they always find me...
well, we've been adopted! india came home yesterday! we were at work, and freedom comes back to the grooming room and says to me "india's coming home TODAY!" and that was that. neither one of us could bear seeing her in the kennel any longer, india was obviously not happy there! so my boss gave us india, a crate, a month's supply of food, and a brand new, really cool, black & grey tribal collar- for five bucks! she would only let me pay for the collar! she was just happy to see india go to a loving home. we'll get 20% off all her vet care, plus meds at cost, and my boss said she'll give me food as we slowly switch india over to a holistic diet like the one clea's on, customized to her breed of course.
i never thought i'd own a black lhasa apso! supposedly that's the most fortunate color of the breed in the eyes of the tibetans; lhasas were their sacred companions and watch dogs, believed to bring prosperity and good fortune to their human companions. they have been the prized companions of the dalai lama for centuries. they really do have an interesting history!
she's made herself right at home. clea's been showing her the ropes, she'll be housebroken in no time. clea doesn't seem to mind her at all, she's been cheerful, wagging her tail. they even snuggled on the couch together. and india is a completely different dog here! she's extremely vivacious and bright eyed, very silly and spunky, and not very mischievous. we're teaching her how to play! she is just now learning what toys are. she's been my little shadow, following me around, wagging her tail. we've been making sure to lavish extra love on clea so there's no jealousy. they have treats, and clea always gets the first one. :)
i was afraid she'd be timid and skittish, and she's been anything but! i've told a few of you about her, but for those who don't know, india has had a very rough life...
she used to belong to a woman who was running from an abusive ex husband; after only 2 content years, they were constantly moving, living out of suitcases, hiding from this guy after she left him. one day, he found them, and he did unspeakable things to both the woman and india. the man was apprehended, but his punishment was surely not enough to pay for what he did to not only that poor woman, but to this sweet, innocent dog as well. when they found india, she was hiding beneath a couch with a floor clearance of barely an inch or two, meaning she would've had to of lifted a full size couch so she could squeeze beneath it. that's how terrified she was. the authorities were going to destroy her, but my boss was contacted and went to her rescue. she had to go to court to get custody of india, and that monster of a man actually tried to fight her!
at first, my boss did wonder if it would have been more humane to put india down after all, but she just couldn't do it. she knew that if she persisted with gentleness and love, india would pull through. that poor dog hid in the back of a crate, in a quiet back room for a year. she would only come out to eat and to eliminate, and even those two accomplishments took a few weeks to achieve. they had to push her food and water bowls to her using a long pole so they wouldn't terrify her. if a man came around, she would scream in terror. no one could touch her for more than a year. the first time patti was able to touch her without india snapping, she said she sobbed for an hour, she was so overwhelmed. this all happened when she was barely three years old.
india finally began to come out of her shell a bit after that first bad year, but she only really trusted patti, her husband, and their grown children. anyone else who worked there couldn't go near her. she would snap when approached by anyone other than her family.
when i first heard about india when i started there, i couldn't stop crying. i thought misty's experience was bad! i couldn't stop thinking about this poor dog, and i hadn't even met her yet. the first time i met her was the friday that heartsong began. my student had india out, and patti was there watching, so amazed that someone other than her could groom india. she started acting up after a bit, so i ended up taking over and finished her, and gave her a bath. she seemed to really like me, but of course, she was cautious. i couldn't stop thinking about her! she was so dirty and ugly looking, and she's ten years old now, but i just knew i'd have to take her home someday. she needed to know a loving home again, where she would feel safe and secure, and have soft furniture to sleep on and carpeting under her feet. i couldn't stop thinking about her all weekend! i kept telling people about her, and i cried every time i thought of her.
after that, i made a point of visiting with india every day i worked. i'd bring her a treat, and she'd let me rub her belly. after only one week, i could hold her, and she was flopping in my lap and making happy snuffly noises when she heard my voice. every nice day there was, i'd take her out to play on my break. we'd chase each other around the building, then she'd let me know when she wanted to go in. she sees a run or a crate as her safe place now, she needs something like that to feel secure. she likes to go back in, then run out again, as if she's making sure she always has her safe place to return to.
