Boomerang-a previous story that has since evolved

I was reading the book " Small is Beautiful Economics as if People Mattered" recently, and came upon a quote from St Thomas Aquinas "It is evident that if a man practices a compassionate affection for animals, he is all the more disposed to feel compassion for his fellowmen" I suppose I was on the right track in my previous blog post.

I had a favorite book when I was a child called "Part time Dog" it was one of those children's books geared towards the beginning reader.The brown dog in the above photographs, with my Australian Shepherd, is Porky, well at least that's what his name was when I knew him. The shelter staff had named him Porky because he was found covered in porcupine quills. I fostered this dog for 6 months deciding that since no one had claimed or adopted him I would keep him, until one day his previous owner found me while I was out walking with the dogs. Of course by that time I was completely enamored of the dog and so attached to it as in the way that people become attached to something when they decide to incorporate it into their life. Although for me,there is a strange Buddhist type of crossover emotional area, since I have grown fond of and worked with so many dogs. I have a strange sort of combination of deep love and yet at the same time non attachment, which pervades more than the dog/ human world for me but due to my rather odd upbringing, I am also not so attached to people in a way that may be different from most people. Of course as things go and people are tested, the one dog that I really loved in a possessive way, besides my darling old Blue Heeler,( I had not found my Aussie Shepherd at the time) the one I was going to make into my second dog, was reclaimed by his owner which you can read about in this link to a previous blog post.
http://tailsfromtheshelter.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-ones-i-love-always-go.html

Well now it's a year later, I have a new Australian Shepherd as a walking and shelter dog training companion as well as my old Australian Cattle dog. I got over the loss of Porky and helped some other shelter dogs along the way. I have an old man friend that lives near me. I met him while he was out walking with his wife when I first moved here 11 years ago. His wife died some years back and I go and check on him and visit with him when I can. His house is about 2 miles from mine at the halfway point for one of my walks so I often stop by and say hello and catch up with him when I'm out and about. The last time I went for a visit we were standing outside talking when out of the corner of my eye I saw a dog walking around,checking me out.My old man friend said "don't mind that dog, that's Bear", which was Porky's real name. I said " I know that dog" and then Porky came to me and we were reunited and I was so happy to see him and pet him and visit with him. My elderly friend has a rental property on his place and the family that the dog belonged to had moved into it.The dog looked healthy and happy, and had the run of the farm. Now I can visit two friends at once, and get a nice 4 mile walk in as well. That's the beauty of being connected to a community and walking around a lot. You get to meet all kinds of people, you get a feel for a place in such a different way than when you drive around in a car. You can even get a reading on the economy based on observations over time.When I now go and visit my previous foster dog , he jumps up affectionately on me and seems to remember me, he even tries to go on walks with us but I make sure that he stays on the property. I talked to the young man who is part of the family that owns the dog. He really enjoys his dog and is so bonded with him and showed me all the tricks that he taught his dog. He says that the dog follows him all over on his bike. So I guess my heart break and loss are someone else's gain. After all, he was such a nice dog that I knew people had to have cared for him. In the course of things in this world he didn't belong to me, but I can visit with him like in the children's story I used to read"Part time Dog" perhaps we set the stage for our lives at a young age. I said to my elderly friend, jokingly, " well now that the dog is here I'll have to come by and visit more often" he seemed taken aback by that, and I felt a little guilty for letting such callous words fly out of my mouth, despite the fact that they were true. I contemplated that exchange as I walked home and realized something about myself, that's it's always easier for me to relate to the dogs. They don't lay guilt trips on you, they don't care about your political persuasions,they just want to be treated well and have fun.There is not the muck of expectations, desires, resentments, imposition of beliefs, that often encumber human relationships. Well I really can't help the way I am, it resulted from a long history of not being able to trust the erratic behavior of humans in my life, but at least I try and accept the way I am and do my best with the dogs and people in my life. I'm glad I fostered that dog for so long . Had someone else adopted him he may have never been reunited with the family that loved him so much. Had I not been the type of person who walks the neighborhoods with my dogs, they may never have found me. Strange, the luck and synchronicity involved here and that these people are now living near enough for me to visit. It's as if the dog orchestrated it all in some mysterious way. Maybe there really is some strange kind of Native American Animal Spirit Guide at work, as we are surrounded by Native American culture here, or maybe I just have an overactive imagination! You decide

"I think I could turn and live with animals, they're so placid and self contain'd, I stand and look at them long and long.

They do not sweat and whine about their condition, They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things, Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago, Not one is respectable or unhappy over the earth."

