August 23, 2005
A Day
Snuggle, snort, in warm soft
together with people-ness
a slumber of one
life-beats in time
Awake with the music
masters shuffle and stretch
give nice talk and belly to rub
in bed my tongue can reach your ears
Arise, ready for FOOD?
We dance to the spoon and dish
we take turns licking them clean
let’s go OUTSIDE
Kind word and a kiss
jingle of keys, clicking of feet
only their smell to sit with
and the distant tick of the clock
So we sigh and we wait
and we wait and we sleep
watch for the shadows and sound
to signal the end of the hunt
Oh joyous return!
we run to crowd at the door
jump, sing, and be one
again the pack is whole
We beg and are spoiled
FOOD – GOODIES – OUTSIDE
we sit and watch from a distance
as masters take place at the kill
GO FOR A RIDE
the PARK, we wander and speak
the silent tales of the pack
alive with the strength of our many
Then den to our smells
some quiet and time
we bed and our beats fall together
asleep, in tune with our kin
Posted by RobF at 05:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 27, 2005
Rosie Posey
To say that my wife and I love dogs is an understatement. Kobi, our first Boston Terrier, was my wife’s first year wedding anniversary gift. Murphy, our second Boston Terrier, was my wife’s second year wedding anniversary gift. A few years later we ran across Ben, a white Boxer, on Petfinder.com in a local Pet Adoption League shelter and he soon joined our pack. Adopting Ben was an incredibly rewarding experience and we thrived off watching him blossom. You could just see the love and appreciation in his eyes and you could tell that he finally felt home for the first time in his life. We were inspired to search for a fourth as we felt we had enough room in our life for one more dog. We contacted a number of Boston Terrier rescue agencies before we met Wanda from ABTR. She sent us an application, which we promptly filled out, and the process of adopting a new friend began. We had a difficult time finding someone to do our home inspection and we saw several dogs come up for adoption with ABTR and adopt to other homes before we could be approved. It was heart breaking but just as we were about to quit and look through more local shelters, we were finally able to complete the approval process.
Rosie Posey belonged to a woman in Oklahoma who passed away. Her surviving children threw Rosie and her two siblings in the back yard without food for an indeterminate amount of time. By the time Animal Control found the dogs, Rosie was the sole survivor. The poor old girl was on the verge of starving to death. Animal Control placed her in a shelter and, Rosie was lucky enough to be subsequently placed with Wanda at ABTR. So, the starving little old lady from Oklahoma somehow, through the grace of God, found herself in Wanda’s tender care. I believe that Rosie was with Wanda for about a month before we were approved to adopt. She was almost completely deaf but she had already put on a few pounds and was well on her way to being back on her feet. Her story tugged on our heart strings and we asked Wanda if we could adopt her. About a week later we met little Rosie Posey at the Pittsburgh International Airport and brought her to her forever home.
Rosie has been with us for about sixteen months now and she has put on several more pounds. Our vet estimates that she is about 12 years old. When she first came to live with us, Rosie was very shy, nervous, and withdrawn. She would let us touch her but she preferred to do her own thing. She had a difficult time trusting me. It was as if she were saying, “I trusted my people once, and they almost killed me”. Rosie was a survivor. Over time she began to relax more and more and to come out of her shell. It’s not unusual now for her to hop up in my lap or lay down on my chest to get attention. She gets very excited at breakfast and dinner time and she dances. When she sees her harness and leash she actually sings she is so happy. She has fallen in with our routine and she thrives as part of the pack.
About four or five months ago, Rosie was diagnosed with cancer. We brought her to our vet because of a sore on her stomach which they removed. Our vet said that there was a good chance that Rosie would have other lumps internally but that there was really nothing they could do short of chemotherapy. Right now Rosie is showing no signs of sickness whatsoever. We’ve decided that we will not put our little old lady through any sort of treatment as she is happy for probably the first time in her life. At twelve years old, we would just like to see her live out her twilight years comfortably. She may surprise us and live quite a long time yet. She is still pretty active for an old girl and, given the choice, she would trot on the end of a leash all day long.