i thought i had found the one dog who would be able to comfort me when clea is gone, clea even chose her as her successor. that's another interesting story. :) i had no intentions on having 2 dogs at the same time!! i didn't want clea to feel like she was being replaced, and if she was sick, i didn't think she'd enjoy being bothered with a friend. i spent a lot of time talking to my mom about my little conflict here because she was once where i was. she had zoe, the most spoiled child-dog i know, since zoe was only 3 months old. my mom begged for her for her 37th birthday, she even cried! it was puppy love at first sight! so if anyone was afraid of imposing on their first baby, it was my parents! they had zoe for almost 10 years when my mom's heart went out to a beagle named hannah where she works, which is a dog rescue organization. hannah was always getting beat up by the bigger dogs, so my mom told my dad they were going to foster her. i knew what that meant, she was home to stay! zoe didn't mind her, which was unusual for zoe, and that was that. they make sure to spend a day a week with zoe only so she still feels special, but hannah is now just as spoiled. i'll do the same for my girls. we'll have a weekly pookie day, but india will be spoiled too. :) i asked her if it was a lot to handle, having too dogs, and she said "it might be twice the work sometimes, but it's also twice the love all the time" and now her and my dad each have a puppy to cuddle. :)
as the weeks went by, it became harder and harder to see india living in a run. i cried for her all the time! she was as old as clea, no telling how many years she might have left, so i started to see every day i had to leave her at work as another day india lost, when she could've known round the clock love instead of just half an hour, four days a week. she was always so sad when i put her away!
i decided that if clea was still feeling well for the holidays, we'd bring india home after new years, but only if they got along. my mom reminded me of how much clea enjoys the company of zoe and hannah and kept assuring me that perhaps, like zoe, clea will be happy to have a little sister. india is also very close in size and build to zoe, so maybe she'll remind clea of her. she always loves to see zoe! india would also be someone to snuggle with when we're at work, someone to keep her company. india's not a rowdy puppy, she'll gladly be a couch muffin with clea. i also figured clea would be able to teach her good habits, and she'd have someone to keep her warm when we're away. i was rationalizing it all over the place! :) but ultimately, it was up to clea. if it made her sad, india could stay at work a while longer. clea comes first.
so, we took clea to work one day a couple weeks ago, and when we brought india to her (they met once before, but through a fence), india bounced up to her like a bunny and...clea was wagging her tail! we took them for a run, and they mostly ignored each other, but then they snuggled together on a bed afterwards and snoozed. i asked clea if she wanted india as her friend, and she barked and gave me kisses! :)
we were still worried about the more practical aspect of having another dog, obviously money, but my boss said she'd help me with food and care, because she just wanted to see india go HOME. and since i now get things wholesale through her, any extra costs i do have will be offset by the tons of money i'm saving. patti still gave me free food anyway! how cool is that? a companion animal who essentially pays their own way!