Walt Whitman- excerpt from " Song of myself"

Thank you Mary Ann

Mary Ann Lindsay of Inland Northwest Rescue has passed away. You can read more about Mary Ann and her story here .http://www.pnwbcrescue.org/ Thank you Mary Ann for all the tireless work you did helping the orphaned animals. Thanks for our wonderful Australian Shepherd Cash he is truly a blessing.
I have often asked myself " Hm, I spend so much time around dogs, helping abandoned animals, but what do I do for humanity?" I used to help people too but found that the dogs are easier to help and not so resistant to taking help from a person and changing behaviors in order to improve their lives. Try telling a person " you need to eat better, get more exercise in order to be more calm and less neurotic, and that anxious behavior like smoking or overeating that you do, you need to sublimate that and do something more positive instead, here have a chewy toy(just joking) or knitting needles!" and see what kind of result you get! Most people really don't like others even focusing on their weaknesses let alone helping them to overcome them quickly. At least that has been my experience, so for me, I love helping the dogs but in a strange way, I think helping the dogs does help people, in that others see your kindness and care for something outside yourself and are reminded of their own humanity.One man I saw regularly while walking said"you're still walking shelter dogs?" That was three years ago, yes I am still walking them, only not so often lately. The dogs I help go on to help the people who adopt them. In helping the dogs to become better, well adjusted, loved pets, the people who adopt them can enjoy a beautiful relationship with a happy dog and spend time having fun and getting exercise together.
The dog in the photo is Ruby http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/20257983, an older dog who was still quite engaged and desirous of attention and enjoyed walking with me and Cash my Australian Shepherd

A stray Border Collie and an old Lab mix

It was so nice to get back to walking shelter dogs after 5 weeks on the East Coast of the U.S. without a dog. Cash,my Aussie shepherd, and I walked Daddy Long Legs, the older black lab. I then played with the male 2 year oldish Border Collie who has gone unclaimed at the shelter for a few days and if no one claims him will be available for adoption. He was a nice fellow who really enjoyed playing fetch with his tennis ball. He was even pretty smart in catching on when I tried to trick him by fake throwing the ball in different directions. For more information on either of these dogs contact http://www.humanesocietyofthepalouse.org/index.html

Marking Territory

I recently spent 5 weeks on the East Coast of the United States in the suburbs of New Jersey, taking care of my sick mother. I had left my dogs at home but to de-stress I spent an hour or more a day walking around my old home town. I noticed a regular group of friendly dog walkers, and I also noticed a small handful of signs posted on the edge of nicely landscaped properties, many of which were maintained by lawn service workers and not homeowners. While I am a strong believer in property rights, I got the feeling that many of the signs were put up not necessarily in order to fix some out of control problem, but instead as an assertion of human territory. I have lived in congested areas before and now live in the country where I get my fair share of motorists throwing their empty beer cans and candy wrappers out on the edge of my property but instead of putting up ugly signs that I'm guessing would be ignored anyway, I just pick up the garbage every once in awhile, and don't think too much about it. It's my contention that in crowded congested areas, New jersey being the most crowded state in the Nation with 1195.5 residents per square mile (Washington D.C. has 9856.5 but is not a state) Idaho having 19 residents per square mile, people get more defensive of their territory. So I was surprised to see what I thought were unattractive signs at the edges of lovely landscaped properties. To me the signage seemed more distasteful than the occasional overlooked dog dropping. I am a responsible dog walker and pick up after the dogs I walk, but this battle of land owners verses a few irresponsible dog walkers seemed to go deeper than the obvious. The one that made me laugh was the pretty sign with silk bows that asked for the dogs not to "Pee " on the shrubs. I'm wondering how they would even know? There were 4 of these signs spread out over the perimeter of this property and the ironic aspect was that this person's shrubs, attractive as they might have been, were also spreading out a good way onto the public sidewalk( note photos above). Do they really believe that ownership extends out to the public sidewalk despite the fact that they had made the initial plantings? I'm curious as to how the public/private boundary was not clearly understood. Was someone perhaps claiming more territory in an overcrowded area? The yard and shrubs were quite lovely, but once again the signage, complete with silky ribbons, did really draw the eye away and detract from the lovely plantings more so than any dog's pee, as far as I'm concerned. Oh well, more thoughts to ponder on a crowded planet where there are so many people and so many dog owners. I guess we creatures all try and claim territory, the trick is to figure out how to all get along.

