Facebook page.
I mentioned in one of my last posts before going silent all summer that my younger brother died after complications from a lung illness that he’d been battling for over two years. Still don’t know what to say about all that, still processing and adjusting to life without him. A few days after my brother’s death, I got a phone call from a police department, in a town 45 minutes away, (at 3am in the morning!) that I needed to go retrieve my 6 year old son. He’d been having an overnight at friend’s house and there was “incident” at the home and could I come get him… WHAAATTTT???
Long story short, they were quick to assure me that he was not involved in said incident and was in another room with door closed, but an alcohol-fueled argument between parent and significant other escalated to point where police were called. *twitch twitch* needless to say, if there had been even slightest clue or hint that such a thing could ever be a remote possibility he would not have been allowed to spend the night there in the first place!!!
So June was pretty much a total wash. The rest of the summer was good. With the support of my fiancée, agreeing to let me try and knowing he’d have to pick up financial slack if I bombed, instead of scrambling for summer work, I didn’t get a summer “job” this year, and was able to instead focus on family and my artwork and the local farmer’s market. I got all housewifey and domestic and stuff, which is hysterical to many friends who’ve known me a long while, gardened, learned how to butcher our own livestock, sold eggs and crafts, at the farmer’s market etc… as well as was just able to focus a lot on my son and my mom and help each other through the aftermath of my brother’s loss. This also meant I got a lot of time to work with Moko, and while we still have much to work on, it's gratifying to see him make lots of good progress.
Oh, and we have a third dog, now, it seems…
Bear with me, there’s a story, here…
My son Connor got to go spend a week on the Cape with his paternal grandmother, as dumb luck would have it, (I was due for some, thank you!) a couple of gals at my horse barn organized a 3-day horseback getaway at “The Bunkhouse” which is a lovely little camp/ B&B-styled getaway in the middle of a Vermont State Forest with accommodations for horses and guided trail excursions and wanted to know if anyone else was up for joining them… and it fell on the week my son was away and I was off the hook for parental duties. I have always wanted to go on and overnight horseback getaway and have never been able to due to parental obligations and lack of money. This was also planned for a just a little after my birthday, so when my fiancée Jon asked what I’d like for my birthday, I said I wanted to go on this trip. He, being the wonderful man he is, paid for the trip (which was actually an amazingly reasonable cost,) as well as held the fort at home with the two dogs, cat, chickens, and all the duties that go with that. (Usually all the critter-care is solely my domain.)
Yes yes, get to the dog… so we’re trail-riding out in the middle of nowhere, off-grid, State Forest-land, mostly old logging trails and class 4 roads. In a clearing we spotted a houndy-looking dog that took off for the edge of the woods when it saw the horses and watched us from a distance with a forlorn expression. A few hours later as we were headed back, it was still there. The next day we rode allll day in a totally different direction, literally in the saddle from right after breakfast until late afternoon. After our late lunch/early dinner, we all decided we wanted to go back along that other trail and see if that dog was still there. (All three of us are dog people.) We knew it had been afraid of the horses so we took a truck instead and stopped a little way back. Yep. Dog still there, took off to the edge of the woods with tail so tightly tucked at first we thought it was a male. Turns out it was a she, but we didn’t figure that out until we were able to get closer. She clearly wanted to interact but was afraid, because she never took off completely, just kept a certain distance at all time and kept watching us with this heartbreaking expression. It took over an hour of just chilling, sitting around in the clearing, talking to her, tossing bits of food, and gradually easing closer. (Not all of us together, not wanting to intimidate or overwhelm.)
Once she was accepting food from the hand, we slipped a lead (from the truck) over her and it was like a spell had been broken, she was instantly like, “Oh! A leash? Okay! Where are we going? *wag wag*” Hopped right into the truck, “Yay! A ride!”
As best we can guess, she’s some kind of beagle or similar hound, (the shape of her head/browline and ears is very beagle-ey,) and Shar-pei, as she has the coat texture of a shar pei, and rumples over her hindquarters and the base of her tail, possibly some other houndey-type in there, maybe walker? Though her ears are shorter than most larger hounds.
She was crawling with fleas and had dug herself raw, her skin was in quite bad shape due to the flea-load, and the toenails on her right forefoot were grown into the pad of her foot, causing her to limp. She also appeared unfixed, and while not recently whelped, had probably had a litter at some point in her life. (We checked around quite a bit for any signs of other dogs or pups, wondering if that was why she’d been so fixated on staying in that clearing or if her dedication to that spot is because that’s where she was lost or dumped initially.)
