A Person's Character

     I think you can tell a lot about a person's character by how they treat animals.  I met a woman named Linda a few months ago who I thought was pretty tough. I met Linda through one of my children's activities.  Her kid was in the activity and so was mine.  We would say hi and have small talk, but that was the extent of our relationship.
     Well, one night about a month ago at the kids' weekly meeting, she brought a baby goat that she was bottle-feeding. The baby had been rejected by it's mother and wouldn't have survived without her intervention. There is nothing that can break the ice between two people like an adorable baby animal.  Through the course of our conversations over the baby as he romped and played, I and my family were invited to her home for dinner.  We accepted.
     When we arrived, we discovered that they not only had goats, but they had chickens, 3 rescue dogs, 4 rabbits, and three cats.  Each and every animal was well cared for and loved.  As she showed me her animals, her face was shining.  I was really moved when she told me the stories of how each animal came to live with her.
     Even with all of that, what struck me the most was one area on her living room wall that had photographs of her late dog, Kunu.  His collar was hung over the edge of one of the frames.  She told me how he had come to be hers and how loved he had been.  She told me that after he had died, she had deeply grieved over him. I thought about all the friends I have made over the years who have a similar story and a stong bond with their dog.  The love is the same, but the bond is unique to each person/ each family.  I think people who form these kinds of bonds with their animals are truly special.  Linda is truly special.  She thanked me for coming to her home and allowing her to show her true self.  I was the one who was blessed.

(This was posted by my daughter, Karen)

Porky and Jack

     Porky was one of many pigs born of an old sow.  Unable to squeeze himself into space to nurse, Porky was pushed aside as a runt doomed to die.  But my mother was not about to let that happen.  With a baby bottle, she fed Porky until he was weaned and able to eat solid food.
     But Porky, as we kids named him, was now spoiled.  A domesticated pig who hung around the house, he apparently knew nothing else.  Or did he?  Jack, a Dalmation dog, became Porky's apparent mother.  The need to be mothered was something perhaps he knew from instinct.  Porky followed Jack around the yard.  He ate with him.  He slept with him.  Everywhere Jack went, Porky was sure to go.
     Mother wanted to return Porky to the pig pen where the other pigs were.  But she was afraid to do so.  As a gentle pig and known to humans as he was, Mother was afraid he'd not be accepted.  As long as Jack could tolerate Porky, his life as it was would stay the same.
     Eventually all of this would come to an end.  Right through the middle of our property was a gravel road that led to other farms.  This road extended a mile or so, reaching the Kentucky border.  It was well-traveled.  Porky saw no property boundary.  Porky was found lying at the edge of the gravel road.  It was a hit and run.  The annoying little pig was gone.  To us, we accepted it.  Jack, however, seemed to have trouble dealing with Porky's death.  For days, he would not eat.
     We wondered if Porky had followed Jack as he tried to cross the road to get to the other side.  Only Jack knew the answer to that, and he was not talking.  It was apparent that Jack was grieving for his little friend.  Animals do grieve, too.  Eventually, after a few days, Jack began to eat again.

The Scratch

     Spot was a dalmation dog.  He was a stray who wandered onto our farm one day.  Unable to find his owner, he became our dog.  He seemed to fit right in.  He did his own thing, though.  No other animal seemed to notice him.  Although he was a big dog, he never tried to show any dominance.  He could best be described as a "real pussy cat."  The cats definitely did not see him as a threat.  They walked around and about him as if he wasn't even there.  This made me wonder where it came from that dogs didn't get along with cats.
     One day Mother pointed out something to us.  She seemed to figure out the secret to Spot's lack of hatred of cats.  "Perhaps there was a time that he did hate cats, but he got too close," she laughed. "Look at his eyes.  One of them seems to have a scratch on it."  Upon closer inspection, we were surprised to see that she was right.  It did look like he had a scratch on the eye.
     There may have been some truth in Mother's speculation.  Cats will slap at a child if it gets too close.  In fact, I recently saw my two year old grandaughter chasing one of our tame indoor cats. They ran past me, but soon she came to me crying.  Just below her eye, a spot of blood appeared from a cat scratch.  The child got too close and the cat told her in its' own way to leave it alone.  She learned her lesson.  I think that long ago, Spot must have learned his lesson too.
   

