A Different Life II

[Lily&Me]

Thank you.

You would be concerned about my dog.

My son lives a mile from me, is a wonderful human being , and Lily loves him almost as much as she loves me.

She also loves the three grandchildren who live in that home, and is very comfortable there. Lily has stayed with them many times, for short periods and for 10 days or so when we went to Paris in 2012.

Larry flew out to pick Lily up and drive her home when Doug was stricken last year and in the ICU.

And so, I am very comfortable leaving her with them, and fortunate to have such a resource.


Maggie

[paiceman]

I was hoping it was a family member and NOT a kennel, even though I volunteer at a rescue kennel and we take wonderful care of our charges I don't like them and don't leave mine in one. In fact even though I don't know you and you don't know me I was going to offer to care for her if needed. In my retirement and actually prior to the detriment of profession I have become a protector of these defenseless souls. They see right into us and know us like we do not even know ourselves, it's amazing. I have one now I am rehabilitating that anticipates what I am feeling often seconds prior to my realizing I am thinking (feeling) it. All dogs have this power, but this little girl expresses and acts on it like none I've worked with prior.


My Best

Bud

[Lily&Me]

Thank you.

I would never leave Lily with a stranger, tho, unless a dire emergency.....such as last year when a couple at the campground kept her while I went in the ambulance with Doug. They then met my daughter at the airport with her the next day, and sent a sweet note to me that I still have. Good people, and I was so fortunate to be where I was when this happened.

There is a wonderful pet hotel and day spa here, where Lily has been for doggie day care, a day a week or so, since we first brought her home. They also board, and are an excellent facility.

We started her there to keep her in contact with other dogs, also thinking it would be good to have such a known resource in place for her in the event of an emergency, so she didn't have to suddenly go someplace unfamiliar. Who knew.

Lily and my son's dog then stayed there when we were all gone for the funeral last year, and they let them board together.....which really comforted the rather neurotic little Schitzu.

So, I've got it covered. If I didn't have a good place to leave Lily, I simply wouldn't go.

I consider her needing only slightly less quality of care than one of the grandchildren.


Maggie

[streaminwild]

Originally Posted by paiceman

I have become a protector of these defenseless souls. They see right into us and know us like we do not even know ourselves, it's amazing. I have one now I am rehabilitating that anticipates what I am feeling often seconds prior to my realizing I am thinking (feeling) it. All dogs have this power, but this little girl expresses and acts on it like none I've worked with prior.


My Best

Bud

Bud , I couldn't have said any better.

[paiceman]

Actually we went to RVs years ago because we did not want to board dogs. We only left them with family, if at all. I get way to close to them as I start their training the day we bring them home, if puppies at 8 weeks. If not the day we get them from rescue. When we lost our last Lab while we were camping in our AS while in Nova Scotia I was a wreck for a long time, still think of her daily, over two years now.

Hope to meet you and Lily some day. Our puppy Abby may be ready by then, right now she is over powering, ALL she wants is to meet people and other dogs, it's her whole life. She knows and performs every command, but then I can see her start to lose it when people or dogs are around and my problem is I start to smile of laugh and off she goes.

Enjoy your trip.

[paiceman]

Originally Posted by streaminwild

Bud , I couldn't have said any better.

AND this little girl was thrown out of a car and picked up by two teenagers following and brought to our rescue. They not only brought her to us, but gave us the license plate so we could report to the Humane Officer to follow up. The dog was beaten and burned prior. We've had her for two weeks and she is going to a new home on Saturday, can't wait to take her.

[Lily&Me]

Well, Lily-the-alpha-dog can be a bit overpowering, too.

I am still learning how to be a responsible owner of this particular dog, and she does better all the time, as I learn what she needs and how to give it to her.

Several people have suggested she has some Chow in her, altho there is no way to know for sure, as they say her behaviors are consistent with a Chow.

A huge, huge, plus with her is that, on a really visceral level, she wants to please me.


