Champion of My Heart
True tales, brags, and whines about my life with a rescued border collie named Lilly
Champion of My Heart
Missing My Penelope
We're approaching the fourth anniversary of my first dog's death, and it still catches me off-guard. While cleaning off some old patio furniture cushions the other day, Tom found a bevy of Penelope's white hair in the creases. And, it totally made me cry.
Penelope Grace was my first dog as an adult. We had several dogs when I was growing up, but Penelope was the first one I chose (via Dal Rescue) and raised myself. She came to live with us just a few months after I finished college. I shudder at the lack of training she had, but I was young (22) and didn't know better. Plus, she was very, very ornery. She did pass a basic obedience class at Petsmart as a youngster, but that's it. I never did teach her to walk well on a leash, so she dragged me around for 14+ years.
Sometimes I still marvel that walking with Lilly isn't a struggle. I look down and see her smiling face right next to my leg and think HOLY CRAP!
Still, Penelope holds a special place in my heart, and I miss her. She loved food like you would NOT believe, so we keep her ashes on top of a bookshelf in the kitchen. Weird? Probably, but it makes sense to us.
I dug out and scanned a couple photos to share. I sent these a while back to a writer friend who was going through a rough time. She'd asked people to describe in detail what their Patronus would look like. For those who haven't read the Harry Potter books, a Patronus is an animal made of light that shoots out of your wand to protect you from a particular brand of evil.
Since Penelope was afraid of nothing, and I mean nothing, I decided she would make a good Patronus to share. She was born in 1990, so in the bed photo she's about 6. In the other one, I'm guessing (based on the collar color) she's about 2 or 3.
I'm pretty sure I've written about this before, but she was born with a significant orthopedic birth defect in her left rear leg. That's why it turns out. She had 2 complete feet and 2 complete ankles on that leg. The inside foot was removed when she was just a few weeks old. She also had an extra bone between her knee and her hock joint. That came out when she was about 6 months old. Then, when she was about 8, she blew out that knee, and we had that fixed. Kidney failure eventually got her when she was 14 1/2 years old. We do have photos of her as an old girl, but I prefer to think of her in her prime.
And, yes, it appears I have a *thing* for black-and-white dogs.
Penelope Grace was my first dog as an adult. We had several dogs when I was growing up, but Penelope was the first one I chose (via Dal Rescue) and raised myself. She came to live with us just a few months after I finished college. I shudder at the lack of training she had, but I was young (22) and didn't know better. Plus, she was very, very ornery. She did pass a basic obedience class at Petsmart as a youngster, but that's it. I never did teach her to walk well on a leash, so she dragged me around for 14+ years.
Sometimes I still marvel that walking with Lilly isn't a struggle. I look down and see her smiling face right next to my leg and think HOLY CRAP!
Still, Penelope holds a special place in my heart, and I miss her. She loved food like you would NOT believe, so we keep her ashes on top of a bookshelf in the kitchen. Weird? Probably, but it makes sense to us.
I dug out and scanned a couple photos to share. I sent these a while back to a writer friend who was going through a rough time. She'd asked people to describe in detail what their Patronus would look like. For those who haven't read the Harry Potter books, a Patronus is an animal made of light that shoots out of your wand to protect you from a particular brand of evil.
Since Penelope was afraid of nothing, and I mean nothing, I decided she would make a good Patronus to share. She was born in 1990, so in the bed photo she's about 6. In the other one, I'm guessing (based on the collar color) she's about 2 or 3.
I'm pretty sure I've written about this before, but she was born with a significant orthopedic birth defect in her left rear leg. That's why it turns out. She had 2 complete feet and 2 complete ankles on that leg. The inside foot was removed when she was just a few weeks old. She also had an extra bone between her knee and her hock joint. That came out when she was about 6 months old. Then, when she was about 8, she blew out that knee, and we had that fixed. Kidney failure eventually got her when she was 14 1/2 years old. We do have photos of her as an old girl, but I prefer to think of her in her prime.
And, yes, it appears I have a *thing* for black-and-white dogs.
Schwag? What schwag?
OK. So, it's not like it matters to me really. However, Lilly and I are sans schwag, completely without. Our invitation to take part in that videotaped interview recently included a
promise of stuff. That's totally NOT why we did it. But, it was promised and not delivered, which I find a bit amusing considering how such media machinations typically work. ...<< MORE >>
Birthday Love
We don't really know when Lilly was born. Sometime in spring 2004. But, we do know when Ginko was born, so we pretend like both have the same birthday — May 13. Today, Ginko is 8, and
Lilly is 4. I can't believe it. ...<< MORE >>
Adventures in Dog Biscotti
As a special treat, I attempted some dog-friendly biscotti this weekend. It's mostly peanut butter and whole wheat, and it looked pretty easy. I ended up making 2 batches because the
first one didn't turn out so hot, and I'm pretty good in the kitchen, so here is my advice. ...<< MORE >>
A Bit of a Mother's Day Rant
Dear Clueless Mother:
Perhaps you don't realize how close you came to spending your oh-so-special day in the emergency room. You need to pay far more attention to that precious little one of yours. You see, the fruit of your loins chased us quite a ways before you tuned in. Was it my yells that finally broke you out of your brunch-induced stupor? I'm not the bad guy here. Remember, we were the ones making a hasty retreat.
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Perhaps you don't realize how close you came to spending your oh-so-special day in the emergency room. You need to pay far more attention to that precious little one of yours. You see, the fruit of your loins chased us quite a ways before you tuned in. Was it my yells that finally broke you out of your brunch-induced stupor? I'm not the bad guy here. Remember, we were the ones making a hasty retreat.
...<< MORE >>
Spring 2008 Wildlife Update
The hummingbirds returned a week early this year. Just 2 days after I cooked up some hummingbird juice for the feeders, we saw our first one of the season. They usually stay in our
valley from April through October. Very cool. I've even learned how to get one to sit on my finger. I'd love to get video of that someday, but it takes A LOT of patience. The elk are also back. Check
out this photo we shot last weekend.
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Weekly Training Update (May 9)
Lilly had two run-ins with dogs this week, but I'm happy to say that her responses were somewhat measured and appropriate. ...<< MORE >>
What I tried to say ...
I really have no idea if I gave useful answers during our interview last Friday. But, here's what I remembered to say. ...<< MORE >>
Have you seen this one?
The second part of our video interview was more about gathering footage of Lilly playing (or whatever) that they can use (I'm assuming) with audio from me talking about her. Since
regular readers know that it's hard to get Lilly to "play" in public, I decided to go with tricks instead. ...<< MORE >>
How our training paid off on camera
From a training perspective, I've got to say that the Relaxation Protocol and
ideas from Leslie McDevitt's book, "Control Unleashed," helped me give Lilly some context for what I was asking during our video
interview for this Power of Paws campaign.
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