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Misfit Manor Diary – Products I can’t live without!

With so many dogs in my house and four vacation rental properties I feel like I spend half of my life cleaning.  Believe it or not even with so many dogs my house is really clean…and I have a few secrets!

As much as I love pets…I can’t stand for my house to smell like pet.  I also allow pets in one of my vacation rentals and there is no way I can let that apartment ever smell like pet.  I have tried pretty much every cleaning product on the market and I have a few that I absolutely can’t live with out.

The first (and definitely my favorite product) is Angry Orange.  Angry Orange is the best cleaning deodorizing product I have found and trust me I have tried almost everything.  I add it to my bucket of mop water.  I keep a spray bottle of water and Angry Orange for dusting.  I sprinkle it on my steam mop.  I also use it to clean and deodorize the outdoor pet yard.  If I find I spot where someone has had an accident I clean it up with clorox first and then let Angry Orange sit on the spot for about 30 minutes and then wipe it up.

Besides the effectiveness of this product being really good it is non-toxic to pets and it is safe for tile and wood floors (which is all I have in my house).

The second product I cannot live with out is Zep Wall Cleaner Foam.   Let’s face it…dogs shake slobber, water, food, boogies and other unmentionables off of themselves and on

to the walls.  Wiping your walls with most products ruins the paint job on the wall.  I use this wall cleaner in the house and in my vacation rentals and I LOVE IT.  It doesn’t take the paint off and it cleans most marks off the wall.  My vacation rentals constantly get scuffs on the walls from people dragging in suitcases, dog crates, etc….this product makes the walls look clean again.  For the record I use really high quality paint from Sherwin Williams.  I don’t know how this would work with a lower quality paint so if you have cheap paint on your walls I would spot test it first.  In general I like all of ZEP’s products.  I use their shower cleaner in my rentals (it is fabulous) and their glass cleaner works far better than say a product like Windex.

The third product I can’t live without is my steam mop.  Because I don’t want harsh chemicals on my floors that are dangerous to my dogs I don’t use any product on the floors but Angry Orange.  But Angry Orange really isn’t, at least for me, sanitizing enough.  I vacuum and steam mop my floors every morning.   Let’s face it…dogs scooch their buts across the floor, they drool, they drag lord knows what in on their feet…the floors just have to be sanitary.  I use a Shark Steamer.   Its the only steamer I’ve tried so I don’t have any opinion on how it works relative to others.  It does last quite a long time though and it does the job.  I have a weeks worth of pads for it and toss them in the washer with hot water to get them clean.  I do sprinkle Angry Orange on the pads when I use them.

The last tool I use is my diffuser.  I buy the Innogear diffusers.   I usually don’t need it in the house but sometimes in my rentals someone will have cooked something that smells horrid or they have a dog in there that smells like it hasn’t bathed in a year.  I run my diffusers in the apartments while I’m cleaning with a mix of orange oil and lavender oil.  I’ll run them for a day if necessary.  Along with a good cleaning the diffuser will eliminate most odors pretty quickly.  A tip on using diffusers…they need to be cleaned.  About every 10 times or so that I use them I empty them and put a little vinegar in the chamber for a few hours to clean the residue off from the oils.

For all the dog moms out there fighting the good fight on keeping your house clean I hope you find this helpful!

Don’t forget our Pawty Shop of you are planning a special day for you pups!

Rescue On!

Nacny

 

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Misfit Manor Diary – the dog that won’t eat.

Misfit Manor, The Rescue Mama, Feeding a difficult dog
Rosie eating in her booster seat!

Each dog that comes to Misfit Manor teaches me something new.  Rosie’s role is to teach me all about how to feed a dog that has difficulty eating.

Misfit Manor
This one day’s worth of homemade dog food. I make a fresh batch every day.

Rosie has been with me for almost two months and she has a complex set of issues surrounding eating so I have had to learn fast. Rosie often gags and chokes when she eats.  I figured out pretty quickly that she needs to eat sitting up (she also has no ability to bark).  She has some sort of partial paralysis/neuromuscular issue with her mouth and throat.   

Rosie also has difficulty masticating her food (chewing).  I feed her very small bites of food…one at a time.  I don’t give her anything that would be really difficult to chew.  I also push her food back on her tongue slightly so she can chew it with her back teeth.

Rosie is absolutely gorgeous!

She also gets very tired during eating.  Sometimes she is just a few bites into her meal and she is exhausted….her jaw muscles just seem to stop cooperating.  She will try to eat but the food just falls out the side of her mouth.  

Sometimes Rosie just seems to get bored with eating and refuses to pay attention to me or the food.  She will actually bury her head in her booster seat to intentionally ignore me and her dinner.

She is also INSANELY PICKY.  A dish she seemingly loved for breakfast…a few hours later she spits right back at me.

I love a challenge…especially when it comes in the form of such a sweet and beautiful dog.  I have pulled everything I have out of my dog mom bag of tricks.  Here are some of the ways I am handling getting enough calories in Rosie every day…

  1. I feed her sitting up in a high chair and I hand feed her small bites of food one at a time.  It’s time consuming…but it works.  The gagging on food rarely happens and I can be certain just exactly what she is eating (rather than assuming she ate it but one of the other dogs actually ate it).
  2.  I feed her 4-5 several small meals per day.  Because she seems to fatigue so fast from eating the small meals seem to work better.  My goal is to get at least a cup of food in her each day (not including treats).
  3. I add vitamins.  Twice a day I crush a multi-vitamin into a spoonful of peanut butter. (I use PetMD multi-vitamins).  Most days she is really enthusiastic about the peanut butter.  When she is not cooperating I gently open her mouth and put the peanut butter on the roof of her mouth with my finger.
  4. I added Lixotinic (an iron and B12 supplement) to raise her energy and appetite.  While it took a few days so see an impact from the Lixotinic it has had a very noticeable impact on her appetite.
  5. I break the dog mom rules.  I am fairly militant about what my dogs eat.  I cook their food from scratch…organic, fresh and homemade.  With Rosie I have had to let that go sometimes.  Rosie gets sick of food fairly quickly.  There have been some days when I have cooked her three different meals before I could find something she would eat.  If the only thing I can get her to eat is Macaroni & Cheese (true story)…then for that day I will concede and let her eat that.
  6. I warm her food up.  For some reason Rosie likes her food slightly warm.  
  7. I trick her!  Rosie is always interested in what I am eating when I sit down at the kitchen table.  On days when she is refusing to eat her meals.  I let it go for awhile.  I later pull her food out…warm it up and then sit down at my kitchen table and pretend I am eating it.  She comes over to see what I have and I pretend I am giving her table scraps.  What she refused to eat 1 hour ago…she is now gobbling down. I will also start giving some of her food to my other dogs if she is being difficult.  That usually perks her interest in her food.
Sleeping Beauty

I couldn’t adore Rosie more than I do.  I am learning a lot about working with a difficult eater.  Rosie is very young (about 1 year old) so I am determined to work at finding the best solutions as this will be a lifelong struggle for her.  If you have any dog mom magic tricks for getting difficult dogs to eat…please share!

Rescue On,

Nancy

Check out my Pinterest Page for loads of fun dog ideas (crafts, recipes, pawties, etc)!

 

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Misfit Manor Diary – getting ready for cyber week!

This is one part of my studio…the aftermath of making almost 2,000 ornaments.

While for most people the build up to the holidays is about decorations, party planning, shopping, baking…and all sorts of other fun things…for me it’s about getting ready for cyber week and the flood of sales that come the weeks leading up to Christmas.

I have four vacation rentals properties that wrap around my house…that business keeps a roof over my head.  But my online shops are how I support all of my Misfits.  Last year my holiday season sales raised enough to cover nearly a years worth of vet bills (which is no small thing when you have senior and/or special needs cases).

I am so blessed to be able to work from home.  It is rare that I ever have to leave my dogs

Buster resting at the foot my easel while I paint.

for more than a few hours.  When I do head in to my home studio…all the babies come with me.   I can take breaks during the day to get all the dog walking/play breaks done. I can always run out for vet appointments if I need to…it is really the best of both worlds.  I couldn’t have scripted a better situation for all of us and I wake up every day excited to do my work and grateful for all the opportunities we have been able to take advantage of.   I work hard; running multiple businesses, managing a very large property and caring for my rescues is like working 3 full-time jobs; I rarely rest.  I also love it and couldn’t imagine my life any other way…

This is one of four stacks of boxes I have ready to go…I still have hundreds to put together.

Learning to sell (well) online has taken years of hard work.  I have had to learn product photography, online marketing, sourcing, branding, trademarking  and more.  I use professional business coaches that coach specifically online sellers; I never could have figured all of this out on my own.   I have a fabulous group of cyber colleagues that I can

this is why I don’t leave the house…the wait at the door for me to come back…

lean on for advice and moral support.  Working alone from home can be…well lonely…(even when you have pets!).

