For The Dog Lovers Here

[Ekh]

All three of ours are rescues. The older two (Zanna the Min Pin and Roscoe the Mini Dachshund) came from the area shelter, and the younger one (Dora) we acquired through the cook on the boat I worked on at the time. Nobody can tell me that they're not grateful, and they're great family members.

Cook on the boat? Sounds like you have quite the story to tell....

 

[Coss]

They are part of our family. Not kids (we had four of those too), just faithful friends. They are lying just next tto me now. The dogs, that is, not the kids....

Yes they are part of the family. I heard the other day, "we raise kids to see them leave and go to make their own lives; we raise animals to stay with us and be a companion. That's why it hurts so much when we lose one".

 

[Coss]

Just got this today, this is funny

http://blog.theanimalrescuesite.com...urce=fk&utm_medium=C4M&utm_campaign=cat-spies

 

[BilgeRat]

ekh,
My first full day on the boat, I walked forward to the galley for a glass of ice water. Marty, our cook, knew my wife and I had dogs and asked if anybody we knew could take in a dachshund mix puppy. I went back to the engineer's booth and called my wife to ask, and of course she immediately said "We can!" So, when my 28 days were up, Marty's sister met us at the office with Dora, and she rode home with me in a crate. Poor dog got carsick on a short ride, and this was six and a half hours. That was one worn out dog by the time we got home... o_O

The story on Dora was a bit involved. A woman that Marty knew through church had a call from her sister, who had asked her to get the dogs away from her husband, who was going to drown both of them. (They would have ended up on the bottom of the Mississippi around Jackson, Missouri.) This lady is a hero as far as I'm concerned, as she was poor as dirt, living in a tiny rental house with two grown sons and two big dogs, but she stepped right up and did what needed to be done. They found a home for Dora's brother quickly, but weren't having any luck finding a home for her, and were very reluctant to take her to the shelter. I'm glad we were in a position where we could take her in. She's a great pal to both of us, even if she is a bit Machiavellian at times!
The photos are of the boat, the Joy Anne Keller, Marty with the Thanksgiving feast, and Dora. She's also my avatar.

 

[BilgeRat]

Wheaters, couldn't agree more. I can't understand that level of callousness.

Coss, are ya SURE they're spies? Look like ninjas to me!!

ekh, she looked to be a fine dog. And there's no denying they take a part of you with them when they leave us.

 

[Lil4X]

The Maltese furball, Sissy, my youngest girl, passed away last month after nearly twelve years of happiness with our family. Our daughter rescued her from a pit bull breeding operation where, had she not been producing pups with her mate, she would have been used for fighting bait. Although capable of putting on a good growling, snapping, and charging show that had full grown men running in terror, it was all for show; she was a sweetheart and she quickly fell as much in love with us as we did with her.

My wife and I never had a small dog, and we were at first afraid we'd step on her. We felt so sorry for this little ragamuffin, badly malnourished and almost completely bald, we took her in, and with help from her vet and plenty of good nourishment, and thanks to a powerful spirit, she blossomed into a soft, furry cuddler who wanted nothing more than your lap and the food of her choice. Somewhere she'd picked up the persnickety palate usually associated with cats, but if you were in the kitchen, she'd trot in to see what was on the menu . . . and if it met with her approval.

I miss her these Saturday mornings snoozing on her big beach towel on my desk beside the keyboard. She always demanded attention and since I would be up early writing on Saturdays, she was determined to crawl up in my lap. Unable to balance her, I'd put her on a towel on the desk, and she spent many Saturdays contentedly watching my fingers on the keyboard and occasionally growling softly for a scratch before drifting off to sleep.

She thought she was a puppy all 16 years of her life, and passed away quietly in my lap, having spent an evening only a few weeks earlier turning aerial 360's, tossing a pretzel in the air and chasing it. I always called her "Eight pounds of hair and personality". It fit.

While my wife's still in mourning, we'll have another in a few months. Another rescue, hopefully another Maltese. I never thought I could be totally owned by a bit of fluff, but this one did.

"Pardon the dirty face, but I've been sneaking canapés from the party guests . . ."

 

[Ekh]

ekh,
My first full day on the boat, I walked forward to the galley for a glass of ice water. Marty, our cook, knew my wife and I had dogs and asked if anybody we knew could take in a dachshund mix puppy. I went back to the engineer's booth and called my wife to ask, and of course she immediately said "We can!" So, when my 28 days were up, Marty's sister met us at the office with Dora, and she rode home with me in a crate. Poor dog got carsick on a short ride, and this was six and a half hours. That was one worn out dog by the time we got home... o_O

The story on Dora was a bit involved. A woman that Marty knew through church had a call from her sister, who had asked her to get the dogs away from her husband, who was going to drown both of them. (They would have ended up on the bottom of the Mississippi around Jackson, Missouri.) This lady is a hero as far as I'm concerned, as she was poor as dirt, living in a tiny rental house with two grown sons and two big dogs, but she stepped right up and did what needed to be done. They found a home for Dora's brother quickly, but weren't having any luck finding a home for her, and were very reluctant to take her to the shelter. I'm glad we were in a position where we could take her in. She's a great pal to both of us, even if she is a bit Machiavellian at times!
The photos are of the boat, the Joy Anne Keller, Marty with the Thanksgiving feast, and Dora. She's also my avatar. View attachment 6012 View attachment 6011 View attachment 6013

Great boat pic, and good of the dog too. So you work on one of the tows up and down Ole Man River?

 

[Chaz]

My 2 dogs are both former strays. Millie my Puggle showed up in a friend's hay barn along with a little white kitten she was carrying in her mouth. My friend kept the cat and I ended up with the dog. They wanted to keep her but she ran away often and liked to chase cows. I found out when I got Millie Xrayed that she had been shot before and still has about 20 buckshot pellets in her. One in her knee causes her to limp now.
My other dog Mo came from the Humane Society and I was told that she was living on the street for atleast 6 months before they managed to catch her. She was skin and bones when I adopted her. She was 11 pounds and now weighs 25. I have had her for 4 years now and she still will not eat if I am in the same room with her bowl. When we go for walks she still stops every 30ft or so and looks to see no one is seeking up on her. She still will not let any stranger come near her without trying to run away. She will not let me hold her an when I pick her up she still sometimes lets out a whine that makes it sound like I am beating her to death. But, she lies next to me on the couch and always has to touch me.
Both of them I think appreciate what they have now and are really good considering all they have been through. I am just happy that I can help them as much as they help me.

 

[BilgeRat]

Great boat pic, and good of the dog too. So you work on one of the tows up and down Ole Man River?

Yessir, I do. The Keller ran the lower Mississippi. I'm currently on a much smaller boat that usually runs the upper end of the Illinois River, sometimes we even make a trip to Lake Calumet in South Chicago. It runs close to home, so I no longer have to make that long schlep to the Gulf for crew changes. (OR put up with an 8000 hp boat that blew up regularly...)

 

[Sam]

“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.”

― Will Rogers