King's Final Journey

Back in 2008, when the blog was young, I posted a story of a dog who had been waiting for his very own home for many months.  King had a memorable story - an injured and starving homeless dog in northern BC, trying to look after a small pack of other homeless dogs, picked up by a pair of Good Samaritans, who went seven hours out of their way to take the dogs to the nearest rescue, Turtle Gardens.  You'll find that story here:  Needed: One Happily Ever After Ending.

A very special couple read that blog story, and felt their hearts respond.  And so King got his Happily Ever After Ending with my blog readers Del and Mark.  We met up with them twice over the years - once while camping at Emory Creek and again last year when Mitzi and I traveled to their home.  

On April 8th, King ended his earthly journey.   He was one of the sweetest, kindest, most benevolent dogs I have ever met, and I know he was one of the most loved.  He passed away with Del and Mark by his side, arms around him, fur sisters nearby.  And as he left, he let out one last howl, perhaps to let the Spirit World know he was on his way.  I can tell his story no better than this very wonderful tribute to him which Del wrote on King's own blog:  http://kingsurvives.blogspot.ca/2016/04/april-28-2002-april-8-2016.html. Please take a moment to read it, kleenex in hand. 

King, you will be sorely missed.  If I could have had only one dog in my lifetime, I would have wanted him to be just like you. 

Gentle hugs, Del and Mark.  King will forever be in our hearts. 

The Best Part of Rescue

(Note to those waiting for other photos:  In an attempt to catch up on some overdue posts, I'm not necessarily presenting posts in chronological order.  Sometimes it is a matter of how much time I have, how many photos need editing, and how much editing I've already done on them.  So today's quick-and-easy post is about a transport I did on Monday, part of which has already appeared on the TG blog, even though there are still some earlier entries waiting in the wings.)  

The other day, a news reporter asked me, as part of an interview at the sanctuary where I volunteer, why I'm so committed to pig rescue,  and less involved in dog rescue.  At the time, I gave several valid reasons: I like the fact that the pigs are in a sanctuary that will be their permanent home, so I really get to know them well;  I like the outdoor farm-type work;  and I love the pigs' personalities which make me smile even on the muddiest, wettest, coldest volunteer shift. I ended by saying that dog rescue isn't my strength - pigs are my forte.  And that's true.

Not just pigs, but goats and donkeys and mini-horses and farmbirds
and even a 3000 lb steer! 

What I didn't say, though I wish I had, is that I love helping dog rescues in ways that fit with the strengths I do have in that arena, like doing homechecks and helping with transports.  I may not have the skills to train a dog with behavioural issues, or the strength to walk a strong puller, or the patience to foster a bouncy adolescent, but it gives me great satisfaction to know that I play a small role in connecting a dog in need of a home with the right home for that dog.  To me, that's the best part of rescue.

Just before I went over to the mainland last week, Yvette at Turtle Gardens contacted me to see if I could do just that - transport a dog who was in foster care on the mainland to Nanaimo where his new mama would meet me before taking him further north and west to his new home.

Yvette and her son Davey met me in an empty area of the parking lot at the ferry terminal, where I was immediately engulfed by Yvette's other charges:  Jillian, Sweet Pea, Stedman and Puggy Sue, as well as Frodo, the fellow I was to transport. I've met Yvette before, but knew the dogs only from her blog - and meeting them face to face was delightful.

Every friend of Turtle Gardens is familiar with its spokesdog, Puggy Sue!
On this occasion, Puggy Sue was much more interested in checking
out the parking lot that in posing for the camera. 

Jillian, on the other hand, was quite happy to show me her best side.....

...though she couldn't decide which side was her best. 

Stedman was a little reserved at first....

...but soon decided to come say hi to the camera lady. 

And then there was Sweet Pea, who melted my already mushy heart.
There's just something about her old dog face - and it was on a much bigger
body than I had thought from the website!

And then there was Frodo, freshly groomed, new collar and leash,
ready for his forever home on the island.

I slipped a harness and canine seat belt on Frodo and secured him on the back seat of the car next to Mitzi's crate.  Normally I prefer to crate dogs I transport, but on this trip I didn't have room for the large spare crates I had at home, and the suitably sized one was on loan to a friend with a new puppy.  Seat belts, however, are better than nothing, and a vest-type harness from my stash fit him perfectly.  Safety is my middle name.

Where are you taking me?

Suitably secured, we waved goodbye to Yvette and crew, and headed over to the vehicle lineup.

Bye Frodo, be a good boy!

