Home from a short walk and the mighty Oreo looks like she has done a marathon. I noticed today the first real sideways lean as she tottered up the hill, the flowers of youth are fading. Her boundless enthusiasm for life; and her love of the romp are strong, but we are approaching the time of her becoming housebound. Generous friends and neighbors invite her over and she loves to go and lay in their garden, a few rolls of the ball and she dozes off, when she awakens I bring her home. I don't want to think about losing her and yet we know that death is a part of the life cycle, but never, ever " now " .....when the buds are pink and white and the earth is coming alive. This girl who nurtured so many orphan puppies, taught them the ways of life, it seems 9 is quite young...especially for a girl who has led the good life. So in our own way we all totter on, putting one foot after the other... we could learn from our animals how to live in the moment, thus living a full life everyday. I only know Oreo has been part of a teaching chain, that I have followed for 50 years. My love affair with the German Shepherd dog is, indeed, that long.... so for today we go to the canyon, and a neighbors for tea. and then a nap. I'll worry about tommorrow, tommorrow; I learned that from Oreo.....Pictured is Oreo, the Girlydog,the Confidant, the Princess , and "The Pain.."
22 comments:
It's time to let her loll about the house like Pixie. She's not uncomfortable, now is she? I think she looks like an old dog, taking a break. Let her be. At some point she has to give up her writing career, but not for a while, nine is not that old for even a big dog. Keeping in mind her happy level. We took a dog in shelter the other day, a ringer for Oreo. I am still considering bringing her home. I think she has only a few months, perhaps a year at most. It would be a switch from a Peke, but i would keep Pixie's picture as my sign in. Wouldn't want to confuse anyone and make them think Oreo had moved west. There was something about this girls eyes that exuded confidence, a poise. I do know she won't shelter long, right now she's thinking a trip to the vet or the groom shop. When the truth hits her, she will be devasted. If she is there tomorrow, she is coming home with me. That's settled.
Oh my word, I can't think of Oreo being in a shelter. She would do well for a day or so, waiting for me, but she would not hold up. The really dark pigment is suspicious of life in general. Good with people they know, but if they are not raised in the park and really socialized, she would need to be monitored. Keep us posted. Any history on her ?
No shelters for Oreo, or for any healthy dog to linger in. Seriously, Oreo would never go to a shelter. Volunteer and I would keep her, quit being morbid and don't worry so much.
Were you and Priss at the arboretum during the hailstorm? It would be ironic if we both volunteered there.
The dog looked exactly like Miss Priss,same markings, with an older lady, long duster coat and a rain hat. If not, Oreo's "sister" has a twin. I didn't approach you it's hard to know for sure and thought you may not want to be bothered off duty. I was manning the postcard sales, and this person took a tour up to the upper level. If you can get to the shelter this week end it should be openly crammed, that is the buzz.
Yes I was at the Arboretum, getting soaked. I took Priss about the parking lot to relieve her little tummy and then took a group of people around the park. I love that full length praire coat for the nasty weather, not warm, but does help with the soaking. I have stayed away from the shelter since Cindy retired, I don't trust Mitch not to try and start something. Sorry, know that sounds paranoid, but he's on the
" dark side" now. He was never long on brains, any volunteer can tell you that; but now he's free to do Bonney's bidding & he would. I have noticed the pictures on petharbor are getting crude, I wouldn't think that would change, but look and see for yourself. I would rather not get aquainted in a group, since we never know who is in a group. but please come up to me privately and introduce yourself. I can't picture any of the nut jobs being in the gardening community, but look at some of our elected officials and you will see a familar face at the Ranch
There is a new contract being written that changes many functions on Longley. It's expected that St. John may reveal it at the next presentation before the commission. Very hush, hush & they don't want to draw early attention to the changes. If it was a good change they would be beating their own drums. This is something they are planning a surprise with. A coup. Be careful, they won't read this blog because you busted them before, but they are watching for you at the shelter. Don't leave your dogs in the car out there ever again. Mitch is going for the lead job and Oreo could be his ticket. Wish I could have known you better when you were still there, but the rescues were told to stay away from you by certain NHS staff.
