Harp the English Shepherd

New Toys

Mon, 01 Aug 2005 22:59:24 GMT

My people just got some new toys I really like. But I'm a bit confused.

The new toys look like two frisbees on end that are attached to each other. My people climb on top and they (humans and frisbees) go really fast. They keep having me chase them up and down the street and it's lots of fun.

But here is where I am confused. Today ef2p got his frisbee thing out of the garage. I thought we were going to play and have some fun. But he closed the gate with him outside and I was stuck inside. Well fence have never been much of a problem, so after I few seconds, I hopped the fence and went to go play with him. I had to run hard but I caught up with him a block and a half later. The way he was moving I thought we were going to go for a long run but when he saw me, he turned around, went back home, locked me in the house and then left on the toy without me.

What is this new toy? Why am I encouraged to run with it sometimes but not others?

New toy!

Mon, 18 Jul 2005 03:31:58 GMT

Mom and Dad just came home with the Coolest. Toy. Ever.

Supposedly it's for Mom, but I've decided that it's really mine. I just need their help to use it. See, it's this thing called a bike. With Mom or Dad riding it, it makes them much fun to herd. They're normally way too slow to be much fun to chase around, but this makes them go fast, and I can run. Zoooom!!!!

Now I just need to convince them to use it a bunch so I can chase them. I give the bike two paws up.

Sick puppy

Wed, 28 Jul 2004 15:27:58 GMT

I'm one sick puppy! Last night, Mom was confused about my endless pacing up and down the hallway when she was trying to sleep. In her half-asleep state, she didn't think much of it, and since she was being annoyed by the constant click-clack of my nails on the floor, she shut the bedroom door.

When she woke up, she realized why I was pacing. I threw up all over the house. The living room floor, the hallway, and the office. I felt so bad, and the house is all smelly now.

But when Mommy woke up and realized what had happened, she cleaned up the mess, then gave me lots of gentle love. I'm not very energetic this morning. Not sure if it's because I don't feel well, or if I'm just tired from walking back and forth all night.

Mommy called the vet and is going to take me in at 9:20 and have them take a look at me. I'm probably fine now, but Mommy feels the need to absolutely make sure I'm OK. She loves me so much that she doesn't want to take any chances, even though I'm probably OK now. I got into the trash yesterday afternoon when she was gone for a little bit running errands (and I sure hid when she got home!), and Mom thinks that I just ate either too much, or spoiled food. I wish I could tell her what all was in the trash that I thought was so tasty. I hope that pretty soon Mommy gets up the energy to mop the floors, because they're all smelly.

Before I started to feel sick last night, I made a new friend! tgeller came over and played with me, then laughed when I gave him kisses. I liked him so much that I could help but hump him! When he was snuggling with Mommy, I kept trying to join in the snuggles - puppy piles are good, right? Tom kept saying how I was a pretty and good dog, and with not feeling well this morning, it was really nice. I hope he comes back soon so I can hump him some more!

The Story of My Life

Sat, 15 May 2004 19:21:02 GMT

Changing Daddy's Mind

Wed, 17 Sep 2003 00:12:32 GMT

So today I convinced daddy that is was pointless to try to fix the weak spot in the fence I keep escaping through. You see there are 2 great way out of the fenced yard. The first is a place where I can squeeze under the fence. The second is a place where vines have pulled the fence down to just above the ground. Daddy was looking at these spots carefully today, so I figure he was going to patch them soon.

So when daddy came to get me after I slipped out this evening, I showed him that a fence will not stop me. I was playing in the yard of some other dogs in the neighborhood when daddy pulled up in his truck and called me. So instead of running 10 feet out of my way to go through the open gate I just climbed the fence (and this one was just as tall if not taller than the one around my yard.) Yes, I stuck my paws through the holes in the chain link and climbed it.

Silly daddy, thinking a fence could keep me in!!!

Tell me about Harp....