I have two shops; Etsy and Amazon.  The last two years my businesses have really transformed; in part due to starting a shop on Amazon…which has been a game changer for me.  I never dreamed I would do the kind of volume I have done the last two years (especially for art).  It has also connected me with a lot of really cool customers for my art.  My anti-dog fighting art now hangs in several police stations around the country.  I have also had several really neat features of my products done by bloggers and also HGTV (for my Pawty supplies).

My girls napping in the studio with me.

I don’t even mind that my holiday season gets over taken by the busyness of my shops.  There are a lot of fun things that I have to pass on this time of year because my shops often require 12+ hour days.  But I still plan breaks to go see lights and to several of the outdoor holiday festivals in the area.  I also find a lot of joy in wrapping up my holiday sales.  Most of my sales this time of year are personalized pet ornaments or ornaments for dog moms.  I enjoy making and sending little packages of joy to dogs and their moms.

If your looking for a gift ornament for a pet or pet lover in your life; check out my shops!  You can use coupon code “PAWSOME” for 10% off your order.

Here is a gallery of some of my holiday ornaments they are all available for $14.99 (free shipping) at my shops:

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Rescue On!

Nancy

 

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Misfit Manor Diary..and then there was Rosie…

There is no such thing as a dull moment at Misfit Manor.  While so many of my days seem filled with routine…routine is pretty crucial to juggling a large family of dogs…nothing about life here is ever dull. 

Several weeks ago I took in a new Misfit. Her name is Rosie.  She has some issues that are yet medically unidentified.  Perhaps they will never be identified.

She cannot bark.  She struggles with swallowing her food.  When she first arrived she was walking very little.  The vets believe she has some sort of neuro-muscular disorder…but no hard diagnosis as of yet.    We recently had a muscle biopsy done…no results yet.  Initially I had to carry her everywhere in the house…she had no strength to get up and walk (despite being on steroids).

.., if I left the room without her she would pant and whine and I would go running back for her. She was making little to no effort to get and up walk on her own.

Feeding Rosie is a daily battle.  I quickly figured out that she needs to eat sitting up or she gags and chokes on her food.  I feed her in a little doggie booster seat I have…one small bit of food at a time. She also gets bored with eating…or perhaps just tired…and we have have to take a lot of breaks.   She is also incredibly fussy.  There are days where I  have to cook her 3 different breakfasts just to find something she wants to eat.  I will not give up finding the best solutions for her.

But things are also changing a lot in the last few weeks.  She has morphed from rarely getting up and walking on her own at all to walking on her own most of the day.  She still has moments where her legs just give out and she plops on her belly.  But she gets right back up and tries again.  She has gained quite a bit of weight as well.  The last two days I have taken her on very short walks.

She loves wagon riding!  Initially she would just lay down in the wagon the whole time.  Now she is stronger and she sits up or stands while she is in the stroller.  I’m guessing she has covered more ground in the last few weeks than she has in her whole life.

Rosie has blended perfectly in to our broader family of Misfits.  Her initial introductions went very smoothly and she continues to play nicely with her housemates.  I am always grateful (and frankly fairly amazed) at how well all my Misfits do together…there is an energy level in this house that I do not understand…but am eternally grateful for.   All of my Misfits come from difficult backgrounds…yet once they are here they are very gracious about welcoming new family and helping each other grow.

Rosie has been a lovely addition….Betty adores her (and so does Buster).  Betty continues to amaze me…she remains so strong and determined yet she is the gentlest creature I have ever met.   She shadows Rosie…wherever Rosie goes Betty follows.

Betty continues to do fabulously.  We have pulled out all the stops for her…acupuncture, laser treatment, plasma injections…it is working…she loves going to the park…she would wander in a field all day if I let her.  She struggles sometimes with getting up…but that is what mommy is for.   Once I lift her up…she is off!

The Manor is a busy place…I run two businesses to keep my fur family going and thank the gods both of my business are thriving.  We are currently working hard to save money to buy our own laser machine…old dogs with sore joints is the norm here and it would be so much more economical to have our own laser machine…hopefully soon!

While there are days it seems like a live in a very narrow tunnel…I don’t leave the Manor unless I absolutely have too…I’m not oblivious to the world either….I watched the elections…the coverage of the fires in CA…my heart aches for our broken world…there are always rays of hope though…I find solace in doing my part right here…taking care of my band of Misfits that had no where else to go…I wish for everyone that you may find your hearts calling…because when you do…nothing can jar you from your path.

The holiday selling season is a critical time for my online stores.  If you need a gift item for a dog mom/dog dad in your life please browse my Etsy shop.  I have a lot of really cute affordable items for dog lovers.

Rescue on!

Nancy

 

 

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Confessions of an imperfect dog mom: Preparing to Nest

images
My spirit animal!

There is something about this time of year that fosters an organic ability for me to relax.  Relaxing does not typically come naturally for me.  But the air is cooler in the morning, the spiders are huge, my spice garden is ready to harvest, and the days are getting noticeably shorter…change is in the air.

spider web
This amazing piece of arachnidart hangs above my main gate and below my Hemlock tree…its absolutely stunning.

This year there seems to be an urgency about getting ready for fall and winter.  The squirrels on my property are working at a dervish pace, there are wooly worms everywhere and trees seem to be turning pre-maturely.  There was a time when I dreaded fall for what comes after it.  I hated the shorter days and without a daily energy boost from the sun all winter I would slip in to some pretty deep winter blues. download But I’m in a different season of life and now I look forward to burrowing in for the winter.  My work load on the property slows down considerably and I can allow myself more time for art, play, cooking and spiritual pursuits…perhaps even a vacation this year.  I can’t wait to have this time to slow down and re-charge.  The older I get the more clarity I have into the relevance of the cycles and spirals of all life; the agricultural seasons, the cycle of birth and death and the constant sprials of evolving as an older woman.  I find the this latest cycle to be one of the most empowering times in my life.

Each season inspires a specific basket of dominant feelings/emotions in me…in spring its hope…but in fall its gratitude.  I love the colors, smells, sounds of fall..they make me feel grounded and quiet.  I feel grateful for the income that my businesses have provided all summer.  And I feel grateful knowing that an extended period of rest is near on the horizon.

I had not realized how much I resemble a squirrel until I started writing this post…perhaps they are my spirit animals.  All summer I feel like a squirrel while I’m hard (but joyfully) at work squirreling away my nuts for the winter.  And with the addition of Heloise to my family it seems like I sleep in a literal “nest” every night.  She is terribly shy and still won’t stand for being picked up or carried around.  Since I can’t convince her to go up to my bedroom at night I’ve been sleeping on an air bed in my den for over two months so she can be with the whole family at night.  She, and the other 8 dogs, pile on the airbed with me.

lazy3
My babies piled on the air bed with me….love.

Heloise loves being in the mix; some nights she sleeps right on my belly.

I know she appreciates that we all stay close to her.  She tells me often that she “belongs”…that seems to be her word.  She is a very happy and playful girl despite her strong boundaries with touching…I am patient and I feel incredibly grateful for the trust she has already shown in me.  I posted a video of her playing with Snoopy at the bottom of this post.  She is joy.

Me and my fur family live a life where we try for the most part to keep to

Banishing Spray

ourselves…that is not always possible and there have been some uncomfortable incidents and lingering negative energy on one side of my property at Misfit Manor. I’ve been pulling out my full arsenal of prayers, blessings and tricks to put a stop to it.  Today I harvested a variety of sage, rosemary and lavender from my herb garden.

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Making a banishing spray from herbs from my garden.

I am steeping them in charged rain water to make a protection spray to keep clear that corner of the property of any lingering nefarious energy and also work with in the house when I don’t want to burn my herbs.  The smell of steeping fresh herbs is so earthy and comforting.  I posted a cheat sheet on my banishing spray (though if you are interested I would encourage you to really craft your own with ingredients and intention that flows from your heart and intuition).

 

 

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Snoopy’s 2nd Birthday Pawty!

The Pawty business continues to grow for me.  I appreciate everyone who supports my shop.  Vet bills on 9 dogs and 2 cats are no joke and my shop is a big source of how I fund it.  Petunia continues to get laser therapy several times a week for her back; as well as acupuncture treatments.   Millie and Petunia just had dentals…it adds up fast.

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Millie & Petunia resting after their dentals.

Every time I realize that the “pet account” is running low I take a deep breath and trust that what I need will come….and it always does.  Every time I hear the Etsy “register ring” sound on my phone I feel a profound sense of gratitude.

Blessings to you and yours as we enter the fall season… may you find gratitude, renewal and peace in this beautiful season.

Rescue On!

Nancy

 

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She doesn’t respond because she has never had a name…why I consult with Pet Mediums.

I am aware that people are all over the board in regards to their views on consulting psychics/mediums.   I have worked with several mediums over the last decade and have found it to be a great tool when working with my rescue dogs.   All of the dogs that come to Misfit Manor come from rotten circumstances…sometimes I know

from their rescuers what the details of their lives were.  Others I can only look at the physical and emotional condition they are in when they arrive and make assumptions.   Using a medium when I am working with an unknown past has proved beneficial not just to me but even more so for the dog.

