Oct 13, 2017

Adding to the Family

Last Friday we took in a dog from a friend who has hunting dogs. This is the second time we've adopted one from her when it was time for them to retire. I don't like the pig hunting scenario but that's another story. I adored Boss, our first adoptee, and Shade is gorgeous. She's five and a half years old and now that hunting is out sunbathing is her favourite occupation.
She shadows me a lot, and this morning when I let her out of the kennel I received a very enthusiastic welcome so she's getting used to living with us. The beach at the bottom of the hill is a winner with lots of sticks to chase when thrown, and then there are the forest covered hills behind the house to keep us all fit.




I also brought home four point of lay hens last week as my other three were getting a bit slow on giving me daily presents. Shade is totally uninterested in them, merely follows me around the pen to collect eggs and deliver grain. The warmth from the fire was very popular!
It is so lovely to have a dog again. All they want is warmth, exercise, food and loads of love - something they return in loads. We had put off replacing Boss because of travel and other commitments but it was time. And when we go overseas again Shade can go back to her first home where she's always going to be welcome.



I like that I can give her a second chance. Have you ever taken in an animal from the pound or an owner who no longer feels she can give the pet enough attention?

14 comments:

  1. Hi Sue

    Shade is beautiful and there is always so much love from pets we have a few cats and dogs from pounds over the years and taken in strays you gotta love them I am sure there will be years of happy memories

    Have Fun
    Helen

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    1. Yes, Helen, I think she is. Already she's so much more at home with us. Still follows me everywhere though. Might change her name to Shadow. Not really.

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  2. She has the sweetest face, Sue, and the two of you sound like the best of friends already. :-)

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    1. We're working on it, Michelle. She's good for me as I now go for even more walks.

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  3. Hubby found a pup (5mths) that had been dumped. He stopped the car to shoo her off the road, she used her minute amount of brain to leap into the car and refuse to get out. Thus Boney (no brain, lots of bone instead!) became ours She'd been very abused - very long story - but loved her people totally. She was a character, ugly like you would not believe, and had to learn to be a dog (play, manners, walkies, fun, love). We adored all her quirks, and her. So many stories... The vet summed it up when he said we gave her the love she had never known. She had experienced true life with us. RIP Boney!

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    1. Aww shucks, Clare, that's a lovely story. It's beyond me how anyone can deliberately hurt an animal. Glad Boney had the nous to leap into your car.

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  4. My first cat was adopted from a shelter, as was my second. They were both about 12 weeks old. The next year my younger son's girlfriend gave him a kitten for Christmas (The Kitten, Roxie just turn 15 on Monday, the other two have passed away) I always wanted a purebred Toyger. I saw one on the cover of Life magazine, but balked at the $5000.00 price for a kitten. After staring at the magazine for a few months I googled Toyger breeders and found 3 in the US. I emailed the one nearest me and asked her if she ever sold imperfect kittens. I was not interested in showing them or breeding. Several emails later she told me that she had a 3 yr old Toyger who was pregnant that had to have a c/section to deliver her 2 kittens, and that she was spayed and could not breed her again. Would I be interested in adopting her and giving her a forever home after her kitten were weaned? All I had to pay for was her flight. Of course I was ♥
    So Miss Tiger (formerly known as EEYYA Darlin Dixie) was flown from Atlanta to Orlando and became my baby tiger. She had to be fed enriched food to help her put back on some weight she lost, but she quickly gained weight and fit right in with my other cats. Love at first sight. She was just gorgeous, her pelt felt like velvet, and was so glittery, quite unlike any cat I had ever petted. @ years after I got her, her prior owner was shoeing Tiger's Babies at a Cat Show at Disney World, so we got to meet and visit with Tiger and her babies, (Her son won Best in Breed) Miss Tiger passed away from kidney disease in 2013, I would not hesitate to rescue again.

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    1. That's a lovely story, Laurie. Go you for taking Miss Tiger in and loving her as she deserved.

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  5. All our cats have been rescue cats and all were brilliant, loving pets. Anastasia, our latest one, is supposed to be a Russian Blue, but I reckon there's a hint of Heinz 57 in her too. She's been the hardest work of any of them to settle into our home, having been abused badly by her previous owners. We lost her up the chimney the first day. I'd searched around the house for hours until something made me shine a torch up the chimney. I managed to wedge myself in there to retrieve her and then stacked furniture to block it, until we closed that route off with chicken wire. She then hid in wardrobes, cupboards, under beds. Cowered at food time and whenever we tried to stroke her. Any sudden movement would have her bolting for cover. It's now 18 months into our journey and, last week, for the first time, she jumped up on the bed to snuggle up beside me. I didn't dare move, otherwise she'd have bolted. To hear her purr was bliss. Maybe we are finally gaining her trust

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    1. Oh wow, Pam, what an amazing moment that must've been. Go you for your patience. Anastasia's one lucky cat to have found you.

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  6. Hi Sue, I hope you have many happy years together!

    Yes, we had a stray turn up at our place, hungry and scared and we adopted her. She never got over her wariness of people but thrived. She looked almost like a new dog!

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    1. Annie, I'm hoping so too. Shade's definitely settled in, though I do worry about the lure of the hills and the pigs roaming there. Isn't is wonderful how a little kindness can turn an animal around?

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  7. Aw, what a sweetie! Love the rescue route. We went to the local animal shelter for an outing with the kids a couple of years back - not planning on adopting anything. Ha! Came home with an eight month old black cat we named Friday. She'd one of about 20 animals who currently eat us out of house and home and can't imagine our menagerie without her.

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  8. Blimey, sounds like a small zoo, Ally. What a big-hearted family you are Nothing quite like rescuing an animal rather than buying a pedigree.

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