie took a ride to his new home Sat AM, complete with secure blaze orange buckle collar and id, pinch chain, check cord, and all his supplies he collected along his way to this very moment!  He SMILED prancing in his new house with his new family!  It was truely like he was back home again!  I was so happy!  But why oh why do adopters insist on putting their old dog's collar on the new dog?  Retire the old collar folks!  When Steve put Clark's old leather (with ID!) collar on Louie it was way too big, I even inspected it, and tightened it up to the last hole, and it was still too big. But Steve wanted to donate back supplies he really didn't need, so he put our collar with id and other items back in my hand and off I went.  I didn't hear from him until 630 this AM, my answering machine was going off with a breathless Steve telling me Louie slipped that collar and was gone, NAKED again (well cept for that unregistered microchip he secretly carries now).   He hadn't given him the slip for long, I told Steve perhaps we should give his local police heads up, and we discussed which shelter he would land in.  Then I didn't hear anything for 15 mins, so I called, and he said while he was kneeling down to talk to me, Louie came right to him!  So they were home having some bacon then.  And all the sudden I heard barking, he said he's guarding his food?  WHAT?  I said better go handle that then, and get a size 14" collar ASAP!  And I let him go.  I can't hold their hands forever...  Steve knows what to do.  And I'm here if he needs me.  Recall training 101 folks!  Never, EVER trust a new rescue dog to not give you the slip at least once, or perhaps more times.  My fear is if this one displays that kennel guarding thing if he gets apprehended again, and if they don't understand, and if WE don't get to him quickly, he could very well be euthanized just like I had thought about the other night when I picked him up.  Not everyone is as understanding.  This is no joke.

Breakdown

So I get outta work earlish, head straight to bail Louie out of shelter.  I take care of all the paperwork at front desk, pay in advance for a microchip too.  Then I wait.  Finally the girl comes back out and asks me to help with the dog, cuz they are having a hard time with him.  hmmmm.  I only met him once before, briefly, but what is the big deal?  Then they walk me back to their holding kennels, and the first thing I hear is non-stop, loud barking, and in kennel #2 is Louie, with "deer caught in headlights" look on his face, wild eyes, and he's guarding off the back area of his kennel, going from side to side, lunging if we try to enter.  Well, wth?  How will I get the slip noose leash on him to get him outta there, because I feel like he's just in shock?  So I crawled in, got down in a submissive pose, but there was no way, his eyes were wild, you couldn't talk to him over the barking, it was a waste of time.  So I crawled out, asked the lady to go get a catch pole, we had to quickly remove him, get him somewhere quiet to calm down.  So she did.  He went super crazy then, it was a bad scene.  But that didn't work. She would not allow me to just leave the cage door open, let him come out on his own...so we got another helper in there with the longer catch pole and she finally got him, and we moved him to another room, where it took a good 10-15 mins for him to calm down, so we could approach him to get the catch pole off, and my slip noose lead on. Now, we gotta microchip him, and I told the guy you muzzle him, so no one gets hurt.  He wondered if the dog isn't a "cage fighter" (where the dog guards his kennel or crate, sometimes viscously), so they made me leave and brought him out to me microchipped, and I loaded him up, we headed home.  Once I got him home, he was fine with my dogs, did not attempt to jump my fence, did crap in my living room once, ate supper fine, loves treats, is a furniture dog, is a counter surfer, slept on the couch thru the night, at some point crapped again in the house.  URGH.  I hate dogs sometimes.  But the poor thing!  I found out he was apprehended by a neighbor of my foster, very close to her house immediately, and given a ride to the holding tank, where he spent almost 24 hours till got there. He had that same blue collar on him with NO RESCUE ID.  URGH!  Louie got really lucky that I had a little bit of faith in him, and chanced it, because I seriously considered euthanizing him, with the behavior I saw. But outside of that environment he is fine.  Most shorthairs do not fair well in a shelter system, and while this is not exactly classic, it's fairly normal.  Shorthairs belong with their families.  And Louie is meeting a potential family tomorrow.  I hope it goes well for him.         