We recently took in a small senior mixed breed dog that was in the worst condition (physically and emotionally) of any animal that has come to our home.  Beside the obvious issues; emaciated, anemic, flea bitten and infected skin, she was very aloof…almost seemed slightly feral…like she had absolutely no idea what to do with a human.  She was not at all aggressive just simply overwhelmed by her new life circumstances.  She did not bark, she was uncomfortable with eye contact and seemed generally uncomfortable.   I began to think she was totally deaf because she didn’t seem to hear me call her unless I spoke really loud.

I consulted a medium to try to find out more about her and to help her understand that her new circumstances were in fact her new life.  She began her session with first asking us if she was “in trouble”.  We assured her she was not.  She then made us both promise to never send her back to where she came from…that was her condition for communicating with us.  Petunia described living conditions that were typical of a puppy mill.  There is no need to dwell on the depressing things she told us about her life.  We wanted to work with her to help her understand her new life.  She told us she didn’t bark because she has never had a reason to.  There was no one to hear her.  She would like to bark if it was ok to bark.   She told us that she understood she had a name now, Petunia, and she liked it.  But the reason she does not always respond when I call her name is that she has never had a name before.  Someone wanting her attention was new to Petunia as was someone calling her by a name.  She was thrilled with her new circumstances but she was afraid they weren’t permanent and she asked for patience and time to learn to be a normal dog.  She was oozing with gratitude and love for us she just wasn’t sure how to show it yet.

We explained to Petunia that she never had to worry about food, safety or love again.  She was home, we love her and no one would ever harm her or neglect her again.

Within a few minutes of the session being over Petunia started barking.  Her bark is darling…it sounds crackly and rough…and it sound more like “woo woo” than “woof”.  I am guessing a barker that has never been used will take some time to sound more normal.  I took Petunia out in the yard after her session to potty…she began to run and jump in a very large circle around the yard…like she was having her own celebration of the permanent change in her circumstances.  It was the first showing of physical energy since she arrived.  My heart overflowed with love and gratitude for her.

I have consulted mediums to get more information about health issues and to explain medical procedures to my pets; to explain when I am taking a trip (that I will be back) and to make better decisions about which pets live here permanently or which fosters want something different for a home.

Probably one of the most profound experiences we have had was with Snoopy.  Post his let amputation Snoopy was in agony.  Even with maximum pain medication Snoopy would wake from a deep sleep and scream (like really scream).   He hadn’t moved or been bumped when these episodes happened and there was nothing we could do to comfort him.  I posted on Facebook during one of his incidents about his crying and how my husband and I felt so helpless.  A few minutes later, Snoopy sat up and his demeanor completely changed.  I looked at my Facebook, one of the mediums we use regularly had read my post and communicated with Snoopy.  She messaged me their conversation right away.  Snoopy thought the pain was permanent and that he wouldn’t be able to walk again.  He was very scared that this was it for him.  She assured him the pain would go away and he would walk soon.  Apparently he believed her because the screaming incidents never happened again after she spoke to him.

We have done both in-person and over the phone sessions; I find them equally good experiences.  We have also done sessions with pets that have already crossed over.

The two ladies we consult with here in Kentucky are Carrie Kenady and Lateefa Mina.  We highly recommend them both.

Rescue On!

Nancy

 

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Confessions of an imperfect dog mom…”In the shadow of the tripod there is no empty space”.

Every pet in our home has a background story…none of them are pleasant…some are much worse than others.    But, for the most part, our pets are “over it” in regards to things that happened to them in the past.  They live happy and carefree lives.  Even Turnip, who has deep emotional scars, has come so far and embraced joy.  Mom though, being the flawed human that I am, doesn’t always “get over it” as quickly as they do.  I have moments, when I am reminded of their painful stories and I quickly retreat to feelings of anger and heart break.

Snoopy came here with a badly broken leg…we were told he was kicked down a flight of stairs…he was just 3 months old.  His leg was broken so badly there was no choice but to amputate it.  Unfortunately, he died under anesthesia when the vet attempted his amputation.  The vet resuscitated him but he woke up blind and of course still having a badly broken leg.  This is when Bret and I started fostering him.  He stayed with us in an understandably hastily applied splint that caused him a lot of discomfort for weeks.  We waited for a strengthening of his health to undergo a second attempt at amputation.  With his vision restored and health stabilized Snoopy made it through a second attempt to amputate his leg.  Bret and I officially adopted Snoopy the day before his amputation.  We wanted him going in to his surgery knowing he had a huge family pulling for him.  Waiting for his surgery to end was agony and we learned a new level of compassion for our veterinary team.

Buster stayed at Snoopy’s side while he recovered.

Make no bones about it…a puppy suffers CRUELLY after an amputation.   Snoopy screamed…and I mean SCREAMED with pain for weeks.  He was confused and he was frustrated.  He would wake up from a dead sleep and start screaming…sometimes 10+ times in a night…nothing we did comforted him.  Only Buster could bring him any level of comfort.  Buster would run to him and lick his head when he cried.  The entire scenario was horrible.  But slowly…Snoopy regained his strength and his courage and definitely his joy.

Today…Snoopy (now 8 months old) is SO OVER IT..he is UNSTOPPABLE on three legs.  He is the happiest and most playful puppy I have ever met…and frankly…he can be pretty naughty.  Remarkably…he just loves people….all of them. Humanity does not deserve him.  He is pure joy.

Unlike Snoopy, Bret and I will never forget his suffering.  We didn’t leave his side after his amputation…we learned a lot about what it means to be both heart broken and madly angry at the same time.

When I had that moment the other day when I saw his “tripod shadow”…a poignant reminder of the cruelty he suffered…I became angry all over again…”he shouldn’t have to live as a tripod”…”he shouldn’t’ have had to suffer through an amputation”…I was wishing again I could get my hands on the S.O.B. who did this to him.

But while I am thinking all these toxic thoughts…Snoopy just turned, looked at back at me and shamed me with this smile.  He’s over it and I need to get over it too.

Snoopy is fine…he can run fast, he can wrestle with his siblings, he can dig…he can snuggle fabulously…he certainly eats like a little piggy…he is a perfectly happy dog.  I need to just get busy loving him and let go of his past.


The moral of the story is this…which again…I didn’t realize it until I finished this post…there is no “empty space” in life.    When I was in seminary…one of the most powerful lessons I learned was from my favorite Old Testatment professor, Dr. Howard.  I worked for him as his TA my last year…it was the year Bret and I lost our baby boy…I was completely crushed…probably the lowest I have ever felt in my life.  He told me this very important truth when I expressed my despair to him…he said “just like it is in the physical world…so is it in the spiritual world…there is no “empty space”…you can fill your life with joy and gratitude and love or you can fill it with sadness, resentment and pain…there is no room for both…regardless of the difficulty of your circumstances …you must choose what you will fill your life with.”    Not only will I remember Dr. Howard’s insightful words always…but I will forever remember Snoopy’s smile as a reminder of this wisdom…I will remember how easy it is for Snoopy to live this truth…Snoopy will remind me always that we must choose what we fill our lives with…no matter the circumstances.

I’m with Snoopy…I choose joy and gratitude and love.  Snoopy and I wish that for everyone else too.

Rescue On!

Nancy

If you would like to follow my crazy life with pets more closely…friend me on Facebook or follow me on Pinterest..  I also sell my art and cards at my ETSY shop.

The Rescue Mama, Nancy Halverson, dog rescue art, pet rescue art, political art
Snoopy’s first Pawffiti… it was auctioned for $375.00 for the animals of Scott County, KY.

This is Snoopy’s first Pawffiti.  It was auctioned in February for $375.00 to raise money for animals in Scott County (Snoopy’s home town).  Prints are available at my ETSY shop.

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Confessions of an imperfect dog mom…”lean on me”.

Last Friday night our sweet Sam suddenly lost the use of his back legs.  He crossed over on Saturday morning.  We don’t know exactly how old he was…probably at least 14.  At his age and given his health history…we don’t feel surprised that his time came…but we are taken back at how bad we hurt.  Returning home to a house without Sam simply…sucks.  He was always waiting at the door for us…up on this back legs…smiling.  Home will never be the same.

Our three gorgeous boys are re-united…their ashes sit together on the mantle.

Sam’s ashes were ready first thing Monday morning…Bret left work as soon as we got the call and hurried to bring Sam home.  We sat in a bit of stupor as we looked at his ashes and then solemnly went on with our day.  Keeping busy is the best we can do for now.

I have sent a small amount of his ashes off to be made in to a necklace.  We will bury some of his ashes with Luna and Kringles and the rest will sit on the mantle between Hercules & Sparky ‘s ashes…our 3 boys are back together again…bittersweet.

