Silver and Gold
The promise of a New Year still makes me smile. Something magical about it, though remember, we are still smack dab in the middle of the Christmas season, which does indeed last 12 days till Jan. 6, Epiphany.
Little Lenny aka Pirate of the one eye and off the scale food drive is still at his "home for the holidays" foster home. He is having the time of his life with his Beagle girl friend and family. Lenny actually waits for Cheryl at the window - pretty good for a very shy dog.
New dogs were welcomed to Silverwalk - no, we couldn't wait till January as noted in the previous entry. Bailey is a smallish black and tan Coonhound foster for American Black and Tan Coonhound Rescue. And yes, it is very hard to follow my own advice a few entries back to remember a foster is simply waiting for their home who hasn't shown up yet. I so wanted to keep both Toffee the Bloodhound (adopted!) and now Bailey - wonderful though not obnoxious bay. Sassie the Treeing Walker Coonhound turned in by her family cause they were moving is doing well, too. She is on the website noted above for you to look at - more photos coming. As hoped for, they have made a nice transition into the pack.
Bailey Sassie
We grieve with everyone else on Fay's crossing the Rainbow Bridge. What a brave, sad dog who, thank God, did know love finally in her last days on earth. This is something I remind myself and others about senior dogs - they may not be with you long, but you can make all the difference in their world for as long as they are here - and you literally may be the best thing ever to happen in their lives. Yes, they will most probably pass before a puppy would but then, you can open your heart to another, blessing more lives and filling your heart with utter joy. I have boxes of ashes of dogs who have passed, mostly seniors due to age related problems or those with health issues we were unable to overcome. When I see the names on the boxes, I am flooded with gentle and wonderful, sometimes quite hilarious memories of dogs whose last chance was my home.
Victor - a yellow Lab/Chesapeake Bay retriever cross who hated water and would not retrieve. His human mom brought him to me from KC when she had to move and could not keep him. She had had him since a puppy. She was heart broken. He was delightful, beloved and we grieved the tumors that took him from us.
Harry came from GA. His owner's ex-husband threatened to shoot her dogs, she was unable to care for them so a number of volunteers engineered a rescue and transport for all five. Initially, Harry was not much to look at - not the "blue tick Coonhound" I had imagined. However, Harry had personality plus! He loved his Wubba's. If you know who the Skin Horse is, then you know who Harry became very, very quickly. Harry came in with a cough one day, kept coughing, looked at me and I realized, as I looked back, this is no ordinary cough - and it wasn't. He is missed but Wubba's remain and remind us of him.
Raggedy Ann was an Australian Shepherd given to me by Ellen of the St. Louis Senior Dog Project. We knew at the time she had a heart murmur. It was controlled for a couple years till I found her down and felt her heart with my hand. The new vet offered med after med, all of which she was already on - so, after bossing me and everyone else around, she, too, went to heaven to boss God. My "bossy Aussie."
We treasure and remember those who have passed. We keep our hearts and homes open to those in need of hearth, love and healing, both old and young. Happy New Year - I wish for you all gentle paws, soft hearts and loads of compassion.
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