Stepping Away...

As you may or maynot know, I have been involved in German Shorthaired Pointer rescue since the minute we adopted Maggie (who was actually an English Pointer), back in 1999. I became obsessed with saving pointers. I stuck my nose all over in Wisconsin, even helped dogs from other states as resources allowed. It consumes you. You think about dogs from the second you wake up in the morning, until you can finally close your eyes to sleep at night, IF you have time to sleep. Serious! The compassion fatigue is killer. It doesn't hit you like a ton of bricks, but it will catch up with you. It makes you tired, it makes you depressed, it makes you old. What saves your life, time after time is the next save! The next dog you saved from that lethal needle or other end. You make people happy, because you can give them what they want! You begin to wonder how to make this "business" more self sufficiant, you get smart about networking to find volunteers, to find resourses you need. It is ALL consuming. You find you have very little time for your own dogs. And you had pick of the litter, cream of the crop, and now you don't have time for them? There becomes something so wrong with that picture. And when you can't shake off the depression and you can't even talk nicely to people anymore, when dogs are all you think about, and you become a hermit ONLY thinking of saving dogs, and you don't care much about people anymore, the other shoe finally drops and you have to give in to it, and BECOME it, or you have to step aside, walk away while you still have a chance at a normal existance again.

I chose to do the latter. It's time to pass the empire over to new blood. And I have found just the right human being to do that. So now, I begin the process of stepping back. No one will ever do it like I did. But I did the best I could, and now I have to save myself. It will be OK. I have to stop obsessing. Someone else can do that now. I leave the pointers of Wisconsin in good hands, and now I can sleep at night again.

Thank you for your support and kindness. I hope you understand. I did my time.

Credibility

When I spotted this photo on Facebook recently, I almost burst a blood vessel in my head! What on earth? That is our doggie adoption vest! The braggery went on about how one of my trusted volunteers worked his foster dog at en event and passed out 15 brochures about our group! One would think I'd be happy for the free publicity...but the event was NOT a sanctioned WGSPR event, no table, no banner, no organized pet fair event...it was a food/drink event! So while I'm sure there were plenty of folks in attendance, what must they have thought of a guy parading around a dog in our official adoption vest, passing out literature, while chugging a couple beers on the city streets? I was APPAULED to say the least. Please understand I worked long and hard to gain credibility for this dog rescue. I networked my brains out with other credible associations for relationships, publicity, donations, dog food, etc. I just cannot have a volunteer be parading around a dog with my colors, my rescues' name and liquor on their breath! And I do not condone the vest coming off our dog and ending up on some guy perhaps thinking he'd be funny! Then finding that photo on a huge social network site such as Facebook? I had a discussion with the volunteer about this. He thought I was going overboard I'm sure. But really? I DO NOT CARE. This is all about credibility. And if you want to be part of this bird dog family, you will play by my rules, and you will not mis-use any of our "ware" for fun. Because next thing you know, I will have twenty five emails from attendees of that event, or worse yet, some of our sponsors? (eeeks) wondering what sort of group we are? My volunteer and I worked out the logistics of the thing, and we moved past any misunderstandings and anger, because, afterall, it's all about the dogs, not about our "feelings". I worked way too hard on this dog rescue to have our credibility destroyed by one funny photo surfacing all over cyberspace. And that's all I'm gonna say about that.

Sad Tidings...

It's with great sadness I share with you the passing of a favorite adopter, Pam Riley, who was Dixie Chick's mom. Pam lost her battle with cancer last week, and we said our formal good bye to her yesterday. Dixie's life, however, never missed a beat, because Pam and I chose a new home for her before she left. It was a good plan, and it went off without much of a hitch, thanks to Pam's dear friend Bonnie. Pam didn't know how quickly I'd need her help on the other side I bet. It was a full day for me yesterday, as I stayed with yet another Dixie as we sent her to heaven.