It would have been really nice to “check out” from life this week…but I don’t have the luxury of taking time out for a quick “melt down”…I have two business to run and I have 7 other dogs to take care of.  It is times like these when I am especially grateful for all of our sweet pets…they not only keep me busy but also make it so I can continue to smile in the day.   Life with them, in fact, demands a lot of smiling. Still the pets are integral to each step of my daily routine and each step reminds me of Sam…Bret and I have both broke in to tears a few times a day all week.  Nothing is right without Sam.

My friend Jan came over Monday with a card and a gift…this lovely canvas of two dogs called “LEAN ON ME”.   I brought it in the house, sat down and looked at it… in the white stripes is some light writing…it is some of the lines from the song “Lean on Me”…like “I’ll help you carry on”…all I could do was weep…how completely we “lean on them”…at least how completely “I lean on them”…especially Sam.   Caring for all of our pets is a full time job.  I am wrapped up in cooking for them, exercising them, vet visits, playtime, baths, nail trims…picking up the poo and vacuuming up all the hair.  I lose track in all these moments of busyness at how richly they feed my soul. Especially Sam.  Sam was easy and always a pleasure.  In fact, he is probably the easiest dog Bret and I have had.  He was agreeable, goofy, and incredibly well mannered.  He was also trustworthy and constant…his presence was very big in this house…because we could all count on him.  I now know how much I leaned on him…because I feel it in his loss.  I wonder if he knew how important he was to all of us?

Today I did several hours of yard work. Normally, Sam would be at my side while I worked outside…supervising…it was his favorite thing.  In the past, if I left him in the house he would bark…a low, steady bark that would not stop until I came and got him.  I heard him barking today…but I could not call him out to be at my side.  He is not the first dog I have heard barking for me after they have passed.  I am coming to believe it is some sort of a spiritual goodbye ritual.

There really aren’t accurate words for what I feel when I lose a dog…our language is so limiting…the best I can come with is that each one leaves a new hole in my heart…it can’t be filled by another dog…it doesn’t work that way…the hole will remain there until I see them again.  Over time it gets less painful…but it never heals.

The worst thing about fresh grief is that it reopens the old holes…each loss brings back a bit of the sting of previous losses.  I think we are grieving the loss of Luna and Kringles all over again.  But it also reminds me how richly blessed my life has been by so many of God’s sweet creatures.  Grief can only exist where true love once dwelled.   There has been so much love in our home.

Bret and I realized the night after Sam died that our entire marriage is framed by dogs…we wouldn’t be the same people, as individuals or as a married couple, without the dogs.  When we first married a friend told us that our marriage will “rub the rough edges off of us”…and it sure has…but our life with dogs has polished those rough edges…it makes life bright and shiny.

We are simple people…every penny we have literally “goes to the dogs”…we will leave no legacy…no one will remember Bret or Nancy.   We are not “religious” people but we are guided by the simple spiritual principles of figures like St. Francis and the Quakers…particularly in regards to stewardship of all creatures/creation.  One of our favorite quotes is this; “I expect to pass through the world but once.  Any good therefore that I can do, or any act of kindness I can show to any creature, let me do it now.  Let me not defer it, for I shall not pass this way again.” (Stephen Grellet). Caring for the sweet animals is our way of expressing how much we love God’s good creation and the sisterhood/brotherhood we feel with the animals.

Very often I have to remind myself that “my pets” are “not mine”.  Death is the ultimate reminder that I am just a temporary steward.   Death makes the concept/notion of “ownership” of a pet  a fallacy.  Besides, referring to them as “property” seems entirely inappropriate in the context of the true nature of the relationships we have with them.  If we learn to see them differently…as part of a divine creation…as eternal…well I think the world could be a significantly better place.

This morning I ran in to my friend Jan who gave us the “Lean on Me” canvas at the grocery store.  She asked me what day Sam died.  I said Saturday.  She told me that it was Saturday that she bought this canvas when out shopping for a prom dress for her daughter.  She knew she had no place for it in her house but for some reason she knew she had to get this piece.   The next day she saw my post about Sam. I am grateful for such a profound friend.

As I write this tonite, Millie is sound asleep in a small bed on my desk…she is snoring…like really loud.  I love the sound of her snoring.  It brings me comfort.  Tomorrow I get to wake up and have another busy dog filled day…I will be exhausted by the time I sit down at the end of it but my soul will be fed.  For now we will rest in our grief for Sam…rest in the mystery of life and of death… and be grateful that we live such a blessed life.

Rescue On!

Nancy

 

 

 

 

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Confessions of an imperfect dog mom…anything to make them comfortable.

Vibration Therapy for Pets…our experience as pet parents.

theraplate, stem cell therapy, the rescue mama, nancy halverson, senior dog care,
Sam on his Theraplate

I have written about our Sam in the past, particularly the success we have had treating him with stem cell therapy.  Bret and I know very little about the first 4+ years of Sam’s life…in fact all we know is that he clearly didn’t have enough to eat and for some reason the majority of his joints are badly deformed (perhaps Rickets when he was a puppy but who knows for sure).  He has been ours for over 10 years now and he is a wonderful companion.

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Sam and Luna snuggled on the Theraplate

Sam’s arthritis has been an issue since we adopted him.   Three years ago we thought we were at the end…he could no longer walk more than a few steps.  Stem Cell Therapy changed that and gave Sam renewed legs.  In the last year he has started to slow down again.  We heard about vibration therapy for arthritis and decided to give it try.   Vibration therapy is just what it sounds like…sitting still on a metal plate that vibrates.

We tried it the first time at our veterinarians office and Sam instantly laid down and fell asleep on the plate (so did Luna).  I did some reading on this form of therapy and ordered our own Theraplate.    I am not an expert on canine physiology so I won’t attempt to explain the science of how vibration therapy works.  I can only tell you what we have experienced and direct you to the research on the Theraplate website.

Sam was the reason we purchased the Theraplate…when Luna was alive she was on it every day as well.  After the first few sessions on the plate…Sam started going to the plate on his own…he would lie down and bark for me to come turn the plate on for him.  Certainly…vibration therapy is not a cure for a dog in Sam’s condition…but clearly it has provided comfort for Sam’s terrible arthritis.  When I tell him…”time for therapy”…he gets up and trots over to his plate.   After Luna passed away I started curling up on the Theraplate with Sam…it has become our time together to relax. Sam loves to be brushed and get belly rubs while he does therapy…these are moments I will cherish forever.

poodle_sm
The model we purchased…2 feet x 3 feet

I have bulging discs in my neck…for years they have been a nagging source of discomfort.  So I thought…why not try…its helping Sam.  I started on the Theraplate at least once a day.  It has provided significant relief from chronic neck pain for me.  It also afforded me the ability to start running again last fall.  As soon as I finish a run I lay down on it for 10-15 minutes…the therapy helps keep the aching of my old lady hips and knees at bay.

gorgeous-sam1We also put Snoopy on the Theraplate while he was recovering from his amputation.  Snoopy would doze off and relax almost immediately…not bad for a rambunctious puppy.

We purchased our Theraplate directly from the company.  It was just under $2,000 with shipping and arrived within a week of ordering.  There are other versions of the Theraplate on the market. My parents ordered a small device from Walmart.com and I know Nordic Trac makes a version too.  We are pleased with the investment we made in ours…I will always have at least a few older dogs in my home…it will never be unused.

All of our pets like the Theraplate (even the cats).  With the exception of Sam…who immediately got on the plate on his own with no concern…I introduce my pets to it by laying them on my belly while I am laying on the Theraplate.  I move them directly on to the plate after a few sessions and only for a short time until they are acclimated.

Vibration therapy started its popularity in the equine industry…to help horses heal faster from injuries.   It quickly spread to small animal therapy and also for humans.   Vibration therapy has many claims; increasing bone density, soothing pain, reducing inflammation, improving balance and more.  For us…(us being me and the dogs) it has provided significant relief from pain and has been well worth the investment.

If you would like to read more about our experience with stem cell therapy…follow this link:  Sam’s Stem Cell Therapy.

I am a full time rescue mom and artist.  My art helps support my family of pets and allows me to do something more for other animals still waiting for their forever homes.  I sell my art and cards at my ETSY shop.

Rescue On!

Nancy

 

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Confessions of an imperfect dog mom…Snoopy’s big day!

sweetboyThe first day I picked up Snoopy from our local Humane Society, despite his broken leg, he seemed a typical rambunctious and happy puppy….until I loaded him in my car.  He began to howl (like really loud), squirm and was clearly very agitated.  If he wasn’t harnessed in a car seat it would have been chaos.  He calmed back down when we got out of the car.  I ended up taking him to the vet within a few hours as it was pretty clear he was having pain issues.   When we got back in the car…it was the same howling and anxiety all over again…which then recurred every time we got in the car throughout his several week ordeal (broken leg that was eventually amputated).  It was clear that he was associating riding in the car with bad things…who could blame him with all he has been through in his short little life.   Years ago I adopted a two year lab (Sparky) who had extreme anxiety in the car…it made life a lot more complicated and it took years to work him through the anxiety.  No chance I was going to let this happen with Snoopy.20170127_112701

So this week we started working on changing his car ride association…I wanted to make a  car ride mean something good for him.   We spent a few days just walking out to the car a few times per day and I gave him bits of ham treats when we got to the car and said “car ride” (we never got in the car).    Then we graduated to actually getting in the car, with ham treats and “car ride” but getting out immediately.   Then we graduated to taking really short car rides, with ham treats and “car ride” being repeated the whole time.