In the lineup, Frodo looked around nervously, wondering where Mama Yvette and Uncle Davey had gone. He also discovered he had just enough freedom to be able to repeatedly put his front paws on Mitzi's crate, which did not impress my little Princess.  So I moved Mitzi's little carrier to the front seat for the ferry ride, and the Princess was content. Frodo liked having both windows to himself.

Ah hope that dog isn't coming to MY house!

Frodo looking for Yvette

Time for a close-up - I love his wiry hair!  

On the ship, I stayed in the car with the dogs, as I always do.  I had an audio book to listen to, and pretty soon Frodo decided he may as well take a nap:

Are we there yet?

Soon we were driving off the ferry and heading up the freeway to Westwood Lake Park, our rendezvous point. We had a little walk and soon met Judy, Frodo's new mama, and his new fursister Sadie.  Sadie wasn't too sure she wanted to share her mama, but was very polite about it - just making sure she got the coveted spot right next to Judy in the mandatory family photos.

Frodo is more interested in his surroundings, but Sadie hams it up for the camera!
I could swear she has a smile on her face!

Finally Frodo turns to say goodbye to me, and happily trots off with Judy and Sadie
for the last leg of his trip home.

I had a lovely email from Judy later that night to tell me they had arrived home safely, and Frodo and Sadie were getting along well.  After a hearty dinner, a few trips outside to pee, and some initial restlessness, Frodo had curled up right beside Judy on the sofa for a nice long cuddly nap.

Have a great life, Frodo.  I'm so glad you found your forever home.

On the Road to .....Somewhere Great

In Part Four of  "Oh the Places we've Been and the Critters we Saw", Mitzi and I head up the Fraser Canyon to Lillooet, a drive of about three hours from where we were camping with our friends just north of Hope. Our goal was to spend the afternoon with our friends Del and Mark, and their dogs King, Lady May and Princess Mollydawg, who visited Eddie and I at our campsite two years ago.

At Lytton, Mitzi and I turned onto Highway 12, a route I'd not taken but which I knew had one very winding, steep single lane section, the result of a rock slide a few years ago.  It also had several places where the risk of slides was sufficient that no stopping was allowed. There are tall bare or sparsely treed slopes rising on one side of the road, and dropping to the river valley below on the other.  In winter, it isn't a road the average driver in the average car wants to take, but in summer I was willing and eager to experience it.  It was definitely worth it! The views across the valley were amazing, the road had virtually no traffic, and the feeling was of being on top of the world.

A small slide had just occured  which crews were clearing up, resulting in a delay of perhaps twenty minutes while machinery was blocking the road.  Even the delay was fantastic - the young flagger, perhaps around twenty,  was excitedly looking up at the slope beside us, and then motioned for me to roll down my window.  "There's a cougar up there, chasing a family of mountain sheep!" he said, and invited me to get out for a look.  The cougar - and the mountain sheep - had disappeared behind one of the craggy rocks by then, though we saw a couple more mountain sheep while we waited.  And while we waited, he entertained me with stories from his First Nations heritage, of the animals and birds in that area, the changes his band was seeing, the environmental impact of climate change.  It was the shortest twenty minute traffic delay I've ever known.  (On the return trip, I saw lots of mountain sheep and got some great photos of them which will be in tomorrow's post).

I continued on my way, enjoying every moment of the drive, stopping very briefly where permitted to take a photo or two or three.  I took the photo below as I was leaving Lillooet on the return trip, but now is a good time to show you the road I traveled - the fine white line cutting through the bare mountain side:

We arrived safely at Del and Mark's, and set up the x-pen in the shade for Ms. Mitzi.  Del brought King, Lady May and Mollydawg out one by one to meet her.  Mollydawg was most inquisitive and the most excited about having a visitor come to visit her - HER - and really wanted to say hello.

Mitzi was not interested in being social and retreated to her crate, so we let her sulk rest while I photographed the dogs and chatted with their humans.

King was easy to photograph, and my only difficulty is deciding which of about twelve favourite shots to post.

King is my favourite Turtle Gardens Rescue dog (but don't tell the others),  the sweetest, most benevolent leader of any pack I've ever met.  I love him to bits, and it is clear Del does too.  And King adores Del:

Princess Mollydawg was confined to the deck for awhile, but posed nicely while trying to tell us she REALLY wanted to go meet that little fluffy thing I brought with me.

Lady May was willing to sit for a few photos, but she was far more interested in chasing the ball, ball, ball, ball.

BALL BALL BALL BALL BALL!

