I learned that the world was not all that scary and cold.
That sometimes there is someone to have and to hold.
You taught me what love is, you helped me to mend.
You loved me and healed me and became my first friend.

And just when I thought you’d done all you do,
There came along not one new lesson, but two.
First you said, “Sweetheart, you’re ready to go.
I’ve done all I can, and you’ve learned all I know.”
Then you bundled me up with a blanket and kiss.
Along came a new family, they even have kids!
They took me to their home, forever to stay.

At first I thought you sent me away.
Then that second lesson became perfectly clear.
No matter how far, you will always be near.

And so, Foster Mom, you know I’ve moved on.
I have a new home, with toys and a lawn.
But I’ll never forget what I learned that first day.
You never really give your fosters away.
You gave me these thoughts to remember you by.

We may never meet again, and now I know why.
You’ll remember I lived with you for a time.
I may not be yours, but you’ll always be mine.

— Author Unknown

Years ago, I owned the very best dog in the world.

I was a child when we got her. She was a graceful brown hound, a foundling who taught me that our pets are not purchased, but ordained. She romped when I did and knew how to smile in that funny way that only some dogs have. She grew up with me, always there when I needed her. My grown hand still remembers the sleek bump on the top of her head and that gentle divot just past her nose that fit my index finger just perfectly.

She passed away during one of my college vacations. My heart broke then, and I knew that there would never be another dog like her, and there hasn’t been. I was sure that I could never love another dog as much as I’d loved her.

Fortunately, I was wrong about that part.

My next dog came into my life when I was married. My husband traveled for a living, and I was often lonely. This dog grew into a lumbering Wolfhound and Sheepdog mix who taught me patience. He was a large, grizzled sentry, that dog. He rarely left my side until the children were born, and then he became their guardian, too. I can still feel that swirl of fur along his back and the weight of his chin when it rested in my lap.

When he passed away, my heart broke. As much as I had loved that childhood dog, I had been wrong This was the very best dog in the world. There would never be another dog like him, and there hasn’ t been. I was sure I  would never love another dog as much as I’d loved him.

I was wrong again.

We got the next one, a loping black Lab-and-Terrier mix, when the children were little. He taught me the importance of adapting. He was everyone’s dog from the beginning, and that was just as it should be. When he played tug of war with the children, he dragged them across the kitchen floor as they shrieked with laughter. He always seemed to sleep in the room of the  child who needed his company the most. These days his face is expressively gray, and he spends more time with me since the almost-grown children aren’t around so much. The other day my oldest, home from college, played tug of war. We all laughed–just a little–as the dog was gently pulled across the kitchen floor.

He is, of course, the very best dog in the world. I will never forget that exquisitely soft tuft of fur behind his ears or the tickley feel when he nuzzles. There won’t be another dog like him.

And that’s okay, because we will never be at this point in our lives again.

Sometimes I’ve wondered why two species that get along so well should have such different life spans. It just doesn’t seem right. And then I wonder if that’s part of the lesson: To teach us that love itself has a spirit that returns again and again and never really dies.

It’s amazing, in a way, how they bring to our ev er-changing lives exactly what it is that we need at the moment. They make room for one another, this family of dogs who has never even met. And they fit–into our families, into our lives, into our memories, and into our hearts–because they always have been and always will be the best dogs in the world.

To the world you are a rescue person … To a rescued dog you are the world!!

Author: Unknown

It’s been a while since I updated you on Ruger. He is doing great and still such a sweetheart of a dog. He has really become a mama’s boy. I can’t go anywhere without him right behind me. He loves to play outside and go for hikes in the woods by our house.

He has a new job, he protects my bird feeders from the raccoons and possums. He is doing a great job! He loves his sister Roxy and they play chase outside everyday.

Ray and I have decided we need a king size bed. We have a queen size now and there is just not enough room because Ruger refuses to sleep in a dog bed and is in our bed everynight. Sideways of course. He is totally spoiled, but I just can’t help it. He is too sweet not to spoil.

He likes to give me gifts, toys and bones mostly. A few weeks ago we were outside and he brought me a posssum, a very alive possum! He chased me around the yard trying to give it to me, he just couldn’t understand why I didn’t want it.

Here are some recent pictures, thanks again for giving us such a special boy.

Debbie and Ray

“My friend Ryan took the photo in our backyard one day, and posted it on Flickr with the rest of his photos. A rep from Purina came across it and asked Ryan if they could use it for their website…which of course, he did. It was up there for over a month.”

Lora

This weekend we took her on her first official run with the horses while we rode!  She did VERY well.  Absolutely loved to be out in the woods and minded her manners pretty good with a few “reminders”.

I have attached a few pics of her “taking a break” in the fall leaves.  She was absolutely exhausted when we got back to the farm and drank about a gallon of water and collapsed on the lawn.  She was so happy.

