Manatee Mentors 2014--CLOSED (begging & bribes MAY work) (Page 37)

I got Gunnar ( see avatar) when my old dog Willie was starting to show his age. I don't think Willie appreciated Gunnar's company , but when that horrible time came things were just a little bit easier having Gunnar around.

Edited by amd723 2014-01-22 2:19 PM

{MELON PRESS}

Although over the (40) years we've bred/raised/shown/trained 15 Dobermans, all deeply loved and cherished ... people ask me if I was raised by wolves, and I say, "Why no, by well-trained Dobermans" ... and we've had to go through this before, Dana--almost without our knowing, she is so humble--wormed her way in under our skin like none of the others.

She was my mom's kid (my sister and I have *no* illusions about where we fall in the hierarchy of priority, and in this case rightly so) after my mother had been the eldest among six brothers growing up, then had three kids ... Dana was the empty-nester kid for Mutti. She was extremely devoted to Mutti and honestly I think is a major factor in slowing the progression of her Alzheimer's. Mutti cannot remember to do a damned thing ... but she will never, ever, forget to ask 100x a day (not an exaggeration) whether the dog has been fed. We have a giant whiteboard up for that sole reason: to indicate the dog has been fed (morning, check mark, and evening, check mark). She still asks, of course.

All the dogs have been working dogs, both guard and protection. They do not accept food that is lying around, or from strangers (and not from the left hand). Nobody gets in uninvited. Nobody ever has.

Dana shone above all the others, even our high-performing obedience trial dogs. She reminds me of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. She absolutely hates being indoors and is very anxious there: her work, her life's purpose, is OUTSIDE. Although as a superb dog she would come in if bidden--she would do anything if bidden--she clearly did not like it.

These were not small considerations in putting her to sleep--the physical impairments were severe, but emotionally, for a dog like this, though she would do anything we asked of her ... it was a huge tax on her. Our other dogs have been very happy to be inside for fun or as a treat, and nursed when ill or in late life, but Dana ... her whole being was to stand watch for us. She was miserable. She would only light up when I'd carry her outside, prop her up, and she'd at least be able to take a few unstable hop-steps (always in Mutti's direction, even if Mutti was in a different part of the house) before flopping down.

Thank you all for letting me talk about her. I need to.

Awwwwww and WOW ... you adopted a whole trail as well as dogs!

So awesome! I still remember Dom's last night like it was yesterday. Like Chris, I started to tell the story here but got choked up.

Aspen and I love that trail. DS1 and DS2... notsomuch

Just dropping in to say hey.

So, hey!

I hear ya'll on the pet stuff. I sometimes think about when ours are gone, will we" replace" (you know I don't mean that the way it sounds) them. On one hand they can be a total PITA but the join the bring is immeasurable.  

On a somewhat relevant note, has anyone read Alex and Me?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH THERE IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED IN MY ROOM--*shudder*--NEAR MY BED--huddled in a corner now and no way I'm gonna be able to sleep in here.

Looks like you're sleeping with Mutti!

Completely unrelated but did you see that Lolo is on the US bobsled team?!?!?!!?!??!?

Yes! About the African grey parrot! As in, *the* African grey parrot. There have been others, but not *the*.

Yup.

#2 the package for you that got returned even had a blanket in it for your cats to puke on.

And Teej ... Lolo is *never* off-topic.

Of course I did. What kind of a question is this.

Of COURSE you knew. Silly me.

Yes! It was amazing. And ever since our cat started using the toilet (without training mind you) it has REALLY opened my eyes to all of the things animals are likely capable of. Yikes!

Ugh also, my typos. That was supposed to be "joy" and "they"

Who got choked up, not me!?! It just got a bit misty in here is all  

I have a song that I wrote that I play at coffee houses about Gil, he was a character. I'll post a copy of it somewhere, someday. We are currently without a dog, as the way our lives currently stand it isn't fair to the dog. We are rarely home and such. And the way TW was with both Gil and Pedro, well our lives would have to change drastically. 

Marc, I feel for you and the decision of whether to get another or not. Hands-Marie, I think Gunnar is lucky to have you. As lucky as the rest of you and your dogs, cats, birds, chameleons (sorry IronLady), and such. I love the stories, I think they tell more about us than they do about our animals.

Kirsten, thanks for the poem. And thank you all for the stories. 

Hehhehe. Sorry, it still makes me giggle...We're getting a new "Thing that shall not be named" at the zoo--and it is one of the species that made me a reptile person--so I am excited. And then there is this:

This one is my buddy at work and likes to lick nectar off my finger--in fact, it the only way he will eat that stuff. He's only half grown too--Hence, it being a Giant Day G--cko....Sorry Yanti--couldn't resist. 

Cute!

I still get misty when I see pretty little paint horses. I had Dusty for 23+ years. My adolescent and teen years were gloriously full of freedom with him. He spent two seasons in Yosemite with me at a summer camp, two years in the hills above Napa Valley, and countless hours bareback along our beach (pic is a rare saddled afternoon).

The decision to let him go was agonizing. Being 8mo along with Makenna, I was advised not to be there. I still wonder about it.

(20121008_070511.jpg)

I wonder if the Holy Hecko! in Yanti's room is that cute? Maybe someone's been sneaking it nectar. hehehe

JJ- great to hear about your foot progress!  1000% sold on it, huh? That's awesome

Oooooooh! Love rescue dogs. They seem to have extra sweetness. Like they know where they could have been.

So many thoughts/stories running through my head about pets and what animals can do and are for us.  None of my words can express it.  There are those we have, but there is always that ONE THAT HAS US.  I sure am grateful to be in a group of people that understands/experiences the depth of it.  I still think about/miss/see my Oreo 2+ years later.  I like to think that when they are gone from here, they are all together in a beautiful garden, reunited with the doggie/kitty/horsie friends they had in life.  In fact, when we said goodbye to Idgie, I told her to go find Oreo.