After a delicious lunch, we decided to try for a photo of all three.  An exercise in futility, thanks to the irrepressible Princess Mollydawg.  It went something like this:

Everyone say CHEESE!

Mollydawg:  Cheese?  Did someone say cheese?  Where? Over there?

King:  Molly, you get back here!

Molly:  Pssst,  King, there's a cat behind you!

King:  Wha.....where?
Mollydawg:  BWHAHAHAHA!  Made ya look!

King:  I'm gonna tell Mom
Mollydawg:  Pffttttt!

Mollydawg:  I hate this!

Itchy back!

You suck, Auntie Jean!

Oops, sorry mom.  Sorry. 

Oh boy! Bribes - er, treats - that's more like it! 

Lady May:  Not sure why she's getting any.
She was the one who kept wrecking the shot! 

That's the best we can do - -
even for treats.

Time for a rest!

Can we go back to the campsite now?

And so we said our goodbyes and headed back to camp......and that return trip is another story in itself.  See you tomorrow!

Thanks for a great day, Del, Mark, King, Mollydawg and Lady May!

Camping with Eddie - a sneak preview of our visitors

I wonder how many readers have been following this blog since November 2008, when I wrote a post entitled "Needed:  One 'Happily Ever After' Ending" about a stray dog, his pack, his broken femur, and some very wonderful good samaratans from Alberta who found them, picked them up, and travelled 7 hours out of their way to take the pack to Turtle Gardens?  If you haven't read it or don't remember it, please click here (then hit the back browser to return to this post).

The post was read by  another couple of wonderful people, Del and Mark, who live about two hours north of where I was camping.  They tell me that post convinced them to inquire about King, the leader of the pack.  And shortly thereafter, they adopted him.  So now you know why I feel so very connected to the visitors who came to our campsite on Saturday, and especially to this sweet, sweet, sweet boy:

King
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

He came with Del and Mark and his two canine siblings, Lady May (a recent adoptee from Turtle Gardens) and Princess MollyDawg (who has lived with Del and Mark for most of her life and graciously accepted King and Lady May into her home.

Lady May, King, and Princess MollyDawg
at Emory Creek
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

Of course, I took hundreds of photos.  Hundreds and hundreds of photos.  But these two are all I'm showing you today - just a sneak preview of what's to come.  I'll post some more tomorrow or the next day.  Del will also be posting a photo/story of the visit some time in the next few days - when that happens, I'll link to it on my blog.

Their visit was the highlight of the week.

A Little Sparkle On the Island

Today we had two visitors - a little dog named Sparkle and her mama Marie.  Marie adopted Sparkle through Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue.  Before coming to Turtle Gardens, Sparkle lived in  puppymill, where she was kept in a barn as a breeding bitch.  At less than two years of age, she was hardly out of puppyhood herself, but she had already given birth to two litters.

Last spring, Sparkle came into rescue and was fostered by Anna, who helped her get used to life in a real home, and worked with her to overcome her timidity.  In June, she was adopted by Marie and went to live in  the southern interior of BC.

Today she is a happy little dog who is confident, calm, and busy, busy, busy.  She met Riley and Eddie and then we all headed off to the beach.  Marie has family in the area, and enjoyed seeing the new seawalk extension.

Sparkle on Crofton Beach

We walked the length of the seawalk, chatted for a while on the sandy beach near Crofton Beach Park, and then walked home where, of course, I pulled out the big camera.

Many of the first few pictures turned out like this:

What is that, you say?  Ha!  It is Riley's ruff.  Riley thinks any time I'm down on the floor, I'm down there to play with or cuddle her.  I have more shots of Riley's nose, Riley's ruff, Riley's ears, than of all the other critters combined.

Excuse me!  This is MY photoshoot!

Eddie watched, but is quite used to me getting down on my tummy to photograph dogs, so just kept an eye on us from a distance.

Will I get a cookie if I behave?

Allie was Sparkle's first encounter with a cat, and fortunately Allie was on her best behaviour.  She says Sparkle passes the cat test, and she even let Sparkle play with her favourite toys.

Ah could whup that little furball with one paw if I wanted to!
(and don't you dare tell the Cats Rule club that I let her play with my toys!)

We took a bunch of photos  - half of them with a lens filter on which silly me forgot to remove - and here's just a few of them:

I'z gettin' sleepy

Being a model is hard work, especially after an afternoon walking the seawalk, so eventually our little girl snuggled on her mama's lap and drifted off to sleep.

I loves my Mama Marie!

Sparkle and Marie, it was a pleasure to meet you.  Come again soon!