Sambo got his horns removed today. He had four of them so the procedure was complicated. Lots of blood. He's on pain killers now.
Kate's babies.
She had six this time.
The buck. He is their father.
This is Lady. She got turned in at the Powell County shelter as a Sheltie so rescue sent Lisa to pick her up. We've been fostering her for about a month.
She's had a rough life. Her beginning years were spent on the streets of Detroit. She made a meager living chasing pigeons away from unemployed auto workers so their soup wouldn't get pooped in. The bread crusts she got in pay kept her alive in between catching the occasional slow moving young pigeon.
She was befriended by a hobo down by the rail yards with whom she would share her squab in exchange for being allowed to sit next to the fire barrel. She would sit for hours listening to the hobos tell stories of their life on the rail. Life in better cities with fatter pigeons. The wanderlust was soon upon her so she hopped a box car and made it to New York City, her sights set on Broadway! After countless auditions she finally landed the role of a lifetime in the Wizard of Oz. She was cast as Toto. As luck would have it the director's mistress had a Yorkie that more closely resembled the famed Toto of the big screen. Lady was allowed to remain in the ensemble as one of the flying monkeys. Poor girl got trampled by one of the horses of a different color and never made it out of previews. After that she knew it was time to leave the City and head west.
The journey west was long and dangerous. She joined a pack for the first time in her life. The leader was a middle aged Alaskan Malamute with bad skin and knock knees. He ruled the pack strictly but fairly. Pack life wasn't easy. She was expected to act a certain way and obey orders without question. It didn't last long. Lady's free spirit wasn't one to lay down and turn a belly up. By and by she was back on the rails headed for California and Hollywood. Hollywood was like an alien world compared to Broadway. Her stage experience opened some doors but the work was hard and the auditions were again, countless. By the time her big break came she was working as a therapy dog in a mental hospital in Pomona.
Lady's movie career looked like it might actually happen. The part was a lead character in a comedy/drama feature film about a poorly disciplined dog given as a gift to a woman troubled about aging and being childless. Lady was a natural for film. She looked great in the dailies and casting put her opposite Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. She was excited about the movie and just knew it would be a hit. It was a hit and made $60 million in its opening week. Poor Lady saw none of it of course. The writers decided that they wanted more backstory for the Marley character so there was going to be some puppy scenes. They changed the breed to Yellow Lab since they all look alike and any ol' puppy could play young Marley. Lady was let go.
Lady had a few minor roles in commercials and sitcoms but the parts were few and far between. She left Hollywood, resigning herself to a life on the road. She had been sitting at the North Lake on-ramp to the 210 freeway in Pasadena trying to hitch a ride east when she was picked up in a way she had not intended. It seems Pasadena has a few rules with respect to dogs and leashes so Lady was detained. This was Lady's first experience with incarceration and she didn't care for it. Not one bit.
Pasadena Animal Shelter was full so she got shipped out to the West Covina humane society. All the chihuahuas and pitbulls were in the main adoption runs so she had to sit in a cage in the back of the exotic animal room with the guinea pigs and ferrets and an old box turtle named Rapido. After a few weeks a slot opened up in the adoption room and Lady started laying on the charm. She would prance around and make quiet yipping noises to impress the humans. Rapido had told her some of the behaviors he had seen work on the humans and with her skills as an actor she was certain she would be adopted before long. Rapido also told her something that the regular dogs never heard. He had told her about the room at the end of the hall where dogs in the adoption runs went after two weeks on the floor. It was a room from which no dog ever returned and it smelled of death.
Lady was halfway through her second week and she was getting nervous. What if she was taken to the room at the end of the hall? How would she act? Would she hold her head high or would she fight, kick and scream as they dragged her to her doom?
Then Mrs. Potter walked in.
Mrs. Potter had stopped by after visiting her sister, Pearl, in Baldwin Park. Her sister's husband, Carlos, had died and Mrs. Potter was there to help her sort out his things. She was dropping off some pet items they had found in Carlos' things and decided to take a walk through the dog room. When she saw Lady her heart skipped a beat. Lady looked so much like her childhood pet it was like she was looking at her Lady again. This was where Lady got her name. This was when Lady discovered the joys of being a pet. This was when Lady stopped living in fear and constant struggles for food and water. Fighting to stay warm or cool was to become a thing of the past. This was the day Lady found love. Mrs. Potter took lady to Pearl's house where they packed up Carlos' old Chrysler and drove back to the Potter home in the hills of Eastern Kentucky.