The anonymous post sounds like a word to the wise. It's so typical of Winograd's tactics, why haven't you called in HSUS or PETA ? They are better than Nathan, even if you disagree with some of their policies, we disagree with all of Winograd's. I brought the new girl home. The owners brought her in because she has advanced thyroid symptoms and they can't afford a vet. She is a ringer for Oreo, even the ears are to big. Eight years old, doesn't care for children, they said she wouldn't bite, but prefers to be left alone. That is common with thyroid, the animal is sore to the touch. If we can get the thyroid under control she can go for a few more years. Wonderful girl, affectionate, but looking for her old family right now. She is housetrained and continent, which is good at her size. I am keeping her original name, so I'll keep that off the blog. The owners are nice, but privacy is imperative.
What is the situation about taking your dogs with you to the shelter? Would somebody do harm to them ? Take care and stay on top of things, but get some damn help.
To anon...
Thanks for the heads up. I have no plans to take my dogs anywhere near Mitch and the gang. I have a truth to get out there and I am not going to jeopardize that for anything. Also I have concerns now for contamination issues. .
Congratulations Greta, and I hope your relationship with the new dog works as well as little Pixie's. Oreo is better today, she just must take it easy, a word not found in her vocabulary.
Don't forget to go to the commission tomorrow. If you can't g, watch it on television.
We are still waiting for the County to post the video of the 5/27/09 commission meeting. Dan is on at 10:50, he got 40 minutes to present, everyone else seemed shorter. That was the budget presentations and I think that is where he would try to slip it in....
Taking a break from the busy season. I am following the AC in your county using the 89502 zip & Washoe County on Petharbor.com. Why are the numbers going down this time of year ? Any success secrets Oreo wants to share will be put to good use. We have had two pregnant girls dropped off and that is a sign of the times. People cannot even wait to get the puppies on the ground to dump them. Oreo does look very tired, but she has a lot going on with all her volunteer efforts. I am down about the two girls, anybody here care to guess the breed ? I have been looking into our Chameleon system and cannot find a way to block info once the person is into the account. Maybe it could be done, but I can't find it.
Here, I type in animal # 1234 and everything comes up, where the animal was picked up, owner contact, reason for not reclaiming and name of owner. Pretty heavy disclosure, phone number/w general contact info. I feel Oreo is right on to ask for accountability on this one. I can see where the historical information could help in the decision to transfer, but that could be written out in a redacted format. If they are spending time to redact every animal when it's up for adoption that is labor intensive.
Thanks Butters,
For those following, I had asked Butters to confirm on their system about the vulnerable characterics of shared systems. I contine to query the Dept.Head about the situation and it goes from dismissive to angry ( myob ) back to stonewalling, and ad infinitum. I think we are currently n a break. I only have two questions, why are they allowed on the system when a written report is done everyday anyway ? and why are they not paying ? I don't know of any other non signatories gaining access to the computers in the county.
I know the SPCA sure as hell didn't get to use Chameleon.
Are you going to take the dog Greta ? Oh, you did, guess I should read all the comments before firing questions. This feed works great for staying current.
Didn't NHS pay half the cost of the Chameleon in 2005-06? Sure seems like I remember talk about it.
APetCop
Yes petcop, NHS was on the original plan. Security leaks and the volunteers accessing data had becomes problems with NHS under BB. I am not sure when they stopped paying, it has been a long time and they said they wanted Petfinder.com vs. paying for Chameleon. That is the rub, they continued to access Chameleon long after they said they were getting off and obviously balk at paying. The only person on AC who didn't see the harm in civilians rumaging through files was Mitch. I believe the licensing is $25,000 per annum and they haven't paid for close to a year. I will make available the post I have, but can't put it up here.