Fri, 20 Jun 2003 18:04:12 GMT

Someone on the ES list ef2p and I are members of recently found out, with a 99.9% surety, the parentage of their rescue puppy. I'm delighted for her! She asked me to tell her a bit about Harp, because there might be hope to find out where Harp came from as well, especially since this gal's dog was rescued from a shelter in Missouri (Harp showed up ~~on death row~~ in a shelter in Springfield, MO at 6 months old.

Since I've been lax about updating this journal (and my own, for that matter), I decided to post my response. Forgive my rambling a bit....

-------------------------

Maybe there's hope for her yet, then.

She was rescued from the Southwest Missouri Humane Society (that would be Springfield, MO shelter - I use the term loosely). Other than that, I don't have any background info.

She's approximately 10 months (seems to be going through a slight fear period, and chewing everything of ours she can get her teeth onto lately - especially dirty socks or my favorite big fluffy slippers - as well as her rope toy and squeaky doll), tri-color. The more time goes on and she grows, the more convinced I am that she's purebred ES, or close to it. Her appearance, her personality, everything. She's got markings very similar to a rottweiler (determined by comparing her to the one that lives next door), with the exception of a nice white patch on her chest and some white on the tips of some of her paws. Her tail is becoming more like the lovely fan that Heather Houlahan's Pip and her sister Rozzie have (they're the only definite ESs that I've met). She's on the smaller end, about 40 pounds now, but has a beautiful stance. She's FAST as lightning, and I'd love to see her in agility. Her favorite thing to do at the off-leash park is to get the other dogs to chase her, and then dodge at almost full speed through the tiny nooks and crannies formed by fallen logs (everyone else always goes around them). She has a very strong prey drive toward squirrels, bunnies, and other things in the wild (my poor kitties - all she wants to do with them is PLAY), loves to play, RUN, wrestle (though does so quietly - not like I'd expect), swim (finally have her retrieving her air kong from the lake at the off-leash park, and every time we turn our backs she's disappearing into the lake at our apartment and investigating the mysterious underside of the deck, much to our chagrin).

She learns commands, but is stubborn as HELL, and will only follow them when it suits her (we're trying to work on this), even though she's completed basic obedience. She's a little vixen that endears herself to EVERYONE who sees her, between her good looks and confident (but aloof) way of holding herself. She's just bounding with charisma. Every single time we are on a walk and someone who doesn't know her wants to fawn over her and to know what breed she is, and even at the off-leash park we get some questions about what she is since she's so lovely.

She loves to go on walks through the woods, to crash through brush and make a mess of herself (my favorite hobby, geocaching comes in handy for all of this). She's not a COMPLETE velcro dog, but she's good at staying nearby. If we let her roam off-leash in the woods, she comes back to check on us every twenty seconds or so, and if we're on a trail, she'll stay in sight.

Her best buddy is one of the dogs next door, a German shepherd mix puppy about the same age and size as her - they get to wrestle on-leash almost every day, but we haven't yet managed a coordinated trip to the off-leash park to see them like I want to do. Harp is find off-leash (she's not going anywhere), but our neighbor isn't as confident about Loki. I'm really hoping that we might be able to do that this weekend.

I need to get some more recent photos of her online, but there are some on the NESR rescue page (as Laken or Harp, I can't remember) and I have some outdated ones hidden in her journal at www.livejournal.com/users/harpes. I really need to go update her journal, and at least post the pictures I've taken recently. It's hard to take pictures of her because she tries to kiss the camera every time I take it out, and doesn't hold still. Oh yeah, she's a little bit of a licker (especially if you lay down on the floor near her), but not overly so, and a LOT of a leaner.

It's amazing the personality she has, as the first week we had her, she was little miss submissive. She's still submissive to dogs appropriately (submissive piddling to strangers, licking of the muzzle, all the common symptoms), but she's definitely NOT very submissive any longer. I wish that my husband or I could figure out how to exude confidence enough to get her to listen on our terms instead of hers. We're still working on that.

My little social butterfly! :o)

Well, that's probably more than you bargained for, but personality is hereditary to a large extent (though a ton also comes from environment) but paints a reasonable picture of our little angel/devil child. ;o)

LONG weekend!

