#and the vet went ‘good girl! so agile!’

[sochilll]

took my cat to the vet and they all called her very beautiful and so sweet and cute. this is because she is the specialest girl in the entire world

[twobigears]

@wyrddogs​ well it’s gonna be a Process integrating it into our agility routine, but the main thing is I try really hard to stick to the criteria of “do not move your paws”. Which is already hard enough for Chandra in the sit-stay in agility. 😅 We did some practice with the stand-stay and a jump on Friday with the vet, and a little more yesterday and both sessions went really well because her stand-stay is pretty solid right now from all our obedience work, but I expect it might start slipping as Chandra brings Agility Feelings into it.

The key things for teaching and progressing a solid stand-stay, at least from what I know now, are:

a well-understood duration marker that means “wait in place for reward”. I use “good” for treats and “nice” for toys. “Good” is said with a specific, low and drawn-out intonation that separates it from using “good” in other contexts, like “good girl” and general praise. My dogs know that when I say “good” like that, it mains wait still and don’t move while I bring the treat to you.

“Nice” for toys is slightly different and tbh I am not as nerdy about dog training science as I used to be so I don’t really care but I use it as kind of an intermediate marker which means that the /next/ word will be a verbal marker indicating where to get their toy. For example, “nice, look-back” will tell my dog to get the toy on the ground behind her. Is the nice marker necessary or super-clean training? I don’t know but I feel like it helps my dogs pause and think a little more when toys are involved. I primarily use it for stationary positions like the startline stay or 2on2on contacts, but I actually started using it for moving heeling and wanted to reward Chandra with a toy in my left hand. She really struggles with targeting the toy in this situation and I was tired of getting my hand bit. So adding “nice” gave me a way to mark her heeling and then add an extra second for her to pause and actually target the toy before cued “bite”.

Separating these out because they are extra important:

Being as picky as possible about not allowing/rewarding foot movement!! Super important!! If I reach in to deliver a treat and my dog moves a paw, oops, that gets a no-reward marker and the treat hand either pauses or moves away.

Working through the same Duration, Distance, Distraction principles as sit and down-stays. And trying to do that gradually enough that I avoid failures (i.e. paw movement or self-releasing) as much as possible. This is a big mistake that many people make with any sort of stay or stationary position. They (either accidentally or intentionally) try to teach more through failure and correcting when the dog moves, rather than rewarding more for the dog successfully staying still. Yes failure will happen, and like I said that’s when I use a NRM but my goal is to minimize the use of NRMs as much as possible and do a lot more rewarding for staying still.

And the same release principles as other stationary positions. Having a clear verbal release cue, whether that is a general release cue, releasing with a marker cue, or cue to do another behavior. And just like above, I want to build a history of my dog successfully staying until released far more often than pushing them to fail and self-release early.

As far as integrating it into agility specifically, some additional things I’ll be particularly focusing on are:

watching out for paw movement (again!!)

gradually increasing my lead-out distance and not pushing for more distance on the lead-out than she can successfully maintain. I won’t expect to right away be able to lead out as far with a stand-stay as I can get with a sit-stay.

using toy reinforcers. Up to this point I have primarily used food for Chandra’s stand-stay. But toys increase her arousal and excitement, and that is something she’ll have to work through since agility also = a lot of arousal and excitement. She already has a hard time sometimes even responding to the initial stand cue when a toy is in the picture! We can also do some two-toy work where I have a toy in my hand as well as a toy on the ground behind her, and she has to listen and respond to the appropriate verbal marker for which toy to get. Having a toy behind her is especially helpful for reducing the temptation to creep forward if she is thinking she might have to go backwards for reinforcement.

I might also add a “wait” cue. I don’t typically teach a separate stay/wait cue, I teach sit/down/stand such that the stay is implied. Like when I cue her to sit on the startline I only give the sit cue, and then she stays until release. But I have taught a “wait” cue in other agility contexts, such as waiting on the down ramp of the dogwalk when backchaining her 2on2off. So she understands “wait” in agility already and it might be a helpful boost for a stand-stay on the startline.

and of course continuing to work and reinforce the stand-stay separately from agility and in our obedience contexts so it remains strong there

[therealvalkyrie]

What Could’ve Been Without the War

Pairing/setting: Jean Kirschtein x Female!Reader, modern!AU within the Walls, set after the War; canon divergent w/ modern tech

Summary: You and Jean embark on your weekly trip to the grocery store.

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: equal parts angst and fluff, idiots to idiots, mutual pining, unsatisfying ending (i’m so sorry)

AN: Surprise Jean! I hope you are all having a wonderful Friday evening and that I don’t ruin it too much with angst. This piece started out as a super fluffy drabble involving grocery store shenanigans and kinda....uh....got away from me. Ahem. It was also originally intended as a 157 follower cool prime number thank you! I think we’re up to 180-something now, but we can still count it. Big thanks yet again to the love of my life @ghostlightprincess for her edits and encouragements:) Please come let me know what you think in my DMs/askbox/comments!!  ~valkyrie

Jean opens on the third knock on his apartment door, already shrugging on a jacket. He greets you with a short “hi” and receives the kiss you plant on his cheek out of habit.

“You ready?” You’re practically bouncing on the balls of your feet, car keys jingling off of the magenta key ring looped around your finger. It’s cute, and he finds himself matching your enthusiasm with a grin of his own.

“Almost,” he replies, reaching back to his coat rack to grab a scarf. “Honestly, I still don’t understand why you’re always so excited for the grocery store.”

He looks back to catch you rolling your eyes. “I don’t understand why you’re not. A grocery store is a magical place, with all of the cheesecake and ice cream you could ever wish for!”

He chuckles and joins you in the hallway, leaning down to lock his door behind him. “Need I remind you that you’re lactose intolerant?”

“That’s what Lactaid is for, stupid. Come on!” He lets you pull him down the hall, your small gloved hand in his big one. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Croft!” you greet his elderly neighbor as you pass her open door, sticking your head in with a wide smile. “You need anything from the store? Jean and I are just on our way.”

Jean stands beside you awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with his shrewd neighbor. You haven’t let go of his hand and he can feel a blush working its way up his neck. 

“No, that’s alright, honey, I just went this morning.”

“Okay! Well, let us know if you think of anything!”

“Thank you, dear.”

“Have a good afternoon, ma’am,” Jean chips in as you wave. 

“You kids have fun.”

The next second, you’re pulling him away again and he misses the way Mrs. Croft chuckles knowingly and looks back to her knitting. 

—

“What’s next on the list?” Your voice drifts down the aisle back to him, and Jean pauses in pushing the cart to shuffle the papers in his hands. 

“Umm… AP flour, vanilla extract,” shuffle, shuffle, “brown sugar, olive oil, yeast.”

You hum in acknowledgment and he watches as you flit from shelf to shelf, gathering items in your arms. He pushes the cart up to join you.

You dump everything in haphazardly, and he sighs, leaning down to straighten it all out into categories.

“What’s next?” You’re already halfway down the rest of the aisle again, gazing up longingly at the Oreos on the top shelf.

God, she’s cute.

He joins you, reaches up to pluck a pack of Double Stuf off of the shelf, and wordlessly places it in your section of the cart, suppressing a smile of his own as you grin up at him.

“You sure know how to treat a girl right, Jean-bo.” You reach up to ruffle his mullet. 

“Don’t call me that,” he grumbles, ducking away and flushing red like a smitten schoolboy. “Next is the frozen aisle.”

—

“Was it the lasagna that she liked last time? Or the shepherd’s pie?”

“The lasagna.” He accepts three frozen dinners as you pass them over from where you’re leaning past the glass freezer door.

“Hey,” he looks up sharply at your soft call to see you staring down the aisle like you’ve seen a ghost, hand still holding the glass door open. He follows your gaze and sees him just as you say, “It’s Erwin.”

It’s not, but Jean’s heart twists all the same at the resemblance the stranger carries. Same neatly parted blonde hair, broad shoulders. But he’s shorter, still has both arms. And he’s alive. 

“It’s not, sweetheart,” he murmurs, reaching to wrap an arm around your shoulders.

