And then came Bella! I would love to be able to blame her for my lack of time to write, but the truth is that I just didn't take the time. As I'm writing this, CoCo is lying on the rug just chilling and Bella is lying on the rug chewing on a bone. She is seldom at rest! At least she isn't chewing on CoCo, which is progress! ha! (Update - As I finished this blog Bella is trying to get CoCo to play with her and is making all kinds of noise!)
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| Bella at 3 months |
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| Andy with Bella on Thanksgiving Day - her face looks so different now! |
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| Me with Bella and CoCo on Thanksgiving Day |
Seems I spent lots of time with animals! Since I started volunteering at National Mill Dog Rescue last January I have taken on many jobs. I am a Group Volunteer Coordinator, which is part of the educational department. I help organize groups that want to come and volunteer with us for an afternoon. I do an orientation of our history and mission, a tour of our facilities, and monitor a volunteer time spent socializing our dogs. I also am, unofficially, a part of the off-loading and intake teams. I love being there when our rescue teams return with new dogs so that I can welcome those special souls to freedom. We take them off the van and put them into kennels with water and food and beds and blankets. Then within 2 days of the rescue we have intake which is where each new dog gets a name, initial medical care which includes being tested for heartworm, and initial evaluation of their personalities/behaviors.
Many come to us so "broken" and shut down because of traumas experienced in their previous life in a puppy mill. Many come to us having had no grooming ever, no shots, no basic care and very little socialization with humans.
Our mission is to rehabilitate every one of them, get them physically and emotionally healthy enough to find them forever homes. It is such a rewarding work. I love being out there and spending time with the dogs - and all those awesome dog people! In the past 2 months I have been hired to be part of the Meds Delivery Team. I go out early every Saturday morning to give meds to our dogs who, for any number of reasons, are on medications. It's a 50 mile round trip for me every time I go out there. It's been many years since I got up that early to drive that far, but I actually enjoy the drive heading east as the sun is coming up over the prairie. And then the drive home heading west towards Pikes Peak is always a joy. I never tire of seeing the mountains, no matter what time of year.
Bella is a year old now and has finally grown into her legs! She is a hound mix - part whippet and part fox hound among other breeds - and has loads of energy. She just finished her Agility 2 classes and I have her registered for Agility 3 starting next month. She was born to run! If I can keep her focused on the course she does great. However, that hound nose of hers gets in the way and then she's all over the place. Or she would rather play with Izzy, a chocolate lab about the same age as she is and they love each other! Having a puppy is always entertaining, if sometimes a little frustrating.
Once Bella is settled down I would love to train her as a therapy dog. She has such a sweet, affectionate personality. She would be great in therapy work!
CoCo, bless her little heart, is very patient with the crazy puppy. She comes with us to social hour and agility classes, both on Saturdays and as long as she stays in my "CoCo purse" she is fine with all the crazy activities. She will be 12 next month and is in pretty good health except for some arthritis in her back legs which I'm treating with supplements.
If you've been following my blog over the past years you know my love of the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. I try to go out there every week. It is such a joy to have the gorilla girls come over to the window to greet me. I love the great apes and the lions the best of all and enjoy telling visitors about them. Our lion cubs will be four in June and are almost full-grown. They are so beautiful!
I meant to start this blog again last week, but I spent the beginning of the year with friends, both human and animal. I went to the zoo last Wednesday with friends, Jay and Barb Matheson, and their "adopted" family including an adorable 7 year old with whom I spoke French for most of our visit! (More about that in a later blog) What a wonderful day which included many things that I love doing - visiting with friends, showing them our animals, and speaking French, which I don't get a chance to do much these days.
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| Who says African animals don't like snow!? Kwisha is enjoying a snack. |
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| My beautiful Elsa - the female cub |
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| The manes are getting fuller and darker on our male cubs (Aslan here) |
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| Chewy enjoying a day in the sun |
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| Abuto (father of the cubs) is "calling" his pride |
I miss France terribly every single day. But I love spending time with Andy even more. So I don't regret coming back to Colorado after those 7 glorious months spent in Le Gers. I'm so happy that I got the chance to go back for a few days in April and I'll tell you all more about that in a future blog post.
Although I feel like I don't have a specific purpose in writing anymore, I've been told that my blog is missed and that people enjoy hearing what I have to say - go figure! I promise that there will never be any negativity or politics (perhaps that's redundant!) or anything that will make you uncomfortable, unless it's in a way that makes you look at life a little differently. I think that's always worth the effort. Perhaps that's why I love being with the animals. There's something about watching the beauty, the power, the resilience of nature that often makes me look at life in a new perspective.
Over the next few weeks, I'll review why I started this blog 4 years ago. And how it's still relevant (at least to me) in this new year of 2019.
As always, I thank you for joining me on this journey we call life, as I curve around those bends in the road, always facing forward, but sometimes reminding myself of where I've been. Until next week. Au revoir, mes amis!
Thanks Candy for writing again! I enjoyed this blog as much as I enjoyed the ones you wrote in France. Keep writing dear friend!
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