Maggie

[paiceman]

I was once training a dog and another trainer and I could only get so far with her, could just not totally break thru. So, a third trainer suggested we do a DNA test, this was about eight years ago. We did. She came back 40% Lab, 15% German Shepard, 15% Bernese Mt Dog, 15% Afgan Hound AND THERE IT WAS. Afgans are very independent. Wonderful dogs but were and are left on their own to hunt for the Afgan people and when they make a kill driven off by the tribal people for the food and so they run off and do another kill for their own food. Very stubborn and independent. You could do one just for fun, they cost about $60.00 right now.

Bud

[Lily&Me]

I think I'd rather not know for sure.

When campgrounds ask what breed of dog she is, I say she is a black lab mix, which is the absolute truth.

The vet she saw in LA and the one here at home both said she was half black lab.

That's good enough for me.

Her feet are webbed, and "black lab" is the first thing that comes to mind when you see her.

Most importantly, she is responsive to training, a devoted companion and good with children. It's other dogs I have to deal with her on, and I am getting better at that.

I find out what to do, she obeys me.


Maggie

[streaminwild]

Originally Posted by paiceman

AND this little girl was thrown out of a car and picked up by two teenagers following and brought to our rescue. They not only brought her to us, but gave us the license plate so we could report to the Humane Officer to follow up. The dog was beaten and burned prior. We've had her for two weeks and she is going to a new home on Saturday, can't wait to take her.

Paiceman I'm shocked at how the former guardian treated Abby. If I was the officer that caught up with that a-hole, my Glock would be missing a 9mm round. Like most people, I'm sadden when a pet passes, just remind yourself no one could have loved the pet any better. I'm glad that Abby is in great hands. You saved her, maybe one day she'll return the favor.

[Photobum]

Maggie, love your comments about Lily. I still see her through Cassie's eyes...there were some moments there...

[Lily&Me]

There were.

But, Cassie set her straight, and I think that was good for Lily, really.

It has been a process.....and, I'm still learning.

She is a wonderful, loving, devoted dog, and I am so glad I have her.



Maggie

[streaminwild]

Maggie, Hope things are going well. I see your buddy Lily is doing her job keeping you busy. Have you been keeping up the maintenance on your vehicles... oil changes, wiper blades, etc. etc. Any planed camping trips with grand kids? You amaze me what a 49 yr. old can do.

[rmkrum]

We just picked a couple Maltese off the street about two weeks ago. Totally matted and starving. A quick vet check and grooming, steady food, and some soft hands, and they came right around.

Dogs are super resilient in the right circumstances. We didn't figure to rescue and foster, but you just can't stand by and see a dog suffer.

The only problem we're having with them is their tendency to lick our ears off and monopolize our laps....😀


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[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by streaminwild

Maggie, Hope things are going well. I see your buddy Lily is doing her job keeping you busy. Have you been keeping up the maintenance on your vehicles... oil changes, wiper blades, etc. etc. Any planed camping trips with grand kids? You amaze me what a 49 yr. old can do.

Oh, you're so funny.

Of course I keep up maintenance on the vehicles. Doug trained me well in those areas.....tried to train me in others, with limited success.

No camping trips planned with the grands at this time, just the day trip to Chicago on the train in June.

Camping with them is a major ordeal, in my new solo life. Their parents aren't ready for them to sleep in the tent alone.....I think they would be fine, at their age and with me very close by and a baby monitor on.....but then, I am much more familiar with campgrounds than they are.

We could all sleep in the tent, but that would be four good-sized children, me, and Lily.

So, not in my sights right now, but we'll see how the summer shakes out. We did a weekend last August, the adults and kids, and that went well, but coordinating time with families here and in Iowa City, and the children's activities, is not an easy feat.

I am dealing with house needs right now, so when those are all done, family gathering and Moraine View rally in June.....may look at that.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by rmkrum

We just picked a couple Maltese off the street about two weeks ago. Totally matted and starving. A quick vet check and grooming, steady food, and some soft hands, and they came right around.

