Happy Anniversary Brandon!

FIVE years ago...feels like forever ;-)

Happy Birthday CiCi!

CiCi - my very FIRST dog - turns 9yo this month. God, how time flys! I bought my first house in May of 1999 and since I couldn't have a cat (I'm allergic) I thought I'd get a dog. I should add here that, at the time, I knew less than nothing about dogs! But the dog was to live outside only. That quickly turned into, "Well, she can come inside, but she's not getting on my furniture." By the end of the week, CiCi owned the house and was sleeping in the bed! We've been together ever since.

CiCi has been with me longer than my now husband (though Brandon and I were friends at the time). We've been thru a LOT together - including TWO knee surgeries (her's, not mine!) and countless facelifts (as a result of the fights she likes to pick with the other dogs) that have left her looking an awful lot like Joan Rivers. She has been both my best friend and the thorn in my side.

Thank you CiCi, for 9 years of unconditional love that only a dog can give.

Here's the problem with my blogging...

like everything else in my life, if I don't stay right on top of it, it'll be WEEKS between entries. So this will be a big one!

1) A Georgia update. She left a little over two weeks ago for her new home and though she had a bit of a hard time adjusting at first, she's doing much better now. Her new dad is making an awesome effort to make her feel at home - he spends lots of time down in the floor with her and they take short car rides (Georgia's favorite thing!) a few times a week. He's open to us seeing her again but we want to make sure she's adjusted well before we do - I don't want to upset things for her at all. Man, we miss that girl!

2) If you'll remember back a couple of entries, I posted about a Boxer mom who was seized by animal control as part of a cruelty case. Two months after she was picked up, she was finally released to recuperate in the comfort of a foster home. I picked her up last Friday, she stayed the night with us and then made her way to Atlanta early Saturday morning. She's still thin as a rail and is missing most of the hair up her back, but she simply could not have been any sweeter. Once she's physically recovered, she's going to make a very nice dog for some lucky person.


3) Ruby. What can I say about Ruby? We mistakenly thought she'd be adopted rather fast (given her size, breed and age) when we pulled her from the shelter. And yet, 6 weeks later, she's still with us. Oh yeah, she's also WILD! She can be with 5 of our 6 dogs (everyone but Lily – we’ll introduce them this week) though so having her with us is really not a big deal. For now ;-)

4) Veronica and I spent three days in Chattanooga earlier in the month at a flyball tournament and I’m SO proud! Our December tournament will mark three YEARS since V started competing. At best, she’s been inconsistent (a result of our lack of dedication to training and her gnat-sized attention span) but we seem to have turned a corner. She ran EVERY heat of EVERY race EACH day (she generally alternates) and with one or two small exceptions, her racing was flawless all weekend! She’s taken almost an entire second off of her times and in the grand scheme of what is generally a 22 second race, that’s a LOT.

Brandon will be handling her this weekend so we’ll see if that makes any difference.

5) We had a great (and very successful!) fundraiser for our rescue group thru Art Buzz Birmingham this month as well. In a nutshell, it’s BYOB, girls night out and an art class all rolled into one – fabulous! And for a great cause – the instructors donated $385 to our group at the end of the night. And I painted a great picture for my guest bath!

Georgia's home.

We took Georgia to her new home Friday, and I have to say I'm terribly jealous of the view from her new backyard (top picture). We spent about an hour letting her get acclimated to her new surroundings and answering her new dad's questions and then quietly snuck out while she was exploring the house. I'm also proud to report that I made it out the front door before bursting into tears...and then sobbed the entire way home. And it was that ugly, "I could only cry that way in front of my husband" sort of crying...

My main concern is for Georgia's safety - getting loose, eating something she shouldn't, etc. Her new dad is fabulous and he's given me no reason to worry...but now that she's no longer with me, I can't control things...and that scares me.

I called Saturday afternoon for an update and it seems that once we left, she searched the entire house for us and would get excited every time a car drove by. Oh man, as if my heart weren't already broken...I never stopped to consider what a hard time she might have adjusting. I'm used to placing puppies and they generally adjust easily. I never thought that this might be different.

She is running and playing though and is doing quite well in her pen at night (she has her own little room). I know she'll adjust in time...I just wish it were easier. The worst part is feeling like she knows we abandoned her. I know, I know, I'm projecting human emotions onto a dog, but really, how would you feel?

I have to call today (no really, I do!! I have a leash suggestion for him!) so hopefully yesterday was a better day.

Who wouldn't love this girl??

Going to Animal Control at lunch :-(

Does that face not just break your heart? She's a walking skeleton.

I have at least one Boxer rescue lined up to take momma, but they've asked for more pictures of the pups before committing to them too. Please, please, please let them look full Boxer...I think Brandon might divorce me if I go home with a litter of six (on top of the eight we already have at home right now).

Anyone out there a Boxer lover? Ever consider fostering? All the love and devotion of a dog without all the expense and long term commitment! It's the most rewarding thing you'll ever do - that I can guarantee.