Dixie momma was a retired breeding brood, we tried so hard to save, but alas, the damage was already done, as she was very unsocial and fear aggressive. Whenever I have to make these decisions, it's not taken lightly. And, I continue to second guess myself always. But the bottom line is it would not be responsible of me to lie and put an aggressive dog back out on the streets for someone to perhaps be hurt. Momma and I had a nice long walk and some treats before hand. I stayed with momma until it was over. She never knew what hit her, thankfully. But I sure did. I carry that with me for a long, long time, and it's extremely painful, because I do not like to think I'm a god. When I got home, with her empty collar and leash in my hand, I couldn't deal with it at first. And finally, I removed her tags, but I will never put her collar on another dog. It was momma's collar, and for now, it's sitting on my mantel, until I can deal with myself and let her go. It won't be today; not yet. I put her tags on the pile of other dog tags I have collected over the years. I have no idea why... perhaps so I never forget them? They all meant something to me, in one form or another, not all of them are gone, thankfully.

I hope Pam was there to catch this Dixie, as I was able to help her Dixie? I think it's a fair trade, perhaps another plan that came together in some extreme way? I'll never understand the rhyme or reason...it IS what it is... and life goes on, because I'm sure there is another one who needs me.

Breeders? Do me a favor...

I understand you have a job to do, a business to run, and your main business is to produce puppies for the general public. Fine, I get that. I'm not saying I LIKE it, but I understand. I am gracious when you call to dump a retired breeding momma on my rescue, and I always help you out when you ask. We appreciate any donations you may have given rescue when you surrendered that dog, and it was very kind you even signed over the dog's pedigree papers. I don't all that much care, but perhaps her adopter will like to know her background or at least her birthday to celebrate. That's a nice thing. But can you feel me stewing? Of course, you can...

So we get their vet work done, and we thank God, this one (like some before her) doesn't have heartworm! It's hard on the mommas, they are older, the surgery is fairly invasive for them, and sometimes I even have their teeth cleaned, which the breeder would never do. To a breeder, this dog is merely a puppy making machine. And a money making machine. They generally do the bare minimum with regards to vet work for their mommas. But worse yet...

Is getting them socialized. These dogs are afraid of people, afraid of heavy handed handling, they have no idea what a treat is, or a squeeky toy, or a TV, or a mirror, or stairs, or leashes; shall I go on? No fast approaches for these dogs, or you might get bit. Not all of them, but some are so afraid, they have no other choice, but to reach out and bite you. Or other dogs too! See, they are probably kept in their own kennels for their entire breeding life. They get used to perhaps the owner, and their handler (kennel keeper), and nothing else. It's pretty pathetic in my opinion. Oh we learn to go slow with them, and there's always potty training involved. But socializing them at an older age, is always hard. And I always wonder what sort of home will be the best for a dog with little socialization? In general it's a quieter home, similar to their lives in kennels. Too much kid activity will throw them into overload. Too many men (some hate men in hats!) reaching quickly towards the dog, might trip their trigger, somewhat like the heavy handling they experienced in the past, and then the protectiveness they have learned to carry, comes out, when you get bit!

Some come with sores on their body from living a life on concrete, with chemical burns from the cleaning solutions. All require clean up of some sort. Our volunteers put alot of time and love into their charges in order to socialize them so they CAN be adopted into your home. We can't help but develop a very tight bond with these mommas. Our hearts are heavy for the lives they had to live being continually bred, then have their puppies be removed from them and start all over again. We try to make it all better for them. And in most cases, we can. It's hard to say good-bye to those mommas.

And there are some breeders you should NEVER, EVER TRUST! I mean, who in their right mind thought it would be "cute" to breed this poor dog with such a lousy underbite; who wants to adopt something like that? So, breeders? Do me a favor...just quit please. Make my life easier, cut down the dog population; and we might just get lucky enough to place the ones we do have to save!

If you are going to breed, please treat your mommas like queens, because every minute of their lives is a gift to you. That momma is your bread and butter. She deserves better.

Road trip with dogs

Preparing for a road trip is enough work, let alone making space in a minivan for dogs too! But I'm here to tell you it CAN BE DONE! So with the van seriously needing a new alternator as well, adding one battery charger and extension cord to the list of things to pack... we got loaded up. I have an old sleeper sofa mattress that goes on the floor of my van, and this year picked up a bunch of dollar store windshield sun deflector things (roll of duct tape, you are all good!), and they worked nice!