“It is, look he—” you insist until the man turns and instead of the Commander’s piercing blue gaze you’re met with brown eyes that flick between you and Jean in confusion. “Oh.” Your face falls and you allow the door to close, turning into Jean’s side.

“You alright?” He tilts his head to catch your expression. It’s pure pain, mouth twitching into a frown and eyes unfocused. Your hand comes up to grip the bottom of his jacket, and after a second he can see you physically force your face back to neutral. 

“Fine,” you nod. He knows you’re faking, that it’s a survival tactic, so he lets it go for now, only steps back to let you in between his body and the cart. 

“Up you go,” he prompts you to step up, feet on the bottom shelf and hands clutching the bar. He starts to push as you ride, walking first then running down the aisle until you finally throw your head back and laugh genuinely. 

He misses the exasperated look an employee gives him as the pair of you whizz past, too preoccupied with your smile.

—

“What do you need three dozen eggs for, anyway?” you ask incredulously, nevertheless opening each carton to inspect before handing them over. 

“They’re a good source of protein,” he defends. “Plus, you always end up running out and coming to me to complain. Ran me dry last time.”

Another playful eye roll. “It’s only ‘cause I messed up my brownies! And I needed them to entice the landlord to finally fix my heater.”

“Your heater’s been broken?”

“Well, it’s not anymore. Espresso brownies work wonders, I’ll have you know.”

You’re trying to brush it off as you normally do when he worries, but the thought of you shivering and blue-lipped keeps him pushing. “How long did you not have heat for? It’s February!”

“Not the point, Jean-bo!” You poke at his cheek and twirl away towards the cheese. 

“It definitely is the point. Come to me next time and I’ll fix it.”

“And lose my deposit?” You scoff, reaching for mozzarella. “Fat chance.”

“Freeze, then.”

You grin back at him. “Why d’you think I came over so much last weekend?”

“Is that all I am to you? A hot water bottle in your time of need?” He feigns hurt, but some pride swells in his chest that he kept you warm, after all. 

“And a cute one, at that. Think fast!”

His hand flashes up to catch the mozzarella you toss deftly. 

“You wound me.”

“Eh, builds character. What’s next?”

Shuffle, shuffle. “Wine and flowers.”

—

Jean watches as you bounce in the driver’s seat, hands almost dainty on the wheel, leaning forward to stare resolutely out the windshield at the darkening road. You’re singing along to some song he doesn’t know that’s playing from the stereo.

It’s so familiar, this Saturday evening ritual with you, and it wraps Jean up like the softest blanket. He knows why you’re always so excited about grocery shopping, and it’s not the cheesecake — it’s the way this routine has centered itself in both your lives. He feels it too, the semblance of normalcy, of domesticity, that you’ve cobbled together with him in between hard weeks and harder nights.

You navigate the bends and odd intersections of his old suburban neighborhood with ease, having driven to his house maybe thousands of times since you were teens. The elementary school passes, then the vet clinic, until finally, your old black sedan pulls into his mom’s driveway alongside her silver minivan.

You shift to neutral and yank on the parking brake habitually, then turn off the car and settle back into your seat.

You’re both quiet for a moment: you staring out the window lost in thought, Jean checking the time on his phone.

“Jean?”

“Hm?”

“Do you ever regret enlisting so young?” This catches his attention, turning sharply to look at your contemplative profile.

“Never. It was the right thing to do.” He’s resolute in this conviction, always. The War had seemed to be at its worst when you’d joined up, driven by the promise of Wall Maria’s reclamation and impassioned by your comrades’ fury. It had been the only choice, in his view.

“I do, sometimes,” you admit quietly, eyes downcast to where your fingers twist in your lap. “Maybe then my head wouldn’t be so messed up,” you laugh dryly and tap your temple, then shoot him a sideways glance. “And maybe—” you cut yourself off.

“Maybe what?”

“Never mind.” You’re out of the car so fast Jean almost questions if you moved at all. It reminds him of your natural grace on the ODM gear, how you’d whoop and holler as you hurtled past him among the trees during training. He wonders for a moment when your agility turned from a source of joy to an escape mechanism, then stops himself. He knows exactly when that happened.

—

The grocery store tulips thankfully survived their ordeal in the trunk of your car, bright against Ma Kirschtein’s tile kitchen backsplash as you arrange them in her favorite vase. After a minute of fussing, you take a step back, give a nod of satisfaction, and scoop up the trimmed stems off the counter. The rest of the groceries are already put away, organized so she can reach them without trouble.

It’s as you’re stepping on the trash can pedal to open its lid that the voices from the living room catch your ear. You pause, smiling as mother and son converse.

“Have you been eating enough, Jean-bo? You look so skinny….”

“Ma, I—”

“What am I saying, of course you haven’t. You’d waste away to nothing if you were left to your own devices. I’m so glad that darling girl is there to look after you.”

“Ma, she’s not my keeper—”

“When are you two getting married, again? I could’ve sworn I wrote it down in my book, but I looked the other day and couldn’t find the date anywhere.” She sounds serious. Confused, even, not a hint of teasing in her tone. Must be an off day. A symptom of her early-onset dementia.

“Ma, we’re not even together.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’ve been together since high school.” She’s so convinced, so sure, and you squeeze your eyes tight against the reality that you and Jean have only ever been friends. In the adolescent insecurity of high school, in the intensity of military training, in the fucking heat of battle, all you’ve ever shared is friendship.

“Ma, I don’t think… I don’t even think she—” He pauses and your ears strain in the silence to catch his last quiet phrase. “She doesn’t think of me that way.”

You just know, you can tell, he only says it like that to ease her confusion. It’s the opposite, really, he doesn’t think of you that way. Before you can hear more sideways rejection, you toss the flower stems and make a beeline for the bathroom.

—

“What was that movie you were telling me to watch, again?” You ask around a mouthful of spaghetti with sauce fresh from the jar, covering your mouth with one hand.

The pair of you are eating shoulder-to-shoulder on the floor of your apartment two floors above Jean’s. It’s got the decidedly better view out your picture window, complete with the perfect Eastern perspective of the river that cuts through Trost and its famous bridges. It’s this, the third leg of your traditional Saturday evenings together, that makes you feel the most warm.

Jean has the manners to chew and swallow before replying. “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood? Connie, Sasha, and I went to see it when they visited last month—”

Your snicker cuts him off and he raises his eyebrows as you roll your eyes and take a sip of wine. “The feet movie? Sasha said it was pretentious.”

“Really? I thought she was too preoccupied with the fact that the theater sold chili fries to pay attention.” He teases back, twirling more pasta onto his fork.

“I’m telling her you said that,” you warn with a jab of your own fork in his direction.

“Snitch.”

“Hey!”

He ducks to avoid your swat to the back of his head, grinning at your pout. “No, but seriously, apart from the feet it’s a good movie.”

“Hmm. I’ll consider putting it on the roster for next week.”

You take a moment to relish the comfortable silence, looking out at the city lights as you chew thoughtfully. His thigh is heavy and warm against yours under the thick knitted blanket his mom gave you last Yule. Your belly is warm and full, your shoulders relaxed in the company of your closest friend, your lungs breathing easily.

Jean says your name quietly and you turn to see him staring pensively down at the plate in his lap. “About what you asked earlier… in the car?”

You nod, eyes wide and mouth serious.

“Sometimes… I do regret it.” He grits the words out through his teeth, like it’s difficult to force the truth into the world. “Not because I regret what we did in the War. But because sometimes I wonder,” his eyes cut to yours for a split second, “I wonder what could’ve been. Without the War.”

You don’t say anything, don’t say you understand, because you know he knows. Instead, you loop your arm into his and lean your head against his shoulder. It takes a moment, a release of breath and the fall of his chest, but eventually he closes his eyes, turns his face into your hair, and allows himself to sink into the what could’ve been. Just for now.

