Cali

This Sunday our dog Cali died.

She had learned to climb first our 6 foot chain link fence and then the 8 foot wooden fence. So Nate had her on a chain staked into the ground. The chain was also attached to the kiddie pool they get water from outside. Cali got her stake out of the ground and drug the pool over to the fence to jump over it. The chain was too short or got caught and she broke her neck.

I honestly don't know how to write about this. It is breaking my heart.

Nate got Cali for me the Christmas we were engaged. He picked her out at the animal shelter and took her on the airplane with him out to California, where we were spending Christmas with my family. She was such a cute puppy, only 3 months old. My dad has two big dogs: Titus, a black lab mix and Max a HUGE German shepherd. They tried to boss Cali the whole time and we had to watch to make sure Max wasn't going to assert his dominance too forcefully. However one of the last days we were there Cali got up on the couch (a no-no) and got into the coffee my Uncle Blake had left out. She then tried to take on Max. She was probably 1/6th his size. Since then she always thought she was a big dog that could take on anyone.

Leaving California we drove back to Oklahoma, caravaning with my sister Amber. We got caught in a huge snow storm. One night we were on the freeway all night stuck in the traffic caused by the weather closing the highway. Cali was great. She had the most comfortable seat in the car (the whole back seat) and never made a mess or anything. The next night when we finally got to a hotel room (the last place available) I was scared they wouldn't allow animals so we tried to sneak Cali in. I wrapped her all up in a blanket and carried her to our room through the back door. At that moment the office manager decided to walk back there and Cali barked at him. I automatically said 'excuse me' as if I had sneezed or something. So funny! He of course knew and they just called to tell us they were adding the animal deposit onto our bill. I should have just asked to begin with.

After we were back in Oklahoma there was 3 months before Nate and I got married. Those were hard nights. I was house-sitting so it was a strange place and Nate had to leave every night to go back to his parent's house. Cali slept with me every night keeping me warm (something was wrong with their heater) and safe.

Through the next several months 4 more dogs came into ours lives for us to care for. Cali was always the boss.

Last autumn Cali was in heat and while she couldn't get out of the yard she got some other dog to sneak in. She got pregnant and had 10 puppies while we were visiting Nate's sister, Laura. She was such a good mommy. She cared for all 10 and trusted us moving her and them 2 days after they were born into the car for a 4 hour drive back home. She often seemed exhausted but all her puppies were healthy and happy. We kept one of her puppies, Hoss, which I am now very grateful for.

Cali was beautiful. People at the dog park would always comment about her beautiful reddish coat. She had the most muscular thighs. She was a big baby and always wanted to be a lap dog- even after she got up to 65 lbs. She just wanted to be snuggled down next to you all the time. She loved to run and play and if you threw her in the water she would run around like a crazy dog for several minutes after.

She was our baby since we don't have kids. I miss her so much. I don't know exactly what I believe about animals after death but I know she's happy somewhere and it's only me mourning because I don't get to see her. I love her.

PS In place of Favorite Author Fridays this week I'll just encourage you to read Marley & Me by John Grogan

Dogs Dogs Everywhere!

So we have a lot of animals- especially a lot of dogs. In fact we have 5. We love them all but they can be a little overwhelming. One of them, Mercy, is actually going to live with Nate's cousin, Rebecca, this summer. We are excited for her and sad to lose her but I think she'll love being up in Missouri with all Rebecca's kids. Anyway let's introduce you to them all:

Cali

Cali is the only dog we got 'on purpose'. Before we got married Cali was my Christmas present from Nate and became (very purposefully) our first child. He flew out to California to meet my Dad and spend Christmas with my family and he brought her. We then drove her back from California to Oklahoma, even getting caught in a snow storm in New Mexico in the middle of the trip. This last winter she became a hussy and lured a neighborhood dog into our yard and ended up 'with puppy'. She had 10 living puppies at Nate's sister's house in Durant (yet another road trip) and has since, thankfully, been spayed. This is my favorite picture of her with her puppies. She was a good mama but you can tell it was not really her cup of tea. She is very jealous and demanding but she is an oldest child so...

Daisy

When Cali had been with us a couple of months we found Daisy on the highway. She literally almost got hit 3 times in the time it took us to pull over and get to her. She looked to be about Cali's age and size and so we kept her as a friend for Cali. She is an amazing dog! As you can see she looks like a long-haired Roti and she is amazingly soft. She is really good with children, way better than most of our dogs. She is patient and soft with them, and she doesn't jump up or knock them over- even really small kids. She has been a great companion for Cali, whose behavioral problems went way down as soon as she had a friend to play with. I'd love to find her a home with more kids and less dogs then we have right now just so she could get the attention she deserves.

Marrock, Jesse & Mercy

Just a few weeks after we found Daisy (and thought we had our fill of dogs) we were driving to church on a dirt road and I thought I saw something as we passed over a riverbed. It was 3 tiny puppies, probably about 6-7 weeks old, who had been abandoned with a bag of dog food- as if they could now make it on their own, barely weaned. We stopped and picked them up. They were as different looking as could be. One was a little boy, who we named Marrock, who looked just like a tiny Rottweiler.

Jesse
One was a super tiny yellow dog, probably a lab mix; we called her Jesse. And one was a fluffy little thing that looked like a husky or something who we called Mercy. We tried to drop them at a vet 'til after church but they wouldn't take them. We tried the shelter but they wouldn't take them because we found them in the country. So we ended up with them. We wanted to find good homes for them and almost did for one (I'll tell that story in a minute) but I honestly didn't try very hard- they were so cute.

Marrock died very soon after we moved into our new house. He wrapped his chain around the shade cover we had set up for the dogs in the back yard and pulled it down on himself. It was awful. He was Nate's favorite and he was just super sweet and soft. We cried like crazy. We didn't even have him long enough to have a picture of him. He's now buried under our pear tree.

Mercy

And these are our little puppies all grown up. It's amazing. They were both so little when we got them and Jesse had such bad worms she couldn't gain any weight. Mercy was hit by a car the night before someone was coming to adopt her. She had to have pins in her thigh and we were worried about permanent damage. But both of them are fine. Jesse still has a little of what we call "Beaten Dog Syndrome". She doesn't like people getting near her face. She is always having to be the deer in the 'bring down the prey game the big dogs want to play. She is so sweet though and definitely a mama's girl. She could just lay with me for hours. Mercy is our little crazy. She loves to play and run a be rubbed and petted. She even plays with Hoss, which seems to be 'below' most of the big dogs right now. She is going to love living with Rebecca and her kids!

And last, our only boy...

Hoss

We Cali had the puppies Nate let me know, almost from the very beginning, that he wanted to keep Hoss. He named him first. He was the biggest. He was one of the only boys and I think he reminded Nate a little of his lost Marrock. He is the spoiled baby boy. He is always trying to tag along with the big dogs and wants to be given lots of loves and kisses and pets. He is at least 3 times the size of the other puppies from his litter and looks to get even bigger than Cali or Daisy (who are each almost 70 lbs.). We love him but he is especially Nate's little guy. He loves to ride in the car, as do all our dogs. He is adorable and quite likely to be spoiled rotten.

So there you go. We have become a doggie foster home, keeping those who seemed to fall into our hands and honestly trying to find not just good but great homes for those we can. If someone wanted any of our dogs besides Cali and Hoss and could promise them an equal or better lifestyle than we can, we would be happy to give them away but we can't bring ourselves to take these dogs we have loved so much and give them over to anyone we can't be sure would love and care for them in the manner to which they are accustomed. And honestly I'm ok being the crazy dog lady because I love them each.