Turns out a little like this! That's my mom inside with Miracle...they like to cuddle in the AM. The dogs have to be on stake-out lines, cuz we camp at my sister's house and it's not fenced, and it's on a busy main street, I also brought a big, wire crate to stuff the dogs in while I was there, incase it got too hot for them to be in the van while we walked to the festival in town...and it did...seriously hot! I do have a small (plug in the power outlet/battery) fan, which helped alot... And of course, first day, during set up Miracle walked out of her harness, and luckily went right to the open van door to lay down. She scratched her way out of her pinch prong collar the next morning, while I ran to the bathroom, lucky cousin Tori was there to grab her. James completely gave me the 'slip' parade day, when they needed to be in the crate, and he didn't wanna, so he shook free of my hand and took off headed for Minneapolis! And if you know pointers, field pointers run BIG. I commanded him to HERE, he never looked back...asshole... so I grabbed my whistle, and gave everyone heads up Jim was on the run... two toots once....two toots twice (running to front by the highway), two toots THRICE and there he was, barrelling at me and my mom...so I gave him his hand signal towards the van, and he whipped right on by that, to...yes indeed, good ole cousin Tori again! We got him. I seriously thought I'd be digging a big hole to bury James in.

So we know we can't trust either one of them at this point. And it's hot outside. We hauled their crate into the garage, infront of the fan while we walked downtown for the parade, and by the time we got back they had shade back again by our van/camper area. I heard from Cocoa Claire's adopter after the weekend and they were at Yogibear campgrounds in the Dells with their dog and left her tied up somewhere no more then 10 mins she said, and someone CUT Cocoa free? I don't buy that one really... #1 you don't leave your dog unattended. Do you leave your kids unattended? YES, it's a huge amount of responsibility...but it's something we sign on for when we adopt a dog, if we care any about their safety. I was right there during two of the escape attempts for my own dogs, and you act immediately, you get your dog back! But always have a back up plan! Mine is training my dogs with commands. Repeat, repeat...had I had the ecollar on Jim, he would have not given me the slip period. But I never thought he'd pull that one on me. Then again, we were in prime squirrel hunting territory, and actually in Jim's own backyard! He came from a shelter up that way... he IS a hunter, no big surprise he would have loved to just run and hunt till he dropped. He could have easily been killed by a car or semi the way he was headed. I whistle trained him early. Beats yelling at my dog in the field. Perhaps he even knew it from his past life? I don't know, but I use my whistle. And he knew what two toots meant. We have two very important commands: two toots is HERE. One long one is look at me for DIRECTION...and the dog follows your hand signal. He knew to do that. That was some AWESOME action Sunday when he did as my whistle asked him to. I don't know if Miracle would have done it. She is trained side by side with Jim...but she knows to be quiet and hide from her former life in Arkansas. That is what she wants to do in any situation. To find her would be a true needle in a haystack. She would be too afraid to even approach people. Cousin Tori got lucky...then again Miracle knows Tori. She just wanted back in that van is what I think.

A few years back, we actually marched WGSPR rescue dogs in this very festivals big, grand parade...the dogs about burnt their feet off, and it was HOT. I thought of doing it again this year, but no one else really wanted to, and now I'm glad we didn't. I poured gallons of water down my dogs and over them while the sun was out. We did go for a little walk early one morning before the heat got us, but the knats were out, killing us... it's truely not a big amount of fun camping with dogs, unless perhaps you have a more stable set up. You can't trust them unattended in tents, they just tear their way out, unless they are crated inside. I mainly worry about the heat index for them, if you are not camping near a lake.

We got to see my nephew in the parade, riding the back of the town's fire truck...how hot you suppose that giddup was?

Uncle John has a classy little T-bird convertable, he gave some queens a ride.

Our family takes up a large spot on the streets, in the sun!

And, there is plenty of craziness happening, it's one of those treasures troves of continual LAUGHING...I sincerely needed!

