A glimpse at the future

If there is a god...
Mamacita will be joining me on the agility field
 For many many years to come.  She and I are just hitting our stride, feeling like a formidable team. I adore this quirky little beast. She has come so far and She's only eight. 
Surely we have four years...five...more?
Hundreds of start lines to walk up to together.

Crazy Soli has mad skills on the agility field too, but she is a combustible combination of aggression and insecurity.  She a cheeky little dog in familiar territory,  but a worrier outside of her comfort zone.  Frankly she's a lot like Mamacita, but where as
Cita has learned to tune out the demons while competing,  Soli still loses her mojo at a trial.  Our team is a work in progress.  Ironically that is Mamacita's official, registered name:
                     "My Work in Progress". 
        With any luck history will repeat itself.

Some days when I see these two together I wonder if I am watching the past and the future battle for the present right in front of my eyes. 

You are here

Recently on Facebook I saw a post with the following quote:

"Look around and appreciate what you have.  Everything will be different a year from now"

That has never been more true than it is right now in my life.  Over the past five or so years  I have watched my family go through drastic changes.  Holiday traditions I took for granted are simply gone now.  Sustaining relationships are no longer sources of comfort,  instead requiring my strength going forward.  My big brother is dead.

Yeah...I'm a little depressed.

And as I look around at my canine family the sad fact is that things definitely will be different a year from now.  Our "baby girl" is four.  Crazy Goose is five. Kenzie and Mamacita are eight.  Cubby and Lupie are
ten-ish.  Tawnie is twelve-ish.  Suzie and Ziggy are fourteen.  They are plagued by a myriad of health issues.  We will lose someone in 2020.  Perhaps more than one.

So today I would like to take a moment to appreciate each and every perfect little face.
You are here.  I love you.

Why is that so much easier with dogs than people?

Second chances

I am not opposed to euthanasia.  Not for aggression...not for illness...and not for emotional well being.  I'm other words I have never been a "every dog MUST be saved!" kind of gal. Sometimes a dog is so damaged that he is dangerous.  Sometimes a dog is so ill that he is suffering too much to keep trying to save him.  Sometimes a dog has been caged too long waiting for a miracle adopter and he has disappeared into an emotional hell.  In those cases, give me the needle.  I'll do it myself.  I HAVE done it and I'm not ashamed of that. 

Two vets recommended euthanasia for Suzie and they were not wrong.  She was emaciated, pissing  blood, had glucose levels off the charts, had a pretty severe heart condition, was blind and elderly and had no current owner. Euthanasia made sense frankly.  But when this little dog lifted her bony, sunken head and turned her sightless eyes toward me and wagged her tail...I was a goner.

Eight months have gone by since we picked up Suzie from my friend Sam at Random Rescue. She has gained 12 lbs.  Her diabetes is under insulin control.  Her urinary tract infection is healed. She AROOOS like a wild thing at suppertime and eats like a lumberjack. Her heart may not work very well but the love it carries is pure and flawless.
She still wags her tail every time you speak to her.

Thank you Sam.
Thank you Dr Rob Macpherson.
Thank you Suzie for keeping my faith and optimism alive in a harsh world.