Tag: Gardens Golden Retrievers
Change Comes Bearing Gifts
As Ina and I surveyed the garden this week, we both remarked on its changed appearance. Where there was light, shadows now creep.
Where there was once deep earth, roots have taken over. Both are the result of competition from maturing trees that grace us with their shade – but have changed the face and planting pockets of what was once our sun-soaked garden.
Things get rearranged; plants are re-homed – not thrown away. It is part of the life of the garden and to be expected. A gardener adapts to whatever mother nature throws her way with a different – but no less a beautiful – outcome.
“If nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies.” ~Author Unknown
Life has thrown a few curveballs to the dogs in our care, as well.
Lost,
orphaned,
and left behind. Most are here with us through no fault of their own, just waiting for the right someone to reimagine a life with them in it.
Nearly identical brothers Max and Felix could not be bigger loves.
Their human parents were tragically lost together. Now these adorable lugs are looking for a forever home. Their only demand: endless belly rubs.
Diesel was expertly trained and well-loved but lost his home when his humans moved to a new country.
Today, he is the new love of another family who counts him among their many blessings.
“Change always comes bearing gifts.” ~ Price Pritchett
The trees in the garden have gifted us with cooling shade for the doggies
and a place for other less sun-thirsty plants.
My hope is that, out of tragedy, Max and Felix will soon be gifted with the comfort and love of ‘home.’
Wordless Wednesday: Laughing Lucy
Morning Rounds
In Defense of My Summer Garden
Don’t look too closely at the Homeward Bound Memorial Garden, much less my own.
The dahlias are late, the sunflowers are sad, and the weeds are winning. But I have an excuse.
Actually, 12 excuses.
All of them adorable.
The puppy list is long at Homeward Bound, so everyone is sworn to social media secrecy when a litter arrives. And what an arrival!
With all puppies spoken for, and some already home, the cone of silence has been lifted, and you can see for yourself what poopy cuteness has been keeping me from the garden.
They came to us as a result of a partnership with another rescue, Forever Friends Golden Retriever Rescue in Ventura. A hugely handsome dad, Harley;
a long, leggy mom, Molly;
and their 12 tiny “oops-puppies” surrendered by a woman in ill health, unable to care for them.
Puppies don’t raise themselves. Molly was a devoted and exhausted mom. Dad got himself adopted right away, and made a run for playtime on the coast, naturally! As soon as it was healthy, we weaned the pups and took over the heavy lifting for Molly.
Keep in mind: what goes in…
must come out,
and then it must be splattered on everything and everyone in sight!
For the past few weeks, I have arrived every morning to clean them and their mountain of mess – part of a team that watches over them day and night.
And while the garden has indeed suffered, watching these little fur balls grow, thrive – and go home to long-waiting families – makes it all worthwhile. Including sweet Connor who found his home with mom, Molly!
Six are now home; the rest will soon follow. Then, I will make my way back to the neglected and overgrown garden. Watch out weeds!
A Family Complete
“You have no idea how happy they have made me.”
For those who have followed their story, I am overjoyed to tell you that Lilly and Lucy’s journey is now complete. And while they are beginning a brand new chapter in their lives, we could not have written a better ending to this one.
The family that adopted them had been waiting and searching for a bonded pair after losing their beloved pup two years ago. It took time for their hearts to heal, and then, they wanted to make sure that their children were old enough to respect and care for a dog. Connected through one of our volunteers, they came to meet the girls last weekend. Wisely believing that the entire family needed to be on board with their adoption, they took some time to think it through. Our hopes were answered when the answer came: “yes!” While the kids were under the weather, their mom, Meg, could wait no longer. This weekend, she drove back with her daughter’s friend (a future rescuer, we are sure!) to take Lilly and Lucy home.
Their foster dad had drafted copious notes about their likes, dislikes, personalities, and behaviors. While all this great information was being relayed, a deep connection was already forming.
Lilly, in particular, was our concern. She had a history of not connecting to people right away – while Lucy is very adaptable, easy-go-lucky, and gives her kisses freely. But there was a special bond formed between Meg and Lilly from the start, reminiscent of the one that Lilly had for Erika, the woman who rescued her from the streets of Islamabad.
