The Hound with a Home: Adventures of Tilly

The hound is coming along, but it's a slow go, and she reminds me of Drew Barrymore's character on 50 First Dates. Our life with her starts over every day, sometimes several times a day. She is getting more comfortable here, and she loves the other dogs. They are really where she is consistently comfortable, which is what I suspected would happen in the beginning of our relationship together. 

It has become real obvious to The Nurse and I that this girl will not be able to live in a normal pet home at this point, and I'm not sure that she ever will be "normal". She requires a lot of life modification to survive, and I don't know too many "pet people" who would know how to do this without losing patience and making her worse than she is, if that's even possible. 

In my last life, I was fine with having many dogs, but as life has progressed, I can say I don't enjoy having a bunch of dogs anymore, but sometimes God gives you what He wants not what you want, and I feel like it was no accident this girl entered The Nurse and I's life. After a lot of discussion and being honest with what this girl needs, The Nurse and I have decided to adopt Tilly the Hound.

I don't know that she will be a permanent member of our family, but I do know that we are going to continue on with her rehab as part of our pack. My prayer is that she will eventually recover enough to be a pet in someone else's home, but now there is no pressure for when that has to happen. She can take her time, and move at her pace. It's said that it takes the average rescue dog a year to feel 100% comfortable in their new home, and I imagine we are going to need every bit of that time frame with Tilly. 

We found a veterinarian who has been gracious enough to spay her on a Saturday so their clinic is quieter, we can drop her off at the last minute, and wait for her to be done, so she doesn't have to be without people she knows for very long, and so we minimize anyone handling her who might not be as dog savvy as she requires. It's another step towards being an "owned" dog in this house, and we are happy to give her that opportunity. 

I needed to know her future was wide open, and we have secured that for her this weekend.

  

Recipe: Spaghetti with Shrimp, Garlic & Broccoli

 Several nights ago, I shared this picture on my personal Facebook page, and several people reached out wanting the recipe. As always, with any recipe I offer, you can guarantee it's easy to prepare, and tastes good, otherwise I wouldn't bother, because a chef I am not!

Enjoy!

 

Spaghetti with Shrimp, Garlic & Broccoli

1/2 lb. spaghetti, uncooked

3 cups of broccoli

1/2 cup Italian Dressing

1 lb. uncooked, deveined, peeled large shrimp

4 tsp. minced garlic

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1) Cook the spaghetti in a large saucepan as directed on the package, and add the broccoli to the boiling water for the last 2 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, heat the dressing in a large skillet on medium, adding the garlic and shrimp. Cook and stir 3-4 minutes or until the shrimp turn pink.

3) Drain the spaghetti mixture, return to the pan. Add the shrimp mixture and cheese, mix together and top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Serve with garlic bread.  

Breathing blankets and broken dogs.....

Last week, The Nurse and I went to our local animal shelter to purchase dog licenses for out dogs. While we were there, we walked up and down the kennels saying hello to all the dogs that were there. The Nurse stopped at one kennel, and said: "Look that blanket is breathing." I looked in the kennel, and could see the blanket and the bed moving up and down in a rhythmic fashion, indicating something was alive in the kennel, but there was no dog to be seen. 

We were talking to the shelter staff about the dogs and cats, and st some point there was a discussion about me getting a puppy out to play with it. It was during that conversation that one of the employees said, "Go look at that dog in Kennel #6. She needs someone to get her out." 

The Nurse nudged me and said, "That's the kennel with the breathing blankets, but you can't see the dog!"

I walked back to the kennel, open the door, and lifted the bed. There was the most terrified dog I have ever seen in my life. Her fur was wet and yellow with urine, and she was laying in her own feces. I picked her up, and she instantly released her anal glands in fear. I carried her up to one of the "meet and greet" rooms and she coward on the floor under the bench, just trying to get away from us. 

The shelter staff explained that she had been at the shelter for a week, and that they had used a live trap to catch her, because she was running loose in some woods out in the country. The went on to say she was so scared that she wouldn't walk, hid behind the toilet when they attempted to work with her, and never even moved to urinate or deficate, she just voided and laid in it.

My heart broke.

There wasn't much discussion between The Nurse and I on what we were going to do, I think we both knew this dog was never going to recover in the shelter, and that was IF she could be rehabilitated at all, so we decided to take her home and try to foster her. 

In my 22 years of dog rescue, I have only fostered one other dog this broken and shutdown. That dog was Wigzi, whom I ended up driving to a sanctuary in Nebraska because he never recovered enough to make it in a home. Usually, when you have a dog this broken, they don't like people, but they like dogs. This girl was so shutdown that she didn't even like dogs. We have been working with her and where she makes no sense, she seems to be making some very small steps towards being a dog.

We will see where we go as we work through the idiosyncrasies that this little girl has, and my prayer is she will one day function well enough to at least live a life that is fulfilling to her. Really, that is all I hope for any of my rescue pups.....