I had pulled a lot of photos for Scrappy’s Story but not all were included in the posts. It’s safe to say that Scrappy is not the smoothest athlete in the dog world as evidenced below. And he didn’t always follow proper canine etiquette. But he also had his moments.
We’ve had a bunch of dogs that make my heart beat faster lately. There is more than one kind of dog that does that to me but the red ones tend to have a leg up on the others. McLeod came and went quickly as you can well imagine. He was one type of almost perfect dog for me — the young and playful type. He was a little shy at first but quickly passed through it. His personality was much like my first Golden, Buddy. Very physical play with lots of affection. It’s amazing how fast you can form…
This is the 3rd installment of Scrappy’s Story. In Part 1: Descent I explained what brought Scrappy to my house for work on some issues. Part 2: Recovery described how we helped Scrappy interact better with people and other dogs. Although he became a much more confident and relaxed dog, he would still occasionally revert back to his old behavior. I reluctantly decided that we could not never put him up for adoption. So I agreed that he could stay with me. After a while BoBo and Shaggy moved on and Scrap and I shared the house. Scrappy continued to improve, letting go of…
I just posted about Milo on Wednesday, I know. I normally wouldn’t return to a dog so soon but … Milo is what I call a simple dog. He struck me as such almost right away. I assure you that I say this with a high degree of affection and appreciation. Some of my all-time favorite dogs fall into the “simple” category. It does, however, require one to adjust expectations just a little. The other morning I couldn’t find Milo. I walked through the house glancing in every room. Nowhere to be seen. Guess I missed him. Retraced my steps this…
In Part I of Scrappy’s story, I explained that he came to my house after he was returned by his first adopters. The family did not feel they could keep him because he barked and growled at outsiders. He didn’t seem safe. After he came back to us, some of the volunteers at Homeward Bound were uncomfortable with him, as well. This was partly due to his inordinately large eyes and his habit of staring. Worse, he would unexpectedly lunge at strangers and even some other dogs. I take some of Homeward Bound’s dogs with challenging behaviors to work with…
We’ve passed the winter solstice, the days are noticeably longer, and we are rolling slowly, but inexorably, toward spring. Today was wet and dark and cold in the Homeward Bound Memorial Garden but even so you could still feel an undercurrent of life and growth that promises spring is not far off. I had to leave but still I paused again and again to look for just one more shot. I am normally drawn toward displays of color but we don’t yet have much of that in the garden. So I search out other targets. Perhaps I can get can get…
Those who work in rescue know that bittersweet feeling that arises when certain dogs (or cats or whatever) move on to their forever homes. We’re delighted for them, of course, but there is a sense of loss too. It’s more than a fair trade though because they still maintain a place in our hearts. Yesterday it was Marshall’s turn to vacate his kennel at my house in exchange for much nicer digs with his new humans. I can’t tell his story better than Ogee so please visit her blog here for Marshall’s story. I suggest this reluctantly due to Ogee’s…
Lily is one of our new guests at Homeward Bound. She’s delightful. She’s 12 years old, I think, and, as you can see, she’s carrying around a mass down below. But she’s a happy girl that loves everyone, and she zips around the yard with the energy of a younger dog. She’s the the kind of dog that makes you smile and can lift your spirits just by hanging out with you. She loves other dogs and cries and moans when she sees one she can’t get to. Last weekend she got to meet my foster, Scrappy, and they got…
I’m really not much into taking photos of birds. Which is another way of saying that I’m not very good at it so I avoid it. But today the goldfinches were suffering the pangs of outrageous hunger so they let me get closer than normal to them. Happily, this afforded me better than normal results.
ROB & DOG 