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.
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