Ann's Weblog

I know I've been neglecting my weblog, dear readers. It seems that quite a few days (okay, WEEKS) go by when not everything, or hardly anything, is suitable for writing in a diary that is available to the public.

We have been quite well. Every day brings something new whether that is horses to shoe for Gary or dogs to board and groom for me.

I've been to the funeral of a dear uncle, who was ninety-five, and had a good life, and who was rarely ill until the last few weeks of his stay on earth. The profound sadness I feel is, in part, because his passing leaves my aunt alone; they were married more than 65 years. She is a real spitfire: witty and youthful and physically active at the age of 88. She can manage on her own, with emotional support from friends and family, but what a terrible absence exists in that home and that life, now. At most funerals, there is some celebration of life and a joyful meeting/reunion of others, and this one was no different. I vow to keep in better touch, because all I regret about my uncle's life is that I wasn't "in touch" enough.

I cannot really write about a tiff I had with a girlfriend: I suppose these things happen, but to feel hurt and know that the other party is hurt has really coloured the last few days. In time, I hope we can both put it behind us.

We saw on the Extreme Home Makeover show last night a very large family house renovated PLUS an added kennel building which would make most kennel owners envious, and also a great "stable"... all for rescued pets and horses. The people were also given a $50,000 cheque for feed for the animals. I think I could be a great pet rescuer if I had a windfall like that (the fine new home was supposed to compensate for the owners working full-time and spending many hours after work on the animals instead of the maintenance on the house.) *sigh* The rest of us will just keep putting one foot after another... it's a good life anyway.

Life... it's a study , isn't it? It is an interesting journey and sometimes challenging.

Have three little dogs to groom today; I find that's enough for me. I find the work almost meditational, especially when both the human and canine clients are well behaved.

Thank you for stopping in. I'll have to proof-read my own entry later, because I must get on with my work. ~Ann

I've had some busy days, with nothing too profound happening. There have been dogs to groom and board, and though most of the days are "flexible", they go by so fast!

I'd like to take a moment to share a picture of my friend Dorothy ("Dot") and her companion, Mouse. Last Friday, I picked up the little dog for grooming; Dot reported that Mouse seemed constipated. I also noted that Mouse seemed to be having quite a bit of distress from anal glands: they seemed plugged, impacted, infected and/or fistulated. Since I had an appointment with a local veterinarian for our dog, Lady, on the following Tuesday, I checked with him to see if he'd examine my friend's poodle.

Over the weekend, Mouse's system started moving; no longer was she constipated, but soon she had bloody diarrhea. When I arrived to pick the dog up to see the vet on Tuesday morning, her owner was in tears. So, I helped Dot into the truck with Mouse bundled in a blanket, and off we went!

Dr. Vogel was very sensitive and helpful, and explained the best course of treatment would involve leaving the dog with him for intravenous therapy (to avoid further irritating the gut by feeding by mouth). Poor Dorothy was almost in a state of collapse at the thought of being separated from Mouse, and therefore Dr. Vogel gave the dog a shot of antibiotic and very specific advice about feeding her, instead. The issue with the anal glands would have to wait.

Today I went to Dorothy's house for coffee, bringing with me some fat-free chicken broth for the dog. I found Dot and Mouse both in very good spirits; the little dog had had no more blood in the stool. I reported this to Dr. Vogel when I called him about unrelated business, and he said, "Well, maybe we're lucky, and as long as Mrs. H. feeds the dog carefully over the next few days, it may make a quick recovery."

So, at this point, I'm breathing a sigh of relief. I dread the day that any friend has to say goodbye to their sole companion, be it spouse or pet. I hope Dorothy and Mouse have a number of happy years left together.

It's just the most minor bit of chores that I could be asked to do, but when my friends Jennifer and David are away, there are a few animals left at the farm. I have to smile every time I visit the little group consisting of Dolphin the horse, nine ewes, a Barbados wether (castrated male sheep), and a beautiful "guardian dog" named Daisy. I visit and talk to them, count heads, and put the food out for them (which Jennifer leaves in the most convenient arrangement imaginable). I don't think the sheep care if I touch them, but Dolphin definitely likes being petted and scratched, and Daisy too, of course, even though she takes her duties seriously. It is my pleasure to help out there.

Tonight was Gary's and my 5th wedding anniversary. We went to a nearby bed & breakfast, called "Scarecrow Farm", and had a catered dinner just for the two of us! I had NEVER had wild salmon which tasted so good; it had a sauce of ginger, garlic, cilantro and butter as well. There was a rice pilaf and three different vegetables: all scrumptious! In addition , there was home-baked bread, appetizer, and dessert. I had never had Mississipi Mud Pie, and it was heavenly.