Monica

I don’t know if I ever told you this, but the night before we came to meet Riley (then known as “Fox”) I had decided to cancel the meet. We’d been searching for just the right dog for a few months and we’d recently had a very bad experience with a large German Shepherd at another rescue. I was really afraid we would make the long drive and have yet another disappointing experience. What would be the point in driving three hours only to face yet another heartbreak? What if this, too, was the wrong dog for us? Surely we didn’t need to drive that far just to find that out, there were other dogs closer to home we could meet and adopt. My heart just wasn’t in it any more, memories of the previous experience were still fresh in my mind and I was at the point I felt that maybe we just shouldn’t do this at all.

My husband is an over-the-road trucker and when he called me on his way back that night, I told him I didn’t want to make the trip anymore and that I was going to call you in the morning and tell you to adopt him to one of the other people on the waiting list for him. Something told him we needed to meet this dog. He really felt we needed to do this, he wasn’t giving up and talked me into following through. When morning came, my heart still wasn’t in it but we made the trip anyway. I held the picture of Fox that I’d copied off the Internet (above left) in my hands all the way up there. I kept looking in his eyes and the sadness in them was just so overwhelming it brought tears to my eyes, but I just could not allow myself to get my hopes up.

We arrived and chatted a bit and then it was time to meet Fox. We watched out the window as you brought him around the front of the house and my eyes widened and the tears began to flow. I looked at my husband and he was teary-eyed, too. Fox was the absolute most gorgeous German Shepherd we’d seen in our quest to find our new furkid!

You brought him in the house, he made a circle around the room, sniffing everything in his path as we sat and watched in awe. Then he stopped and sniffed my husband, not paying him a whole lot of attention and crossed the room to me. He sniffed, laid his head in my lap and looked up at me. The look in his eyes said “Can I come home with you, please?” I looked up at my husband, crying my fool head off and he said “I think you just found your dog!” When you said we could adopt him, I thought I would burst! We filled out the paperwork and talked with you some more and then we took our boy home. It was one of the happiest days of my life.

We found out very quickly he had been taught some awesome manners. He knew the basic commands, was housebroken and crate trained. He never once tried to climb of the seats in the car, always staying in the cargo area of my SUV like a perfect gentleman and he made himself at home very quickly.

We re-named him Riley and he and his “sister” are the joy of my life! When we tell people he’s a rescue originally found as a stray, their comments always include something like “How could anyone have let this boy get away?” People stop us on our walks all the time and tell us how gorgeous our two furkids are. We literally can’t go anywhere without someone complimenting them. We are so very proud of both of them. When Riley was about a year old and before Nissa came to live with us, a man offered me $2,500.00 for him and I told him “He’s not for sale at any price!”

Here is a picture of them at Gramma and Grampa’s taken after they went swimming (they’re still slightly damp). I remember what Grampa said the first time he met Riley (we didn’t have Nissa yet). His words were “So, you finally got yourself a real dog!” Gramma absolutely adores them both!

Thank you for our Riley, Judi! Both he and Nissa are so very special to us! Together, they’re about a 150 pounds of love in fur coats.

Deb

PS: They both just love the Lure Course and Riley’s favorite toy is a squeaky tennis ball!

1 lb Ground Turkey or Beef

1 egg slightly beaten

1 cup bread crumbs

2 tbsps Parmesan Cheese

A few sprinkles of garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a bowl like you would for meatloaf. Once mixed, divid into 4 parts. Roll each part into a long cigar so that you have 4 long cigars. Place all 4 cigars on a cookie sheet and bake for about 25 minutes. When ready, grab a few slices and let them defrost or microwave them for just a few seconds.

(A quicker way to do this is to either put it in a meatloaf pan and cook like a meatloaf. When done, slice it up into small squares and drop into a ziplock freezer bag. Remove a handful as needed, drop into a plastic container and refrigerate. OR use a large jellyroll pan instead of a meatloaf pan, spread your “dough” out thin, slice with a pizza cutter after cooking and store in ziplock bags and plastic containers as previously explained.)

An additional way to “cook” these treats is to dehydrate them! We tried this a few weeks ago and it works great. Just put the meat mixture into a jerky gun, squeeze it onto your dehydrating trays just like you would beef jerky and dry. Make sure the turkey or beef you use is as lean as you can get (no more than 90/100). These come out so nice you can even pop some in your pocket without fear of grease stains.

18 oz.can salmon with juice

1/2 cup chopped parsley

3 eggs with the shell

1/2 cup sesame seed (ground)

1/3 cup flax seed (ground)

2-3 cups potato flour

Put first 5 ingredients in food processor. Mix very well. Add flour slowly while motor is runnning until dough forms well. Knead on floured surface Roll about 1/4″ thick and cut into small pieces with pizza cutter.

Bake 375 for 20 minutes. Rotate 1/2 way through baking time. Bake another 10 minutes.

1 1/2 cup wheat germ

1 1/2 cup corn meal

1 lb.liver

3-4-eggs

2-3 garlic

Puree liver in food processor. Mix all ingredients. Spread on greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Cut into squares when cool.