Dogs are super resilient in the right circumstances. We didn't figure to rescue and foster, but you just can't stand by and see a dog suffer.

The only problem we're having with them is their tendency to lick our ears off and monopolize our laps....��

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They're so grateful, aren't they?

I had to get Lily off my lap in the Interstate......before, because I of course am doing the driving now ......that was the only place she wanted to be when we were on the road.

It was like wearing a bear rug, all year round, and 50lbs of dog bruised my legs every time she positioned herself. Me on blood thinners.....not a pretty sight, and it hurt.

If you look carefully at the picture avatar......Doug is driving, I am in the passenger seat, and Lily is in my lap. I think, actually, the passenger side window is down and her head is resting out the window.

We were driving very slowly on those curves when that photo was taken, and she loved to have her head out of the window.

People ask all the time if Lily is a rescue, and I tell them no, she is a foundling.

Could not love her more.


Maggie

[rmkrum]

Maggie,

All our pups are rescues from various bad circumstances. Nothing like a happy warm doggie to keep you company and listen to all your secrets. Best part is that they really do love humans and never tell.

We've traveled with our 4 smallish dogs in our 22 footer. They love to be with their people pack and see new places. It's fun (after the panic recedes) to see them run back to the Aurstream when they get loose. I think they see it as a big traveling dog crate.

Two years ago we put over 5,000 on the Airstream with the pups aboard.

Rich. Scratch Lily's ears for me...




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[Lily&Me]

Lily loves to go in the Interstate. It was her first home with us.

Actually, anywhere her momma is is where she wants to be.

Dogs really enrich oir lives. Don't know what I would have done without her since Doug died.

She generously gives, and eagerly receives love, provides companionship and listens intently.

Dogs. Good for the soul.


Maggie

[rmkrum]

Yup. Absolutely.


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[Lily&Me]

Returned today to the weekly needlework group at the Senior Center here, that I went to a few times late last fall. Familiar faces, new projects, friendly women.

Many of them are in a life track that I just can't identify with, tho.....signing up for bus trips to here and there, classes, working to get the Board to approve this and that.

I am not nearly ready to make the Senior Center a focal point of my life, and don't know that I ever will be.

I don't feel old enough to be doing anything at the Senior Center.....but I'm a Senior, and it provides opportunity for conversation and interaction, and we all have at least one common interest,

The woman sitting next to me was talking about how much she loves to bake bread, but that she simply can't knead bread dough any more. Boy, have I got a recipe for her. Next week.

One of the things I like about this Center is that it is housed in a piece of what is commonly referred to in these parts as "the old ISSCS".

Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's School - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A campus of beautiful old brick buildings about a mile from my house, and which once was at the very edge of this town, that began as an orphanage after the Civil War.......then for many years served as longterm care for generally older children in the foster care system who were not adoptable, for whatever reason.

Some of the cottages have become private residences, others small businesses, private schools, etc., have taken over others.

Many structures empty, but still standing.....sentinels to the past.

ISSCS has been closed since the late 70's, I believe, but served a need in the child welfare system that then permanently became, tragically, unmet.

Altho not a nuclear family, the kids at ISSCS had stability, good care, and one place to call home.

Some of the kids who grew up there married and had families, and we crossed paths with them on occasion. They spoke eagerly, proudly and fondly of "growing up at ISSCS", and of attending reunions with the kids and staff.

One home, one school, one bed, their own things, memories around them.

A life they could look back on as maybe not the best, but adequate, and a firm and stable foundation from which they could grow into adulthood.....as opposed to the chaos of foster care, with multiple placements more often than not, homes that could disrupt and be gone in the blink of an eye.

Not always, of course, but routinely......and no stable place, like ISSCS, for those kids who couldn't do it to land. Heartbreaking.

Whenever I pass "the old ISSCS", I am glad for the children who were able to call it home.


Maggie