Oh jeez…where do I start? As I said yesterday, today’s post is going to be a bit on the personal side. This post does tie into what I am doing at the shelter right now. My spouse and I are in the process of having embroidered jerseys made for all the volunteers at the shelter, in the memory of my mother and my father. As you already know, my mother was a volunteer at the shelter. Even after my mother’s passing, my father took an interest in the “goings on” at the shelter. He would always ask me when I picked him up from his assisted living facility, ” How’s the cat house going?” Yes, even my dad called the shelter the “cat house”. He just didn’t giggle after he said it.
Buddy
After my mother passed in 2010, to say my dad was lonely was an understatement. He had decided he wanted to get a dog. He was 81 years old. That didn’t stop him. He said he wanted a lab, so I started looking at lab rescues. I had “liked” Lucky Lab Rescue on Facebook to see the available dogs up for adoption.
Little did I know that one little “like” would also change my life. More to come later on that little tidbit. After thinking about it for a while, he decided to look at animals that needed homes from the MSPCA. (Of course, I have to share the links to other rescues because ALL animals that need a home should be advocated for.)
MSPCA-Angell – Kindness and Care for Animals
The last dog my mother and my father had together was a Sheltie named “Nicky”. His birthday was on Christmas Day, so…well, ole’ Saint Nick now had a dog named after him. On the MSPCA webpage of adoptable dogs, was this small Sheltie named “Buddy”. My father went to see him, and like most of us animal lovers, my dad saw an animal that needed a home, and now Buddy had one. My father’s heart was a big as the Grand Canyon is deep.
Buddy was senior dog, with a horrible skin condition because of fleas, was anemic, and neglected. He was “over-crated”, and the ligaments in his legs didn’t form correctly. His back legs pointed outward, and his front legs inward. He was only 12 lbs. Extremely small for a Sheltie. He could hardly walk, never mind doing stairs. Every other day I had to go over and give him a bath and clean his ears.
My dad would sleep downstairs on the couch because Buddy had separation anxiety when my father slept upstairs. Then my father tried carrying him upstairs, but soon feared he may fall. After two months, my father said he had to return the dog. It wasn’t fair to the dog he said.
My Spouse’s Christmas Gift
“What do you want for Christmas?” That is the struggle I have with my spouse every year. “I dunno. Let me think about it.” That was always the answer. It was around Thanksgiving when I told my spouse my dad needed to return Buddy. So that year when I asked the age-old question of what was on the Christmas list, the only response I received was, “Buddy”. Oh heavens.
“But we are cat people!”
Me in response to “Buddy”
As you can imagine, right after Thanksgiving of that year, we became dog owners. What a blessing it turned out to be! Helping out a senior dog, or any senior animal for that matter, was so rewarding.
After taking Buddy to the vet’s office and finding out more about his history, it turned out the police were called to his previous owner’s home, and Buddy was removed from it. The police placed Buddy with the MSPCA. The vet also said that at some point in time, his back leg was broken, and wasn’t properly cared for, so his leg healed incorrectly. I think the funniest thing about Buddy was he loved the bunnies in our yard. He would always try to walk over to them and make friends. It was hysterical to watch.
A True Animal Lover
My father had a deep love of animals. He was partial to horses and dogs, but he loved all animals. After my mother passed, it was just him and Chippy – a cat they adopted from a shelter in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. There was a terrible winter storm one year, and the power was knocked out area-wide for days. Not our house. After the second day, we asked my father to come stay with us at our house until his power was restored. No power in the winter = no heat. He said he would come stay with us, but Chippy had to come also. And that she did.
“Do You Want To Come Live With Us?”
My father flourished at our home. He stayed for four days, but he seemed to be okay with staying longer, even though his power was back on. After all, he was temporarily reunited with Buddy. He was loving it. Soon thereafter, we presented my father with the possibility of coming to our house to live. He jumped on board with the idea.
