The Universe is unfolding as it should

I have always been a believer that things have a way of working out for the best. Sometimes when faced with a difficult decision one has to have the patience and faith to just wait a little while and the right choice will emerge. Or when something wonderful is lost, it sometimes paves the way for something equally wonderful to appear. And so it is with dogs.

I miss my Caleb. I miss him a lot. And then into my life comes Sadie. I didn't have to go looking - she needed a home and I was there. From the moment she walked in the door she belonged here.

The first sign was when the cat didn’t even make her great big saucer eyes at Sadie or arch her back and her tail, as she usually does when a newcomer invades the house. Allie just sauntered past, gave her a sniff and went right on with her business of persuading me that I am starving her. And today, for the first time EVER, I found Allie lying side by side with a dog – with Sadie. The universe is unfolding.......

I was a little anxious about taking in a dog I'd never met. When I picked her up after her transport, I was told she was “yellow flagged” for separation anxiety. So today I did a few very short departures where I left her in the house while I went out to the barn, or down the road for the mail. No problem. No barking, no whining, she just waited inside for me. Then late this afternoon I left her for over an hour. I came home, parked at the top of the drive, tiptoed to the house and peeked in the windows. There’s Charley, fast asleep on the couch. And Belle, fast asleep in one of the big dog beds. And Sadie, separation-anxiety Sadie, fast asleep on my bed. The universe is unfolding....

It is always important to me to crate train a dog so that if ever they must be confined they will consider it a “safe place” not a punishment. I start the process gradually, by feeding them right next to a crate. At each meal I move the feed dish further inside, until eventually they have to go all the way in to eat. Then I start closing the door for a few minutes at a time, and so on.

Sadie was having her third meal here this evening, so the feed bowl was just partly inside the crate – far enough that she had to put the front half of her body in to eat. She was fine with that. And half an hour later, as I was checking my email, I suddenly realized that there was a black furry beastie in the crate by my desk --- Sadie!!! She had gone right inside of her own accord and was softly snoring away. The universe is unfolding.....

I know she misses her family and wonders when they will come for her. She runs to the patio door and looks out with anticipation when a car goes by. When I go to the back door, she quickly trots down the hall, head and tail high, full of anticipation that mom and dad are here. When she looks out the door and sees no one, her tail drops and she stands on the threshold looking about with a puzzled expression.

But slowly she is realizing that this is home now. She already loves the pasture and runs to the gate when we go outside. Today she was pushing her nose into the pasture grasses trying to catch the poor little field mice – just as Charley does. I don’t think there’s any doubt that I will be failing at fostering and will adopt this girl. She was just meant to be here. The universe is unfolding.....

And that brings me to one last “the universe is unfolding” story: Two of Caleb’s littermates, also seized by the SPCA for neglect in 2006, have been returned by their adopters and are back in the rescue/shelter system once again. Two brindle girls, sweet and loving like Caleb. One in an SPCA, one in a foster home. I was already making inquiries about them when Sadie suddenly came into my life. I had already set up an appointment to meet one of them, and I kept that appointment this morning.

I was sitting on the couch in the foster’s home when Macy, Caleb’s sister, came over to me and planted herself between my legs just as Caleb did, leaning her back against me. And suddenly, she raised her head and gave me one of the most wonderful, amazing pitti-lab face-washing kisses! I totally melted! And so the dilemma: could I manage four dogs, two of which are new to the household and whose true personalities may not emerge for several months? (It takes anywhere from three to six months for their full personality to emerge when they have been through a traumatic event and rehomed).

And so I contacted Macy’s rescue and told them my dilemma. And they let me know someone else is also interested in this sweet girl. And so we shall trust providence....if she melts the other family’s hearts the way she did mine, then she should go with them. And if not, then the rescue knows I would like to try her here. If it’s meant to be, it will be.

Meanwhile, there is a lovely brindle pitti-mix girl named Edie at the Victoria SPCA still looking for her forever home. I’d love to see both girls get perfect forever homes – they have been through so much already. It’s time for their universe to unfold as it should.

And Okanagan Collie Rescue??? I think Sadie has found her forever home.