Tue, 15 Apr 2003 18:22:54 GMT

This past weekend was really rough on me, but sounds like it went well for Harp. We took a trip to Pittsburgh Friday through Sunday to visit my family. While we were gone, Harp went to Pete and Mac's, a boarding kennel that I've heard fabulous things about. I would have preferred to take her with us, but I think the flight would be too traumatic. I feel even worse since we're going to visit Ethan's family this coming weekend. This means she's going back to Pete and Mac's, and that I won't see her for a full....10 days. I'm going nuts! She does get time at home with Ethan, getting spoiled rotten and loved as usual. It's just that I come home Thursday night, and we leave Friday morning. As soon as I get up Friday morning, we need to drive her to Pete and Mac's.

I feel really good at this point about her being at Pete and Mac's. She's getting a half day, each day, of doggy daycare. This way, she gets socialization and to play with the other pups. She also gets outside time and walks. I was really nervous about taking her there, but from all indications, she did wonderfully. Everyone loves Harp! :o)

Ethan said that when he went to pick her up on Monday morning, she was so excited she did her submissive piddling. A LOT. She hasn't been piddling at home, but since she had been there a few days, it makes sense.

What makes me think she had a fabulous time? Here's her report card. I feel like a proud mommy. :o)

Multiple choice: (circled answer in CAPS)
Meal Time: DUG RIGHT IN, ate lightly, menu please
Individual time: PLAYFUL, just hung out, wanted a friend
Group time: CLASS CLOWN, rebel without a cause
Activity Toy: BUY ME ONE, MOM, Activity What? (we DID leave her with her beloved rope toy and a nylabone)
Elevated bed: GOTTA GET ME ONE, Prefers the floor
Daycare: LIFE OF THE PARTY, observer, i was shy today

Short answer:
Favorite Playmate & Activity: Harp loved playing with the other pups
Comments: Harp is such a sweetie

Sounds like she enjoyed herself, and was her typical goofy self. I think that the half day of doggy day care worked well. What is others' opinion of giving her a full day of doggy daycare? My reason for sticking to a half day is because I don't want her being around other dogs so much that she picks up their bad habits. Then again, I want to make sure that she gets enough exercise so that she's not bored.

I can't wait for obedience classes to start. They've been postponed until April 30. The more time we spend with her, the more I think that she does have the drive potential to be trained for search and rescue. The question is if I can train her. First, we need to get through basic obedience and see how good she is. We definitely need to work on her "come" when she's having fun. The more time we have her, the more I want to keep her, and the more that I want to move to Pittsburgh so that we can have the benefit of Heather's training expertise to find out if she has (and I have) what it takes to become a SAR dog. Also want Heather to meet her to give an opinion on whether she's truly ES or not.

Back to work for me....

It's been a while....

Tue, 08 Apr 2003 16:48:43 GMT

First, I was out of town for last week, so I didn't have anything directly to report. Ethan spent lots of time with her, though. She got to have off-leash time with Loki (the puppy next door) and ran circles around him (literally, she's so fast!!!). She also got to play with two other dogs from some upstairs neighbors who were having a barbecue just outside our apartment (that's what happens when the picnic table is right in front).

This past Saturday, we took her for a two-mile walk (I had to go geocaching), and then to the off-leash park, where she (of course) did beautifully. On the walk down to the lake, she was more interested in getting love from people than playing with other dogs. As we spent more time there, she was playing more and more. When we got down to the lake we got her to go as far into the water as her chest, but that's it. As soon as she got deep enough for that, she was bounding out. Hopefully when it's a bit warmer we can get her to swim. :o) As it was, she had a blast chasing balls (she acts like a cat with them...will catch them in her mouth, then "throw" them, then keep bounding after them...it's so adorable). She loved the rocks near the shore (future agility pup?!? rubble pup?!?), and would get the other dogs to chase her over them. They'd slow down to practically walking, and she'd continue bounding over the rocks at full speed. Was wonderful to watch. Harp also would just take the ball over to the rocks and play with it there. She coudln't get enough of them. She also loved herding the other dogs in circles a bit, and chasing them around. Eventually we decided it was time to start heading out, so we left the lake area and walked up the hill. It took us a good while to get past there, because there were of course more dogs to play with (a lot more had arrived since we did). She especially had a blast with a little dachsund puppy about the same age as her. He would run full speed away, and then she would chase him, nipping gently at his rump. They'd tumble over, and wrestle. He was sooo tiny, but they were having a blast, and he was giving it back as well as he could. What was so hysterical is that when she wasn't chasing him, HE was chasing the big dogs. Cute little bugger...then again, dachshunds are the only tiny dogs I really have a love for (had one growing up for a bit). Harp playing the most with him makes me wonder if she used to have other small dogs or cats to play with (she's still DYING to play with my kitties).