[petnews2day]

Jerry Green Dog Rescue offers update on rescued Shih Tzus and issues appeal for owner for collie cross Shadow

New Post has been published on https://petnews2day.com/pet-industry-news/pet-charities/jerry-green-dog-rescue-offers-update-on-rescued-shih-tzus-and-issues-appeal-for-owner-for-collie-cross-shadow/

Jerry Green Dog Rescue offers update on rescued Shih Tzus and issues appeal for owner for collie cross Shadow

The latest Man’s Best Friend column from Jerry Green Dog Rescue contains an update on the rescued Shih Tzus.

Do you remember the thirteen Shih Tzus who came into our care in an emergency situation?

We were blown away by your kind well wishes and support to help our gorgeous little pooches become happy and healthy so that they could look forward to a bright future! Boo, Juniper, Olive and Nutmeg would like to share their pupdate with you!

Can you give these four a home? (60367443)

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone that has helped look after us all, your support has helped change our lives and we could not be more grateful!

When we arrived here at Jerry Green Dog Rescue, we needed a lot of TLC! We went to live in smaller groups across all three centres where we made some amazing new friends who we could tell loved us so much and made us feel so much better!

We are so excited to let you know that Chestnut, Floss, Candy, and Bon Bon have found their forever homes and are officially adopted! Marshmallow is in a ‘Foster to Adopt’ placement and Ivy, Sage and Cookie are reserved!

Willow isn’t quite ready to find her forever home as she is having a few things investigated by a vet – but is being doted on by a wonderful foster family.

Which leaves us! We are now ready to start our next chapters and can’t wait to meet our forever families! Could you have the home we are longing for?

If you would like to be considered to adopt Juniper, Boo, Nutmeg and Olive, contact notts@jerrygreendogs.org.uk or call 01623 792886

Shadow (60367302)

Can you bring some light to Shadow’s life?

Meet Shadow, she is a lovely super sweet collie cross who loves nothing more than going for a walk, stretching her legs and then having a play (squeaky pig is the BEST) with her human companion and finally, lazing around afterwards.

Photos don’t do Shadow justice; she also has the cutest little white socks on. She is just the right size to share a sofa with and belly rubs are her absolute favourite.

Shadow has lived in a home since she was a puppy and is house trained and non-destructive, after a good walk she loves to catch up on her beauty sleep so can be left for potentially 4-6 hours.

She cannot live with another dog and when she is out and about she is a frustrated greeter with other dogs.

If you are looking for a social dog or to walk in dog populated areas, she would not be suitable. She is best to be driven to rural locations where you are unlikely to bump into anyone and where she can be walked on lead.

Shadow has previously been to agility classes and really enjoyed it, she travels well and sits on the back seat looking out the window at the world going by.

If you’re looking for a dog that enjoys being outside and is active, enjoys running and hiking but also likes watching Netflix in the evening, then she’s your girl!

She would love a garden with a 6ft fence where she can run around, play and sunbathe. Shadow is looking for a pet free home, however children over 14 years old would be great fun to play with.

Call the South Lincolnshire team on 01205 260546 or email slincs@jerrygreendogs.org.uk with any questions.

[ruffsficstuffplace]

The Viridian Vanguard (Part 20)

As Yang had warned, the line at the Pits’ administrative desk moved painfully slowly. It seemed that every number that was called was for a huge team that needed to form a secondary line as they signed and vetted their paperwork in batches, an individual who was missing some important document or other bureaucratic hang-up, or a counter had suddenly closed, and just wouldn’t seem to open again.

The take-a-number holo chimed, Weiss looked up, back down at the number in her hand, before she groaned. “This is taking forever...” she whined as she stuck it back into Pyrrha’s jacket pocket, then pulled the garment around her again. “How can this system be so slow and inefficient...?”

“Welcome to paperwork for the rest of us!” someone quipped as they headed up to the counter.

The standing crowds began to shift as folks found seats, curses and yelling erupted as others were stolen by particularly sneaky and agile individuals. Someone looked pointedly at Weiss as he put a hand on a free spot on a bench, she shook her head. The Fae shrugged, and took it.

“Oh come on!” Yang shouted as she knelt on the ground on all fours.

Weiss ignored her and continued sitting on her back, calmly readjusting her legs.

Some time later, Pyrrha returned from her trip to the “Grub Hub,” carrying a single shake. “I’m back!” she said. “I’m sorry it took so long, it looks like the breakfast rush is already here.”

“Just hand me my shake, please,” Weiss said as she held out her hand. Pyrrha did, Weiss took a sip out of it, and immediately perked up. “Mmm! This is actually pretty good! How much was this?” she asked before she took another drink.

“180 Shinies.” Pyrrha replied.

Weiss nearly choked on her drink. “WHAT?! How does the Pits expect to charge so much for this?” sheasked, looking at her cup.

“Primary business tactic,” Yang explained. “Cheap entry, jacked up everything else. That’s part of the reasons they can afford to pay us so well, by the way, so I wouldn’t be the most vocal critic of it, if I were you...”

Weiss sighed, and sipped some more of her shake, enjoying it a lot less than earlier.

Just ten minutes after six, their number finally came up. Having already read through the terms of their contracts, and briefed on any issues through holo-chat earlier in the week, all they really needed to do was personally affix their signatures on paper copies, alongside giving their fingerprints, and additional hard evidence that they were actually there at the Pits when the documents said they were.

<Is blood needed?> Weiss asked sarcastically as they seemed to near the end of the list of proofs.

<If you wish,> the clerk replied in all seriousness, reaching into his desk, and pulling out a small knife wrapped around a clean cloth, glass vials, and a box of bandages. <The Pits never says ‘No’ to additional security.>

Weiss paused, staring at them, before she said, <I was joking.>

The clerk looked mildly annoyed at that as he put the items back into his drawer.

Eventually, the newly registered Furies left the counter, each with their own personal duplicate of their copyright, contained inside complimentary waterproof, fireproof, and reinforced tubes, complete with a leather-covered chain that they could use to tie it around their wrists or waists.

“This seems a little excessive for copyright,” Pyrrha said, feeling the weight of it all in one of her hands.

“It is once we rise up the ranks, and our name starts to be worth something!” Yang replied as she tied her duplicate around her wrist. “This is one of the easiest and most convenient ways to shutdown anyone trying to take advantage of our rep without our permission, like selling ‘official’ merchandise on the sly, so keep it somewhere safe, never forget where you hid it, and do not, I repeat, do not tell anyone else where it is.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you guys, it’s just that I’m worried about what certain unscrupulous folks will try to get all three of these babies, among other things.”

“So basically, treat this like criminal syndicates treat their real estate deeds?” Weiss asked sarcastically.

“Exactly!” Yang replied, pointing at her. “Anyway, that’s everything we needed to do in the Pits today! I’m going to go ask around and check out our competition, you guys can go do your own things now.”

“I’ll be watching a couple of live matches, then!” Pyrrha said. “Weiss, would you like to join me?”

“Maybe some other time, when I’m not as under-dressed,” Weiss said, looking down at herself. “I’m heading home, I’ll leave your jacket at the living room.”

“Alright, have a safe trip!” Pyrrha said, waving goodbye before they all went their separate ways.

Weiss returned to Keeper’s Grove, stashed her contract in her and Winter’s safe, then went down to her laboratory with Penny, working and checking on her ongoing projects, and practicing some useful skills, like how to make medicine with field equipment. Thanks to her collar, and Penny needing to stay plugged into the wall to after joining Winter on her night shift, almost everything went by at a snail’s pace.

On this particular day, Weiss didn’t mind, enjoying the peace.

Then, by ten o’clock, she got a message from Yang: “We’ve got trouble heading straight for the Grove in 15 minutes. Look decent, put your game face on, and make sure to bring either Dad or Penny with you to the road leading to the Tube station.”

Weiss tried to send her a reply, but Yang’s comm-crystal was already set to “Do Not Disturb” mode. She sighed as she took her hands off the magic oil press she was using, and muttered, “Well, this doesn’t seem ominous and menacing at all...”

“Would you like to me to ready my defensive measures, Weiss?” Penny asked. “If you carry me to the meeting location, I’ll be capable of doing one or two stunning blasts before shutting down for lack of power, but that should be enough to help you get away to safety.”