I spend a great deal of time with our dogs. I know their moods and we can read each other like a book. I can talk to them without saying anything and they can talk with me. It’s a silent language that only another dog owner understands. We know and trust each other completely. Rosie and I often find ourselves alone early in the morning before anyone else has gotten up, or late at night after everyone else has gone to bed. It’s then that she talks to me. She’ll lie next to me and let me pet her gently. She has these soulful little brown eyes and she looks up at me and sighs deep down in her chest. She tells me that she’s grateful, she’s happy, and that she trusts me. From a little old lady that has traveled such a harsh road, I couldn’t possibly ask for anything more. She has a thousand ways to tell me she loves me, and she never misses an opportunity.
Posted by RobF at 03:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 03, 2005
What Kind of Dog Are You?
Second take: German Shepherd
Posted by RobF at 06:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 26, 2005
Just a Little Bit Dog
Dogs are a huge responsibility, they demand, and then they demand more. They have to be fed at the same times every day, and they need to be taken outside to do their business. They worship their people, so they need to always be near, in the kitchen, under your feet, in the bathroom, in bed. They want to play and they like to go for walks. They look at you sad when you leave them alone. A dog, no matter how you spin it, is work, lots and lots of hard work.
So why have dogs?
Of all the animals that humans have come in contact with, none of them are as nearly human as the canine. Kobi tries to stop but she just can’t help herself. She reaches up and nabs me with that tongue, in the ear, up the nose, right on the kisser. She just bubbles over with love and she can’t keep that inside. She was made to be a momma, and she’ll be taking care of me, whether I need it or not. Murphy is our smiling boy. I’ve never seen a creature so happy to just be alive. He’ll set that ball down at your feet and look up. His whole head splits from ear to ear and I don’t care what anyone says, that’s a smile on his face. When you reach down and pick it up he is riveted, focused on that ball with all of his intensity until you toss it. Welcome to Murphy’s world. Ben lives to be loved. He adores his people and would spend every minute of every day with his head in your lap. He doesn’t just want to sit next to you, or sit against you. Ben would crawl right inside you if he could. He’s big, he’s soft, and he has lots of love to give. Rosie is the mystery girl. We don’t know where she first came from, what she has been through, or even how old she is exactly. She puzzles me daily but there is one thing that I have learned about her that I am absolutely sure of. She knows that she is home. When I first get out of bed in the morning she jumps up and gets so excited that she sometimes jumps right up in the air with no regard to landing on her feet. She dances… Rosie has no voice to tell me where she’s been or how old she is but she has a thousand clear ways to tell me she loves me. She never misses an opportunity.
Humans gravitate toward dogs because dogs come so close to being human. Yet, to me, the fascinating thing about our friends is the side we don’t always see. Hiding a bone in the cushions and burying it with a blanket to keep it safe. Using their nose to find that toy because it’s hiding somewhere out of site. Warning the pack if an intruder has dared come too close to the den. A dog cannot lie about who he is, or what he wants to do. A dog is purity, noble and honest. Behind all of the learned behavior, all of the tricks he has learned to get us to do what he wants, behind the laminate of human-like behavior, they are always just a little bit dog. I love that, and so I have dogs.
Posted by RobF at 01:30 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
January 21, 2005
It's Friday
That last post was kind of negative wasn't it? Perhaps I need to lighten things up around this place.
Let's see, what can I do?
Ah-ha, I know, how about some...
PUPPIES!!!
That's better. Now, where were we?
Posted by RobF at 01:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 11, 2005
Bush Lied Canines Died
I thought I would do my (tiny) part in getting the word out on this situation (Hat tip to Beth at My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy).
Apparently there have been several newspapers and websites claiming that U.S. Military dogs were short on food and water and were starving and eating scraps. The dogs that needed supplies were Iraqi police dogs. The U.S. Military dogs had plenty of food, water, and treats.
Hills Science Diet donated food to the cause and the problem has been solved. Donations are no longer being taken.
Four legged friends are always better than two:
Posted by RobF at 07:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 03, 2005
American Boston Terrier Rescue
Not as if my two anonymous readers will notice but I’m going to try to be a little less preachy and rigid in my postings at least some of the time. No, this is not a resolution, I haven’t been blogging long enough to call it a resolution and I don’t believe in them anyway.
