~ Lady ~
"In Connecticut"
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| Lady's been with her new family 2 years now !! Happy Anniversary :) |
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| Pup Date September 15, 2009
Just wanted to report in that Lady is still fabulous at 13 or 14, whatever age she is now.
She’s been with us for two years as of August 2, 2009, and she’s still in charge at our house. She makes us laugh every day without fail. Herb and I were at a concert this past Thursday, and in the middle of it Herb remarked, “I miss my Sheltie!” Who wouldn’t, right? Anyway, she’s doing great, and we can’t imagine our lives without her. Keep up the good work!
Cathy
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From an emotional standpoint, one of the more difficult rehome/rescue situations involves senior owners and their senior pets. You have folks who have loved their sheltie for ten+ years ~ then personal health issues take hold and they can no longer keep their pet. Perhaps they move to an assisted living/nursing home facility; perhaps they move in with family .... and then there's the ultimate finality .... perhaps the owner has passed away.
What happens to the senior sheltie? Does s/he end up at a shelter ?? Who wants to adopt an "old dog" ???
The "old dog" that has loved his/her owner for years ...
The "old dog" whose life has been turned upside down and doesn't understand why .....
The "old dog" that is now in mourning ~ those eyes asking you "what happened?" "did I do something wrong?"
Have you heard of "rescue angels" ? Folks who come forward to adopt seniors or those with special needs [amputees, terminal illness and so on] ?? They know that senior/special needs pets have so much love to give and deserve to receive love in return.
That was the case with Lady .....
She belonged to an elderly couple who had to move into assisted living and could not take her along. It happened during a time when it was "raining shelties" and NJ Sheltie Rescue did not have foster homes available. We didn't want to see Lady go to a shelter !! So Aneita posted a plea for help on the yahoo sheltie rescue network .... groups located all over the country devoted to helping shelties in need. Maine's rescue coordinator, Holly, responded with an offer to take Lady. Joanne in Connecticut was going to help transport Lady to Maine. But first, she told her friends Cathy and Herb about Lady's plight. Evidently Cathy always adopts seniors. After hearing Lady's story & seeing that face ~ Cathy fell in love !!. Aneita facilitated getting Cathy in touch with Lady's owners ..... Joanne helped with the relocation logistics .... and the rest is history ....
Joanne has sent these pictures of Lady in her new home [Granby, Connecticut]. We want to thank everyone involved with helping this sweet senior sheltie find a new, loving, forever home.
What a perfectly wonderful "and they lived happily ever after" story 
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| Now, does that look like a happy, comfortable, relaxed sheltie or what ??? |
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| A beautiful sheltie at any age ~ but can you believe she's a Senior ??? |
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| Daddy's little girl :) |
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Herb and I are Lady’s servants and caretakers in Granby, CT. We call her ‘Paris’ because she’s so haughty and demanding (although she’s a lot smarter than the real Paris).
Herb and I only rescue dogs 10+ years if we can help it. We want to give them a good send-off – we want them to know warmth and love rather than neglect and abandonment as their last memories.
Two years ago we rescued a 10-yo Rottweiler with the worst hips I’ve ever seen – his owners had dumped him in a high-kill shelter and he had contracted a horrible case of kennel cough. I walked into the shelter and asked about a couple of old dogs I had seen on petfinder, but they had both been euthanized by the time I got there. “Where’s your oldest dog?” I asked. They showed me an adorable 9-yo mini poodle with a great haircut and a lot of personality, so I kept walking and looking and found this old Rottweiler lying quietly in his concrete kennel on a thin blanket. “What about this guy?” “Oh, he’s got kennel cough,” was the reply. Needless to say we adopted him, cured his kennel cough, gave him lots of supplements for his hips and got to see a sad, sick Rottweiler turned into a happy goofball, full of love and joy despite horrible orthopedic problems. Ten months after we got him we had to put him down because of his hips and knees, but he was happy going out, not frightened and bewildered among strangers. But you know exactly what that’s like – you do it every day. I guess I needed to talk about Sinbad – I miss him like crazy.
So now we have a 12-yo pit bull cross and a very demanding 13-yo Sheltie. Can you believe she’s that gorgeous at 13?
Cathy and Herb and “Miss Thing” in Connecticut
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PupDate December 15, 2008
Lady is off being groomed today, so I thought I’d send along some more good news about our old girl.
She’ll be thirteen this year and has really come out of her shell. It’s a joy to behold. When she sees me grab the leashes, she jumps up and comes over to nip at my calves, wagging her tail and barking, trying to herd me out the door. She’s hilarious. I’m not sure we should be encouraging that behavior, but it’s so delightful to see her being so animated and happy that I just laugh and reply, “I’m hurrying, I’m hurrying!” She nips at my purse before rides, too.
We got a 10-yo Corgi cross in August after losing our pit cross in June, and she’s around Lady’s size, so Lady herds her all over the place now, as well. Lady grabs Gypsy’s Chewman and carries it around the house, squeaking it and looking goofy. No fetching for the princess, of course; she just wants to let us know that if she wanted to, she could play fetch with the best of them.
She’s a very happy girl and we’re delighted she came into our lives. Just wanted to share some happiness with you.
Cathy and Herb and Lady and Gypsy
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Looking back over the past couple of years, the biggest difference in Lady is the emergence of her personality.
I think the "neglect" was more in the form of attention and affection [her hair was very long & she was pretty chubby from over feeding or lack of exercise]. It took the dog a year to really wag her tail.
She was a gorgeous Sheltie from the get-go. Now, she’s a Happy, gorgeous Sheltie.
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| Lady when she was first adopted, June 2007 |
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| Lady's first days in her new home, June 3, 2007 |
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