Wordless Wednesday

Introducing Zaphod

We would like to extent a warm welcome to Zaphod. After an intense interviewing process we have decided he is a suitable member for our pack.

Here is a little about him: He is a shepherd, between ages of 1-2.  He was found as a stray and picked up by the Plantagenet pound. He was seriously underweight suggesting he had been on his own for a while (he still has some weight to put on).  He was rescued by Catahoula Rescue (the same rescue that saved Haley from a certain death). After letting Gloria Baggs from the rescue know we were looking, she suggested Zaphod as he is cat friendly (a little interested in Nin today as Nin will not stop hissing and he clearly wants to be his friend) and a real calm soul. He had been with his foster mom Jenn for 2ish weeks.

Getting to know him, it is clear that he had been with people before. He sort of gets the house rules, he understands and listens to the word no (this has never happened in our house before) and he has better recall then Miss Bug (it is sad when the stray has better behaviour then my own dog that I have worked with for 2 years. Hailey says this is because she is a free spirit and not meant to be the subject to human control).

I will admit I never pictured myself owning a shepherd, but he is so calm and sweet and this is what I wanted over breed. This is a reminder that we should not judge a dog by its breed anymore than we should judge a person by their race or ethnicity. We should all be judged for our actions or inactions.

After a great play and run with Hailey, we had a quiet evening. After Jenn and Gloria left last night he just sat by the door. He would periodically come check to see what we were doing, but then would just sit by the door. After a while he did settle in to our bedroom with us. We are very happy to report that he seemed very happy to sleep on the floor (we really don't have room in our bed).

This morning he has been more active. He and Hailey have had a good wrestle and we had a great game of fetch in the dining room (it is 29 feet long so lots of room for fetch). He seems happy to be walking around exploring, while Hailey is happy to be napping on the couch.

He has marked in the house twice. Once just before Gloria and Jenn left (on our bed of course) and this morning in the garage where I had taken him to eat. I don't know what it is about this garage and peeing.

The big test today will be can I take both of them for a walk.

Our big decisions today: 1) do we change his name 2)  do we want to get a crate for him for when we are both out. If so, where do we put it?

So that is my crazy life for today. I am sure Lee and Big Zee will have many adventures together! (Things more exciting then they both pooped on leash when I had both of them together this morning).

Days without Destruction - 0

Wow, it has been a very long time since I wrote about destruction. This is because Ms. Bug has been a pretty good girl.

Yesterday, we decided it was in our best interest to go to town and get a few things. Going to Gatineau is now a big deal (it is about 30 minutes to the Gatineau shopping district of Maloney). Off we went. While we were gone a storm rolled in. (I got drenched in town, like ring your undies out drenched but there was no thunder etc). We are not sure how it was at our place in the mountains, but the power had been out, so we think there was either thunder or strong winds. Ms. Bug does not like the thunder. So this is what she did:

Door to garage

While we appreciate she suffers from anxiety, this really ticked us off. Here we are in our new house and she is wrecking the place. We are going to take a few days and figure out what we can do for her. It is possible a friend will calm her down. Our vet has been suggesting drugs for her for months, we may explore this. We are also wondering if going back to crating her would be helpful. We have a HUGE garage we could set the crate up in (so if she did get out, she couldn't destroy anything).  Time will tell.

Other updates: She is on a regular poop schedule and even pooped on leash this morning. However, yesterday when I was putting some empty boxes in the garage she went in and peed there. What a girl!

You know you are a true dog owner when

Your dog hasn't pooped for 2 days and you are getting worried and when she finally goes (in the garage of all places) you are just so happy you can't scold her!  (Later when she asked to go to the garage to poop I took her outside and waited her out and she finally went in the bush - it is hard to imagine there is not a spot on these 2 acres that is not suitable for pooping!)

Turkeys and horses and toads, oh my

We are now country people! This has meant a lot of new wildlife for Hailey. Within 30 minutes of being at the new house, a flock of turkeys walked by the window. I wish I had the camera handy at the time, the look on her face at the size of the birds was priceless!