Merry Christmas!

I would like to take this time to reiterate what I said about Christmas last year:

     Christmas is truly a wonderful time of the year.  As we buy for family, friends, etc., let us not forget our four-legged member of the family.  Our dog has demonstrated all year long his/her loyalty and love for us.  At this time of year give a doggie bone.  Or better yet, hang a stocking filled with all kinds of dog toys.  After all, dogs sometimes act like people, too.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to dogs and dog lovers!


And HAPPY NEW YEAR, too.

A STRAY DOG

 Up the street he goes,

Final destination- no one knows,

Traveling hurriedly by his feet,

Ignoring obstacles he may meet.

It's a routine journey every day,

He's one of many- he's a stray,

For daily he travels the street,

Looking for his next meal to eat.

Let's hope he will find,

Someone so..so..kind,

A handout to him they'll share,

Showing him they really care.

     To all stray dogs out there: our hope is that you find a loving home.  I am certain that you have lots of love and affection to give...

Doggy Dementia (Part 2)

     This will be a short post to this blog.  Back in April I wrote about my cousin's dog having dementia.  Her dog is still living well enough and functioning.  Calling this post "part 2" may have been a little misleading.  This isn't about her dog.  It's actually about someone else's dog.
     Recently our family went on a camping trip with a group of teenagers.  It was an outdoor training weekend for the teens.  There were other adults there and we found ourselves having some free time to sit and talk.  What did we talk about?  Our dogs, of course. 
     James is one of the men we were talking to.  We were talking about the challenges of taking care of a Senior Dog.  You know.....a dog that is getting up there in age and has more needs than ever.  We were talking about changes in diet, having teeth removed, etc.  But then James said something that struck a chord with me.  He said, "My dog does the weirdest thing.  He will jump up and run into an empty room, stare at the wall, and start trembling.  He is doing it more and more often."
     I remembered how I looked up Doggy Dementia while writing the post on my cousin's dog.  If you'll remember, the disorder is actually called Canine Cognitive Dysfunction(CCD).  Randomly going into odd corners or rooms and staring at the wall, trembling....these were signs of CCD!  So I asked James how old his dog is.  "Fourteen," he replied. 
     "James, your dog has dementia."
     I know it's a sad topic.  His dog is old and really showing it.  But it was kind of interesting to me that through doing this blog, I was familiar with what was happening to James' dog.  I didn't get into detail.  I only told him I knew what it was because a cousin's dog had some of the same behaviors. I suggested he do an internet search on the topic and he would see for himself. 
     I guess all I'm saying here is that you go through things or you learn about things for a reason.  And that reason is often to share what you have learned with others.  I was glad I knew what it was and could tell James.

Dog Walking

     On an early morning drive through the park, I saw a woman walking her dog.  This drive through the park was my weekly ritual, and I got used to seeing her with the dog every week. After many weeks of this, one day I didn't see her and the dog.  Weeks of not seeing her went by and I wondered what had become of them.
     One day my son and I drove through the park.  I saw what became obvious to me was the why the woman stopped walking that dog.  The dog was a female who had given birth to four puppies. There was no leash to restrain the mother or her puppies.  In front walked the mama and behind her were two pups and directly behind them were the last two pups.  They were walking in pairs obediently behind the mama!  They were in an even formation and their trot was at the same pace!
     Across my face a broad smile came.  I then looked toward the driver's side of our vehicle at my son.  He displayed a big smile as well.  Looking back at the dogs and the woman, I made eye contact with her.  She, too, smiled and pride was all over her face.
     I wished I had a video camera that day.  On that wonderful day, I had witnessed what I describe as a beautiful sight.  I had witnessed a loving pet owner with her mama dog and her disciplined puppies running behind.  To me it was a pure treasure- a magnificent find.  I really do regret that I hadn't had a video camera....because if I had, I could have shared that joy with others.