Sitting politely at Lowe's waiting to greet ladies!
Sitting politely at Lowe’s waiting to greet ladies!

Today…I took Snoopy out on his first big errand run…we left the ham behind.   He was a different dog in the car.  He sat quietly in his car seat…no howling…no squirming.  He did great sitting politely and greeting new people at Lowe’s…he went to the skin clinic and charmed pretty ladies and he went out for his first puppuccino.   I couldn’t be more proud of him.

No such thing as too much cream!
No such thing as too much cream!

It has been a really long time since I have had a puppy in the house.  I know how crucial their first few months are in terms of proper socialization and Snoopy’s most impressionable months were spent getting his leg horribly broken, dying under anesthesia once (waking up blind for awhile) and finally having to heal from a successful amputation of the leg.  He has some social “catch up” to do but he is doing great.

I am always amazed at how trusting dogs who have been through hell are.   Snoopy has every reason to be cautious of people but Snoopy gives everyone the benefit of the doubt (unless they are pushing a shopping cart…need to work on that).   His wagging tail and charming personality are like a balm in a harsh world.  The world needs more Snoopy.

Rescue On!

Nancy

If you are looking for pet rescue themed artwork or handmade pet sympathy cards please check out my ETSY shop!

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The truth about Marge…the “paradox of rescue”.

leftbehindFacebook, every once in awhile, pops up “memory pictures and posts”.  I have mixed emotions about this feature because sometimes it brings back a memory I don’t want to revisit.  Recently, Facebook delivered pictures of a fox hound we fostered last year, named Marge.

Marge followed me home last December when I was walking Buster.  She was young, very skinny, flea bitten and had a few puncture wounds in her back end…but was otherwise healthy and an absolutely delightful creature.  She was absurdly obedient and enthusiastic to please her humans.  She played beautifully with other dogs.  My husband and I thought for sure that Marge must just be “lost” from her family.  Someone had to be missing her because she was such a wonderful dog.  We tried everything we could think of to find her family.  Our local Humane Society took her on TV to make an appeal to find her family.  I did Internet searches on her microchip data and literally called every possible person listed in the entire country with that name. marge-poster  I posted her on every possible rescue and shelter site within a several hundred miles.  I paid for a pet “amber alert”. maddiemarge We held out for quite a while.  But it was crickets.  No one was looking for sweet Marge.  We loved having her with us for Christmas.  Eventually, after zero contact from her family, our local Humane Society put her up for adoption.  She was adopted quickly by a lovely couple.  We said that terribly sad “foster dog goodbye” but knew Marge was headed for a great life.  Both Bret and I moped around the house for days after she left.  Maddie and Buster missed her a lot.  Her new dad called us daily for a while with reports on how Marge was adjusting.  They clearly loved her and had compassion for how hard it is to say goodbye to a foster.  Good people.

Fast forward 6 months.  I was out walking my dogs and a neighbor approached me.  He told me how happy he was to see that I had taken in that “poor fox hound” last winter.  I exclaimed…”you knew that dog…where did she come from?”.  Well, as it turns out Marge had only lived a few blocks from me, with a family.  Her family moved away and left Marge behind in the yard.  The neighbor said she hung around the house for a long time…waiting for them to come home.  They never came home.  Eventually she started running the hood looking for food.  Thank God she found us.  I was flooded with anger and sadness at this news.  How could anyone abandon this sweet dog? Who would leave her to fend on her own?  I hate people!feeling-safe

20140918_190455And thus, the “paradox of rescue”.  I exist on the periphery of rescue.  I adopt only rescues, foster and volunteer where I can.  I use my art to raise money.  But I do not work deep in the trenches of rescue like many of my friends do.  But I see more than enough to make me angry…a lot…it is steadily costing me my faith in humanity.   Neglect and cruelty are rampant where I live…I realize these problems are  every where…but here in Kentucky there are no laws to protect animals…no deterrents…and there is certainly no justice for animals.

Yet, there is no “rescue” at all if you don’t put faith in humanity to re-home the very same dogs who have been neglected, abandoned and abused by humanity.  It really is a horrible paradox.  I have met people who initially appeared to be kind and just…good potential pet parents…who later turned and dumped their adopted dog in a kill shelter.  I have met many others who are wonderful pet parents. It is an odd paradox to be engulfed in an economy where the work makes you hateful and suspicious of most people but also requires that you trust some of them.

I have no answers…no wisdom other than this;  rescue doesn’t work without people.  No matter how hard you try to vet potential adopters there will always be lemons/scumbags and there will never be enough good adopters.   The scumbag puppy millers and backyard breeders will keep making money off the genitals of the innocent and perpetuate the flood of homeless animals. The reality is five innocent animals die per minute in our shelters…every stinking day.  But without people we will never make things better.   The animals are 100% at our mercy.mommarge

Of one thing I am certain…kindness to animals should be easy…but I have to wonder…why is it so elusive?  Animals are without guile, greed  or malice.  It is frightening that we are incapable of doing right by them.  The mass killing that goes on in our shelters is a human created problem.  We could fix it.  But we don’t.  It is such a small percentage of the population that works tirelessly to make a difference for animals.   Laws that protect the innocent and punish the evil doers should be easy…but they are insufficient…where I live….the laws just don’t exist.  What does this say about our society…a society who claims it is just and evolved?   Justice, fairness, compassion…kindness…these are not abstracts…they are intuitively obvious and clear…but yet elusive when it comes to animal care.

Most people in rescue are over-worked and usually emotionally exhausted….it is grueling and heart breaking work.   Becoming suspicious of people is an inevitable symptom.  Most have developed an edge; I sure have.   I don’t keep my mouth shut when someone tells me about their “accidental litter”…or about the “designer dog” (expensive mutt) they plan to pay a fortune for.  I tell them the truth.  Five innocent animals die per minute in our shelters every stinking day and these type of actions are the reasons why.  You are either part of the solution or part of the problem…we all bear responsibility to make a difference.   Maybe with some people it will at least make them think about better options…most probably just think I’m a crazy fanatic.  I can live with the label of fanatic…I don’t do anything with half of my heart, have long passed the age where I care what others think of me…and answer only to my conscience.

bretmargeThere is no grey area…too many animals suffer in this country at the hands of humans.  Only humans can fix it.  The moral of the Marge story is this, and it didn’t hit me until I finished this post, Marge completely understood the “paradox of rescue”…in fact…most animals do.   She had every reason to hate people…to resent the creepy bastards who left her behind in a yard to starve…yet she chose (or you could argue she was created) to put her faith in people.   Maybe the only solution to the “paradox of rescue” is to think more like the dogs.

Rescue On!

Nancy

 

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Crafts for Pet Lovers

Pet themed coasters…a quick and simple to make gift idea.

MAIN6My husband and I recently finished up decorating some new vacation rental properties…one of which is a pet friendly unit.  I needed some coasters for the unit…when I attempted to shop for them I was surprised at what stores charge for coasters  these days…so I made some of my own.  After a little research on materials they were super easy and fast to make.

Your Supply list: Travetine tiles (Home Depot), Grout Sealer, Archival stamp pad, stamps, felt or cork backing

The best tiles for coasters are travertine…porous tiles.  Stamping on non-porous/glazed tiles is not going to work.  The only place I could find the TILEStravertine tiles (at a reasonable price) was Home Depot.  I purchased two different styles of these Premiere Decor tiles…both worked fine.   Be careful when you buy them…inspect the package as best you can to make sure none of the tiles are cracked, chipped or broken.    Your results will be best if you rinse the tiles well before you use them (let them dry over night).

STAMPSI used a variety of stamps I had in the house to decorate the tiles.  You will need to use an archival stamping ink.  I use the Ranger Archival Ink pads for most projects.  You can get these pads at Michaels or Hobby Lobby…they are usually about $12.00 and they last a really long time.    After you stamp your design on your coasters let the ink dry (I would let it set for at least a few hours).

I looked up all sorts of methods for waterproofing coasters before I did this project.  I saw ideas to use everything from Mod Podge to boat sealer.  I don’t know about boat sealer…didn’t try it.  But I am not a fan of using Mod Podge SEALERon coasters because it does not interact well with water.  I wanted a waterproof coaster…not smudged by or stained by a sweating glass.  Since my husband and I just finished remodeling several bathrooms we had a bottle of grout sealer on hand.  I gave it a try and it turned out to be a great solution for waterproofing these coasters.  I set my stamped (dry) coasters in a box..took them outside (grout sealer smells) and sprayed them (soaked them actually) with the grout sealer.  I let them dry and repeated the spray two more times.  The end result was washable, non-smudging coasters.