All in all we spent two full hours at the off-leash park, she had a blast, and we'll definitely have to do it again soon. I just wish it were closer! She was so popular, both with the other dogs and the people. Everyone wanted to pet her, commented on how sweet she was, and was asking about what kind of dog she is. Awwww!

Harp was NOT a fan of the bath she received Saturday night, but boy does she smell and feel better! We hadn't been able to give her a bath at first due to her just being spayed, so it was her first with us. Who knows how long it had been since her last bath, but it smelled like it had been a while. Especially since she had been in the lake at the off-leash park, she needed it. Tonight we should be able to put on the flea stuff we got from the vet.

Since Saturday, we've gone on a bunch more walks (she's getting really good about walking on leash now, especially since we got a retractable), to the park once, and she's been getting lots of love and play time. She's been a constant joy, and only has had a very few piddling incidents (all with ef2p, I think. We've gotten to the point that we let her wander around at night a little, instead of keeping her locked in her kennel. She tends to stay in the kennel anyway, but it's nice to know that we can trust her to be able to wander around a little, and not have accidents in the house.

Yesterday she had two play sessions, one with the sharpei puppy a few doors down (I felt bad that I had to make her stop, but I had a conference call, and I'm NOT leaving her outside with another dog unsupervised - she just lets him out and he's NOT fixed). They were running around like mad and having a blast. Then when we were on our 5:30 walk, we were almost home and a guy was walking his puppy. Cute little black lab with her left rear leg missing (didn't even slow her down much, bless her little heart). The two had fun also, chasing a little (not much because he wouldn't let her off-lead) and lots of wrestling and mouthing. Neither one wanted to stop, but we all had to go home eventually.

I'm hoping today that we might be able to get her a little off-lead play time with Loki. As we all know, a tired puppy is a good puppy. ;o) She's been on a mile+ walk today already, but even with her longer one tonight, she can always handle more exercise.

For now, I need to get back to work.

Herding

Sat, 29 Mar 2003 03:10:52 GMT

We're 90% sure that when she started to actively play with Loki and Marley yesterday that she was trying to herd them...

If/when we get to those classes, I'll have to talk to the instructor, since she also teaches herding...

Past two days

Sat, 29 Mar 2003 01:17:15 GMT

Harp's been adjusting more and more. Yesterday and today's she's been mostly laying around, occasionally coming over to us for some love. We've gotten her much better at standing up straight for scritches, but she still holds her head down a bit. I've been giving her scritches by starting at her head, and holding it up straight to maintain eye contact, and slowly working my way back with her head resting on my knees (folded near my chest). She seems to enjoy this, but she still loves to flop over for belly rubs. It's adorable when she does it, but with her submissive tendencies, I'm trying not to encourage that type of behavior.

I really wish there was an obedience class starting sooner, but at least we're enrolled in class starting April 23.

A little girl in one of the other apartments in our complex has been coming around every day to try to get her to play. Cute!

Today was colder than it's been, and Harp definitely seemed to prefer to spend time inside rather than outdoors. In fact, not five minutes after I let her in from an attempt to get her to go potty, she decided that our entry way would be good to make a mess in. I was NOT very happy about that. It was her first accident in the house, and I had just given her an opportunity to go where she's supposed to. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention to her? I noticed before she was even done, because I've been looking around every two minutes or so to see where she is (she's mostly been just laying around, moving around a few feet about once an hour). I looked to see where she was, and couldn't see her in our living room/dining room. Found her still squatting in the entry room, immediately took her outside (while I cleaned up the mess....yuck! she couldn't do it in the kitchen where we don't have carpet), then put her in her kennel for a while. I was seething! At her, but at myself too. I wasn't in control enough to make her stay outside until she went (was cold).