“Don’t bother,” Weiss said as she began to take off her working gloves and mask. “With Yang and Pyrrha, I’ve already got more than enough protection if things get ugly.” She noticed her loaner runeblade as she hung up her gear, before she shook her head and headed out without it.

“It’s not like I’m going to be able to do much with it, anyway...” she thought to herself.

It turned out to be the right decision as Yang, Pyrrha, and a trio of female Fae she’d never seen before also came completely unarmed, even if the atmosphere was far from friendly. With Penny in her hands, Weiss stepped up beside her friends, and checked out the strangers.

The one in the center was was a stockily built tamaraw Fae, an impressive set of V-shaped horns extending behind her head. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest, and was so angry that Weiss could clearly see the puffs of hot air coming out of her nostrils.

The one on her left was a slender chicken Fae with a prominent crest of obnoxiously bright, neon green feathers styled like a Mohawk, the prominent talons of her feet making her seem even taller. She gave them all the evil eye, the decorative spikes and crystalline skulls on her clothes and accessories gleaming as ominously.

The one on her right was a meerkat Fae, much smaller and younger-looking than her companions; she seemed just as pissed as the others, but her being just as tall, if not shorter than Weiss ruined any sort of intimidating quality she had.

“Who the hell are those?” Weiss whispered to Yang.

“Big one’s Keren, tall girl’s Vigne, tiny gal is Sayuri,” Yang whispered back, eyes still on the trio.

“And why exactly do they all look like they want to kill us?”

“Because they’re not too happy we’ve got their old team name now.”

Weiss blinked. “Wait, did we steal it from them?!”

“We didn’t steal shit!” Yang snapped at Weiss, her eyes suddenly fiery red. She stopped herself, and took a deep breath, her eyes turning back to normal. “Look, I’ll explain the entire situation later, just let me do all the talking with them while you and Pyrrha stand by my sides and look tough, or just make it seem like they don’t bother you at all, alright?”

Weiss turned to Pyrrha. “We have the evidence overwhelmingly in our favour, don’t worry,” she said as she patted her duplicate, still in its tube and tied to her waist.

Weiss sighed, before she moved up to Yang’s free side, and scowled at the original Furies’ direction.

Yang took Penny from Weiss’ hands, and whispered to her, <Dedicated recording mode, multi-angle shots. Turn up the footage quality and sound sensitivity high, too, I don’t want any ambiguity if this gets messy.>

<Affirmative,> Penny said, before her tail and her ears started transforming as she hovered up between the two groups, looking like a fuzzy camera drone with auxiliary lenses, and an external sound receiver.

Satisfied, Yang stepped forward and threw her arms out. <Alright: we’re all here and ready! Lay it on us, sister.>

<Do you think this is funny…?> Keren snapped. <Get your laughs fucking us locals over?>

<On the contrary, we’re dead serious!> Yang said, holding up her duplicate. <So serious we put down money and our names on it.>

Keren stomped her hoof in the ground, hunching her shoulders as she clenched her fists. <Give it back—now,> she growled.

<You can’t demand someone to give back what you didn’t own,> Yang said calmly. <I checked several times, both on the Codex and at the Pits in-person, and have the saved and dated proof on my comm-crystal saying your copyright to our name expired at 6AM today!>

<And you think you could just steal it from right under our noses?!> Keren bellowed.

Yang’s eyes flared red again. <We didn’t steal shit!> she roared. She clenched her fists and took several long, deep breaths, before she continued, <All we did was wake up early, and stand in that line, with all our documentation in order and our Shinies ready, the same, legal process we would have done if we were going to lay claim to any other name.

<We did nothing to stop you, lie to you, or try to sabotage you in any way, nor did any of us even know who any of you were until you cornered me from out of nowhere, looking like you were about to gang up on me!

<As a matter of fact, it’s your fault you didn’t renew your copyright when you still had the exclusive right—two months before expiry, if I’m not mistaken?>

Sayuri faltered for a moment, Vigne and Keren maintained their composure. <Things happened,> Keren said quietly.

<And I’m sorry to hear that, but that still doesn’t change the fact that we were well within our right to take the name for ourselves, according to the written rules and regulations of the Pits,> Yang said. <If you three find you can’t follow those, then maybe you should all think about careers elsewhere...?>

Keren fumed, thick plumes of hot breath jetting out of her nostrils. <And maybe you three should start learning the unwritten rules of the Pits, especially since two of you fucking soft-skins can’t even understand the language they’re in!>

Yang looked like she’d just been socked in the face, her eyes flaring red and her hole body tensing up. <Look, what the fuck is it that you three want?!> she yelled. <We own the copyright from now till next year, and we have a shit ton of hard evidence to back us up! Even if you do take your beef to the honours, I am willing to bet a mountain of Shinies that they every single one of them will reject you, then charge you up front for wasting their time, trying to enlist their help to win a case that was already lost before it started!>

<Well, it’s a good thing we’re not doing that!> Keren barked, before she looked to her companions in turn. <Vigne! Sayuri!>

<On it!> they both cried.

Keren dramatically stomped both her hooves as she hunched forward and bared her horns, Vigne flapped her wings and scratched the mud beneath her with her talons, and Sayuri lunged and hissed, showing off her sharp teeth and her claws.

<We, the original Furies hereby challenge you to a duel, where the winner gets the copyright to the name!> Keren shouted. As one, the three of them dramatically pointed, and cried: <Do you all accept?!>

<Hang on, I gotta translate and consult with them first,> Yang said, before she turned her back to the original Furies.

Keren roared in frustration and started stomping about, Sayuri spluttered and fumed in confusion and anger, Vigne flapped her wings again, this time trying to calm them down and keep them from charging forward.

Yang, Pyrrha, and Weiss ignored them all as they huddled up.

“I take it the three of them are challenging us to a duel, to try to win the right to use their name again?” Pyrrha asked.

“Our name, but otherwise, that exactly, yeah,” Yang said.

“Do we really have to entertain this?” Weiss asked.

“Yes.” Yang replied.

Weiss groaned. “Ugh, please tell me you’re kidding...”

“I sincerely wish I was, Weiss, but the potential damage to our rep is just too great,” Yang said. “Even if we took our name fair and square, there’s no way folks are going to interpret our rejecting their challenge as anything other than our being too scared to fight them, or wanting to personally insult all three of them by implying they’re so beneath us we don’t even think it’s worth our time to fight them—not a good look for a brand new team, especially one that hasn’t even had a single official match in the Pits yet.

“First team impressions and reputations stick with a fighter, even long after they’ve left the group and gone on to new teams or fly solo, we have to get this right.”

“Please tell me we can at least set the conditions and the date.” Weiss said.

“We can, it’s our right as the challenged party, don’t worry,” Yang said. “The only things I have to insist on is that it be a completely vanilla, best 2 of 3 rounds toss-up, with a third-party judge and spotters, while being recorded and live-broadcasted on the Codex—ideally, the fight’s in the Pits, too.”

“Can’t we just have it at the training grounds again, with Ren and Nora officiating, and the others spotting?” Weiss asked. “All of that sounds ridiculously expensive.”

“I second that.” Pyrrha said. “We’re all down a great deal of shinies from all the fees, and it’ll be a long time yet before any of us ever see a paycheck from this, let alone that much money.”

“We’ll see if we can’t convince them to pony up the costs themselves, then,” Yang replied. “They definitely already have the dough to spend since they were supposed to register today, and it’s not like we need to spring for the fancier arenas, or high-ranking staff.”

“And if they say ‘No’?” Weiss asked.

“Then we can try to convince the Pits to make it a real, official bout, sell tickets, and HQ live-feed access and recordings to make up the costs, maybe even get a share of it if we can convince enough folks to get on board with sponsoring it.

“So with all that in mind: are we in agreement that we’re going to accept the challenge?’”

Weiss sighed, and said, “Yes… I always figured at some point I’d have to sell off pieces of my dignity to pay off my debt, anyway...”

“I’m so sorry, Yang, Weiss, but I have to say no.” Pyrrha said sheepishly.

“What?!” Yang spluttered. “Why?!”