The last step was to back the coasters so they wouldn’t scratch my tables.  I used a metal die for my Big Shot to cut my backings…but you could easily just cut squares by hand.  I glued my backing (I used cork that I picked up at Michaels) with Beacon’s glue.  Beacons is my “go to”
20141015_22302920141015_222006glue for projects that need a really heavy duty glue.  Beacon’s has a wicked odor…so open a window and don’t get it on your fingers.   Once Beacons glue is completely dry the odor is gone.  I set my coasters upside down and let the glue dry overnight.

coastersI also tried this project with coasters that I hand painted with acrylic paint.  The grout sealer worked well to waterproof the hand painted coasters.

Have fun!

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Our sweet Luna!

Things here at Misfit Manor have been insanely busy…our vacation rentals have been busy and the dogs keep me endlessly (but joyously) occupied.   We are all happy to see spring…it is so lovely here in Kentucky.

If you love all things pet and pet rescue please follow my blog and/or my Facebook Page.  I also have a Pinterest Page full of great resources for pet lovers.  If you are looking for pet rescue art, pet sympathy items or pet adoption cards please check out The Rescue Mama ETSY shop!  Also, check out some of my other free pet craft tutorials on my website.

Rescue On!

Nancy

 

 

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Pet Rescue Art: Life as a Chihuahua Mama…

Life with Chihuahuas takes over my art…

chihuahua art, chihuahua rescue, chihuahua painting
Capturing the Chihuahua personality

When my husband and I moved to Kentucky we signed up to foster dogs with several local rescue groups…we have fostered 9 dogs in about a years time.  Throughout the year several Chihuahua’s came to our home…all of whom were precious and two of whom we adopted.  Neither of us had previous experience with Chihuahuas…now both my husband and I are enamored with this breed.

The girls we adopted, Lucy and Luna, were shelter mates.  We know nothing about their lives prior to landing in a Kentucky shelter.  Luna is very old…she has some fairly serious health issues but is still sprite and we couldn’t love her more.  Despite her physical challenges Luna still boss

Chihuahua art, Chihuahua rescue, The Rescue Mama, Nancy Halverson
Chihuahua Mamas are the best!

es all the other dogs around.  Lucy is very young, she stole my husbands heart and somehow manages to be both the sassiest dog we have ever met yet also the sweetest.

Shortly after we adopted Lucy and Luna I started doing some reading on the breed…it was then I realized how at risk the Chihuahua breed is in shelters.  I was aware that they are at high risk in places like California but I had no idea they have the second highest kill rate in shelters nationally, behind only pit bulls…heart breaking and senseless.   I had a lot of time this fall to do some sketching while I was dabbling in the world of doing art shows…Luna came with me to most of my shows.  My Chihuahua girls dominated my sketches…I finally turned two of the sketches in to paintings and I am looking forward to finishing more them.  I am having a lot of fun turning the combination of sassy and sweetness of the Chihuahua personality into paintings.

Both of these originals will hang at the Central Kentucky Veterinary Center in Georgetown, KY until they sell.  I will have prints and cards available by the middle of next week.

Rescue On!

Nancy

If you are crazy about all things pet and pet rescue follow my Facebook Page and Pinterest Page.  If you need pet rescue art or pet sympathy cards check out my ETSY shop.

 

 

 

 

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Confessions of an imperfect dog mom: the essence of “dogness”

This photo was taken the 2nd time I did a training session with Buster. I did all the work for those first few sessions...I worked to earn his trust.
This photo was taken the 2nd time I did a training session with Buster. I did all the work for those first few sessions…I worked to earn his trust.

A few days ago I was out walking with Turnip…I had a very sweet “ah ha” moment when I realized that Turnip was walking like a normal dog and has been for a long time…I think I have taken his progress for granted…relaxed…tail up…sniffing…no fear.  He has changed so much, albeit gradually, that when I paused to think about it…the change in him….seems like magic…it makes me smile.   It got me thinking about how much both Buster and Turnip have changed since we met them last year.

Bret and I have always had a soft heart for the creatures that have some challenges…maybe we can both relate.   Turnip was challenged by pretty much everything…door ways…stairs…men…blowing leaves…noises…when I started walking him I had to lure him with ham while he slithered on his belly a bit further down the driveway each day.   We used to have leave the room to get him to go in and out the door for potty breaks.   There was a time when he would not let anyone but me near him…now he will take food from the hands of strangers and a select few can pet him.

Pet Rescue Photo Art

Buster loves the girls...and they love him.
Buster loves the girls…and they love him.

Buster was a different type of special…he was bred to work…to guard…he just needed to find his rhythm (and some boundaries) for a successful family life.  He found them.   But in hindsight he has changed dramatically…Buster lived at a kennel when I first started working with him..I was uncomfortable letting him near my own dogs.  Now he is a ladies man…all of our fosters fall in love with him and any human that visits is his new best friend.  Don’t get me wrong…Buster is not a dog to trifle with…but he figured out where he fits here and he does everything with enthusiasm.

Watching Buster and Turnip change has been rewarding…Bret and I are deeply invested in both of them…we work hard with our dogs that need extra help…these two have taken an extraordinary amount of our time.  Our investment in them seems so much larger since we took in the girls this year (Lucy, Luna & Maddie).  The girls are so laid back and well adjusted…they were an immediate and effortless fit here.  The contrast between the boys and the girls made me think more about investing time in relationships general…do I afford people the same “space and grace” that I am more than happy to give the dogs?   Do any of us?  Do I work as hard at relationships with difficult humans as I did with Buster and Turnip?  I had a wicked determination with Buster…giving up was not an option.  What if I had that same determination with people?

Best Day Ever...the day we adopted Turnip.
Best Day Ever…the day we adopted Turnip.

Buster has such a big personality...
Buster has such a big personality…

I’ve been thinking about this for awhile…my conclusion is that I need to re-frame how I choose to interact with humans.  If I could get away with it I would interact with people very little…its not that I don’t “like” people…I’m just an introvert…I prefer to be a lone…I have fun when I am alone…if I don’t get enough time alone than I am not myself.  If I have been around a lot of people for an extended amount of time (even though I enjoy it) I will be exhausted.   I am comfortable with being an introvert and I make sure to protect the boundaries I need to stay spiritually and emotionally healthy.  But its possible I have been using my introversion as an excuse to not extend more grace to people in general.  I think about the most basic things I afforded to Buster and Turnip while they figured things out…it was space (to figure things out at their own pace) and grace (remaining consistently caring no matter what kind of shenanigans were going on).  I suppose those are the same two things most would say they would afford their children.  But do we afford them to adults?  Buster and Turnip had tremendous baggage…they were not young puppies to shape and socialize…they were emotionally banged up…as most adult humans are…as I am.  If you looked at either of these dogs on the outside…they looked like handsome, healthy adult dogs…not so on the inside….as is the case with most adults…myself included.   What would happen if I worked harder at seeing Buster and Turnip in everyone?

FB_IMG_1450344878989There is a dog person saying, you’ve heard it….”the more people I get to know the more I like dogs”…its kind of a funny saying…and often it can be true.  But it also flies in the face of the essence of “dogness”…the very glory of a dog is its unconditional love and tolerance for humans.  If there is no human for them to love…than there is no “dogness”.  The intrinsic nature of a dog is rooted in its relationship to us.  We rob dogs of their wonder if we don’t afford humans the same space, grace and effort that the dog’s give us.  Perhaps the main reason dogs are here for us to reflect them…to reflect their “dogness” in to our own relationships…I want more “dogness” in my own essence…

Rescue On!

Nancy

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Confessions of an imperfect dog mom…

Living in the land of dichotomies…my weapons of war…

lucy quoteI think I need to make an early new years resolution…to blog more regularly.  I blog for two reasons…I want to share my passion for animals and my own need to clear my head…they are intimately connected I think.

Technology is a funny thing.  There is a fine line, I believe, between staying “connected enough” with the world to be useful to the world and becoming “compassion fatigued” as a result of being “too connected”.  I have had several days…a week really…where I have had to “unplug”.  The steady barrage of horror stories, the unceasing amount of animals surrendered to kill shelters in Kentucky…the complete lack of will by the “elected class” to protect animals…it never stops.  It is easy to fall prey to the lie that it is hopeless and just shut down emotionally.

Kentucky is a strange place…it is a place of dichotomies.  A place where on the one hand…their is tremendous passion for animals…the celebration of the horse in Kentucky borders on a form of worship.  But on the other hand neglect, abuse and flat out ignorance brings on the suffering of a truly staggering number of animals.   On the one hand the rescue groups here are all overwhelmed and running on shoe string budgets…competing with each other for the small amount of donations available from a populace with one of the lowest wage rates in the country.  But on the other hand the horse auctions just took place in Lexington where hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent by a handful of people hoping to buy that next superstar race horse.   The inequity of it all is quite mind numbing.   But it has been this way forever…indeed a strange place and the dichotomies don’t just apply to the way animals are treated.