even if this weren't the case, it would only be a short term burden i'm afraid. as well as clea has been feeling, her lymph nodes are swelling, and even though she eats, i can tell her belly is giving her problems again. we're already halfway through the longest dosage schedule recommended for her prednisone treatment. in other words, 6 more weeks, and we have to take her off it for a while or else she'll develop other major issues, like liver and adrenal gland damage. i already know that if she's off it for even a day, she won't eat. period. *sigh* i was starting to hope that she'd be here for the spring, but i was told that 90% of all dogs who get her particular cancer don't survive much longer than 6 months after diagnosis. that will be february for clea. making it through the first 3 months was actually making it further than i think 50% of all the dogs who get this, whether or not they get chemo! i'm still going to hope for another spring with clea, but i'm not going to ignore the fact that it just might be less time than that. even though we have another dog here, clea is still my number one baby, and i'm not going to let her forget that. i'm more prepared now to let her go when she is ready than i was a couple months ago, but that doesn't mean it's going to be any easier. i think india and i need one another, that's why i brought her home.but i want her first days here to be happy and relaxed, not full of my grief. i want her and clea to know one another before clea leaves, so she can rest easy knowing i have someone to take care of, and to take care of me. clea did choose her after all. maybe they already know one another, just like many of us once knew one another. :)
so it hasn't even been 24 hours yet and they're happily dozing on the couch, side by side. they were romping in the backyard together earlier, and went with me when i took freedom to work: india's first "real" car ride, it was just for fun! she loved it. clea just kept looking at me as if to say "what's with HER?" as india bounced around in the back seat, then just stared out the window and wagged her tail. transfixed as if she was just reminded that there was a whole big world out there now for her, no more concrete walls. i had to remind clea that this is new to india. :)
india already looks like a new dog. i gave her a bath last night , and brushed her out. i had just given her a trim last weekend, her hair is now a few inches long and very shiny and silky, yet fluffy! it's so black, it actually has a blue sheen. she doesn't look ugly and dirty anymore, in fact, she's quite a gorgeous little lady! once she grows her hair out some more, she'll be that glossy black all over, except her face, which is tinged with grey. her eyes suddenly look very rich and happy now, she's always smiling! she seemed so old at work, and now that she's home, her spirit has come back to life! it's been an amazing transformation! she was happy from the get go. i told her she was going home and she started running in circles, wagging her tail and making her happy noises. patti thought she's see what india would do if she tried to pick her up, and india snapped at her!!! patti had tears in her eyes and said "i'm so happy for her! that just proved she knows she's finally going home!" in the car, in her crate, she ran circles, wagging her tail, and then she gave freedom kisses. yea, the dog who was terrified of men, loves freedom! she ran right up to him when they met and asked for belly rubs. once we got her here, clea greeted us and was wagging her tail. we got india settled in and immediately began her crate training routine. it's been going very well! she's almost house broken already! clea accepted her immediately. she gave me kisses when i asked her if she was okay with this new arrangement. :) i promised her that nights are her's, india sleeps in her own bed at night. once a week, we'll have clea time. so far, i think it'll work well.
so yea, i've got a little fluffy dog now that i can carry around on one arm! that was once so hard to imagine, but i think i'll have fun playing with her hair! :) i'll let her ears and tail grow really long, maybe keep her legs kind of long. something cute, yet functional. doggie hairdo parlor!! heehee.
clea's happy too, which makes me feel even better about this decision!
ok, i'm going to go cuddle my girls!! :)
i never thought i'd own a black lhasa apso! supposedly that's the most fortunate color of the breed in the eyes of the tibetans; lhasas were their sacred companions and watch dogs, believed to bring prosperity and good fortune to their human companions. they have been the prized companions of the dalai lama for centuries. they really do have an interesting history!
she's made herself right at home. clea's been showing her the ropes, she'll be housebroken in no time. clea doesn't seem to mind her at all, she's been cheerful, wagging her tail. they even snuggled on the couch together. and india is a completely different dog here! she's extremely vivacious and bright eyed, very silly and spunky, and not very mischievous. we're teaching her how to play! she is just now learning what toys are. she's been my little shadow, following me around, wagging her tail. we've been making sure to lavish extra love on clea so there's no jealousy. they have treats, and clea always gets the first one. :)
i was afraid she'd be timid and skittish, and she's been anything but! i've told a few of you about her, but for those who don't know, india has had a very rough life...
she used to belong to a woman who was running from an abusive ex husband; after only 2 content years, they were constantly moving, living out of suitcases, hiding from this guy after she left him. one day, he found them, and he did unspeakable things to both the woman and india. the man was apprehended, but his punishment was surely not enough to pay for what he did to not only that poor woman, but to this sweet, innocent dog as well. when they found india, she was hiding beneath a couch with a floor clearance of barely an inch or two, meaning she would've had to of lifted a full size couch so she could squeeze beneath it. that's how terrified she was. the authorities were going to destroy her, but my boss was contacted and went to her rescue. she had to go to court to get custody of india, and that monster of a man actually tried to fight her!
at first, my boss did wonder if it would have been more humane to put india down after all, but she just couldn't do it. she knew that if she persisted with gentleness and love, india would pull through. that poor dog hid in the back of a crate, in a quiet back room for a year. she would only come out to eat and to eliminate, and even those two accomplishments took a few weeks to achieve. they had to push her food and water bowls to her using a long pole so they wouldn't terrify her. if a man came around, she would scream in terror. no one could touch her for more than a year. the first time patti was able to touch her without india snapping, she said she sobbed for an hour, she was so overwhelmed. this all happened when she was barely three years old.
india finally began to come out of her shell a bit after that first bad year, but she only really trusted patti, her husband, and their grown children. anyone else who worked there couldn't go near her. she would snap when approached by anyone other than her family.
when i first heard about india when i started there, i couldn't stop crying. i thought misty's experience was bad! i couldn't stop thinking about this poor dog, and i hadn't even met her yet. the first time i met her was the friday that heartsong began. my student had india out, and patti was there watching, so amazed that someone other than her could groom india. she started acting up after a bit, so i ended up taking over and finished her, and gave her a bath. she seemed to really like me, but of course, she was cautious. i couldn't stop thinking about her! she was so dirty and ugly looking, and she's ten years old now, but i just knew i'd have to take her home someday. she needed to know a loving home again, where she would feel safe and secure, and have soft furniture to sleep on and carpeting under her feet. i couldn't stop thinking about her all weekend! i kept telling people about her, and i cried every time i thought of her.
after that, i made a point of visiting with india every day i worked. i'd bring her a treat, and she'd let me rub her belly. after only one week, i could hold her, and she was flopping in my lap and making happy snuffly noises when she heard my voice. every nice day there was, i'd take her out to play on my break. we'd chase each other around the building, then she'd let me know when she wanted to go in. she sees a run or a crate as her safe place now, she needs something like that to feel secure. she likes to go back in, then run out again, as if she's making sure she always has her safe place to return to.
i thought i had found the one dog who would be able to comfort me when clea is gone, clea even chose her as her successor. that's another interesting story. :) i had no intentions on having 2 dogs at the same time!! i didn't want clea to feel like she was being replaced, and if she was sick, i didn't think she'd enjoy being bothered with a friend. i spent a lot of time talking to my mom about my little conflict here because she was once where i was. she had zoe, the most spoiled child-dog i know, since zoe was only 3 months old. my mom begged for her for her 37th birthday, she even cried! it was puppy love at first sight! so if anyone was afraid of imposing on their first baby, it was my parents! they had zoe for almost 10 years when my mom's heart went out to a beagle named hannah where she works, which is a dog rescue organization. hannah was always getting beat up by the bigger dogs, so my mom told my dad they were going to foster her. i knew what that meant, she was home to stay! zoe didn't mind her, which was unusual for zoe, and that was that. they make sure to spend a day a week with zoe only so she still feels special, but hannah is now just as spoiled. i'll do the same for my girls. we'll have a weekly pookie day, but india will be spoiled too. :) i asked her if it was a lot to handle, having too dogs, and she said "it might be twice the work sometimes, but it's also twice the love all the time" and now her and my dad each have a puppy to cuddle. :)
as the weeks went by, it became harder and harder to see india living in a run. i cried for her all the time! she was as old as clea, no telling how many years she might have left, so i started to see every day i had to leave her at work as another day india lost, when she could've known round the clock love instead of just half an hour, four days a week. she was always so sad when i put her away!
i decided that if clea was still feeling well for the holidays, we'd bring india home after new years, but only if they got along. my mom reminded me of how much clea enjoys the company of zoe and hannah and kept assuring me that perhaps, like zoe, clea will be happy to have a little sister. india is also very close in size and build to zoe, so maybe she'll remind clea of her. she always loves to see zoe! india would also be someone to snuggle with when we're at work, someone to keep her company. india's not a rowdy puppy, she'll gladly be a couch muffin with clea. i also figured clea would be able to teach her good habits, and she'd have someone to keep her warm when we're away. i was rationalizing it all over the place! :) but ultimately, it was up to clea. if it made her sad, india could stay at work a while longer. clea comes first.
so, we took clea to work one day a couple weeks ago, and when we brought india to her (they met once before, but through a fence), india bounced up to her like a bunny and...clea was wagging her tail! we took them for a run, and they mostly ignored each other, but then they snuggled together on a bed afterwards and snoozed. i asked clea if she wanted india as her friend, and she barked and gave me kisses! :)
we were still worried about the more practical aspect of having another dog, obviously money, but my boss said she'd help me with food and care, because she just wanted to see india go HOME. and since i now get things wholesale through her, any extra costs i do have will be offset by the tons of money i'm saving. patti still gave me free food anyway! how cool is that? a companion animal who essentially pays their own way!
even if this weren't the case, it would only be a short term burden i'm afraid. as well as clea has been feeling, her lymph nodes are swelling, and even though she eats, i can tell her belly is giving her problems again. we're already halfway through the longest dosage schedule recommended for her prednisone treatment. in other words, 6 more weeks, and we have to take her off it for a while or else she'll develop other major issues, like liver and adrenal gland damage. i already know that if she's off it for even a day, she won't eat. period. *sigh* i was starting to hope that she'd be here for the spring, but i was told that 90% of all dogs who get her particular cancer don't survive much longer than 6 months after diagnosis. that will be february for clea. making it through the first 3 months was actually making it further than i think 50% of all the dogs who get this, whether or not they get chemo! i'm still going to hope for another spring with clea, but i'm not going to ignore the fact that it just might be less time than that. even though we have another dog here, clea is still my number one baby, and i'm not going to let her forget that. i'm more prepared now to let her go when she is ready than i was a couple months ago, but that doesn't mean it's going to be any easier. i think india and i need one another, that's why i brought her home.but i want her first days here to be happy and relaxed, not full of my grief. i want her and clea to know one another before clea leaves, so she can rest easy knowing i have someone to take care of, and to take care of me. clea did choose her after all. maybe they already know one another, just like many of us once knew one another. :)
so it hasn't even been 24 hours yet and they're happily dozing on the couch, side by side. they were romping in the backyard together earlier, and went with me when i took freedom to work: india's first "real" car ride, it was just for fun! she loved it. clea just kept looking at me as if to say "what's with HER?" as india bounced around in the back seat, then just stared out the window and wagged her tail. transfixed as if she was just reminded that there was a whole big world out there now for her, no more concrete walls. i had to remind clea that this is new to india. :)
india already looks like a new dog. i gave her a bath last night , and brushed her out. i had just given her a trim last weekend, her hair is now a few inches long and very shiny and silky, yet fluffy! it's so black, it actually has a blue sheen. she doesn't look ugly and dirty anymore, in fact, she's quite a gorgeous little lady! once she grows her hair out some more, she'll be that glossy black all over, except her face, which is tinged with grey. her eyes suddenly look very rich and happy now, she's always smiling! she seemed so old at work, and now that she's home, her spirit has come back to life! it's been an amazing transformation! she was happy from the get go. i told her she was going home and she started running in circles, wagging her tail and making her happy noises. patti thought she's see what india would do if she tried to pick her up, and india snapped at her!!! patti had tears in her eyes and said "i'm so happy for her! that just proved she knows she's finally going home!" in the car, in her crate, she ran circles, wagging her tail, and then she gave freedom kisses. yea, the dog who was terrified of men, loves freedom! she ran right up to him when they met and asked for belly rubs. once we got her here, clea greeted us and was wagging her tail. we got india settled in and immediately began her crate training routine. it's been going very well! she's almost house broken already! clea accepted her immediately. she gave me kisses when i asked her if she was okay with this new arrangement. :) i promised her that nights are her's, india sleeps in her own bed at night. once a week, we'll have clea time. so far, i think it'll work well.
so yea, i've got a little fluffy dog now that i can carry around on one arm! that was once so hard to imagine, but i think i'll have fun playing with her hair! :) i'll let her ears and tail grow really long, maybe keep her legs kind of long. something cute, yet functional. doggie hairdo parlor!! heehee.
clea's happy too, which makes me feel even better about this decision!
ok, i'm going to go cuddle my girls!! :)