Runners

Got slobber?

Nothing more then I hate, but a runner.  It's the first speech I give wanna be volunteers and adopters. This dog will run.  Don't blink...don't help them by setting them up for a run, cuz a pointer will take any opportunity to go for it!  Which is exacly how last night went.  Louie is sitting in a foster home, the foster pulls in her drive way, opens garage door and dogs come running out?  Course, her dog comes right back, but not ours.  And he's gone.  I'm sure she spent 1/2 the night looking in pitch black for him to no avail.  And I keep asking does he have our blaze orange id tagged collar on? First I hear yes, thinking OK, he's got ID on, all he has to do is go to someone. Then this AM when he's still not back, I ask again, and this time was told the collar didn't fit him right, so tags were switched to his original blue collar? (And infact, look at the photo of him here, do you see ANY tags hanging off that collar?  I sure don't, hmmm)  But when am I not getting any phone calls, if the tag is on the dog?  There's only one reason...and that is the dog hasn't "given it up" yet.  Which is really odd.  So I asked yet a third time, find out our ID is not on the dog at all, well then how the hell will someone know to call me?  They won't.  So I moved into immediate action, calling his former vet, to get faxed his rabies certificate...and I got that, then we discover the dog IS sitting in our local dog pound.  So I call to fax them vaccination info, and claim  the dog as rescues...and I'm told there will be bail!  Hello?  That will be $85- please.  Ridiculous!  Do you know how many dogs we pull from that shelter a year? And they can't waive that fee?   Hmmm, I think we maybe not help them so fast in the future...or maybe charge them for us to take a dog?  We are not made of money you know.  URGH.  So then the foster home doesn't want him back, because he clawed her kitchen door (I'm told, and have no doubts about), why wasn't he crated?  Secondly, cuz she says "I don't need this right now".  hmmmm. Do I look like I gotta brand on my forehead that says I should drop everything cuz I DO?  But it comes back to this....RESPONSIBILITY.  I take the responsiblity, cuz no one else will.   And there is reason number one, why I no longer have a normal life.  My life revolves around dogs.  So you know where I will be tonight, making sure Louie doesn't jump my fence and take off, or it will be another $85-  I think I introduce him to Mr. Electric Training Collar first thing. tehe.

DO-SI-DO

Congrats Hunter, you deserve the BEST!

So my life in rescue goes like this...  yesterday a volunteer sends me a very cryptic text saying "when can you pick up Stuart?"  Big surprise to me, I text back "why".  Two days, no response. I send an email, asking what's up, cuz it's all news to me, and since this volunteer has not contacted me for like over three weeks, I have to assume things are fine with the dog, cuz if they weren't I'd most certainly know it...  anyhow, ok, so I got that dog to move, for whatever reason, and he's like in the most remote corner of the state there is to me...  Then I have a WI shelter contacting me kindly to help Bo, and I WANT TO, but where the heck will I go with him?  And I have another volunteer who will be out of town, and needs a place to stash Louie, and ya know, if that's not enough on a girl's brain, well, I dunno...it's no wonder I don't have a life ya know?  So here's how it all plays out, kinda like a  little  DO-SI-DO (if you ever square danced?) the dance move means: Partners, or those designated by Caller, face. Walk around each other passing right and then left shoulders back to own position.  To me, meaning you pass each other up, but you end up back where you belong.  Hmmm, very much like DOG RESCUE.  Or the dynamics of where to put who, and always paying attention to whose where, who has whom and all that goes with rescue sorta drama.  So tonight in a matter of an hour, my partner and I figure out we can let A find us for Stuart, we can save B/Bo easily by stashing him with Chris in Bay City, and we can swap C/Louie between us easily, as my gutt feeling is, based on adoption applications lately, he will be next to find home.  And there you go, we are now at HONOR - Partners, or those designated by Caller, face- Ladies Curtsy, Gents Bow.  Face-to-face, problem solved, a couple of small things left, but no biggie... it's all lining up to save another dog.  And with one finding his home this Friday (Hunter) helps open up the space to ultimately make that next GREAT SAVE (Bo)...just like that.  PROMENADE - Partners!  Ha!  Now I drink some merlot.  Night!