On so many very serious levels Kentucky is so terribly behind the rest of the country; health, education and wages are ranked at the bottom in the country.   Maybe it takes an outsider to see how grossly some of these things stand out…at least to see how Kentucky fares relative to other parts of the country.   Perhaps this is the closest I have ever lived to some of these issues and the contrast bothers me.  The contrast of extreme wealth (horse barns nicer than most homes) juxtaposed with extreme poverty (others live in campers…not trailers…but campers).

downloadI walk all over this town with my dogs everyday…I see beauty and pride in the community all over the place…there is also a lot of poverty, blight and hopelessness.  The signs of how so many lives are being short changed by a poor education system and the impact of addiction are everywhere.  So often, I miss Apple Valley…my whistle clean, prosperous and homogenous home town.  But now it almost feels that it wasn’t real…reality is here…and I am meant to see it, live it…be it.   I can’t say we fully understand why yet but Bret and I both know that we were right where we are supposed to be.  This town, this house and at this time…is where we are meant to be.

So much contrast…gross dichotomy all around me…and it bothers me…so much it makes my bones feel cold.   There is darkness and hopelessness like I have never seen before…sometimes its downright scary…a form of spiritual poverty I have never felt before.

At the same time…there is a spirit force in some of the local Kentuckians that is remarkable.  It’s a fighting spirit…its a never give up spirit.   I didn’t know until I toured the Kentucky armory recently that Kentucky has sent more men to fight in every single war (relative to its population) than every other state in our country…every single one.   Many people have a  fierce self-understanding of who they are as Kentuckians.  Whether you agree with them or not they know what they stand for and I respect that.  There is also an earthiness about the people here…something I have really come to love and hope to write more about some time.

veteran+funeralThere is an unsung compassion here too.  Not too long ago there was a funeral director who went public with a body he had been given custody of.  A man, a vet…who had no family, no friends…not a single contact…died in a nursing home, alone, with never a visitor.  The funeral director asked for people who might consider coming to his funeral…hundreds..seriously hundred of people… showed up for his funeral.  Despite the warts…there is something powerfully good here too…often it feels like I have a naked view of spiritual warfare…something that was more deeply shadowed in Minnesota.

These days; I am a “girly, girl” as my husband says…I cry a lot these days…I cry when I see something sad, something happy, something compassionate…I just cry a lot…my husband thinks its cute…but I know its how I fully experience what is going on around me…really feel things deep down in my bones…the way we were made to feel things…if that makes sense.  For most of my life…I did not cry…I had a very narrow range of emotions…I did not feel.

A few weeks ago…I had a conversation with a local friend who works in throes of pet rescue…he was at a point of disgust…that giving up point where anger and frustration can over take the desire to keep trying…at least for a while.  I told him…”I know that spot…I know it well.  But I also know that the only way out of that hole is to fight…and for me that means fighting with the only weapons God gave me…forgiveness, compassion and the will to do good.”   I subsequently spent a week re-trenching from the same feelings of despair.

nickelThen I got a call about a dog named Nickel.  He needed a ride out of a kill shelter to safe place.  Off I went…Nickel paid his fare in kisses and snuggles.  My soul was fed for a week.  I needed Nickel to remind me of my own words.

When all else fails…and darkness seems brighter than the light…grab your weapons and look for your Nickel.

If you are a lover of all things pet and pet rescue consider following my blog or my Facebook Page.  I also have a Pinterest Page full of resources for pet parents.  And of course if you are in need of any pet sympathy cards or pet rescue art check out my Rescue Mama Shop.

Rescue on!

Nancy

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Winners of the Buster breed contest!

Buster is a Yellow Mountain Cur!

butser wonderfulI had a good time having this contest and I hope all who made guesses had fun too!  Bret picked the winning names from the correct guesses out of hat for me (I know…not very scientific but I am just a rescue mom).

The winners are:

First Prize: ($25 Electronic Gift Card to my ETSY shop):  Elizabeth Waterbury

Second Prize: (Cat Rescue Art Print): Gail Clement

Third Prize:  (3 pack of Pet Sympathy Cards):  Crista Becker

Our favorite breed is, and always will be, “rescued”.  But Buster was a bit of puzzle from a behavior stand point and learning about his breed has been really helpful.  He has been, by far, the most challenging dog I have worked with.  Once I learned about his breed I gained a much greater appreciation for his personality and made changes to how I work with him…and frankly grew to admire his personality rather than feel the need to re-shape it.

Make no bones about it…a Mountain Cur is not a good choice for a family dog…nor is a suburban environment a good choice for this breed.  This breed needs an avid hunter with a lot of property for this dog to roam.  We have figured out how to make it work…let Buster be who he is meant to be and teach him alternate behaviors to reign in some of his exuberance.  I LOVE working with Buster.   Once we figured out what breed Buster was we could see much of his behavior for what it was…characteristic of his breed…not problematic…perception can be everything.   I started networking with other folks like me who unknowingly ended up with a Mountain Cur and had made the commitment to make a successful life for them.    I have learned a lot.

A Mountain Cur is a dog with a novel history…this region probably would not have been settled with out these dogs.  They are nothing to be trifled with and are bred to work and protect.  They are wicked smart and athletic.  They are also fiercely loyal and incredibly affectionate.  We are honored to have Buster as part of our family.

Thanks for participating in our contest!

Rescue On!

Nancy

 

 

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Confessions of an imperfect dog mom: Luna

For the love of Luna!

adopted lunaSeveral weeks ago I got a call from the local humane society that there were two female Chihuahuas at the shelter that needed a foster home.  Bret and I had recently fostered two other Chihuahuas and had a great time with both of them (both found new homes quite quickly).  When I arrived at the shelter to get them…the shelter was full…loud and chaotic…stressed out dogs barking.  The shelter staff took me to a kennel at the very end…it looked empty.  She lifted the large dog bed up and there I saw the two little girls huddled together; shaking and hiding under the bed.  She moved fast and put them in a carrier.  I left fast. I hate being in the shelter.  I had barely gotten a look at either dog.

When I arrived at home with the dogs Bret met me in the yard and we opened the carrier and let them out.  The younger dog came out first; timid but she looked like a young and healthy dog.  Then Luna came out.  She had a really bad limp, a permanently crumpled up ear, a hunched back, a few really rotten and smelly teeth and a clearly broken tail.  We were INSTANTLY in love with her.

We kept the normal routine of fostering for a few weeks…figuring we had to at least give a fair shake to her chance at adoption.  But we quickly failed miserably…we made Luna ours forever.luna pjs

Pet Rescue Photo Art

We know nothing of Luna’s history nor why she ended up at the shelter.  She has an agreeable personality as long as there is not a lot of commotion around her and she is perfectly potty trained.  I suspect someone loved her a lot and somewhere along the way something tragic happened to cause her injuries…but who knows.

Luna
Luna

We took her for a wellness check right after we adopted her. The vet believes she is around 12 years old…he confirmed all the old injuries we suspected and pulled out her last little snaggle tooth. (She is totally toothless now).   Luna is deaf and has cataracts dimming her vision.  She has an amazing attitude.

I am of the belief that each dog has come in to our lives exactly when they are supposed to.  I don’t pretend to know why some steal our hearts and others don’t…but Luna was love at first sight.  Despite her obvious physical issues…Luna has great enthusiasm.  She is curious, adventurous (to a fault), always up for a car ride…and wants to hang out with me wherever I am.  She is also accepting…of the other animals, of bed time in her crate and of living with joy despite her obvious challenges.  We love her spirit…her excitement.  When we arrive home after being gone for even a short while Luna comes to life…jumping up and down, squealing and rolling on her back with her legs in the air.  All dogs get excited…but when they show joy in the face of the physical challenges that Luna has…with such enthusiasm…it melts our hearts.luna shuffle

partycar1Luna can walk around fine on her own but she has a pretty bad limp and clearly has pain in her right leg (a broken leg that did not heal properly).  I added her to my routine of wagon riding with Kringles at the park.  The two are great wagon mates…they truly seem to enjoy each other’s mellow company.  Luna barks at all the big dogs walking by…so funny.  Luna stands in the front of the wagon the whole walk….wind blowing in her hair…the chance for her to cruise around and sight see without having to use her own broken body to get around…it is really something to see.  The daily wagon rides with her and Kringles are always the highlight of my day.wagon riding

I no longer feel the need to justify why I feel the way I do about certain things…I used to…but maybe I am finally old enough to trust my instincts.  For some odd reason…when I met Luna I was able to feel Sparky again.  I love all my dogs…but caring for Sparky as he aged was such an honor…I loved every minute of it…it was the only time that I felt I was giving back anywhere near the love he had given me.   Luna brings back that sense of satisfaction and purpose…and I love it.  I hope we have Luna with us for many years…but I am also realistic about how long her life with us will be.  For now…what a joy to have the honor of being part of her life.

together foreverWe also adopted her shelter mate…Lucy…while they weren’t bonded to a point that they couldn’t be adopted separately…as you can see in this picture…we did not want to break them apart.  I don’t know if they are related…perhaps Luna is Lucy’s mother.  Lucy is less than 2 years old.   I will write about Lucy soon…she is wild and a complete delight!  She is Bret’s dog…through and through.