So we bathed her and fed her and as we brought her into the cabin, the first song we heard when we turned on some music was by “The Fray” and lyrics that go, “Lost and Insecure… you found me, you found me…” we all had to laugh at THAT little message from the universe and started trying to figure out what to call her. “Fray” seemed not feminine enough, so we went with the goddess name “Freyja”
She’s clearly been a housedog before, as she’s housebroken and knows basic commands. Despite her initial fearfulness, she made friends with the horses pretty readily. As soon as we got back to civilization we took her to a vet to get the forefoot tended to. They ended up removing OVER AN INCH of toenail from within the pad of her foot! Poor baby! It also turns out that the flesh between to two middle toes and toenail on that foot are fused together, and possibly those two toes had been broken at some point, which is why the double-nail grew at such an angle as to curl up into her pad. This means that nail trimming is both challenging, due to the fused double-nail, and vital that it be monitored and kept up with. Despite these issues, she seems pretty tolerant of having her feet messed with. Honestly, she is the most low-maintenance rescue I’ve ever dealt with, despite the conditions we found her in and her physical quirk. She’s super-sweet and adaptable, eager to please and to be loved, but without being pushy and in-your-face about her requests for affection. She’s estimated to be anywhere between 1 and 4 years old, (her teeth are in beautiful shape and very white,) Freyja is shown to be fine with other dogs, whether male or female, large or small. She will cautiously greet a cat with calmness and respectfully give it a wide berth, and barely bats an eye at chickens or goats. She will be protective of her space if she is in a crate and another dog comes right up to the door, a warning growl is issued, but no further action, likewise when her space is invaded while eating or food is being prepared. She will warn away another dog with a growl, not so if a person is the one getting close. She will also bark at someone who comes to the door or walks by the house, but then settles and greets them with warm friendliness when told that they are okay to be here.
We had another minor freak-out when the vet who tended her foot announced, “Well, I’m worried about sedating her to do this because she has puppies…” (EEEK!) When asked how far along they think she might be the answer was a hesitant, “Wellll, I don’t think it’ll be THIS weekend… but, ummm, she’s pretty far along, definitely within a week or two.…” (Double EEEEEK!!!)
Probably for the best, it turned out to be a false pregnancy. A few weeks later she had a false labor, dropped a ton of weight seemingly overnight, and all of a sudden livened up, started eating more enthusiastically and began to show interest in play, which before she was not inclined to engage in.
She then went through a very messy heat cycle, and we are now waiting the required two months before she can be spayed.
While a guest in our home, she has turned out to be an exceptionally valuable training tool in working with Moko’s reactivity issues.
Initially she was fostering at Jon’s uncle’s farm, (as all three of us horse-ladies who rescued her already have dogs,) where I was able to see her every day when I went to tend my chickens and it was a safe, quiet place for her to await puppies, back when it seemed that was due anytime.
She has since moved to my house, as the heat cycle was wreaking havoc on Joe’s carpets and I have an easy-mop kitchen floor with a direct line to the door outside.
I had to be especially careful to keep her and Moko apart, both due to his reactivity to other dogs and because he is still intact. Now that we know she’s not having puppies it needs to stay that way! I adore Moko, but I have no intention of breeding him, and he will be neutered ASAP once he’s hit 2 years.
But while they were crated at opposite ends of the house, I did need to walk Moko through the kitchen on our way outside for potty breaks and he was able to gradually acclimate to her presence. I also would let him investigate her crate when she was outside with Jon.
At current, Freyja is integrated very comfortably into our household and Maiyou, who can sometimes be snarky with other females gets along fine with her, and Moko, after getting over the whole “Strange Dog!” craziness, positively ADORES her! He loves to romp with her and or wash out her ears for her and she will play tug with him, which Maiyou usually didn’t care to do, despite his attempts to invite her to do so.
It’s hysterical to watch when I bring all three to Uncle Joe’s to romp by the river or run in the field adjacent to the hops yard. Moko is blindingly fast, and Maiyou, while once very fast, is getting old, and Freyja is a sweetheart, but not built for speed. The two girls will boisterously chase him in turns, Freyja LOUDLY hollering at him as she does her shift of the chase, and Moko with deliriously giddy enthusiasm runs giant figure 8s around and between them, occasionally wrestling and leaping and body-slamming with one or the other in turns.
I think she is likely to end up a “Foster Failure” and be here for good.
An added bonus is that with a second dog to entertain him even when Maiyou gets tired of playing with him, he has mellowed even more with the additional stimulation and exercise on a daily basis outside of his walks and training sessions with me and the usual romp-times at the farm.
I have more pictures of the 3 dogs and Moko and Freyja together, just not uploaded yet.
Also, give that fiancée of yours a big smooch, he sounds like a saint!!