Once the addition was built with his own “great room” and attached bathroom, he came to stay with us for a few years. During that time, we lost Buddy to renal failure. Dad’s focus wasn’t always on Buddy though. Our cat Max absolutely adored my father. You could always find Max in my dad’s room. My dad also loved our black cat, Cleo. When he came over for dinner, he always asked where she was, and showed genuine concern for her. “Is she losing weight? She looks skinny. Has she been to the vet’s recently?” My dad was so cute.
Draft Horse Down
Macular Degeneration is a bitch. My father had it, and eventually had to give up driving. I would take him to where he needed to be. One of regular trips would be to a local horse rescue. (Plug)
There were animals of all kinds there, and the donkeys were my father’s favorite. He like their “spunky” personalities. Spunky alright. Try telling a donkey my jeans aren’t lunch.
After stopping for carrots for the donkeys, we paid a visit to the rescue. The horses there weren’t the “riding” type of horses. These were abused and neglected horses. When we drove up, the owner of the rescue was in a full-blown, hysterical panic. A retire Boston Police draft horse was DOWN. These horses must weigh 3,000 lbs., and it was on its side. To say it was a horrifying sight is describing it mildly.
Other volunteers at the rescue, myself, and my spouse were using ropes to try to get him back up on his feet. There was no way we were going to get the horse up. The owner was on the phone with her vet, sobbing as she tried to explain the situation. My father, my spouse and I had moved to the other side of the horse enclosure, watching this poor beast as it lay in the mud. As all this was happening, my father’s favorite donkey came over to see him. He cracked a carrot in half.
Draft Horse UP
Imagine the noise of a carrot being snapped in half. Well, I can tell you, that draft horse, laying on its side in the mud, heard it, and stood straight up. Yup. You read that correctly. Straight. Up. Not only did the horse get up, but it also walked over to my dad for a snack. Oh, my heavens. That was quite a sight.
Hope
Remember that “tidbit” earlier about Lucky Lab Rescue, and that one “like” would change my life forever? After my father adopted Buddy, I never “unliked” it. Here I was one day, randomly scrolling through my Facebook feed (after Buddy had passed). Low and behold! I was smitten with her the second I saw that face and goofy tongue.
“Can We Get Her Please?”
My plea to my spouse.
“But I thought we weren’t dog people?” My spouse was using my own words against me. I so desperately wanted to make her part of our family, and finally, my spouse agreed. As most dogs that have been on the streets of Texas for a couple of years, she was heartworm positive. It took a couple of months for the treatment at a foster home in Texas, and then she finally was “home”. At this point in time, my father had already moved to the assisted living facility. He couldn’t wait to meet her.
Hope was so timid; the shelter was going to euthanize her. She was already in the “EU Room”, about 2 hours away from it being her “turn” (don’t get me started). I couldn’t even walk her on a leash. To say the “warming up” process was lengthy, was like saying the Pope is Catholic – obvious.
Ben
After a couple of months, my spouse and I decided to adopt a boy dog as a companion for her. Build up her confidence a bit. She did well with the foster mom’s dogs, so we thought, “Well, okay. Time for two dogs.” Hope’s original foster mom volunteered at the shelter that SHE rescued her from. Her name is Kendra. When Hope was at the shelter, she had networked her to Lucky Lab Rescue, and the rescue pulled Hope just in the nick of time. Kendra matched us up with this cute boy we named Ben.
Hope’s confidence had grown mountains since Ben’s arrival. Hope had a “favorite” person too — yup, my dad. Dad would be sitting at the kitchen table, a glass of wine in his hand, and crackers in the other. The “pups” as he so affectionately referred to them as, would get crackers as a treat when he came over. Soon enough, I would ask Hope if she wanted to see the “Cracker Man”. She would start whining and “dancing”. Hope and my dad had a very special bond. Neither her nor Ben would leave his side when he was here, and Dad was okay with that. My father had the heart of gold, and we all miss his presence, especially my “pups”.