Lady spent years in complete happiness. Mrs. Potter was a wonderful human and treated her like a princess. They would sit on the porch of the lovely little cottage on the side of the wooded country road Mrs. Potter waving, Lady wagging at the occasional car that would pass. It was a mountain hollow so every car was a neighbor. Sometimes the cars would stop and the humans would get out and talk and visit with Mrs. Potter. Sometimes there would be children to throw balls and sticks. Lady would happily chase the balls and sticks and bring joy to the children as they brought joy to her.
Mrs. Potter was not well. Lady could sense it before the doctors. There was a sickness in her the likes of which she had smelled before. It had been in one of the hobos from Detroit. It had been in one of the movie crewmen. She had no idea what it was called, her being a dog, but it was cancer. It was a bad cancer and it claimed Mrs. Potter and took her away from Lady. In the commotion and grief that followed Mrs. Potter's death everyone forgot about Lady. She was on her own again.
Lady stayed around the old cabin for a while but eventually strayed to find a steadier living. It wasn't long before a steady living found her, sort of. It seemed like a good thing at first. There was a collection of old pots and dishes that were full of dog food. They were just there on the side of the road. Five or six other dogs were greedily eating and didn't even notice when she arrived. After they ate the other dogs told her the food came every day and they just waited around in the bushes for it to appear. Lady joined them and ate there every day. It was almost too good to be true. She got curious about how the food got there but the other dogs warned her to stay back until it was clear. She wanted to know so she went out when she heard the food hit the pans. It was a woman. She was filling the pans and dishes out of a big sack of food. Lady walked over to her and whined the way old Rapido had taught her. The woman patted her head and held open the car door for her to get in. Lady rode with her to a house in the country. There were dogs everywhere. Big dogs, little dogs, fat dogs, skinny dogs. She had no idea what this place was but it looked okay. She got out and took a big sniff. Something was not right here. She couldn't place it but it just smelled wrong.
Lady spent a few days wandering around the yard. It was all fenced and she couldn't get out even if she wanted too. Late one afternoon the woman called Lady over and grabbed her up and put her in a small cage in the house. The "wrong" smell was stronger in the house. There were a lot of other cages, all with at least one dog. The dogs all smelled unhealthy and dirty. None smelled happy. Lady was starting to worry. She didn't know what would become of her. She spent a long time in that cage. She never got to go outside and had to poop right there, which she hated. It was rude and not becoming to a dog such as her. Lady's life was about to change once again.
One morning Lady was trying to sleep in the hot smelly house when there was some loud talking outside. She heard a crash and bright sunlight streamed in the door as it was thrown open. Men in white coveralls and masks were coming through the door. They started taking out the cages and loading them on trucks. There were nice women and men holding the dogs and speaking in soothing tones to them. Lady was taken to a shelter in Powell County Kentucky where she was secured by Shetland Sheepdog Rescue.
Lady has had a rough life, she needs a forever home. A home where she can know love again.
Paige.
Paige.
Lady likes the chickens. We have to be careful because she actually attacks them. The rest of the girls just herd them back over the fence.
Lisa finished the porch. She applied a stain and weather protectant. Here she is cleaning it with Oxy Clean.
Satin having a run.
Luna getting her chip. She was very well behaved. The spaniel that went after her threw a fit.
Dogs and cats for adoption.
A cage full of aww.
Spot, Stripe, 10, Ivy and her two are still getting feed. They have a little corral in the chicken yard.
We had to bring Sambo back up for first aid.
He had his horns removed after one of them got broken. It's inner tissue came out somehow leaving a hole about the size of a dime. After trying a few different things we ended up using duct tape secured with superglue. We had him on the sheep table and Lisa put the glue in the wool around the horn then stuck on the piece of tape.
Since the horn "bandage" held overnight Sambo got to go back down to the pasture.
He likes going for walks because of all the treats along the way.
Waiting while Sambo has a treat.
Bonnie has turned out to be a good guard llama. She just hates being separated from Martha.
Paige.