Because our hosts are also friends, Gary and I enjoyed their company after the main course. It was actually quite difficult to LEAVE though we knew that they had not had their dinner; perhaps next time we'll choose the option of dining WITH them! I'll be adding their website to my "Places to go" page on my website.

The day was fairly ordinary other than that. Gary split a bunch of firewood AND threw it down the chute into the basement. All I did was stack it once it was in the house, and I resolved to get more exercise again.

I bought a bunch of beads from eBay, thinking that someday I will string some necklaces and/or bracelets for my dear daughters & other family members.

Tomorrow Lady does to the veterinarian, but this afternoon I left a message on his answering machine. The question in MY mind is that Lady may ALREADY be spayed, and I don't want to put her through surgery if that is the case. I hope he can tell by palpation, as I think I detect a ridge of scar tissue in the midline of her abdominal muscles. At any rate, she can be brought up to date on her shots and wormed. She seems to be such a nice dog for us.

On the left is a picture of OUR new dog, Lady. She is one of a pair of dogs who have been abandoned at the Pet Hostel. Once we made the decision to move her into our "inner circle" and the house, she fit right in!

Last evening, I sewed the dog her own "quilt" which is just a rudimentary small comforter... with her name on it. I'm sure I did this more for myself and for Gary's amusement, but Lady seems satisfied enough with it, also. The last dog that we treated this way (with lots of freedom around the acreage and house) ended up on the highway KILLED, and we also paid for our friends' vehicle repairs. I couldn't speak of "Zak" for months without tears: he had become a fine, fine dog, obedient, handsome and gentle, but one day he decided to visit the cows across the road. I blamed myself. That was two years ago, almost, and we hadn't found a dog to "take his place".

We will have Lady spayed very soon. She was abandoned with a male dog who is her half-brother, and I have found a home for him, also. I've been reluctant to write about this situation in my weblog, not because the previous owners (the schmucks!) could find it, but because I had some superstitious notion that I would seal the fate of these dogs somehow. Now, with some brilliant deduction, our lawyer's advice, and the fact that the "owners" have not claimed their dogs for more than 30 days past the date they were to return ( and many, many dodged phonecalls and unanswered messages), we have declared Teddy and Lady abandoned. It has NEVER happened before in 21 years of my boarding business.

What is the MATTER with people anyway? I've had dogs that I adored as family members, and I've had dogs that I really didn't bond with, but I'd never have left them with strangers and then simply not come back for them. It's not as bad as the cases of cruelty and neglect that we hear about almost daily on the news, but it certainly demonstrates an extreme measure of thoughtlessness and lack of responsibility. Take my word for it... after two weeks of having these dogs with no payment (they were supposed to be staying 4 days), I phoned about every other day POLITELY leaving messages (on machine AND to owner's father) to let me know what the situation was. I would have even negotiated on the boarding FEE, because good people DO run into "hard times". Someone who dropped off two sweet dogs and insisted that they sleep indoors and claimed that "they are like children to us" didn't strike me as the type who would move and leave no forwarding address. I have a cell phone number and a relative's phone number, and I know the city of the land line, but this doesn't solve this problem. The dogs are ours now, and I have no hope of recovering the almost $900. boarding fee.

The upshot of all this is that I now have a release form! I have the advice of a lawyer. When I phoned another boarding kennel, I had to listen to a harangue about NOT having a release form, and THAT person impolitely refused to discuss details of THEIR form, stating that "it took MEGABUCKS to get that drawn up by a lawyer!". Some people take themselves too seriously; I remember touring a HUGE pet store and multi-service pet facility in Palm Springs with my Dad in 1989, and THAT owner shared his waiver form with me. I just didn't put one into effect. The owner of the California pet complex told me that it was like walking around in my underwear to not have a waiver. HMMMMMM... so I'm smarter LATER.

The other photo above is of "Bell" who is a very lovely dog of unknown breed (we can, as usual, speculate!). The owners found her, starving, at the base of Bell Mountain, a couple of years ago. We don't know her story: it is as likely that she was "dumped" by uncaring owners as that she ran away from anywhere. She is, today, a well adjusted & spayed member of a family with 5 children. In the picture, she is showing her big shiny teeth to our "Lady" who is standing outside the fence showing interest in Bell's food.