Adoptability Factors

Whenever we pull a dog from a shelter, our first thoughts are all about "adoptability factors".  Will this dog be adoptable?  Of course, there might be many "categories" to this thinking... if the dog is adoptable, is it just to one target audience? Or is the dog completely sound, and adoptable to ALL crowds?  Because we think each dog has it's own characteristics, we try to see the bigger picture for that dog's future!  Most shelters have some sort of temperament testing, before they even contact us, or put that dog on "the floor" for adoption.  I trust that shelter to tell me if their testing proves the dog is sound enough for adoption to the general public.  If the dog is a biter, or abused beyond help, it's best to listen to the tester, and not bother to question the outcome.  I've tried, on occasion, trust me.  It's always been a mistake, and those have been hard adoptions.  In rescue, we must think of this sorta like a business.  We have adopters who come to us for family pets to adopt.  We cannot consider biters, or agressive, or terminally ill dogs.  We WILL help older GSPs!  Infact, the older dogs are fairly easy to place!  So with that in mind, we have to choose our charges carefully, based on one big criteria...is this dog adoptable? Would I want to adopt a dog like this?  We have had biters slip thru us (or end with us), we have had dogs with questionable health and behavioral issues come thru too, we do the best we can folks!  It is, what it is...  We must also watch our pocket book in rescue, because besides adoption fees, we run strictly on donations, or networks we have set up for food donations, etc.  We have to understand come winter, adopters stay in their homes, and don't look to bring new dogs in, shelters are full, and will start euthanizing for space.  Our first priority is to adoptable GSPs in Wisconsin shelters.  We try to help owner surrenders, or breeders at all costs, but they are not our first priority.  We do have a lifetime return policy on all outgoing dogs.  OK, you might say, that is so super cool!  And indeed it is, because it's the responsibility we have to the dogs we take on and the families we work with for adoption.  But really?  It's mine.  It's my phone number on every microchip registration.  It's MY name on the line. Whenever I know I've had enough of rescue, my mind goes to the hundreds of dogs we have saved over the years, and I often wonder what happens to that lifetime responsibility?  That should go wherever the rescue goes.  But it costs money to change ownership info on each and every chip.  So those dogs who are currently registered with my name on, will forever keep my name on for ownership.  They will always be my responsibility.  That is alot of weight to carry day in, day out.  We try to make sure each dog gets complete vet work done, some training under their belts, and that we choose wisely the adopter who will  appreciate the character we see in this particular dog, like we did.  The adoptability factor is HUGE in the whole scheme of things.  It's important we choose wisely all around.  It's our responsibility.          

Fostering for Rescue

First, let me say this:  If you offer to foster a dog for rescue, DO NOT BAIL on that commitment.  I might not have another place to go with that dog!!  Now what?  It would be irresponsible for us to just put that dog back into the shelter system (after we just pulled that dog out!), for whatever measly reason you may have put together.  Don't tell me you have to go out of town, when two weeks ago you never said a word? An emergency will be understood, of course!  Don't tell me you all the sudden don't have time, you most certainly would have known something was coming up when you made that commitment?  Don't bail on us merely because you tired of the novelty of fostering!  Where do you think I'm supposed to go with that dog now?  If you have promised to foster a dog, we have NOT lied to you.  We told you everything we know about this particular dog. We try very hard to match up the incoming dogs temperament with your own pack as to make things flow smoother.  So don't try to pull the wool over my eyes, and tell me now all the sudden, over night, things are different, and you can no longer house our rescue dog?  It doesn't work like that folks!  Do you know how many dogs I have fostered in my house, with my dogs, and perhaps my dogs don't get along?  Perhaps I don't get along with that other "new" dog?  I understand!  I know what this is all about!  You make it WORK.  If only it were as easy as having 50 stand by fosters, just chomping at the bit for a foster home to drop out...it's not like that folks!  Most people won't foster because they have this belief they will fall in love with the dog and can't let it go?  I'm here to tell you, it's not like that!  There are some you do like instantly, and others you can't wait to get out of your house!  Dogs have personalities just like people.  They get along with some dogs, but not others. Same with people.  The BEST we can do is keep networking for more foster help.  Try to get people past that myth.  I won't lie to you; sometimes it's not easy!  It can be exhausting to have a spare dog in your house.  It can be exhausting for you, and your family and your own pack!  So when you say you will foster for rescue, MEAN IT.  Don't bail on us, cuz I probably don't have anywhere else to go with that dog.  It's NOT the dog's fault!  Sometimes I just don't understand agreeing to do something, and not agreeing the very next day!  It is what it is...either you "man up" or don't volunteer.  Our volunteers are our life line to save these dogs. Without you, we couldn't do this.  We appreciate each and every one of you.  The dogs depend on us!