Miracle got to see her cousins, Kaitlyn and Jonny!

And the dogs slept the entire way home. And, infact are STILL sleeping today. The heat followed us home, so I won't allow them outside for long. All is well, it was a fun adventure. Learn from my mistakes, and prepare for your dog escapes now, before it's too late. The end...

The BEST Surprises...

I love it when I get surprises. So the other day I was at the GSPCA National Specialty show and I get a photo of a GSP on my cell phone, I don't recognize the number or the dog (they all look alike to me), so I asked "Who this?". The response floored me...it was Tootsie!

Wow, Scott has been busy, this girl cleaned up NICE. I'm so happy and proud! She lived her life in a small crate, and now she's free to live the last part of her life anywhere she wants! Warms my soul, indeed.

Sometimes I wonder why LOOKS mean so much to us? Why do people choose one dog over the other based on looks? Why do people further break down their choice by the dog's credibility? You know what I'm talking about... I mean it's one thing to have a favorite, perhaps even a favorite color, or markings, but what if the dog is fat, what if the dog doesn't have pedigree papers, what if it's flat out ugly? What if the dog isn't precisely perfect according to AKC "Breed Standards"? Now you are taking PERFECTION to a whole new level. And when you move to that level, you are generally stepping on people to get there.

I wonder why that has to be part of the equasion? Ok, choosing a breed is one thing, I "get" that. If you choose to rescue a dog, you are certainly not into choosing perfection, even tho I must say, I've seen alot of PERFECT dogs zip thru rescue over the years. I think the SURPRISE in this is more then just the "save" or the "find" with a rescue dog. It's what the dog can BECOME. It totally goes back to what I say "the more you give, the more you shall receive". The surprise is in it all...you merely have to believe. Thank you Scott! Thank you for seeing a shiney girl under all the blubber, and dullness in her eyes. They are always in there, just waiting to surprise us. I just LOVE a good surprise!

Creatures of habit?

Yes indeed, those bright eyes, my every move, jerks her awake again, because, I believe dogs are creatures of habit, and she knows it's almost time for me to strap on my tennis shoes for our daily walk. And I say, "but it's not time Missy, go back to bed", and she loves to sleep, so that's ok too. They say dogs have no concept of time. Everyone has their own opinion of that, but I wonder if they are creatures of habit? Or better yet, creatures of our routines? If you pick up your car keys, is your dog front and center to "G-O"? Heck yes! They are smart enough to associate keys with ride aka GO! They are smart enough that when I start flipping power off at night, they know it's bed time and they are waiting at the bedroom door. Creatures of habit, indeed.

And they wait ever so patiently until it's time. And heaven forbid something should mess up the routine, it gets them all messed up as well! Like when I'm doggie sitting and I add a couple more to the walk, they might get "out of the gate" in good form, but doesn't take long for everyone to be all messed up, tripping me up, and heaven forbid there be a squirrel pass us, then I'm screaming WHOAH DOGGIES!

Kills my body regardless. But we are creatures of habit, we know it's good for us, mind and soul, so we continue to keep up the routine, even if you get one who wants to go backwards and the rest are forward bound. URGH! My poor old body!

And they all just stand there, looking at me for direction. And I'll direct them alright; the slacker gets a kick in the butt, and we 'HUP' move forward little doggies, or the trouble maker doesn't get to go again. They hate that, so they get in formation quickly. Shorthairs LIKE to be in the military; they like routine, they ARE creatures of habit. From the way they do things to the way things are done! They are tipped off by us, our movements, perhaps pulling those running shoes or hunting boots out, or the famous jiggly key thing... and especially at bed-time (well, mine are anyhow), they know the routine.

And even I am a creature of habit, or perhaps my passion. After my dogs were done with their routine yesterday, I drove to pick up another dog, who was pretty much calm about the ride, he found a sunny spot behind my seat to just snooze in, after he ate a handful of treats. He looked a little rough around the edges, but he will shine up nice. Yes indeed, I think we are all creatures of habit. I dunno if that's such a bad thing?