“Will you look at her?” Pyrrha asked, pointing at Sayuri. “Even if it is legal for me to do so, I can’t willingly harm a child!”

Yang nodded. “Yeah, now that you say it loud, it would be a pretty shitty thing if we beat the crap out of someone half our age, even if she was willingly participating in a team match-up...”

“And that’s only occurring to you now...?” Weiss asked.

“Sue me!” Yang cried, throwing her arms up. “I’m used to the Valentino Underground, and trust me, shit got fucked up down there! Anyway, you want me to ask if they’ll agree to a 2v2? We’ll probably have to make it their choice who goes up against who, though.”

“I’d like to take that risk if you neither of you mind,” Pyrrha said. “I really don’t want that weight on my conscience.”

“I’m good with it,” Weiss said.

“And so am I,” Yang said, before she turned back to the original Furies. <Hey! You guys mind if we do it as a 2v2, your pick on who goes up?> she shouted.

<And why the fuck would we do that?!> Keren shouted back.

<Pyrrha here doesn’t want to fight Sayuri, says she doesn’t want to beat up a little kid!>

Sayuri’s eyes widened. <Little ki--?! I’M FIFTEEN, DAMN IT, I’M ONLY A FEW YEARS YOUNGER THAN ALL OF YOU...!> she screeched, so sharp and shrill everyone had to cover their ears.

<OW! FUCK! SORRY, FORGET THAT WE ASKED!> Yang shouted.

Sayuri stopped screeching, before she sharply spun around, and sulked.

Yang turned back to Pyrrha. “She’s actually 15!” she said loudly. “Since you’re fine with fighting Ruby, is it back to a 3v3?” she said, holding up three fingers on each hand.

“Yes!” Pyrrha replied, alongside a thumbs up.

Yang turned back around, and said, <Alright! We accept your challenge! Let’s shake on it, and start hashing out the details!>

The two teams met in the middle and started negotiating, Penny acting as witness. After finding a suitable date for all three of them, setting the terms, and convincing the original Furies to cover most of the costs of the fight (if extremely reluctantly), they sent the necessary requests and downpayments to the Pits.

<Don’t you dare bring anything less than your best, alright?> Keren snapped. <I want the whole realm to know why you don’t fuck with the Furies.>

<Ditto that, especially the rep!> Yang said, smirking. <Should really help us get off the ground, what with the stigma we carry.>

Keren started to rumble ominously, before Vigne put a hand on her shoulder and led her and Sayuri off.

“Is this going to be the first of many folks challenging us to a fight for one reason or the other?” Weiss asked flatly.

“Definitely,” Yang said, nodding. “Don’t worry though: we can definitely afford to be a lot more selective with our future fights once we win this.”

“Don’t you mean ‘if’ we win this?” Pyrrha asked.

Yang chuckled and smiled. “Aw, c’mon, Pyrrha, have a little more faith in us Furies, will ya? Fights are won before they start, after all!”

[8livescatrescue]

We’ve reached a stage where all the purrmanent residents at 8 Lives, apart from the infamous Flipper, are teenagers. I mean teenagers in human years …. so in feline terms senior kitizens – as opposed to defiant adolescent /teenage stage felines.

Oldies have a charm that needs to be experienced to be appreciated.   They’re slower, quieter, less destructive, more and more gorgeous and snuggly every day that comes.   The challenge is that older age (as with humans) often brings health issues and challenges.  This is the time you might start to be glad that you took out good pet insurance whilst they were younger … though sadly some of ours were too old or had too many pre-existing conditions when they arrived in rescue to make insurance a viable option.

We don’t know for sure how old any of them are as we don’t have full histories ….. actually we don’t even have sketchy histories.   Apart from Jango they were found as strays.   We know that Amber is Honey’s kitten so is a little younger than Honey … though probably not much.  Jango came from the dog pound but sadly we have no history of how he came to be there or his life before that.

So our official guesstimates are that Amber is 13, Honey & Jango 14 and Henderson 17.

Honey & Amber

The girls, Honey & Amber are kind of doing ok.   Honey went for her health check yesterday and we were concerned that she’s lost a bit of weight, but mostly things checked out fine so we’re just keeping an eye on her weight and see how things go.  Amber is trickier to care for.  Whilst her mum had clearly been a pet cat before becoming a stray, Amber was born outdoors, and didn’t have enough socialising early enough for her to be confident with humans.  So when Honey came into rescue she quickly settled back into being a happy snuggle puss, whilst Amber has remained wary despite the number of years she’s lived here.  Don’t get me wrong, Amber is setttled and happy, she purrs and plays and relaxes …. until you approach her.  Then she’s scared.  She’ll allow some strokes but is very stressed by any other intervention …  so any trip to the vet is a major trauma.  She’s a bit snuffly from time to time … we assume she had cat flu before coming to us.  We keep an eye on it … mix in some meds with her food to help with that sometimes … but mostly try to avoid stressing her by doing anything else.

  Amber & Honey with Flipper

  The boys have had more health issues.   Looking back on it, Jango was less active than you might expect even when he arrived here nine years ago, but at the time we put it down to him being a lazy ginger tom cat … and maybe he was.  He’s also always bunny hopped down the stairs … again we put it down to not being used to stairs or just one of those quirks of his (he has many!).  As time went on though he became more apparently stiff in his joints.  The lazy spilling out of his bed, and flopping on his back  came to an end.

We worked our way through joint supplements … which helped a bit.  Then moved to daily metacam …. and more recently have needed to add other drugs to manage his pain.  He can just about still manage the stairs under his own steam … but prefers to sit at the top or the bottom and wait for a human stair lift to scoop him up and carry him … or howl to request assistance.

Our bed is one of his favourite places to sleep but we realised he was beyond being able to jump … or even scramble up.   So we rigged up a stairway using a low footstool, which led onto a bedside cabinet which was lower than the bed, and then a final step to the bed.  That also started to get tricky for him …. so we invested in a ramp.

  Jango ramp

That’s proved to be a great success. The other cats like it too and it serves well as a scratch post.

The arthritis sadly isn’t his only problem. He howls very loudly … pretty often. Sometimes it’s clear what the problem is …. he’s waiting at the bottom of the stairs and getting impatient for someone to carry him up. Other times, and often in the middle of the night he’ll howl and there is no apparent reason. The first time I heard this sound I flew out of bed thinking something dreadful had happened … he’d trapped his hand in something, fallen, hurt himself on something. But no … he was standing on the landing …. just howling.

We’re fairly confident he’s not howling in pain .. for one thing he’s on lots of pain meds and for another it’s just not what cats do … they hide their pain rather than shout about it. However we’re pretty certain he’s very deaf, and that may explain why he’s so loud. Deaf cats just like their human counterparts tend to shout. I know with cats it’s tricky to be sure about the quality of their hearing as they’re masters of selective deafness …. but he regularly sleeps while I hoover round him. Another reason for the howling could be dementia. Sadly it affects cats as it does humans. Having watched my father suffer with it, I’m reluctant to accept that it’s happening to Jango too. I do think some of the howling is deaf shouting and impatience. However after experiencing several nights of having to get out of bed 8+ times to find him standing howling on the landing for no apparent reason I think we have to accept that there’s an element of dementia. Thankfully when he’s picked up and snuggled into bed he settles for a while and purrs very happily.

Despite being unsure of their ages we’re pretty sure Henderson is the eldest.  He was guessed to be 14 when he arrived here 3 years ago.  He’s been collecting ailments ever since.   All the usual elderly cat things – hyperthyroid, then chronic kidney disease and most recently high blood pressure.  His mobility isn’t what it was though he’s thankfully not as stiff in his joints as Jango.  He can’t jump too well but what he’s lost in agility he more than makes up for with strategy.   These beds on the table are popular with the residents as the table is against the radiator so the back of the beds are heated.  Hendo can’t jump but has worked out a route: onto the spokes of the chair on the right of the table, onto the spokes of the table, then to the seat of the chair on the left of the table, and from there onto the table and into a cosy igloo.

We decided to invest in a heat pad for them all.  Jango has aching joints that would benefit from some warmth, Hendo is a skinny old chap who needs some extra insulation.   We weren’t sure if any of them would use it.