Some of my favorite things...

There's nothing more fullfilling, then saving a dogs life.  There are somethings you can pretty much bet your bottom dollar on when pulling a dog from a shelter...that dog is probably not potty trained.  Most folks won't touch a not potty trained dog!  But I'm telling you its not that difficult folks!  I had a guy email our info email telling me he just got his dog out of a training place after four years there?  GOOD GRIEF, what dog in the world needs four years of hunt training? Almost sounds like a forgotten dog to me.  So he went on to say they have also have a brittany, who lives in the house and now they want to bring Cody into the house too, but ummm, the dog is not potty trained.  HELLO PEOPLE?  Urgh...  then he suggests the dog will be kenneled outside during the day, and inside at night.  OK, maybe if you are really dilegent you can have a situation like this, but come on?  The dog is outside 8-10 hours a day, can pee and poop anywhere it wants, then inside, not allowed?  I say will make it easier for an adult dog to flip the switch if it's one way or the other.  And in this case, they WANT to make Cody a house dog, I applaud them for that.  So I gave the guy my leash him to yourself trick or crate/potty/crate training tactics.  I gave him my opinion about neutering Cody as well.  I gave the guy a link to my fav forum site for shorthair owners as well.  OK, I admit it, I LIKE talking about dogs, and training dogs, and educating folks about their dogs.  These are a few of my favorite things!          

About My Own Dogs

Here's where I really shine!  My dogs are my family, we entertain and comfort each other.  They are perhaps some of the most spoiled pointers that lived.  You see, this is my second round of dogs.  The first round was during my former marriage; first there was Kate.  We got her as pick of the litter from a breeder in WI (who ironically NOW calls me when he needs help with one that didn't sell, or was perhaps returned). Kate was a hunter, and an avid boater, and an all around sleeping buddy.  When Kate was perhaps 7 yrs old,  the ex thought it would be a perfect time to get a new puppy, so Kate could train it.  Ummm, I remember that shorthair puppy business, and I was NOT doing it again.  I started hearing about dog rescue, mainly greyhound dog rescue, so I said 'let's go check out the dog needing new homes"?  And we did.  We found there was a shorthair rescue, and we made arrangements to take Kate to visit dogs available for adoption.   That was the day we met Kankakee IL Candy, who was a youngish liver/white english pointer.  We ended up taking her home.  She had no clue what life inside a house was, she slept like the dead that first week.  And on week two, she slipped out the fenced back yard to run in the city.  My x said the dog goes back!  Well, hello?  After two weeks of falling in love with her, I was not gonna return her. Instead was invited back to the rescue lady's place for "recall training".  And Maggie, as we named her, finally got trained.  As it turned out she was pretty skittish around gunfire.  That disappointed my x.  But I was not returning her.  In time, Maggie overcame that gun shyness and became a fine hunter!  I was so proud of her.  We started volunteering to help that rescue the very day we adopted Maggie.  So about a year later, the x drove to IL to pick up a male liver/white pointer, who was found on the metro Chicago railroad tracks as a stray.  We named him Tracker, to always remind us of where he came from.  Tracker was VERY headshy, very afraid of everything, and a very quiet sorta guy.  Tracker too, took off on us one day. I hunted him down in the city for some 14 hours into the night.  Finally the cops found him, and he was back home safe and sound.  Well, actually he was my first foster boy, and of course, he stayed.  In 2004 I divorced the x, and we shared custody of the dogs.  And I continued to do rescue, infact, I branched off and started my OWN rescue!  At the end of June 2005 Kate all the sudden was looking pretty raggedy, breathing funny, lost alot of weight fast. Turned out she had cancer in her chest cavity, and died in her daddy's arms on the fourth of July, just 6 days before it would have been her 13th bday. She lays at rest in my x's side yard, where there is a shrine in her honor.  That day killed me.  But you keep putting one foot in front of the other. And rescuing other dogs helped me alot.  

