(Long personal post! For politics, please scroll down)
Welcome, California Sky! Aka "Callie." This sweet girl takes tidbits carefully, never letting her teeth touch your fingers. No doggie smell! No doggie breath!
Around September 1, 2020, this photo, which appeared on our online neighborhood network, appeared with a desperate plea of needing to rehome a niece's three-year old hound mix (b. August 19, 2017). She likely has Labrador Retriever in there, too:
Callie, with her favorite toy, on Mr. AOW's hospital bed:
As Callie got older, she grew and grew and grew:
When svelte, Callie had lovely lines:
Now Callie is fat! I've put her on a reducing diet.
The saddest thing about this dog is that nobody picked up on her near-deafness! It's bad! I'm going to find out if I learned anything by studying the methods and triumphs of my role model, Annie Sullivan. Heh.
I'm working on teaching Callie a few simple hand signals, and she's quickly learning them. My father used to say, "Hounds are either very smart or very stupid." Callie is smart! And she so wants to please, now that she's bonded with us.
After the three-week trial period, we've decided to keep Callie. She has a tether and a zipline in the yard, and the doghouse is in place. She respects baby gates, so our kitties Amber and Minxy have their catuary in the master bedroom. They watch Callie through the baby gate. Gradually introducing them is the best way.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!
ReplyDeleteYou done good saving a life well with saving.
I believe that ALL lives are worth saving, unless they are LEFTISTS, of course. (:-o
That's the beauty of our animal friends, their love is PURE, they are indubitably SINCERE, –– and they are decidedly APOLITICAL.
How refreshing!
I know this adoption means a great deal of sacrifice, added expense, and inconvenience for you, but I'm sure God will bless you for having followed your heart, and not just the depressing chil dictates l of "Hard, Cold, Logic."
Callie may be a Big Handful, but she is eminently charming, lovable and huggable.
Franco,
DeleteCallie's deafness presents a unique challenge.
One of the biggest problems with her deafness: Callie startles easily -- particularly when sleeping deeply.
The vet has loaned me a vibration collar to try.
Cute dog... agree having had a couple of beagles.. can be stubborn or a real pleaser.
ReplyDeleteHaving enjoyed this journey with you from afar, I am thrilled that you were willing to take Callie and see her potential.
ReplyDeleteOur puppies come into the world with personality and their own temperament. They just need good human parents!
Congratulations, AOW!
Looks like a keeper! Good luck, all!
ReplyDeletesweet!
ReplyDeleteI like dogs (not cats so much, sorry) and I wish I knew more about them.
Jez,
DeleteI didn't know all that much about cats as companions until I married Mr. AOW.
As my girlfriend, Linda B., used to say back in the days when we were going together, "Who could look at a little kitten, and not instantly love it?
DeleteHow could I –– or anyone else fit to be called human –– not agree?
But I love dogs equally, and am so happy that you accepted this charming beast into your already complicated lives. Very good of you!
I appreciate the fluffy cuteness, but I actively dislike cats jumping up on my lap. Dogs, I'm happy to play around with (obviously some dogs are legitimately scary).
DeleteI hope she does have some Lab in her. That will be a great addition to her personality and I hope she and the cats make friends quick.
ReplyDeleteKid,
DeleteThe cats are a bit miffed. But they are young and fit, and can outrun Callie.
Worst case is soon they will find out they're the bosses. Best of course is if they start playing with each other through the gate.
DeleteKid,
DeleteI must keep the gate in place until the piano rug is replaced. Minxy started the problem by pooping and peeing there the first few hours that we had Callie. Minxy making here statement, I suppose.
Then Callie did the same. Ugh. Her previous owners never house broke her! So far, the housebreaking here has been going fine -- only one "mistake" since September 16. I'm not holding that "mistake" against Callie: I ignored the cues she gave. My fault!
That piano rug was a goner for other reasons, so I'm not sorry to have to replace it.
She reminds me of OUR Calie. A rescue Australian Shepherd.
ReplyDeleteYour Callie looks like a wonderful find!
Congratulations on your new family member.
Congrats! That made for pleasantly uplifting reading. Nice one.
ReplyDeleteNo one else has asked, so I guess I' better:
ReplyDeleteWHO is the WOMAN with the BEARD and MUSTACHE dwarfed by Callie?
It's a man. I think that the young man is Callie's original owner's baby daddy (now the original owner's fiance).
DeleteHe's a Latino, I think. I've met him.
DeleteCongratulations! I cannot imagine NOT housebreaking a dog. Makes your life miserable and is unfair to the dog. Look how he's taken to Mr. AOW, all stretched out on his bed.
ReplyDeleteI had a stray kitten this summer that caused my Gabi to start peeing in the house, and she was a little afraid of that tiny thing and would run from him. Cute as a button, friendly. No chance it could stay. I have tenants with dogs, and those are "my" dogs. One is kind of a pill. The other is a magnificent, noble animal.
Baysider,
DeleteIt's strange how the arrival of a new animal to the household can cause the original animal(s) to start peeing. We were lucky that our kitties have been such angels about a dog being here.