Henderson looked a bit uncertain when I first put him on it but after a few seconds it dawned on him that there was lovely warmth coming up through his feet.  He’s scarcely left it since then.

not sure at first

convinced

Jango also had a go

thinking about it

yes

Flipper has also been a major user of it.  She’s not old and thankfully not poorly either … but she’s very often complaining about being cold.

on the radiator

under a blanket

She absolutely loves it

Aids and Adaptations We've reached a stage where all the purrmanent residents at 8 Lives, apart from the infamous Flipper, are teenagers.

[carasueachterberg]

My heart is so broken.

Shattered. In pieces.

I don’t remember a hurt like this—it’s everywhere, in every thought, every breath.  My eyes are slits and my nose is raw and sore and the tears just keep coming and coming til it doesn’t seem possible I have more, and then I do.

I’m making myself move—fold the laundry, clean the counter, weigh the puppies and worm them, walk Thelma, pull a few weeds, put shoes in their cubbies, anything so that I don’t just sit and sob, which is all I’ve been doing for days. I can’t eat and I’ve had so much tea, I have the shakes. I can’t talk because it comes out a squeak and if anyone says anything nice to me I fall apart. If you’ve called or messaged me and I haven’t answered, I apologize.

I’ve canceled every puppy visit, moved the party we were supposed to host. I am hunkered down, doing only the things I can, which is nothing that requires my heart or my brain because my heart is in a million pieces and my brain is doing all it can to keep me upright.

I have had to make the most impossible decision. Maybe the most painful of my life. And, while some of you will argue with me, there truly wasn’t a choice.

On Thursday, Frankie attacked my daughter. She was entering our house and he went after her, chasing her outside and biting her twice before I could reach them. I drove her to Urgent Care and thanked God that it was not worse. That I was there. That I could stop him. I won’t allow myself to think what would have happened if I wasn’t there.

This dog of my heart hurt my daughter. This sweet dog that I spoon with sunk his teeth into my baby girl. This precious boy who snuggles with Flannery, this ace agility student, this best friend at the dog park, he attacked my child.

Addie will be okay. The wounds are deep punctures that hurt immensely but will heal. She is one tough cookie, incredibly cool in stressful situations, and probably way too forgiving. I don’t want her to forgive because it isn’t forgivable.

We went home from Urgent Care with bandages and a prescription for antibiotics and Addie postponed her move to New York City by a week so that we can care for her here as she heals.

Nick was in France on Thursday when this happened, but because I couldn’t speak, he talked to our vet, who said he would euthanize our dog if that’s what we wanted but suggested we talk to an animal behaviorist. The next morning I spoke with this kind, compassionate, knowledgeable woman. She asked me questions, I tried to explain. She wanted facts. And then she carefully, gently but clearly told me what I already knew.

Frankie is a dangerous dog. This is the third ‘attack’. The other two incidences haunt me now but were easy to justify at the time, as they were ‘strangers’ entering our home without me present. We were lucky that the people escaped without the serious injuries that Addie sustained. The behaviorist told me that the next time would likely be worse.

She asked about Frankie’s upbringing, our training practices. I told her that Frankie had been to manners classes, had passed his Canine Good Citizenship test, that he was in agility training now. I told her how good he is with foster dogs, how gentle with puppies, how much he loves other dogs. How friendly he is when we are out, how much he loves Ian and Nick and me.

So, why? Why? Why? I cried. I still cry.

As much as we want to say that a pitbull is just like any dog, it isn’t, she said. For generations now, many are being bred to be aggressive and the most aggressive are being selected and bred again, genetically modifying some of these dogs to be aggressive to the point of death.

The behaviorist, said along with that breeding, many dogs are anxious, full of anxiety, just like so many humans. Frankie reacted out of fear. I think he loves people, but the behaviorist said she could prove to me that he doesn’t love people, only fears them; she could do that in only a few minutes if I wanted her to. I didn’t.

I asked her if he could be fixed. She said he couldn’t, we could learn to manage him to the best of our abilities, but he could never be trusted. Never. She could help me to train him to back away and lie down when people come to the door, but if he were her dog, she would never allow him to come near the door.

My home is a welcoming place. Intentionally so. I have worked to make it a place where people enjoy coming, where my kids’ friends always have a place at our table, where friends or neighbors can stop by for any reason. Our door is always open. That’s the kind of home I want and I have.

And so Nick and I cried on the phone as we came to a painful decision, the only option. The same one that is preventing me from eating or sleeping or speaking to anyone.

I would not rehome Frankie and take the chance that he would very likely hurt someone again.

I would not pay five to ten thousand dollars to place him in a sanctuary where he would basically be living in a boarding kennel the rest of his life. It would be only a half-life and I would rather use that money to save more dogs.

The only answer was to peacefully let him go.

And I could only do that knowing that we have given him a wonderful, happy, loving life. Yes, it was a short one. So much shorter than I can bear, but it has been a good one.

Nick would not return until Saturday night and I knew I couldn’t do this without him having the opportunity to say goodbye and to be by my side when I did. Ian sat with me on my bed late Friday night and we cried as Frankie rolled around looking for belly rubs and giving out kisses. We love this dog. With all our hearts. And he has had a wonderful life.

The least we could do was give him a compassionate, painless ending. So I spent his last day spoiling him rotten. On Saturday morning, we met his best pal Edith at the dog park to play. Nancy took a few pictures.

After that I took him home and cooked him an enormous plate of eggs with ham and his favorite treats piled on top. Then he watched birds and napped on the screened-in porch with Flannery and Gracie, while I sat and soaked him up, memorizing all of him. Next, we went for a long hike and I let him stop and sniff as long as he wanted to wherever he wanted to. It took us two hours to go just over a mile. He drank from the creek and got his paws muddy and pounced on a snake.

On the way home, we stopped at the pet store and I let him steal as many treats as he wanted from the low shelves (and then paid for them while the clerks fed him even more treats). Late in the afternoon we took a walk in our woods and had an extra-long visit at the fox den.

Just before dinner, I let him play with the puppies. His tail was going like a windshield wiper as he snuffled and licked the puppies and let them gnaw on his face.

And later, after Nick finally came home. We snuggled him all night, neither of us sleeping, but Frankie snoring contentedly after such a good day and both him humans with him.

In the morning, we took him to our vet’s office, a place he loves, and I tried very hard to keep it together so Frankie wouldn’t think it was any different than any other time he’s been there for a shot. He passed peacefully, and we brought him home and buried him on our hill below the spot where he has chased so many squirrels into the woods.

Addie painted a stone to place on his grave. (Sadly, she did not have the opportunity to say goodbye to Frankie, as he continued to threaten her through the glass door that separated them.)

I am devastated. Leveled. Beyond repair at the moment. When I close my eyes and try to sleep, I hear Addie’s happy greeting and then her scream in terror and Frankie’s bark and snarl and ferocious attack. On repeat. But then I open my eyes and I miss my boy. I miss his snuggles and his big pitbull smile, his happy energy, his eagerness to please, and how he loved all of our foster dogs.

I don’t know yet what I will learn from this, but the behaviorist told me that she gets ten calls like mine a day, so I know I am not the only person forced into this impossible place that hurts so very much and will haunt me all of my life.

But I won’t let this be the end. Something good will come of this.

I will share Frankie’s story. And in his name, I will save as many dogs as I can save. I will work until there is no need to save dogs like Frankie from shelters.

I don’t want anyone to take from this that all pitbulls are dangerous. They aren’t, but some are, and we need to respect this breed that has been so genetically manipulated by humans. We need to manage these dogs and when we can’t manage them, we need to make hard choices, not pass them along to a shelter or another home unawares. And, my God, we certainly have to stop breeding them and find a way to end the dog-fighting industry.

I loved Frankie more than I’ve ever loved a dog. This hurt will be with me forever, the guilt, the sadness, the everlasting ache for what could have been. It is not right or fair, but it was the only choice. I did not want Frankie to be a tragic headline someday and I could not bear to see him live out a life in a kennel. A compassionate death is much better than a live half-lived without someone to love you.