Hopefully it's an isolated incident. Generally, she's a wonderful gal, and we're loving having her around. When she wants to go outside, she doesn't want to leave a 20-foot area outside our door. Unless the dogs next door are out and she's playing, that is. ;o) We've gotten a 12 foot lead with a post in the ground so that if she wants to stay out longer than we can, at least she has some roaming area. Not much, but some. She continues to not like the sharpei or his pit bull buddies. Apparently last night while we were eating dinner, the sharpei stole the one toy that she's been playing with - a tug rope. I couldn't find it when it was time for bed, and knew that I had left it outside for her to chew on. I recalled seeing the sharpei loose snooping around our veggies grilling outside, and figured that he might have taken it. Sure enough, it was laying in the dirt near his apartment. Darned dogs! I know he doesn't know any better, but it was still annoying. Thankfully, she'll still play with it, even with other doggie "germs" on it.

The nice doggie bed that I bought for her to lay around in when she's not in her kennel is finally getting used - by my kitties! Still debating returning it, but I feel bad since it has technically been used. Why did I have a feeling when I bought it that that might happen?

Took Harp to the vet on Wednesday because she had been coughing a lot the night before. The vet gave us some antibiotics (started off with a shot to get a good head start) that she's taking twice a day. Not too hard to get her to take pills when they're hidden in a yummy spoon of peanut butter! She'll go back next Wednesday when she's hopefully better, and will get her stitches out, as well as the rest of the shots she needs. Also got meds to give her if needed for the cough, but we haven't given her any since the first dose, since she's not been coughing any more. She's also on a batch of wormer. She's been sneezing a lot still, but hopefully that'll go away in another day or two.

Still trying to ger her to walk on the leash. Frustrating a bit, because she did just fine on it the first day or two. I just am not sure what to do to make her walk on leash. I can only get her to move by enticing with treats as long as she decides it's worth moving for the treat. Really thinking clicker training might be the way to go.

I can't wait until she has her stitches out and I can give her a BATH!!!!!

Wed, 26 Mar 2003 02:48:29 GMT

Well, I have noticed marked improvements since yesterday. Except for the piddling events, she's had only one accident. I left for about two hours in the middle of the day to go to the doctor's office (I have bronchitis, weee! the cough syrup with narcotics is going to help my sleep sooooo much!). When I came home, she was so excited to see me, she did pee in her kennel. I need to figure out how to prevent that from happening. I knew better than to gush at her, but it didn't help. Oops. She's sooo close to being house- and cratetrained.

She's getting better at standing up to get love, rather than crouching down. With me at least not so much with Ethan since he's not been home as much. I guess ignoring her unless she's up is working. Hopefully Ethan being home during the day tomorrow will help.

Tonight we got another play session with Loki in, as well as his "brother" Marley (cute big rott). She was eating her dinner, and a puppy came bounding up to our window. I opened the door to say hello, and he bounded into our apartment. We got him outside, and I coaxed her outside. I didn't bother with the leash, but kept it in my hand in case it became necessary. It's not something I'd normally do, but something told me it would be OK, and that she'd bloom more off-leash. It was fabulous. She was (at times) much more sure of herself. Possibly the most amusing part was her trying to pay homage to Marley, and the big lug backing away. He's a big ol' softie. We thoroughly enjoyed the couple of times that she initiated play stances with Loki. She was obviously enjoying herself. I got some decent pictures, but the delay on my digital camera between when I tell it to take a picture and when it does made me miss the best ones. In the one, you can see what "our backyard" looks like. The huge open lawn, pond with deck, etc are what drew us to this place, and I'm finding that it's pretty much as good as having a yard of our own. The only detriment is that it's not fenced, so I can't let her outside to run on her own. I'm thinking of getting a tie-down to use occasionally so I can leave her outside when she wants to be while I'm working just inside the door on the computer.

