It has taken three weeks to sit down and write this post. Django bolted. Gone into the darkening evening and out of sight. Where I stand, the road forks in three directions and I have long since lost sight of him. Leica is stumbling as we go, our attempts to follow this far have been…
Category: Dog Rehoming
Forty Days and Forty Nights
Forty Days and Forty Nights with the boy we know as Django. It’s been epic. Charlton Heston Biblical Epic. He has his own food bowl, bed, blanket,rope toys, collar, a new harness, and still has all the common sense and manners of a four month old pup. Trouble is, as I’ve said before, he stands almost 24…
Other Lives, Loved
In the two year life of this blog, I’ve talked mainly about our personal, direct, real life experiences with our dogs. At the heart of it though, the issue that prompted its inception, is the needless euthanasia of so many dogs around the country, and our apparent willingness as a society to allow it to…
Counter Terrorism
Well, no-one said it would be dull, that’s for sure. Or easy. Or quick. The ongoing fight against the terror that is Django’s food lust goes on. He’s been with us now a little over three weeks and his relentless and dare I say dogged pursuit of foodstuffs continues. He has gained a little weight…
Solitary Man
Between May and September of this year the dog we now call ‘Django’ was cared for by ASH Animal Rescue. He’s been with us for two weeks as of today and we are all still getting to know each other. His recent past would have involved a very different life experience, and sadly a great…
The Department of Corrections
This boy needs one of those orange jumpsuits you see in American prison TV shows. Django is an ideal candidate for a ‘Reality TV’ show all on his own. We knew we would have some issues with rehoming him after more than 4 months in ASH Animal Rescue, but he is still full of surprises….
The Third Man
Almost 15 years ago, when we first thought we might get a dog we tried to decide what it’s name might be. In a glass jar, like some Xmas party game, we put slips of paper with our ideas written on them. Frida (Kahlo), Georgia (O’Keeffe), Ansel (Adams), Cole (Weston), Minor (White), all names of artists…
The Adjustment Bureau
As we expected, the introduction of a third dog was going to bring up some issues. Once more we have a dog whose first two years we know only a little of. Like KiKi too, this dog has spent the last several months in a pen and is going to need time to readjust to domestic…
Kindred
One more week will see the second anniversary of KiKi’s arrival here with us. Two years ago she was still in the care of ASH Animal Rescue in County Wicklow, two days ago, we went back with her. In her life with us KiKi has been an unexpected mixture of delight and at times, distress….
Indivisible
It’s hard to imagine the it’s now a little more than two years now since Flash left us. The strangest, sweetest little dog that she was. Her sister Leica carries on, older and increasingly frail now she shares her days with KiKi and at night they too huddle as foxes for warmth.
E Pluribus Unum : Out of many, One
Since this blog first began it has dealt in the main with our experiences with KiKi and our mutual adaptations and re-learning. Now, almost two years have passed since Flash died and the journey we found ourselves on started, finding KiKi and learning something of the reality of dog euthanasia here in Ireland. Yet however special we…
Total Recall
OK, I admit the title may be a little misleading. Perhaps “50% Recall” would be more accurate, just not as catchy. KiKi turned four last week and the past 18 months or so of living with her have been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Her recall behaviour remains selective, but it’s perfectly clear that…
Catch 22
Since she first arrived to live with us, it has been clear that KiKi found the world outside utterly absorbing. Her enthusiasm to scent and track, her eagerness to explore new places and her seemingly unbounded enjoyment in being loose to run have been evident from the outset, leading us to imagine that perhaps her previous…
Half-Life
KiKi was 2 years and 4 months old when she came to live with us, a little younger obviously when she was take in by ASH Animal Rescue. In a little more than a month, on May 27th we will celebrate her fourth birthday. I’ve mentioned before that the early experiences in a dog’s life…
3000 Dead Dogs 