If you disagree with me, that is your right, but please do not compound my pain by sharing those thoughts with me. What’s done is done. And I will forever be scarred by this, the dog-shaped hole in my heart will never be filled.

Hug your dogs close. Don’t take a moment with them for granted.

Blessings,

Cara

If you’d like to know more about my blogs and books, visit CaraWrites.com.

Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster dogs was released August 2018 from Pegasus Books and available now

      The Most Impossible Decision I Never Thought I'd have to make for my dog #unbearable My heart is so broken. Shattered. In pieces. I don’t remember a hurt like this—it’s everywhere, in every thought, every breath. 

[tlcrescuepa]

New Post has been published on To Love a Canine Rescue

New Post has been published on https://tlcrescuepa.com/week-end-update-home-stretch-into-the-holidays/

Week-End Update: Home Stretch Into The Holidays

Can you believe, Thanksgiving is only a few days away and some of the pups are super excited because they’ll be settled into their homes in time to celebrate how grateful they are to be a permanent member of their own furever family!

It feels like it was Shepherd week because Margie (now Maya), Rambo, Sophie & Tango all met great people ready to “put a tag on it” as it were. Ferguson (now Potter), Iggy, Juliette & Zoey all have homes in time for the holidays, as does Miss Shana (aka Ridley) who changed her name to Blossom.

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Ferguson now Potter

Iggy

Juliette

Rambo

Shana Ridley now Blossom

Sophie

Tango

Zoey

Margie now Maya

  Vivi & mom

We’d like to thank Vivi FKA Victoria & her mommy for all the support they’ve given us, and a special thanks for all the items they donated to us this week too!

        We have some pre-holiday updates to share with you:

Annalee FKA Anna Lee

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“Here’s our precious Anna Lee at Halloween. We’re having a great time with her. Thanks for bringing her into our life!”

  Logan

“Logan is great. love his energy and spirit. Were discovering more of his traits as we go along. He’s very smart…..super fast. I like the idea of agility training. Love his confidence. He went to the vet today. He checked out great….a couple of parasites which we are treating for. Stool is still loose.  Crating is going well. We will definitely get him some training. such a great pup. I hope Sue’s family is not missing him too much. Thanks for checking in.”

  Charlie FKA Champ

Charlie FKA Champ

“Great to hear from TLC!

Charlie is doing brilliantly and loves his fellow canine Pip Marie. Charlie is loving, affectionate, funny, obediate and some how I feel “grateful” for a home where he is loved. Charlie can still “shy ” and does have more difficulty with males. Charlie is quite the watch dog off AND on leash and we are working on training him to understand he is safe – and that I am too.

We are so grateful to have Charlie – my son is so devoted to him as well. Thank you for providing a safe refuge for dogs before adoption!!! Here is a silly picture of Charlie having a laugh!”

  Luna FKA Diana & Mady FKA Tamber

Luna and Mady

“Hi TLC Team! Luna developed a lump on her hind hip that we had checked out. Originally they told us it was a fatty mass, but told us if it got larger or harder, to bring her back. Well, wouldn’t you know it, it grew and got a bit firmer. They surgically removed it. She spent 10 days with that darn cone thing on her poor little head. It didn’t stop her from doing anything after 2 days. We were told to make sure she didn’t run around, yeah right, they know Luna!! Anyway, the biopsy came back as just a benign, fatty mass. We were all on pins and needles for about 2 weeks until we received the results. Luna is such a blessing to our family. She, along with Mady, bring our family so much joy and make us complete. I don’t know what we would do without them. Just took this photo of them, are they not the cutest puppies ever!!! Oh by the way, the vet told us that the fatty mass is very common for a boxer!!! So I guess Luna has some boxer in her! Happy Holidays!!”

  Ruger FKA Ruben

Ruger FKA Ruben

“Ruger is so happy and we love him more and more each day!

He is 40 lbs now and such a love bug! He gives hugs it’s adorable, he puts one paw on each shoulder and lays his head up to ours.”

      Jesse

“We adopted Jesse in September and she is amazing she let’s me rub her tummy and does a happy dance when we go out. She is so lovable and sweet. It’s so wonderful to see how much love can change a soul, thank you so much”

  Duke FKA Floyd

Duke FKA Floyd

“Overall, he’s been a “puppy”.

We get lots of compliments on the color of his coat. He’s really good with kids and loves attention. “

      Penny FKA Shayna

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“Thank you for reaching out, I hope you’re doing well! 

Penny is doing great 😀. She is such a sweet, loving dog- she has fit right into our life! Penny loves going for walks, playing in the dog park, and snuggling at night. She is mostly house trained at this point and passed level 1 of her dog obedience class! We’re hoping to get her in the next level class or agility class next year. 

We are so grateful to have found her- thank you so much for all of your help and support!! I attached a few photos of our little muffin too!

We’re signed up for the newsletter but please continue to keep in touch and let us know if we can support TLC in any way. “

  Odie

“All is well with Odie! He has adjusted well to his new home. He’s a good dog! Loves taking walks, digging in the backyard & chasing squirrels & birds!!! He is also very playful & loves belly rubs and attention!! Lol

we love having him as part of our family! :)”

  Chester FKA Chase

Chester FKA Chase

“Chase (now Chester) is a happy boy- and so is Roxy! Thanks for finding us such a lovely boy!”

        Norah FKA Harley

Norah FKA Harley

“Norah turned 2 at the beginning of the month we’ve almost had her 2 years in January … she’s so perfect we love her so much and so does her big sister ”

        Remmi FKA Genny

Remmi FKA Genny

“I got the DNA testing back! Remmi (genny) is chow (as u mentioned all dogs are) white swiss and german shepherd, bulldog and boxer!! 🤗 🐶 i love her to pieces! Thanks so much!”

      Lady’s pups celebrated their first birthday

Piper FKA Lally

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With our litter celebrating their first birthday this week, we wanted to send some updates on Piper (Lally).

  She is up to 35 pounds and still very short.

She loves most other dogs, especially golden retrievers, yellow labs, and French bulldogs.

She loves to chase squirrels in the park, walk along the Delaware River on Penn’s Landing, and take lots of naps!

We thankfully got her stomach issues figured out through a mix of specialized food from Royal Canin and a daily probiotic.

She has also gotten a lot less anxious thanks to her vet recommending a daily dose of Prozac.

  We would love to see photos and hear about the rest of the litter as well!”

  Copper FKA Laddie

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I love seeing and hearing about Cooper’s (Laddie) siblings!   

  Cooper is a big boy!  He weighs about 50 lbs.  I’m hoping he’s done growing soon. 

He’s VERY smart, playful and loves other dogs.  He’s not very affectionate but seems to be getting a little better.  He’s such a guard dog!   If he doesn’t know someone who comes over, all the hair on his back goes up. He’s friendly with everyone except some tall men. We can’t figure out why he picks and chooses.   He loves to play on his back while holding toys with his paws. Super funny!   He’s not a fan of the car since he gets sick.  Maybe he’ll outgrow it. 

He’s also great using his doggy door.  He’s a rough and tough dog.  He loves digging, playing ball, frisbee (not a good jumper), going to the dog park and being with family. As you can see, he looks so much like piper but with much longer legs.

Thanks for the update and happy birthday to a great litter! 🎉🎉🎉”

  Luna FKA Laurie

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“It’s so great to see the other pups! It seems that our Luna (Laurie) is the only one with long fluffy hair in the litter! A dog trainer today told me she looked exactly like a Finnish spitz! When I looked it up I couldn’t believe the resemblance!

Luna is a very energetic and bright girl and gets along with other dogs very well. She is very cautious of new people though and will keep her distance until she warms up to someone. She had 2 spells of tummy issues at about 6 months old but we seem to have it under control now. She is a huge cuddle bug and wants nothing but to make us happy! She is quite the chewer though and tends to destroy all of her doggy sisters squeaky toys so we tend to keep those for supervised play time. She is fully grown at only 39 pounds but she has the biggest personality! “

  Endor FKA Lawler

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“I love seeing how everyone grew up!! My 1.5 year old instantly recognized Cooper and Piper because she started calling them “Endy” when we showed her the pictures. 

