I wanna be a cowboy, Baby!

Meet The latest edition to my furry rescue Family! He came to me so disturbed he was required to take prescriptions of trazadone and Prozac and remained unruly. It took the patience of a saint, but this little man is a snuggly sweetheart that transforms into a larger than life beast when the doorbell rings! He feels the need to take charge of his older senior sisters ( when they let him!). We are a true work in progress and this cowboy’s work is never done watching out for his family

Then back to the beginning of this rescue crew, I was volunteering at local shelter adoptions when I was advised there were dogs there that were not even shown to the public ; they were considered unadoptable! My heart sank because without public exposure, there was zero chance for then to find homes. So I asked them to bring me their least adoptable dog and I was going to transform this dog and work with socializing them so it had a chance of being adopted into a loving Home. Out comes fearful Sarah ..They explained she was left tied to a tree with no food or water and an actual complaint letter was pinned to the tree. It was in a fairly secluded area so she could have starved to death but luckily was seen and brought to the shelter. The letter said she was “ too vocal”! Thirteen years ago I brought her to my home to foster and she was so afraid she would not look at me in the car. Scared stiff we came home and she was introduced to My two other rescues ; sadly; one was kind of nasty to her and the other just ignored her. I could tell she liked / trusted dogs more than people from past experience and it broke my heart that her efforts to befriend them was of no avail. The first night, she hopped on top of my chest, flipped herself upside down like snoopy on peanuts. This is her favorite way to sleep..and We fit. I knew she was learning to bond with people for the first time, we had connected ; I knew I could reach her. I worked with her for two weeks and had her picture up on adoption sights. A fateful hurricane came causing me to evacuate with her and become a classic foster fail. Upon return home, I called the shelter and told them to take her damn picture down off the adoption sights, because I found her a home, MINE! It dawned on me that she was actually doing more work than me. I was working with her attempting to find her a home but she was one step ahead of me and outsmarted me , because she knew she had found her home with me due to her effort to find love! She wiggles her way into my heart.

This was followed by a tragic time where we lost my Holly to a collapsed trachea ( 13 yrs old; RIP baby doll! And my Rudy that was part wolf developed diabetes and I gave him two insulin shots a day. He eventually lost his vision causing him to walk into walls, then lost the ability to walk or hold his bladder. His seizures were severe and I remember holding him during his last one and he just urinated all over me and the carpet but I did not move. I held him tight and lived him through it but had to put him down after to save him of further pain. ( RIP sweet boy! )

So then Sarah as The solo dog and even the neighbor dogs were mean to her through the fence but I could see she desperately wanted a dog friend. I took her to this shelter where they allow you to “ interview” a few dogs with your dog. The first dog comes out and was too aggressive. The second one wasn’t interested. But finally out prances a beautiful pit bull they tried to pass off as a Dalmatian without spots 😁. These two started wagging tails , running and playing and I knew Sarah had fallen in love and picked our latest rescue they called “ Ditto”. I happily signed the papers and just before we left I realized this wasn’t a male after all!! She was a girl with such a cool demeanor so I renamed her “Daisy Jane” after the seventies song by the band “ America”. Sarah finally found a best doggie friend and twelve years later, these seniors are still with me but starting to fade. This is always the hardest part but They give me so much Joy. The” too vocal” Sarah is actually brilliant. She is in tune with me and when I forget the door open or the oven on, she won’t stop yapping!! She is alert And saves me on a regular basis, as systemic lupus has effected many of my organs, including my brain so I am ridiculously forgetful. She’s got my back though ; always on the lookout to catch things I miss and protect me!

And now there were three. My trio is amazing. I have thoughts of running a hospice for dogs that are dying alone in the no kill shelters. If they finance this, I want to do this. Terribly depressing for me to watch them die : yes. But it’s about them. Think about how depressed they would be too die alone and unloved. So my quest with rescues continues. There is heartbreak but my heart is rewarded. The sacrifices of missing vacations and being unable to do certain things is all worth it. I have chosen this path and I dedicate myself to loving them with all my might. My heart bleeds for any abused, neglected or unloved dog. I can’t save them all but I’m working on it. He hdoesn’t s cowgirls work is never done. Much love to the animal lovers and rescuers out there!!