I feel like a new mommy with all the pictures we're taking.

She looks so silly with her belly half shaven.

Sitting happily in front of her kennel.

Just playing around.

You can see that there's a nice open area for playtime. Too bad there's not a fence around it all. The fabulous off-leash park is unfortunately 45+ minutes away.

Harp, Loki, and Marley. Note Loki trying to take Harp for a walk. ;o)

The intent was for one more walk for her for the night to get her to do her business. She's not cooperating. ::sigh:: Won't even walk. I guess I'm getting up in the middle of the night so she doesn't mess in her kennel.

Tue, 25 Mar 2003 16:12:04 GMT

I've noticed today that she's been piddling in excitement. Not a lot, but enough to drive me nuts. I've quietly cleaned each of them up once she's walked away. She's done it when she's approached me, so I'm not sure what to do. Of course, she seems to approach me whenever I sit down on the floor in her sight. I've been trying to mostly ignore her if she's coming up to me in a submissive posture, and give her lots of scritches if she's come up to me with her head up high, hoping that this will work.

She seems to be comfortable in her crate. It's been open since I got out of the shower, but she's spent most of the time since inside, coming out for short curious looks around. I'm hoping that by the end of the day she'll be coming out of her cage to check on me on her own. Trying to decide if I should bring the kennel back into the living room so that I can see her more easily. I'm not worried about her getting into trouble, but I'll better be able to notice when she needs to go out if she's in the same room.

I forgot to mention last night, we have an appointment on Friday to get her stitches out, the rest of her shots, and a general checkup. I have an appointment today to get some meds for this evil flu/cold/whatever thing I have. I'd be OK, but it's been keeping me from sleeping the past four nights, and I'm utterly exhausted. We're a good pair! ;o)

Day 1

Tue, 25 Mar 2003 03:54:11 GMT

I left my apartment at 8:05 am, armed with a collar, a leash, some toys, treats, water, and my beloved travel water bowl. Can't forget the Mapquest directions, GPS, and cell phone - VERY essential items. I was a bit nervous, since this is the longest drive that I've done alone (sad as that is). At 12:15, I pull into the parking lot of the Animal Hospital where Harp (then Laken still) was being boarded. I gave the lady her collar and payment, and she attached the rabies tag and told me that she has a small upper respiratory tract infection that I needed to keep an eye on, as well as that she needed to visit a vet and get her stitches taken out in a week.

When they brought her out, my first impression was that she was absolutely beautiful. She was trying to creep back into the back room, but didn't seem too suspicious to me. My second impression was that Harp's behavior was very submissive. She completely hunkered down, and was nervous to come near me. I pulled out my bag of treats, and started to feed her bite after bite of yummy treats. It helped a lot. She came over to me of her own volition, and we sat for about 15 minutes or so with me just petting her and talking to her, occasionally feeding her another small piece of treat. I figured it was better to get the long trip out of the way sooner rather than later. Before we left, a family with two kids and a small dog came in. Her tail immediately started to wag, and she did the same hunker down and slowly advance that she had done with me.

We were off. I had to pick her up and gently put her in the passenger seat, but by the time I had walked around to the driver's side, she was in my seat. Gently pushed her back to her side, and started to drive. For about a 1/2 hour, she was standing on all fours, with her head in the crook of my elbow getting scritches with me talking quietly to her and singing with the CD I had playing in the background (I'd go crazy on a drive that long without music). A couple of times she snuggled as close to me as she could get, and rested her head on my chest. Awwww. I could defintely see the velcro effect in her at that moment. ;o) Eventually, she decided she could lay down, and mostly stayed that way for the rest of the drive. The drive was without event (luckily), and we made it with only 2 stops (I was torn between making more stops and getting home sooner). I stopped at the PetCo on the way back to give her a break before the last 25 minutes of the drive, and to pick up some supplies (like a pooper scooper, MORE toys, signing up for obediance classes with an instructor that's been highly recommended, and a doggy bed that's she's totally ignored all night ;o).