OH, if we could only rescue them all. Because I have a business caring for vaccinated family pets, I am very reluctant to take any kind of stray animal. People who DO care for their animals properly could resent that any pet was here without its shots and worming and other regular maintenance. However, over the years, I've been able to find adoptive homes for a number of unwanted pets (sometimes WITHOUT taking them at my place of business), and at times I've been able to reunite a dog or cat who has been lost with its rightful, and frantic, owner. The success stories feed my soul, and the sad situations drain me. And, if anyone is wondering, tales of HUMAN suffering are worse, to me and to most.

On THAT cheery note, I must get out to scoop the poop and perform other unglamorous duties associated with grooming and boarding!

Take care, everyone. Thank you for stopping in. ~Ann

I just had one little dog scheduled for grooming, and that was "Mickey", a poodle cross (on the right, above). She is a pleasure to work on: sweet and patient, even stoic. Despite that Mickey's soft fur had matted a little bit, I was able to scissor her coat to get rid of the worst knots, and didn't have to shear her short all over.

While I was doing my work on the little dog, a truck marked "Interior Roads" came into the yard. The company maintains the highway in this area. A friend and customer, "John" got out and explained that while working in the area of a motor vehicle accident which occurred last night, he had found a dog. He invited this border collie into his truck, believing that she had escaped from the car wreck, and then informed the local RCMP about it.

The dog was docile and friendly, and had incurred a laceration to her back. Not sure whether this injury needed a veterinarian's attention or not, I told John to leave the dog with me, and I'd look at it closer, clean it up and wait for word from the owner. I already had decided that if the cut seemed very serious, I would take the dog to the vet and pay for it myself, and THEN wait for word.

Before I was finished with the little poodle dog, the owner of the injured collie showed up with our local tow truck owner. I gave my new friend "Patrick" the option of leaving his dog "Wallis" with me for care and even some extra grooming, telling him to call me this evening.

To make a long story short (okay, too late already), I got Wallis groomed, treated the wound, and returned her to Patrick, who was staying at a local motel awaiting his own "rescue"... a ride back to his home city, 8 hours away. Patrick had another lovely dog with him who had NOT spent the night in the bush in the remote area where the wreck occurred, and that dog's name is Edward. Get it? Like King Edward and Wallis Simpson! How cute is that?

Therefore, the events of my day made me feel like I'd done a little good deed. This is especially good because another situation at the Pet Hostel, that of two "abandoned" dogs, has caused me worry and stress. That's an entry for another day, I think.

Hope all is well with you, dear readers. Patrick, if you're reading this, it was a pleasure to help out, though it was a small thing, and thank you ever so much for the bottle of nice wine.

~Ann

Above is a picture of my three girls!

Christmas "holidays" are just about over. I was so blessed to have all three daughters at home, at the same time (at least OVERLAPPING visits). However, now that they have gone out the door and headed to their own homes, I feel simply crushed. I know it has to happen. I wish I could see them more often. Something akin to a vacuum is created as they leave... some of my joy gets sucked out and I can hardly breathe. I've been fighting tears all day.

HOWEVER, we had a lovely time together; somehow the days went by without any "special" activity. We didn't go skating or skiing (not that I wanted to)... I was kept busy taking care of my little boarding kennel part of every day, and I read and play computer games and whatever else comes up. The girls (and Shelly's boyfriend Kevin) did not require too much care and upkeep, in fact, they cooked for Gary and I several times. I hope that they all felt "okay" with relaxing while away from their busy busy usual lives.

We are having the weirdest weather... it's like April! Unseasonably mild for December, we had a "green" Christmas! There is almost no snow here, at the base of the mountains. I get accustomed to it very quickly... I wouldn't mind a shortage of snow as long as it stays just above freezing the way it has.

Gary and I will probably go to a dance in the neighbouring community of Dunster. There are probably fewer than 100 full-time residents there, but when they have a party: woo hoo! At the Dunster New Year's Eve shindig, there is usually a "DJ", if not a live band (in days gone by), and pot-luck "midnight" luncheon, which is always a huge banquet! Despite that I'm a friendly person, I do not especially enjoy kissing dozens of people at midnight; perhaps Gary and I will be on our way home (30 km. away), after having wished "Happy New Year" to those who mean the most to us at the function.

I'm feeling weary tonight, so I should have a little nap and try to psyche myself up to go out as well. Maybe I'll check out the Yahoo Garden Chat room for familiar online friends.

Thank you to all who read this weblog. All the best in 2006 to all of you! ~Ann