I was inspired by some dog-related material here and here and here and in any case, I’m not sure why I didn’t explicitly post this information earlier. Everyone who knows me knows that I talk about my dogs WAY too much in real life, why not carry over to my blog as well. Perhaps one of my two readers might be interested in adopting a dog from Texas!
This is our sweet little Rosie Posey.
We adopted Rosie from American Boston Terrier Rescue in Gainesville, Texas. Wanda Jewell is the President of this wonderful volunteer organization and she does her very best to rescue every Boston Terrier she knows about that is in need of a home. Wanda has dedicated her life to these little critters and, being a lover of dogs (and the strictly American bred Boston Terriers in particular) I think that she is an angel. She spends countless hours driving, cleaning, promoting, and loving unwanted Boston Terriers.
Rosie’s owner had died and the surviving children threw Rosie and her two siblings in the back yard with no food or water. They were found by animal control, the two siblings had already starved to death and Rosie was very near the same fate. Somehow little Rosie ended up with Wanda where she finally received some quality care and nurturing. We saw Rosie on Wanda’s website and, a month after she was rescued from starvation and neglect she flew from Texas to Pittsburgh and started her new life with us.
Even after Wanda’s tender care, we were shocked at how thin she was. Although we knew she was almost completely deaf, we were struck by how shy and withdrawn she acted.
Rosie has been with us for over six months and she has slowly begun to come out of her shell and bond with us and our other dogs. She has put on a few more pounds and she looks like a shiny happy little Boston girl. She spends many hours cuddling with her people and she gets two healthy portions of premium vittles a day. She is an absolute joy and is one of the quietest, gentlest, most loving dogs I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.
Thank you Wanda, you have given us a great gift and we will be grateful always.
If anyone is interested in filling out an adoption application, one can be found on the homepage linked to above. Please do not contact Wanda directly with savory little questions like, “can you tell me about Fido”. Wanda takes the time to write some pretty detailed descriptions of all of her rescue dogs. I’m sure she would be more than happy to answer all of your questions regarding a specific dog once you have filled out an adoption application. ABTR is always grateful to receive donations, (cash, paypal, or even dog supplies). Remember, this is a non-profit, all volunteer organization. Some of ABTR's dogs are happy healthy dogs that simply don't have a home while others are sick, abused, or neglected dogs that simply need a second chance with a loving family. Wanda is almost constantly behind the eight-ball paying vet bills.
Posted by RobF at 04:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 21, 2004
Rosie
Such a sweet little old lady… She likes her blankets and her naps. She has a chair in the corner of the dining room that she has claimed since the first day we received our gift. “Her” blanket lives there. If she’s not sleeping in the sun, sleeping on our bed, or sleeping on the couch, she is sleeping on her chair. The dishwasher is her favorite area of the house (where else can you lick leftovers off the silverware). She gets very excited about going outside and especially about going for rides or walks. The only noise she ever makes is when we put her “clothes” on. She runs to the door and makes excited little impatient noises. She likes to lie next to you and let you pet her. She likes attention but she gets a little overwhelmed when you give her a lot of affection. I roll her on her back and kiss her belly. She squirms, makes faces, and nibbles my ears and chin. She gets so excited, and then she runs away because she is not sure how to handle it all. She always comes back again. She gets nervous and licks her feet because she hasn’t always had it so good. I think that there was a time in her life when she licked her feet because it was the only thing there was to do. When we first got her we were shocked at how thin and dull she was. She was so fragile and her eyes seemed almost dim. It makes my heart hurt to think about what she must have looked like before Wanda saved her life. She dances for joy when it’s time to eat. Sometimes she dances right off her feet. Her coat is now so shiny. When she is running or dancing she opens her mouth and smiles like our other dogs. Sometimes, when the other dogs are not in the room and we’re all alone she’ll wake up and just look at me. Her little mouth is kind of crooked and the one ear that she can sort of hear out of is pointing forward. Her two long front legs lay out in front of her and they are criss-crossed with little scars from fighting or barbed wire or something in the far off past. She looks at me with those little brown eyes and she tells me that she’s finally made it home after all these years.
Posted by RobF at 04:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