Got her home, took her outside, praised her good potty habits, and gave her water (I had tried on one of the stops on the drive, but she wouldn't go near the water bowl). She promptly layed down, where she's effectively been since 4:30. There was an interlude where we managed to introduce her to the puppy from the apartment next door (a GS mix the same age and size as Harp). She was very submissive with him, hunkering down and coming up to lick his muzzle, rolling over on her back, etc. We spent about 45 minutes out there, and eventually she did play a little bit. I think we can make progress in that area. They were really adorable together. I almost forgot - she's doing really well with my cats. Her tail was wagging when she first saw them, but they haven't come very close to her. This is better than how they were the last time I had a dog in the house (a GSP). Maybe it's because she's smaller? I don't know.

Random Observations:

All night, she's been laying quietly, with us trying to be good and ignore her so that she can be comfortable, with intermittently giving her love. She is sometimes food motivated, and sometimes completely uninterested. Even though she's been still, as soon as I took her out she was a very good girl and squatted, rewarded with happy praise and a belly rub. As soon as she gets outside, she loves to lay down in the grass. It's hard to get her to get back up! She seems somewhat frightened of the sound of our sliding glass door that leads to outside. The stitches on her belly are pink, and 1/2 of her belly is cute and stubbly from being shaved.

Next steps:

Work on her confidence. Find some respectful smaller children to see how she does with them. Continue to give her space and time.

Immediate next step is to give her some water, take her outside, and introduce her to her crate for bed time (she's been so calm, I haven't needed to use it during today).

Tomorrow's another day. I can't wait. I'm blessed to have her, for however long I have her.

The Beginning

Tue, 25 Mar 2003 03:17:28 GMT

It all started with the following e-mail:

Hi Everyone -
I don't know if we can work something out fast enough as I just
don't have many contacts in the SW corner of Missouri, but there is a 4 or
5 month old pup in a shelter in Springfield who only has days left. I found
out about her when I was following up on two other B&T pups, who, alas, had
already been put down. (They had benn posted to the farmcollie list last
week but they were dead by the time I heard about them.) This shelter is
terribly overcrowded and are lucky to be able to give dogs a whole week to
be adopted.
Laken really looks purebred, she looks more purebred than Pedro and
Montgomery did and I thought they looked like they were all ES.
NESR will cover Laken's vet care costs for anyone who can foster
her. I am working on buying her time at least through the weekend.
Her picture is online at http://www.nesr.info/rescue/adoptme.html -
she is very cute.

If you think you can help her email me or call the shelter
directly. I get this yahoo list in digest form so I might miss replies to
this list till tomorrow. In this case tomorrow may be too late.

thanks -

jan

I read this e-mail, and immediately went into high drive to get her out of the shelter. I volunteer at Animal Haven, and we take in dogs from this very shelter due to their high rate of euthenasia whenever we can. I knew that her time was very limited. If I had been at home, I would have driven the 3 1/2 hours to Springfield immediately. Unfortunately, I was stuck in Louisiana until Sunday morning - too late for this girl.

I started to send e-mails and make frantic phone calls to my contacts with area rescue groups. I got some good contacts, but they either not available, or I couldn't get a hold of them. After a few calls to the shelter itself, I realized what I needed to do to get her out of there. The confusing part was how to get her out of the shelter and to some place safe to take care of her until I returned to Kansas City. In the end, I found out that if I called a vet in the area, the shelter would take her there for me on Friday morning to get spayed, and would board her there until Monday, when I'd go pick her up. Oh, another piece of the picture that I was REALLY sick when all this happened, to the tune of going home pretty much as soon as everything was settled.

Add in a bunch of e-mails from beautiful people who were willing to go 10 steps above and beyond the call of duty to rescue her if I hadn't, and I feel like I'm the lucky one! Then a few very loooong days of waiting and thinking of her, and we get to Monday morning. I'm back in Kansas City, relatively rested, and high on lots of drugs (the completely legal type, that is).