Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Before There Was You

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Before there was you, I was overwhelmed. Treading water in a fast paced world where people seem to think only of themselves.

Before there was you, I had no direction. I was wandering aimlessly through life, not knowing which path I should take.

Before there was you, I was lonely.  The kids were gone and I needed someone to love and nurture.

Before there was you, I was a person who thought, “It’s just a dog.”

Before there was you, I wasn’t me.

Nine years ago the wonder that is you was born.  Little did I know when I said, “I want a dog,” how my life would change.

You’ve given and taught me so much and re-awakened a portion of my soul I’d forgotten I had.  Thank you seems so inadequate.  But today as we celebrate the wonder that is you, I will try.  I will try with all my heart to show you that you are special and loved, the way you’ve shown me these last nine years.

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Happy birthday my sweet, beautiful boy.  I love you to the moon and back.

 

Some of Them Just Touch Your Heart

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Sometimes the universe gives you exactly what you need.

Saturday Hubby and I went to a family run pet store.  As often happens we started talking about dogs and dog food.  Turns out this lady started her pet store because one of her dogs had food allergies and she couldn’t get the food he needed.

We shared that Delilah is a rescue and she shared that she has rescued a few dogs. I asked if she’d heard about the Just One Day project and she hadn’t, so we exchanged cards so I could get her the information she needs so she can help promote next year’s one day.

I also told her that I shared dogs on my facebook page and participated in a blog hop that shared dogs in need of homes.

I said, “Some of them just touch your heart.”

Hubby said, “They all touch your heart.”

Yes of course they all touch my heart, how could they not? Since I’ve been sharing dogs both on facebook and here, I must have shared hundreds, if not more.  Do I remember them all?   I’d be lying if I said I did.

Sometimes I think it’s for my own self-preservation.  The sadness of animal welfare in this country can be overwhelming.   I’d never sleep if I remembered them all.

But there are some that haunt me.  I remember their faces and I remember their names.

Looking at her sweet face just about breaks my heart.

Looking at her sweet face just about breaks my heart.

Dogs like Penelope, who even though she is safe in foster care looks so worried.

#24XXXURGENT: Hound, Dog; Bloomfield, CT

Dogs like Little Lady No Name, who is eight-years old, blind and possibly pregnant.  (I did find out they were calling her Moo Shu or #24.)

I started talking about Little Lady No Name and sharing her story, when suddenly the woman’s daughter exclaimed, “She was adopted!”

“Are you sure?” I think I might have clutched at my chest where my heart should be.

She grabbed her phone and started scrolling, explaining as she did that she follows the Hartford Pound.  And then she showed me her picture and said, “This girl?”

I nodded my head, “Yes, yes that’s her.”

“She was adopted.”

It took every fiber of my being not to sob with joy.  She made it out!

I said in last week’s Follow-Up Friday post that I don’t check on the dogs because it will break my heart to find out they didn’t make it.  But this time, the universe gave me just what I needed.

Oh she’ll probably still haunt me but in a way that pushes me to continue to share, because we really can make a difference.

What pushes you when you feel lost or helpless?  Where do you draw your inner strength from?

This ‘N That Thursday – July 18, 2013

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Today we join our friends at 2 Brown Dawgs for This ‘N That Thursday

This 'N That Thursday

It’s a little of this, a little of that and everything in between….

Follow-up Friday –

You remember my good friend Jodi Chick?  She co-hosted the blog hop with me a few weeks back and I’m happy to say, it didn’t scare her off.  She’s back for another go and will be co-hosting with me tomorrow.

Jodi got royally screwed and I don’t mean by one of those handsome princes.  No, Big Brother Google (the incestuous bum) screwed Jodi’s RSS feed when Google Reader went the way of the dodo.  Jodi needs some help getting her readers back.  If you don’t read Kol’s Notes you are really missing a great blog.  So please hop on over and check them out.  Oh and don’t forget to add her RSS feed to whatever reader you’re using.

I happen to be using Feedly right now and I was getting Kol’s Notes every day, but all of a sudden nothing!  So if you’re a follower of Koly’s and haven’t been getting his posts, you may want to go back in and add them to your reader again.  When I added the feed yesterday I had to add a /feed to the end of the web address and viola, I got Kol’s Notes back in my feed again!

Excessive Heat Warning-

Just like the rest of the country, we’re in the midst of a heat wave.  The weather is so hot and humid, walking should be done early morning or later at night.  Right now I’m keeping our walks short.  Like 20 minutes short.  It’s just too dangerous otherwise.  Last night we walked the dogs at 9:00 pm and it was still 86 degrees out.

The good thing?  There weren’t very many bugs!

Dogs of Blogville Calendar Contest-

You remember the hastily put together Dogs of Blogville Calendar Contest in October/November of last year?  I decided in a moment of brilliance or stupidity to have a calendar contest that ended up benefiting some fellow bloggers.  I threw the idea out, got some photos back and then I was lost.  Thankfully I have an amazing blogville family and the extremely awesome and incredibly talented Julie from The Daily Dog Blog and Leg Up Creative Solutions threw herself in the water with me and handled every detail of the calendar design and production.

Every. Single. Detail.

Well my dears, Julie has agreed to once again assist with this calendar project.  I hope to nail the specifics down and make an announcement next week with the contest guidelines.  So if you’re planning on purchasing calendars this year, you may want to set some money aside.

And start looking through your photos.

For those who didn’t purchase a calendar last year, this is the beauty who has been gracing my wall these past 18 days.

 

You can see what a great job Julie did with designing the calendars, the material is good quality, the calendars are printed in the good ole US of A AND the modest price of the calendar included the shipping.

While I haven’t yet priced calendars this year, I expect them to fall within the $20 to $25 range, which should include shipping.

So stay tuned!

Many thanks to our friends at 2 Brown Dawgs Blog.

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