Walking without a dog

The last few weeks I have been on the East Coast of the United States taking care of my elderly mother. My husband has been home taking care of our dogs and my gardens. It's not been easy helping my mom through illness but she seems to be doing a little better. To relive my stress I go for long walks through the suburban neighborhoods. I choose routes with lovely historic homes and beautiful landscaping. I walk with my radio headset on tuned into the high paced world of the New York City Metro area. It feels so strange to walk without a dog. I brought my camera but forgot to bring the device that lets me up load photos to the computer so I apologize for the lack of photos with my post. I stop and talk with people who are walking their dogs. Most dog people are very gracious about letting me visit with their dogs and say they do the same thing when traveling without their dogs. I'm pleased to see that there are more mixed breed adopted dogs in this area, as in the past it was mostly designer purebred dogs, so I'm guessing more people are adopting dogs from shelters. There are even a lot more people out walking than there used to be as people are getting more health conscious in general. It's interesting to me to see the changes from year to year. I usually visit once a year or every other year. On the one hand, things seem more crowded and noisy, on the other hand more people are out walking and taking the time to stop and talk with others. It seems like people still hunger for connection even in this high paced, highly congested area, where there is so much competition for resources, we are still exchanging stories, information and ideas. I thought about calling the local dog rescue group but they didn't have any current dogs listed on their website, and the weather has been unbearably hot here, which is not good for dogs to be out walking in for the 4-5 miles I am covering, on hot pavement and in high humidity, so I thought I would wait to call if the weather breaks. Have fun enjoying your dogs and wonderful lives. I hope mom gets well and I get to go back to mine soon. Namaste

Some new Cow dog/Herding Breed mixes at the shelter

These two guys are both fairly young. They are waiting to be claimed, or for enough days to go by until they become wards of the shelter. One seems like a Border Collie/Australian Cattle dog mix, the other, some kind of Aussie Shepherd/Border Collie mix. The black and white guy is named Deuce as in" what the Deuces is a cute dog like that doing here?" For the life of me I can't figure out why the gals did not name him Patches, but I will have to ask. For more info on either of these guys you can contact http://www.humanesocietyofthepalouse.org/index.html

George, my current favorite dog at the shelter

My previous favorite Sara, the Black Lab Border Collie mix, was adopted rather quickly. I got to talk to the people who adopted her and told them what a sweet, well behaved 6 month old puppy she was, and I guess they sensed it too, and took a chance on her. It's always helpful to have first hand insight into a dog by someone who has spent time with the dog. This is George, a large German Shepherd mix with a dash of something wire haired, making his coat soft and smooth, but a tad wiry and perhaps less prone to shedding. He looks like a German Shepherd that someone stretched upward and outward. He's about 2 years old. His hips look good as far as I could tell, and he is sweet, playful, charming and loves to be paid attention to. He also enjoys playing fetch. He was not officially the shelter's dog yet, so I played with him in his kennel instead of taking him for a walk.I'm guessing no one will claim him as he was found abandoned in the dog park across the street from the shelter, but you never know.

Update-Luckily for the dog, I guessed wrong. As it turned out George's owner came and got him. Once again, someone's worst fears that the dog was killed by coyotes, because they found his collar but not the dog, prevailed. So one unhappy emotional roller coaster ride, and at least three days later, the people thought, why not call the shelter just in the off chance the dog landed there despite the fact it was some distance from their house. Lo and behold the dog was just sitting at the shelter waiting to be claimed by his people. It always amazes me that people will follow the lead of their worst fears before ruling out other possibilities. I wonder what that impulse is in human nature, to immediately assume the worst outcome and eliminate other scenarios? Well at least there was a Happy ending for all. If the dog had been micro chipped the owners would have been contacted right away, so despite the fact that a dog has a collar and i.d. on, they can end up lost and without identification, so it pays to micro chip as well.

On a side note on- The Hazards of Hi- tech clothing-(not a brand name, just style of sportswear) I had a scary experience with a pair of Hi- tech cross country ski pants recently. Idaho has had a cold and rainy spring, so I wore my ski pants out while dog walking, and then stood in front of the wood stove to warm up and dry off. I was about a foot away from the wood stove and had a funny sensation, and noticed that the pants, which did not look particularly synthetic, so I was not intuitively conscious of their hazards, started melting while I was wearing them. I quick took them off, and luckily they had been big on me to begin with so I was uninjured. It was quite the scary experience to have my clothes melting on me while I was wearing them and none of the other clothes I was wearing melted at that time and distance, so I kind of freaked out a bit. I called the company and got a snotty, non nonchalant, Oh yeah that will happen, and there was a tag on the pants when you bought them, too bad for you, response. I was sort of expecting an apology and maybe some coupons. Mind you they were about $100 ski pants and I told the woman that I also owned another pair of her company's expensive pants. I know, as my husband said, it was probably my fault. I guess I just have to be super conscious at all times or adopt a philosophy of wearing only natural fiber clothing that will be on the whole, less hazardous to my health. I think in the future, I will just keep my $100 and next time knit myself a pair of wool leggings or get some old kind of natural fiber ski clothes. I just thought I'd tell my story so other people don't get injured and/or ruin their expensive clothing. I was not touching the stove, and like I said, the pants looked more like stretchy cotton pants, so it was not foremost on my mind that they could melt like nylon. I also have a few other hi- tech, natural looking, sports wear, items of clothing which I will be more careful about. So be aware, that some hi- tech clothing is not reliable around wood stoves or heating devices, whether or not you think you are a reasonable distance away from the heat source. The woman representing the company also stated that the pants have melted in the dryer, so use caution with this type of clothing.