With notes in hand and the paperwork complete, Meg gently lifted each dog into new travel crates, side-by-side, with a window between them so the girls could see each other. In each crate were new toys and color-coded leashes and collars.
The drive home was easy, and excited text messages relayed their joy.
“Our family is complete now.”
The joy was shared on the other side of the world by two women – their rescuers and original “moms” – relieved and at peace that their girls were safe, loved, and finally home. They did right by Lilly and Lucy, taking them into their homes, nursing them back to health, and loving them knowing the risk to their hearts. And then, they got them to us, so we could help complete another family. An act of sacrifice and selfless love that will not be forgotten.
“If I had a single flower for every time I think of you, I could walk forever in my garden.” ~ Claudia Adrienne Grandi
Wordless Wednesday: When She Smiles
The Long Way Home
Typically, a bee will travel about two miles in search of food. When nectar or pollen is scarce, the journey can extend two to three times as far. To a tiny bee, that is a great distance flight and a long, exhausting way home to the hive.
For the first part of their lives, “home” for Lilly and Lucy was the streets of Pakistan. Scavenging, starving, relying on the mercy of strangers and garbage scraps.
Home for Erika and Gwen is the United States. But as Foreign Service gypsies, their current home is Pakistan. They have traveled the world to often dangerous places: Haiti, Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, and more. The locals can be hostile, and, as auditors, they are not exactly welcomed by their peers, either. It’s a lonely and isolating life filled with security alerts and lockdowns, but they find the work fulfilling as their purpose is to ensure that foreign aid gets to those most in need. With frequent reassignments, they try not to make attachments. But when Lilly and Lucy crossed their paths, they simply failed to look away.
Lilly was one at the time, half-starved and missing a back paw. Lucy was an eight-month-old bag of bones, staying by the side of her mother and her latest litter of puppies. Erika and Gwen took them in, nursed them back to health, and they found a new home together. The two became inseparable.
When both Erika and Gwen learned they would be redeployed to new posts and tiny apartments without the benefit of yards, the panic set in. Against all good sense, they had fallen firmly in love with these dogs, now three and four, and there was no way they were abandoning them. The expat community is large and, like the military, they do their best to have each other’s backs. Erika and Gwen explored every avenue but were quickly running out of options.
A distant connection and recent adopter suggested Homeward Bound. As difficult as it would be to give the girls up, they knew that a permanent home was what they needed and deserved. They reached out to us, hoping that, if their dogs couldn’t pass for Goldens, they might find some golden hearts among us. Of course, we said “yes,” which is how Lilly and Lucy began the longest way “home.”
I wrote about them for the rescue to begin to get the word out.
On Thursday, after two days’ journey across one-third of the globe, Lilly and Lucy arrived in San Francisco where Judy, one of our transport team members, and I met them.
Tired and confused, it took almost three hours to get them off the plane and out of customs. They still had to endure the long crawl through rush hour traffic back to the Sacramento Valley. It was nearly dark when we got back to the rescue, a twelve hour day.
We let them out of the van and took them to the Park, where they ran – and ran – and ran.
I don’t think they had experienced that much open space since their days in the streets. Exhausted, we gave them dinner and put them to bed – together.
They have adjusted well,
enjoying the open country space,
their feeders and dog walkers,
and their visitors: the couple that connected them to us.
For Erika, Gwen, Lilly and Lucy, it has been a very long and stressful journey. There is one more to go. After we have a chance to spend some time with the dogs and gain a full understanding of their needs, we will help them to find their most important home: their forever home.
Bing’s Cinderella Hour
As the summer heat sets in, I prefer to work the garden in the early evening whenever possible.
The Delta Breeze blows lightly to cool the valley, and the setting sun saturates color and creates little jewels through the lens.
“The pale stars were sliding into their places. The whispering of the leaves was almost hushed. All about them it was still and shadowy and sweet. It was that wonderful moment when, for lack of a visible horizon, the not yet darkened world seems infinitely greater—a moment when anything can happen, anything be believed in.” ~ Olivia Howard Dunbar, The Shell of Sense
Unlike the morning which is always chaotic – the gardeners and the dogs racing against the sun and the heat of the day – the evening is productive but blessedly peaceful.