I was under the impression that the cost of Chameleon was $25,000. Period. Not a yearly license fee for $25,000.
Hmmm...
PetCop
I am trying to find that out, I do know there were some onging payment issues, and NHS didn't want to pay them. $25,000 may not have been every year, but I know most software servers have a maintenance fee... Mitch has decided that stats are not public information anymore, all he will let out is his Maddie's fund report, and look at the AC website , you will be amazed at the " partnerships"
I think this is newsworthy. I spike with a friend who has several connections and they are going to be making some phone calls too. What the hell is having a sleep over in the County owned dog shelter about? Did anybody else read yesterdays paper ? They were having a 36 hour adopt-a-thon with people bringing sleeping bags and coming in their pajamas. That is a real liabiliy issue. I get a real visual of scared animals wandering through the crowd. I am writing to the commission and I think the City of Reno should be following this.
Shel's right, spend the night in the shelter. It's one thing if Tom takes his show on the road and sleeps in a kennel for money, but having citizens and kids sleeping in the shelter and wandering around alnight is asanine. How were the animals supposed to get any rest and a tiny bit of peace. I wanted to drop in, but Shel was right, stay away from the crazies.
It really is quite a read and I plan to mail a copy to the Commission, that is a liability issue. Just nuts is what it is. People who don't even know eachother camping out in the education room at the shelter ? Nuts, Plain nuts.
Saw a great little Sable GSD at your shelter, I contacted a couple who have been waiting for me to find one for them and they are driving down to meet the dog before it goes out of stray.
How long do you guys hold them ?I would hate to see them drive all the way from King County for nothing. They wanted a Sable and if they don't mind the drive she would have a very good home. They have been on my list for 5 months. I too have noticed the dropping intake numbers, and the increase in dogs being kept in residence vs. being brought to the shelter. We are always aware that your fate could have been ours if not for Oreo and Catmom. Sometimes things sound so good your wish to believe outweighs common sense.
Our rescue base has stepped forward and King County Shelter won the award for " best shelter" in Washington state. All without Winograd, hard to understand ha ! ha ! We remain ever grateful to all the people who came forward to help us in our fight to stay humane and provide compassionate care to all animals in King County. I miss Honesty Helps, she was a true eyeopener with her experience in Rancho Cucamonga, as were the people in Ithaca NY and Philly. It takes a lot of courage to admit you did it wrong & spare another City the heartbreak. I still visit her blog, but it has changed tone. When Winograd posted the smear about her on his blog it scared her away. Stay safe Oreo, these are vicious people and anybody who doubts that can read kcaccexposed. I am going to Disneyland in two weeks, maybe I can stop by Nevada and meet the famous Oreo, or even have coffee with Gret the Vet in the bay area.
This trial has given us all new friends as we celebrate out goal of helping animals. I have 3 girls right now I'm working with, one is a very strong tracker and when I get her skilled enough to be dependable she will get a home in a security division. Tracking and drug dogs have similar skills. This company wants a companion for the night watchman, and an office dog during the day. They took another one of my dogs 4 years ago. It had to be put down last month for cancer, but had a very good life.
For anyone interested, our adoption fees are going up, due to the economy; I am now charging three 40 pound bags of Eukanuba maintence diet. No cash allowed but I accept checks made out to vet of the adopters choice and the animal can be neutered there. As always, no animal leaves here without me driving them first to the vet. Oreo needs to get over her self pity and get back to work, she's just a pup !
Wondered what you had been doing kc. It does look like King County dodged the bullet, I am happy for you. Breed rescues are very important in getting dogs and owners matched for specific needs. I'm always thrilled to see a working dog go to a working home. So you are up to 3 bags of dog food now ? Good for you, keep up with inflation. This blog is happy to see any rescue feeding a good diet. If you ever talk to Catmom, tell her hello from Reno and she did a good job.
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