During our walk to the lake, we encountered the evil horses. Currently 5 horses live in the field across the road from us. Hailey does not like them. If she can see them she barks and barks and barks. Last evening the horses were in the field directly across from our house. She could see them from the front door . . .  her barking drove me crazy and I eventually dragged huge boxes in front of the door so she couldn't see them.

Other wildlife adventures have included: Encounters with a toad one night, which resulted in the licking of the toad. Chasing a bazillion crickets (Lee can bounce about 3 feet straight up in the air if she wants to). Tracking goodness knows what (this mornings walk it was clearly deer we were following). A wade in the lake (I think because it was so calm she just walked in, we will see if we can get her to swim!)

Who knows what today's adventures will bring!

Moving Day!

Finally this day is here! We will likely be off line for a few days as we don't get internet at the new place until Satruday (gasp! How will we live?)

Here is Lee helping unpack during a visit yesterday.

Grief at 1 year

Today marks one year since probably the worst thing that has every happened to me, the death of Gemini. For those who may be newer to the blog, Gemi received a head injury as a result of rough play from another dog last year. The symptoms of the head injury didn't show up until 3 days after the injury. She was left brain dead and I had to make the decision to have her euthanized 5 days after the accident. All of this happened while my husband was away (he went to Europe to meet up with his brother who was on leave from a tour in Afghanistan).

Looking back now, I must admit I have no idea how I got through those first days and weeks. I lived with many of the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I lived on edge. There were days I was barely able to function. Showering became the hardest task. I dreaded it because I knew going into the tub opened up this pandora's box of grief (aka hysterical crying - FYI  it is hard to wash your hair and dangerous to shave your legs if you are crying that hard). I could barely go to the dog park, any play sent flashes to the accident. It was freakin' terrible. 

But I did live through it and now whenever I am faced with something stressful I say "I lived through Gemi's death, I can do this." (With all the stress of moving, and praying for a buyer and bank errors, I have been saying this a lot!). This past week, Gemi's ghost has definitely been with me and I have had some challenging moments. 

While I haven't talked about it here, Gemi is always on my mind. Usually more good/funny things than pain. Last month while at Conroy for a walk on a stinking hot day my brother-in-law and I discussed how Gemi would have hated this heat. She would have not refused to walk, but walked so slowly that you were sure a turtle would beat her. And if you had tried to pick her up . . . she would have given you the evil Gemi eye.

Even a year later I still occasionally have waves of grief and guilt. They are further apart and less intense than those first few months. (So don't worry I have been able to shower this year!)

I think the thing that I am struck with is that I feel like the accident and her death changed me. Maybe not so much in a way that others would see, but inside I have felt different since then. This is so different then Loki's death (he died after a lengthy battle with an auto-immune disorder). I think the difference is, rational, fair or not, is that I see Gemi's death as preventable. It was an accident. Loki's was something I could not do a darn thing about, it was internal. I think being involved in an accident, (even one where everyone would agree was not foreseen and they would not have done anything differently), always leaves you with a "should have." It also showed these things could happen in my rather blessed life. I am not immune from tragedy.  

All of this and maybe because it was only 14 months or so after Loki's death, "broke" a part of me. I don't know if it can be repaired, nor do I always think it should be repaired. I believe the scars we carry (internally and externally) do make us who we are and remind us of the good, the bad and sometimes the really ugly of our lives. The show that we have lived and are reminders that we have survived things. They can also help put other things in perspective and give us the strength to endure new challenges. 

 This being said, of course if I could go back to 1 minute before the accident I would avoid this scar and still have my Gemi (who would likely hate day camp and be making this move stuff harder); But since I can't, I will just live with it. Maybe that is the balance I must strike in my life. To have had the joy of my Gemi for 6 years, I have to carry the pain of her death with me for the rest of mine. 

We go forward in our lives. Loving our cats and Lee. Preparing for a move to the country, a new start so to speak. But where ever I go, both Loki and Gemi are always with me. I think this comic probably shows how all bereaved dog owners feel: