I also chose a beautiful fuchsia called a Quasar fuchsia to hang on my deck to attract the hummingbirds. This also serves as kitty TV and keeps the monsters occupied for hours. For the brief 5 minutes it took me to put down the hanging fuchsia inside and go out to plant the flowers, Dexter took over and tried to ruin spring. This is what my fuchsia will look like when it's flowering:
IF it survives Dexter. He is a magnet for destroying anything living and my house is now destitute of plants because of him.
You do not see me. I have *nothing* in my mouth.
Caught red handed by the Polar Bear who polices Dexter the Menace in my absence.
My quasar fuchsia is now short a blossom which Dexter promptly ripped off of it and carried around in his mouth all day until he got it stuck under the sofa.
Despite the new lovely flowers on my deck, we had slushy rain today. It is freezing cold and wet and even the Polar Bear has been residing on the sofa.
In the great hunt for a new dog, I finally dispelled with the idea of puppies for now. I don't think PB is up for having excitable, playful balls of fur in his face and I am not up for being up all day after work because a puppy won't sleep through the day...or the night.
I did attend an adoption event last week but didn't see any dogs that caught my eye. I went to our local humane society where I got my beloved Hudson. But there again, a lovely St. Bernard I would have taken but he doesn't get along with cats. Stymied every time.
So I went back to avidly searching petfinder on the few days I could get myself off the sofa and I found this site: www.bigdogshugepaws.com. They are based in Colorado and as the name suggests, rescue only giant breeds. I was very impressed with their setup, layout and the way they vet their prospective adopters. I filled out an application and while I am not sure yet if I am ready for that step, the process is long and I will at least have an adoption application on file.
That said, I immediately fell in love with a beautiful Great Dane they have listed who is blind. I know I cannot handle another dog with "mental" issues at the moment but I think I can do a physical disability. So I have left my feelers out there. Janet from Akbash rescue is keeping her eyes open for an older female Akbash. My application is on file with Big Dogs Huge Paws and in the meantime I go to all the local adoption events to see what we find.
On the Polar Bear front, despite some setbacks with the reduced Prozac, he still continues to amaze me with how far he has come and how much courage he has. My 89 year old grandfather moved up to the PNW to be closer to family so he now lives about 15 minutes from my parents. We have a family dinner every Sunday night and of course Baby, whom he calls "The Babe", always accompanies me.
PB has done fabulously well with Grandpa. Within two days he learned to approach him, lick his hand and take treats from him. And to his credit Grandpa has been wonderful with him - he intuitively understands how to handle him, to be quiet and low key and let PB move at his own pace. At dinner yesterday, PB spent most of the meal with his head resting on my dad's knee begging in his quiet, delicate way for some chicken. Who would ever have thought...?
The only downside to having my grandfather here: a clash of the chocolate lovers. I leave the room for one minute and guess who gets to lick the spoon?
Wide. No, wider...
On May 13th, PB begins his Shy Dog Manners class at the Humane Society. The instructor has met both him and Hudson when I first brought him home so she is familiar with him and his issues and I like her a lot. I am not sure what to expect or if he will be able to deal with it but there's only one way to find out. I have been intensively working with him and his barrier frustration with other dogs. He has improved immensely. We each have our walking therapy every day - me with my non-doctor sanctioned long walks up and down hills to build my quads back up and PB practicing meeting dogs and men with little or no reaction. Raise your paw if you will work for treats.
Mememememememememememe!
Finally, to end on a more solemn note, thoughts and hopes go out to Baby's step-foster brother Bear who has recently undergone some extensive surgery to try to correct a number of serious health problems. We are keeping all our toes, claws and extra dew claw crossed that he will recover well and live many more years.
I may be shaved but I am still a very handsome boy.
And to Hudson, who I had to put down a year ago Saturday. He was the love of my life and not a day goes by that I don't miss him and think of him. I'll see you again someday Boo.
1 comment:
I miss boo boo too.
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