Life at Misfit Manor has been busy…our first vacation rental property is doing well…Bret can work from home now and on Friday we are closing on three more rental units….very exciting (and scarey).  In the meantime…we continue our daily routine in our little slice of heaven that we call Misfit Manor…just a bunch of connected souls on the great and messy journey we call life.

Rescue On!

Nancy

 

 

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Welcome to Misfit Manor!

We have officially named our home in Kentucky!

misfitmanorOur home in Kentucky is the first home that Bret and I chose and purchased together.  It is the first place that is truly “ours”.  We decided last summer that we wanted to give it a fitting name but wanted to ponder it for awhile.  This summer we officially decided on “Misfit Manor”.  Our home in Georgetown has a bit of history…well, its old, so I guess it has to have some history. We found a book that had some stories on our home.  It has been a home to a town doctor, it was a boarding house (believe it or not our home had 13 bathrooms in it at one point…crazy)…its been a home to some lovely families…and well to some total weirdos too (wait… maybe we are the weirdos).  But no matter its history…and even with its crooked doors and sagging floors…it is our little slice of heaven and now it has a name.  I made this wreath for our back door while Granny Sandy was here.  I still need to add the cats to theMom and Dad taking a break and going to the Styx concernt - they rocked it!

wreath.  We are going to make a small plaque for our front door too.

So why such a campy name as Misfit Manor?  Well, frankly…we are a couple of misfits.  Bret and I are (finally) fairly self-aware individuals…purified by dances with dangerous “isms” at different points in

Lacey Mae loves this wild hair look!
Lacey Mae loves this wild hair look!

our lives…but grateful for how our lives have been shaped by the mistakes and rough journeys of the past.  Little about either of our adult lives has been “traditional”.  But hindsight can be a funny thing…Bret and I both agree that now that we know where our bumpy paths have landed us (together with our creatures)…that we would go back and walk the same rocky path a thousand times over to get here again.

We are also a home filled with off beat creatures (besides Bret and I)…a once chronic biter (our Lacey), a hyperactive and reactive little freight train (our Buster), an afraid of his own shadow JRT (Turnip) and a feral caLucy, Luna and Kringlest (Zilla)…and several more quirky creatures.   You would think it would be chaos…but what makes it special is that when all of us misfits get together…somehow it all works.   I believe its grace.  Bret and I…and the animals…are more whole together than we are when we are separate. I know that I am only fully me when I am with all of them.  I wish this sort of peace and “foundness” for everyone…

Kringles the pirate
Kringles the pirate

butser wonderfulHave you ever taken a boring, even downright ugly painting or photo and changed it out with a beautiful frame and suddenly that same item will seem so much different…its the same but you see it completely new… it is now more than it first was?  Somewhere along the journey I came to terms with this simple truth; that often the biggest change we need to make isn’t ourselves nor is there fault in something or someone else that pushes us out of our comfort zone…but instead the problem is how we frame ourselves and each other in our thoughts…framed properly someone odd or ordinary, or even difficult… suddenly becomes quite beautiful.  For some reason I have a knack for all things misfit…I rescue misfit pieces of china at flea markets and set a summer table that turns out lovely…I love rescuing misfit furniture…Cottage Paint works wonders…we even bought a misfit house…and we have a bunch of misfit animals…”misfit” seems to be where I fit…I see them with sparkle not dim.  Thoughtfully re-framed each misfit is something beautiful…its not about change…if that makes sense.

Luna
Luna

This week Bret and I picked up a couple of new foster dogs…one of them…we named her Luna…has seen better days.  This dog is so pathetic looking that Bret and I instantly fell in love with her.  Whatever happened to her…we assume she was either hit by a car or attacked by a larger animal…her deformed little body to us is just a little bundle of courage and joy.  I am sure Luna will find a permanent family…she is a heart breaker…but if she doesn’t she will always fit in here.

I am most comfortable…in our realm of the misfits.   Others may see us as quirky or weird…that is ok…each of us needs to be our kind of wonderful…and here at Misfit Manor everyone has the chance to be something beautiful…

If you love all things pet and pet rescue please follow my blog…I blog weekly about pet parenting, pet resources, pet rescue, pet crafts…I also have a The Rescue Mama Facebook Page and The Rescue Mama Pinterest Page where I post daily.  My Pinterest Page has boards for every pet topic you can think of!  If you are looking for a pet sympathy card or pet rescue artwork please visit my Rescue Mama ETSY Shop.

Rescue On!

Nancy

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Pet Rescue: The power of one…the impact of our choices…

The power of our choices and the lives of animals…

choicesI start out each morning with a cup of coffee and the Wall Street Journal…no wait…back up…after I have pottied, fed and hugged each of my pets…I start my day with coffee and the Wall Street Journal.  One particular article in this week’s journal made my jaw drop… Walmart is beginning to pressure its meat and egg suppliers to reduce their use of anti-biotics and offer more humane conditions for livestock.  All I could think of was…”holy shit…our choices really can matter”.  Let’s be brutally honest…what moves a corporate behemoth like Walmart to make a change like this is consumer demand…demand for humane and healthy products.  Our choices as individuals drive important change.  I am not naive…change takes time… and Walmart’s new guidelines aren’t mandatory…but it sure will make cruelty free suppliers more competitively advantaged and sets a much better trajectory for animals than we were on.  Sometimes…a new law or regulation won’t cut it…people living lives of compassion in this case made a change…our choices are so much more powerful than any law.  Kindness to animals brings out the best in all of us!

This is nothing to scoff at.  Walmart is the largest retailer….at $288 Billion in sales last year…they call the shots for meat and egg suppliers.  Nearly 50% of Walmart sales are savegroceries…like Walmart or not…we need them to move the needle towards humane treatment of our food supply.  Case in point…the article cited that “overall egg sales are flat, but sales of more expensive eggs that tout “cage free” or similar attributes are booming.”  How awesome is that? Bret and I won’t buy anything but cage free eggs…I thought this was a small and insignificant choice (well not so insignificant to the grocery bill).  But clearly the collective choices of consumers to purchase a humane product does matter.

When we lived in Minnesota we would take a lot of motorcycle rides in the country…passing many chicken, turkey and pork farms…the sight of some of these farms made us sick…especially the turkey farms…animals packed in so tight they couldn’t move…and the noise they made…it was like cries of terror.  We vowed to start buying free range and grass fed or just go without.   I am pleasantly surprised to see meaningful choices really can make such a difference…If you are one of the folks who made the cruelty free choice…God Bless You…it made a difference…if you aren’t there yet…won’t you think about it?
wtfSo this brings me the fate of companion animals…why can’t our choices make it better for them?  We are an abundant nation who loves animals…caring for and spoiling our animals has become a $60 Billion dollar industry.  Yet millions of homeless animals die in shelters each year…5 per minute!  What does it take for our choices to increase the demand for rescue animals so high that it pushes the shelters nearly out of business?  It shouldn’t be complicated…almost 3 million cats and dogs die in shelters every year…yet 17 million families get a new pet each year…this should be an easy problem to solve…but it lingers…and each year more suffer and die.

What do we have to do to make clearing out the shelter the fashionable thing to do?  How do we create a “Rescue-ista culture?”  Why do we have a hush, hush culture about how many animals die in the shelter…why is their so much resistance to change…to asking the community to be involved in solving the problem.  In most cases…I don’t believe people know that shelters, on average, are killing 50% of the animals…in some areas of the county…that number is significantly worse.  I don’t have the answers…its a heartfelt question.

Do you talk to everyone you can about rescue?  I do…especially anyone considering adding a pet.  I am not a self-righteous rag about it…I just make a heartfelt plea to encourage people to choose rescue…I give the staggering facts…how many die each minute…shelters are full of pure bred dogs…they are full of puppies…you can find any type of dog you want through rescue and no…a shelter pet is not damaged goods!

I don’t know what the specific magic beans are to save more lives…but I know what the over-arching theme is…a community that cares…that cares how the animals are treated.  How the animals fare in our communities is one (of many) benchmarks by which we can measure the spiritual health of our communities.  I wonder how we make rescue fashionable?  If things as ridiculous as mullets and bell bottoms can be fashionable than why isn’t pet rescue?  I wonder how we make pet rescue part of our spiritual journey?  I don’t have the answers…but I am sure looking for them.

If you are in to all things pet rescue…like pet art…like to spoil your pets…well by all means…follow our blog (we post 1-2 X’s per week) or our Facebook Page!

Rescue On!

Nancy