The bunnies, lazy lizards, and settling in birds keep me company as the dogs fall into an exhausted hush.
Twilight is a magical time giving rise to winged beauties and fairy tales – when “anything can be believed in.” Like Bing’s “going home.”
Bing came to us all the way from Taiwan. He’s been home before – unsuccessfully. It was all too much for him then: too much temptation, too many ways to get into trouble! He hollered at other dogs, hunted cats, and little critters best beware.
But people? He has always loved people.
He went home; he came back. He went home; he came back. But something interesting happened as Bing waited in our care: he changed. Not completely. But maybe, just enough. So much so that, last week, he even accompanied one of our volunteers to the annual reunion picnic.
He behaved like a model citizen in a venue filled with dogs and chaos, winning everyone’s attention and praise.
Bing must have felt like a prince at the ball. Transported in style; meeting friends old and new. When the clock struck midnight, he probably assumed his Cinderella moment was over. But by proving himself in a most unexpected way – he earned his “going home” papers, instead. Lorey, one of our devoted volunteers, made him her own.
Photo courtesy Rob Kessel
Anything can happen. Anything can be believed in. That’s the magic of the garden at sunset – and this place we call Homeward Bound.
Faith and Hope
My name is Hope. Aka “Tootsie.” Otherwise known as the “Come Back Kid,” “Braveheart,” “Too-Smart-For-My-Own-Good,” and “Houdini.” The latter being how I found myself back behind bars.
I’m here with my sister, Faith. Aka “Adorable,” “Sweetness,” “Girl-With-The-Green-Eyes,” and “Tag-Along,” – meaning I’ll follow my sister’s lead wherever it takes me, which is how she, too, became incarcerated.
We spent the last week visiting with the gardener lady and her big dogs. She felt like our Aunt Jody could use a well-deserved break. We think Aunt Jody was secretly betting that we’d be back in 24 hours! LOL. It’s not that we are bad pups. It’s just that we are a lot of work.
So who better to take care of us for a while than a gardener: already a believer in what faith and hope can do when paired with effort. Where others see a blank slate of dirt, a gardener sees a landscape transformed – trusting in the potential.
While all puppies are work, we were born with this extra special thing called Megaesophagus. It means that the tube that sends food down has a tendency to return it if we don’t eat upright and stay that way for a while after each meal.
Gravity is our friend, so we eat in a Hello Kitty® chair. Humiliating, right?
Couldn’t they make a Hello Puppy chair?
But we know the drill, to the point of seating ourselves. Just watch this:
And when we get bigger, we’ll eat and rest in a real dog, specially made, Bailey Chair. There are lots of dogs like us. They make us extra adorable so people will overlook our special needs.
After we eat, we sit upright on the gardener’s lap or standing between her knees while everything makes its way to our tummies. We watch the birds and squirrels in the garden or all the moving pictures on this big black box. We have developed a fondness for The Food Network, TLC, and movie classics. I’m sure we could grow to love sports, too – but that’s not her thing.
We play hard. Really hard. With each other –
And our friends.
But when we’re done, we curl up and snuggle. Sister love.
All of this to show that we can fit into someone’s life and home without too much trouble. We hope that our special someone will see it that way.
We’re going back to Aunt Jody tomorrow. The gardener’s big dog has some medical stuff to do and would prefer to do it in “peace and quiet” – whatever that is.
And Aunt Jody will be on the lookout for special people for us. It’s easier to win your heart when our cute faces are in yours.
So do us a favor? Don’t mention the chewed wall, great toilet paper rolling contest, or how we like to dump our water bucket to make giant puddles. Let’s just say we are cute, cuddly, and endearing – and leave it at that! Oh, and if you have a spare hacksaw – send it our way??
Sincerely,
Faith and Hope (aka Tootsie)
****UPDATE!****
As they have grown, Aunt Jody has been working with the girls and figured out how to feed them differently so they can be as close to “normal” dogs as possible, now. No more special chairs! The key is in getting them to “graze” on their meals instead of wolfing them down. And they are doing great. So great, in fact, that Hope found her way home!
This means that sweet Faith is all by her lonesome. She is hoping that she, too, can find her someone special – preferably someone that either works from home, or is home often. We’re putting the word out and hoping you will share. Let’s get this adorable girl with the gorgeous green eyes a home of her own!
“Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.” ~ Christopher Reeve
Double Dog Dare You
Some said we could never tame this once-wild acre of thistle and weeds into a garden.
Apparently, we like a challenge.
Some things are their own reward.
But when the gauntlet is thrown down, and the impossible is achieved – victory is that much more gratifying.
So it was this week with some of our “Going Homes.” Jet (now Jasper) had a file as thick as an encyclopedia. He had been bounced around like a ping-pong ball for his one failing: he leaked. And not pee!
They said it was impossible, but our Doc proved otherwise. He’ll be on a strict diet for the rest of his life, but treats are easy to forgo when you exchange them for love and a forever home. Saturday, his foster mom joined our “Failed Foster Club” and made it official.
Myra celebrated Mother’s Day by adopting her own human “mom” (and dad!).
She is one of our dogs rescued from the South Korea dog meat market (I wrote about it here). What a journey they have had. Rescued by the Humane Society International, and brought to us by their partner in the effort, the San Francisco SPCA, she was part of a group of four with emotional and behavioral needs so extreme that they needed lots of TLC to be adoptable. This was Myra shortly after her arrival.
So fearful were they, that they were transported directly from crate to kennel when they first arrived. Sunday, Myra – now Kono – departed with her new humans,
just as Tag (now Max) did a couple weeks ago.
And – if you can keep a secret for a day – Roger, too. He went home as foster-to-adopt…adopt being the operative word!
That leaves only Lena, who still needs a little more support.
But she has found a confidence-building playmate in Cooper who is helping her come out of her shell.
And this week, we received two new puppies (my little man, Beau, packed his bags and headed for home). Both have Megaesophagus – or expansion of the esophagus. In their case, likely hereditary.
Dogs with Megaesophagus will suddenly start regurgitating undigested food soon after eating. As they lose weight, they are at risk. So I will hope that, once again, we can do the impossible.
“The difference between the difficult and the impossible is that the impossible takes a little longer time.” ~Lady Aberdeen
I double dog dare you to tell us we can’t.
Puppyhood: Nature vs. Nuture
“Whatcha in for, little man?”
“Being a puppy,” says Beau.
It’s a familiar story: people purchase a puppy expecting the adult characteristics of a dog in the canine version of a human toddler – only with super sharp teeth and without diapers!
Too many dogs are relinquished to shelters because someone took home an adorable furball that grew and grew into a holy terror. Beau is lucky. His humans recognized early on that this was too much for them. And while it is no doubt a very difficult decision to surrender him to us, they did him a great service my doing it sooner rather than later. At only three months of age, Beau is still impressionable, but the timing of our work with him is critical.
In a garden, two identical plants – even side by side – can grow at dissimilar rates and bloom differently. Is it nature? Or nurture? Maybe a little of both.
The soil may be slightly different; surrounding plants may throw just a touch more shade or shelter creating a tiny micro-climate. Or an unruly tree root may be creating competition for one’s growth.
Why do some puppies thrive, and others turn “terrible?” Between three and seven weeks, puppies learn the difference between canine and human ways. The critical human socialization period is between seven and 12 weeks of age. It overlaps with a “fear impact age” somewhere between eight and 12 weeks where negative interactions can lead to permanent associations. Positive human socialization and avoidance of fear-inducing experiences can shape an adult dog’s temperament and behaviors for life.
So there are certain facts about a dog’s nature and development, but they can be very much influenced by proper nurturing.
Beau is quick with his teeth. He jumps up. He has all the traits of a Lab: energetic, busy, chewing, and expressive when he does not get his way.
It can be off-putting to someone who is not used to the ways of puppies whose energy has to be expended before the cuddle bug can come out.
We found the perfect way to expend Beau’s energy: her name is Daphne. She is hanging out with us until she is old enough to have cataract surgery to restore her sight.
And lest you think that Beau has one up on our sightless little girl…
think again!
Daphne is schooling Beau in dog manners –
While we work on his people ones.
There is a cuddle bug in there.
Just as the bloom is in that plant.
You just have to put in a little extra effort and wait for it.
Gardens For Goldens 