Sunday on the Farm

As usual, our day started with the canine alarm clocks (Shae, Coco, and Sammy) barking the household awake well before 6:00 am. The bright side of all this was that I was able to hear the turkeys in the backfield somewhere, and witness the mating dance of a male sandhill crane as he tried to attract his (largely unimpressed) mate. Spectacular! The birds were all chirping, much to Twig's chagrin, since she couldn't find all of them to bark at and chase away. The spring peeper frogs were singing away down in the marsh, and every now and again, the horses next door would whinny to each other. Ahhhh, lovely. Yesterday I planted the annuals in the pots around the house's gardens, and potted the herbs. Most importantly, I planted tulips in Tulip's Garden. We've always called it Tulip's Garden, though it had no tulips in it, because she loved to drink from the scummy water feature (despite the fresh water in the house!), and hang out there. We moved the beagle statue to Tulip's Garden when we noticed how much she liked being there. I always said that when she left us, I'd plant some tulips there, so there would always be a Tulip in her Garden. They are lovely, but not nearly so as she was.

Last Walk with Lulu

Tulip, the seventeen-year-old face of Hundenruhe, walked her last walk in the field tonight. Dan, the dogs, and I accompanied her on a last patrol of the fenceline. Dr. Jeff told us last night that her heart just isn't pumping blood to her body anymore, and she's already started turning blue in her membranes. She hasn't eaten in three days, now and her energy gave out at the end of her walk tonight. We know that its time to let her go.
Tulip has been special from the moment she arrived at Hundenruhe with Jeanne and Dave three years ago, broken and sad. We watched her heal physically and mentally and become a wagging, play-bowing, beggar of kisses and loving. She and Dan fell in love with each other, and this will be an especially hard loss. My sister took this picture shortly after her transformation, and Dan coined it "The Faces of Hundenruhe". Truly, Tulip exemplifies the reason for our taking in the seniors. Her journey from breeder dog to dumped stray to real rescue to Hundenruhe Haven and true peace is one that will inspire me forever. It will be one of the hardest good-byes we will ever have to face. We will always love you Lulu.

Festival of Needles

Dr. Jeff came to the house last night for the annual "Festival of Needles". The dogs needed their annual lepto shots and heartworm blood tests, as well as a couple of random rabies vaccinations thrown in for good measure. As usual, the very efficient Dr. Jeff (with help from Marvelous Marnie, the vet tech) finished a host of blood tests and vaccinations in record time - about a half an hour! We are so thankful for Dr. Jeff and his outstanding care of our babies.

All Good Things...

...must come to an end. Today is the last day of a long and lovely Spring Break from school. We haven't had an entire week off for Spring Break since one of the first years I taught (almost 20 years ago!), so this was blissful. In addition to the welcome time off, the weather has been beyond fantastic - warm and balmy - great for spending time with the dogs outdoors. Each day on our walks in the fields we have watched the fields green up, buds burst into tender green leaves, and pups rolling in the warm grass. Absolutely heavenly! The yard is cleaned up, the trees trimmed (and some branches cut for McKinley Academy's graduation decorations), the outdoor furniture has been returned to its rightful place, and...best of all...the outdoor dog beds have again taken up residence on our little "doggie deck" on the back patio. It's only 10:30am, and "Spa Day" has already begun for the dogs. Wet towels are snapping in the wind on the line, my clothes are soaked, and there is a quarter inch of water on the kitchen counter. You guessed it - they have all been bathed, and are now sipping cold drinks and lounging on their outdoor beds in the sun. Okay, so maybe not sipping cold drinks, but I'd sure like to be pampered like they were today!!
This is Shae (formerly Chardonnay). She's a 14 year old beagle from the Eastshore Humane Society in Chilton. Her dad couldn't keep her anymore and turned her over to the shelter for rehoming. I hope that he'd be happy to know that she is doing wonderfully, fitting in with the rest of the gang here at the Haven. Every day she goes on our walkabouts - what a healthy, happy pup! Her only flaw is that she loves to "talk" and we'll be working on that! She loves soft beds, watching over the fenceline, and harassing the girls and the tinies. She is very, very welcome here, and Tulip, Ruby, and Shae have taught us that we will probably always have a beagle to watch over Hundenruhe.

Spring!!!

Here's a happy thought for you: today after school the snow had finally melt enough for us to open the gate into one of the big 3 acre fenced fields. I let all the oldies and youngies out in the field with me for a walk. This was the first time for Sammy (from Little Paws), Miss Coco (also from Little Paws), and 14.5 year old greyhound Nala in the big field, as they came over the winter to Hundenruhe Haven. The delight on the face of Coco when she realized that she was allowed to putz and putter in this huge space was priceless. Nala the greyhound was play-bowing and running, and little Sammy couldn't get enough of tearing around at top speed after little puppy mill rat terrier Metoo (aged 5) around and around the field. All of the rest of the Hundenruhe babies (ten more!) were all doing their own thing and it was marvelous. Tulip (thank heavens she's still with us for now!) did her first patrol for heffalumps and woozles - she was SO happy to get out in "her" field! Twig found several long-lost toys buried under snow all winter and had such trouble deciding which to bring for me to kick across the field for her. Tiny Olive was digging for bunny "prizes" under the remaining snow piles and brothers Obie and Skylar were running back and forth between me and all the other dogs, joyfully leaping and bounding back to Mommy each time. Even the iggies were having fun. Ancient Rudy (17!) was running and barking at everyone he encountered and Sophia walked the fenceline all the way to the end of the field and back. Uncle Mort tottered around doing his Uncle Mort business. We never really know what he's thinking! Little Baci stayed on the porch and watched because he's so afraid of being run over. My project this summer is to try to get him to join us more on our group walkies.
This is the best moment of the year for me every year - that first breath of spring, and the end of puppy cabin fever!

Spam and Coco - Yum!

It's been an exciting couple of weeks around here! Two wonderful new additions to the Hundenruhe Haven family have joined us from Little Paws Rescue in Iowa. Sammy is a powderpuff Chinese Crested dog, who is 11 years old. He's a riot, full of fun and loving to follow us around the house, standing on his hinder legs to beg, and learning to chase Mimi and Twig around the yard. His parents had to move into a rest home, so he came to live with us last Saturday. His arrival was delayed by a week because I had to have an emergency appendectomy!! I've never had surgery before, so it was quite a novel experience, to say the least. I am back to work and feeling pretty good now, thank heavens.
Today I met DeeAnn and Cathy in Madison to pick up Coco, a 12 year old rat terrier. She was picked up as a stray, and originally was owned by a couple who gave her to someone...you know the story. Anyway, no one seemed to want the old girl, and Little Paws' foster homes were all full, so we took her in. She seems to be settling well, and reminds me a lot of our dear, departed Sadie. So, it's nice to have a Grandma Rattie back in the house again!
Both of the new kids are chunky monkeys (hence Sammy's new nickname of Spam), so there's some dieting going on here, as well as the hope for an early spring and walkies in the big fields.
Welcome to Hundenruhe! I hope you find your peace here...

Toot - Toot- Toody, Good-bye. We'll love you forever.

I am sad, sad, sad to let you know that Roody has passed away. He had finally gotten over his fear of men (he'd been cuddling on Dan's lap the last few nights), his need to love the ladies, and his inability to eat on his own. He'd gained weight and his coat just shined. Unfortunately, he also had some sort of cancer wrapping itself around his bowels. Roody's pain got to be too much and today we let him go to the bridge to run free with the others. Run free, you old lecher! Even if he wasn't with us for long, he knew he was loved.