Will 2011 also be the year of the dog?
Dogs have dominated our life since Jasmine arrived in 1996. When she was little, I just wanted to spend every possible minute with her, and by the time she was grown, we were so used to being together, we hated to be apart. When she turned 12, I sensed that our time was running out, so we would lounge in bed a little longer in the morning, and our walks got shorter, but we took more of them. When her mitral valve failed, we moved into the lowest level of our house, and lived their together for 10 months. Fortunately, I work from home, and that is my office, so we were rarely apart. After she died, I was so lost, I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I brought home Harley, and Admiral, and Friday. After 13 years as a 2 dog home, we went to a 4 dog home in 3 months. And instead of a pair of princesses, we had a house full of males, and one of them was a puppy. The three old dogs all needed to be walked and cared for, but together they didn’t need as much attention as young Friday.
By the time we figured out how to make things work with the four dogs, I was ready to start the rescue. Since then at least 20 dogs have stayed with us while on their way to their forever home. Along the way we said goodbye to Baby and Harley, and hello to Bongo and Dolly. There was a 3 day period in 2010 where we had only 2 dogs. There were many more where we had 6. Sometimes they get along, sometimes they don’t. When things go badly, I don’t have anyone to dump my problems on, so I have to find a way to make things work. It is stressful, but rewarding.
We had 3 peaceful weeks with just our dogs, but tomorrow, I’m going to Raymond to pick up a pair of Dalmatians whose owner died. I’m told they are extremely thin, and not socialized. I am not ready for the turmoil 2 extra dogs are going to bring to our household, but someone has to help them. Choosing to rescue sometimes means choosing not to have much stability in your home. I hope that I will be able to get them stabilized and into homes quickly. There are many more dogs waiting to be rescued after this pair, and some of them will probably have to stay at my house. I still hope there will be a little time for something other than dogs this year.