Sun - April 11, 2004

Ripley


We started looking for a second dog, friendly, mellow, good with kids & trainable, in early Spring 2004. We certainly didn't think we would end up with a 3 month old Saint Bernard puppy! Every Saturday, we set out on our shelter "cruising" ritual - first the Humane Society, then the SPCA just down the road. We liked the variety of breeds at the Humane Society, so started going there first in our travels. After a month of visits that hadn't turned up much, we were walking down the aisle and my eyes fell on a very cute fur-ball - she looked just like a Saint Bernard, but she was so small! Surely a purebred pup wouldn't still be up for adoption after being at the shelter for over three days! I imagined she was a very cute mini-mutt Saint. Lo and behold, when we went up to the front desk and asked about her, it turned out the kennel attendants had forgotten to put a card on her cage when she came in. Without a card, people assumed, like I had, that she was a stray being picked up by her family or was already adopted. But no, after being found wandering around on the street by the police (her owner would later call the shelter and give up ownership, saying that she had put her out since she cost too much to feed) she was up for adoption. We filled out an application then and there - the whole time thinking what are we getting ourselves into?!

Harri was in the car (we were going for a hike later) so after playing with the pup - then named Zoe by the staff - we introduced the two of them. They got along fine, although they were both much more interested in the sheep in a small pen right behind the fence. We headed home and I called St. Bernard Rescue - they were very helpful in making me feel like, yes, this is a dog we could handle. (E grew up with a Saint Bernard, and my roommates have had several giant breeds so we knew a bit of what we were getting into.)

Things got tricky when the staff started putting up roadblocks left and right- so much red tape over a sick little dog. She had kennel cough, and since they wouldn't release her until she was spayed and since she couldn't get spayed until she was better -well, it was going to be at least two weeks. I was bound and determined to get her out of there - kennel cough is fairly benign, our dog was vaccinated, and since she wasn't isolated or put in a different cage, she was just getting worse - and kennel cough can turn into pneumonia... After a week-long battle with the bureaucracy, God smiled and Dr. Barras -a saint! - gave us a medical release to take our girl home. We named her Ripley after the heroine of the Aliens series.

She's a goofy sweet girl who spends half of her time playing with her brother and the other half cuddled up asleep in a cozy spot. We love our Saint Bernard, even though we never thought we would have one!

Update: 8/18/05 Our big girl loves farm life, her canine brother and the new wee human. She's strong as an ox, and is topping 100 lbs as of late.

Posted at 11:34 PM     Read More  

Sat - November 8, 2003

Harrison



Harri is a 6 year Golden Retriever...

He was a gift from my dad and I've had him since he was 8 weeks old, although after getting into something he spent that first week at Cornell's Vet Hospital under observation for possible poisoning. Poor little guy!!! He made it through though, and he's woman's best friend. He is also an ace swimmer, retriever, and would make a great obedience trial/retriever trial dog if I ever have the time to work with him enough. His days are spent guarding/sleeping around the house, although he takes his daily duty of chicken inspection verrry seriously. He has a sock problem - or rather his attraction to socks gives us a sock problem. He is an awesome dog.

Posted at 01:00 AM     Read More  

©