In March 2006 my rescue helped a confiscation of dogs from Arkansas, and one of them ended up staying with me. She hails the Amazing Miss Miracle of Boat Mountain.  She was perhaps a year old then?  Miracle was very afraid of people, from poor socialization growing up.  By dragging her to shows, etc...she shook that off, and turned into somewhat of a normal dog.  In January 2007 it was Tracker's turn to leave me.  Same deal, coughing, hard to breathe, I had no clue his lungs were black, and I was not going to consider letting him suffer thru chemo.  I held him tight and cut my losses, and sent Tracker on his way that cold winter night. Then in June of 2008, Maggie's epilepsy became unconrollable.  It was bad, for her and for me.  She endured a knee replacement before that, and had her anal glands removed as well.  But that last night....Maggie had had enough and so had I.  I laid beside her as the vet put her to sleep that summer night. Why do they all leave in the wee hours of the morning, or in the still of the night?   hmmmm.  Next came James Dean.  He saved my very soul.  Jim was a stray from Eau Claire, WI humane society...a lemon/white field pointer who, too, LOVED to run. We didn't even have him 24-hrs and he took off and had to be bailed out of WI Humane Society!  That's when I took charge over Jim, to get him recall trained, afterall, I had to do it with so many dogs, was just easier.  He was Tracker reincarnated, and perhaps with even more personality!  So, that's where it's at right now.  My first three babies are long gone, but my new pack keeps me alive.  We are a family.

Just when you think it's over...

I tried to retire, but just when you think it's over, Its NOT!  I got tricked.  Tricked by a volunteer who figured she could easily take over this empire of a rescue I created.  I should have known better.  Seems I've walked this road before with people.  But the bottom line is, if you do not respond to people, if you do not stay active, come up with fresh, new ideas to find volunteers, to help these dogs find new homes, you will loose it all, FAST.  That was what was happening; like going to hell in a handbag!  So I never got to retire, and I'm not sure I ever will.  Scarey thought, because dog rescue is all consuming. You think of dogs when you wake in the morning, you think of them all day long, you thing about them till you can finally turn your brain off at night and sleep.  Yall might think I'm crazy, but talk to anyone to rescues some critter or another, and you will more then likely get the same story.  I know some that are so deeply involved, they no longer have a normal life.  Sometimes I ask myself, what WAS a normal life like?  Very scarey.  So I had to take this rescue back over, or risk destroying the empire I created, because certainly trusting someone else to run things, isn't ever gonna happen.  I give up. 

Tomorrow we're showing dogs for adoption at Petco, I hope it's not another waste of time. (And it wasn't!  We had four wanna be adopters come to see Hunter!  He will be heading to his new home this Friday! WE ROCK!!)  But anytime I get to show-off and talk to the public about our breed, I'm HAPPY to do so!  I was supposed to have a "date" tomorrow night, but that got cancelled.  It's OK, I have plenty to do around the house, and on the website to keep me entertained, and I'm sure my own dogs will appreciate the extra time I have for them.  I try to not always be a complainer...  sometimes you just gotta vent.