Endor is also 50lbs. He’s losing his summer coat, so he looks pretty lanky right now. 🙂 He’s DEFINITELY a teenager! He loves playing ball and frisbee, and he enjoys chewing on bones and his antler. Does anyone else’s pup bury their treats??? I’ve NEVER had such a stereotypical dog in my life. If we give him a special bone or treat, he immediately starts looking for someplace to bury it (under the rug…in the yard…in the couch cushions… 🙄) 

He’s a happy boy with a lot of energy. He loves his kids, cats, and mom and dad. And he enjoys chasing the squirrels in the yard. And digging holes. So many holes. In my garden, in my planters, in the lawn… Lol

We took a bunch of training classes, but now that I’m back to work, we’re taking a small hiatus.

One thing’s for sure: he is a very handsome boy! 

Hope everyone else is well. Keep the updates coming, and happy birthday to the L Litter!”

[robertmcangusgroup]

The Daily Tulip

The Daily Tulip – International News From Around The World

Tuesday 15th August 2017

Good Morning Gentle Reader….  Buena Dias from Estepona Spain Gentle Reader… where the San Luis castle built for coastal defense against Berber pirates looks out across the waters of the Mediterranean Ocean or the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea as its sometimes called…. Life in Estepona is influenced by many cultures all intermixed, Arabic and Islamic affect the buildings with tile work and ornate doors and entryways, Flamenco music is typical Andalucía but has been influenced by the Gitano or Gypsy’s who stole it from the Arabs many years ago, As you walk the streets English, German, French Italian Dutch and Russian can be heard from the tourists and residents followed by “Spanglish” the mix of English and Spanish as spoken by people from Gibraltar …. Estepona my home….. Bella and I walked together both lost in our own thoughts this morning and now she lays with her head on my foot as I drink my coffee and contemplate the news….. 

DOG SHOWS OFF TIGHTROPE SKILLS ON OWNER'S CLOTHES LINES…. A talented dog in China was filmed doing a tightrope walk across the clothes lines in its owner's garden. The well-balanced canine was filmed this month in Huaihua, Hunan Province, stepping carefully with its paws atop the clothes lines. The agile dog takes several steps across the lines without falling or even wavering. The dog's owner said it only took the canine about a month of practicing to master the trick.

WOMAN MISTAKES PURSE FOR DACHSHUND, GOES VIRAL…. A Twitter user shared the story of her mother's confusion upon spotting a brown purse that she initially mistook for a sleeping dachshund. Hannah Murphy posted on the microblogging site Sunday that her mother was delighted to spot the sleeping dog at a nearby table while dining outdoors, but all was not as it initially seemed. "My mother was giggling at this and told me to 'take a look at that adorable dachshund, he's sleeping,' she was looking at a purse," Murphy tweeted. The tweet earned several messages of solidarity from fellow Twitter users who had made similar mistakes with other non-canine objects.

KANGAROO REPORTED ON CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY WAS 'ENORMOUS RACCOON'…. The California Highway Patrol said a reported roadkill raccoon in the Bay Area turned out to be "an enormous raccoon" in the road. The highway patrol tweeted Wednesday that CHP Motor Officer Coffman responded to a report of a dead kangaroo on Interstate 580, near the Oakland Zoo. "Reports of a kangaroo on I-580 were false. Said marsupial was actually an enormous raccoon," the tweet said. Coffman removed the raccoon. "Seriously, I've never seen a raccoon of that size," the CHP added on Facebook. A follow-up tweet said "another reported kangaroo" was removed from the road about an hour later.

WHY INDIAN WOMEN ARE POSTING MIDNIGHT PHOTOS…. Women in India have been posting photographs of themselves enjoying a night out on social media in response to a politician who said a woman who was chased in her car by two men "should not have gone out so late at night". Varnika Kunda, who works as a DJ in the northern city of Chandigarh, was returning home on Friday night when she was allegedly chased by the men, one of whom was the son of a prominent politician from India's governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She said she was "chased and almost kidnapped" and that she was "not lying raped and murdered in a ditch somewhere" only because police quickly responded to her distress call and rescued her. After Ms Kundu wrote a Facebook post about her ordeal which went viral, senior BJP politician in Haryana state Ramveer Bhatti blamed Ms Kundu for what happened to her. "The girl should not have gone out at 12 in the night," he told the CNN-News18 television channel. "Why was she driving so late in the night? The atmosphere is not right. We need to take care of ourselves." Mr Bhatti then went on to tell The Times of India that "parents must take care of their children. They shouldn't allow them to roam at night. Children should come home on time, why stay out at night?" This "victim shaming" didn't go down well, and soon women began posting photos of themselves out at night under the hashtag #AintNoCinderella.

IRISH VET'S ENGLISH FAILS AUSTRALIAN COMPUTER VISA TEST…. An Irish vet with two university degrees has been told by a computerised test that her spoken English is not good enough for an Australian visa. Louise Kennedy, originally from County Wicklow, applied for permanent residency after two years in Australia. She had been working as a vet in Queensland. Ms Kennedy told the Irish Independent she thought there had been a mistake after she had failed the oral section of an English test. "It was even such a pain to take the whole day off work to do the test and then be told I can't speak English," she said. The mandatory test involved writing, reading and speaking, with the oral section scored by voice-recognition technology. Ms Kennedy, who is married to an Australian and expecting her first child, said the oral test involved reading a paragraph that appeared on screen and it was "very, very easy". However, she was told she had scored 74 points - below the 79 points required for a residency visa. "I just thought (it was a mistake) and I'll ring them up and they'll listen to it again," she said. The vet said she believed the failure was caused by flaws in the voice-recognition technology. The company that runs the test, Pearson, told the Australian Associated Press there were no problems with its system.

Well Gentle Reader I hope you enjoyed our look at the news from around the world this, Tuesday morning… …

Our Tulips today are a rich, regal purple....

A Sincere Thank You for your company and Thank You for your likes and comments I love them and always try to reply, so please keep them coming, it's always good fun, 

As is my custom, I will go and get myself another mug of "Colombian" Coffee and wish you a safe Tuesday 15th August 2017 from my home on the southern coast of Spain, where the blue waters of the Alboran Sea washes the coast of Africa and Europe and the smell of the night blooming Jasmine and Honeysuckle fills the air…and a crazy old guy and his dog Bella go out for a walk at 4:00 am…on the streets of Estepona…

All good stuff....But remember it’s a dangerous world we live in 

Be safe out there…

Robert McAngus

[tlcrescuepa]

New Post has been published on To Love a Canine Rescue

New Post has been published on https://tlcrescuepa.com/week-end-update-better-than-the-puppy-bowl/

Week-End Update: Better Than The Puppy Bowl

We knew it was going to be a great day when the morning started off with our girl Rachel making a love connection with her new dads, and we were right. In preparation for the Super Bowl, we spent the morning/early afternoon watching the Puppy Bowl at the wonderful Maddie’s Castle in Phoenixville. We met a lot of nice people, had a great time there and Kayla had the good fortune of catching the eye of some approved adopters who quickly made an appointment & adopted her this afternoon!

Two pups lucked out and were adopted by TLC alumni: Ally was adopted by Tucker FKA Harlan & Tonka was adopted by Oakely! Benson (now Murphy), Bodie, Gunner, Lois & Nova also landed great families and celebrated their gotcha days this week too.

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Benson now Murphy

Bodie

Gunner

Kayla

Lois

Nova

Tucker FKA Harlan and Ally

Tonka w/TLC alum Oakley

Rachel

  We received a lot of pupdates this week:

Kayla was the last of her litter to get adopted and we got updates on two of her littermates

Kira FKA Kelsey

Kira FKA Kelsey

Kira’s mom posted a picture of her on our Facebook page to let us know that she’s an absolute delight and is becoming quite the social butterfly

        Toby FKA Klev

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Everything is going amazing…we decided to change his name to Toby and he is almost there with knowing his new name. Tarmac and Toby get along wonderfully…at times Toby can get a little mouthy with Tarmac but Tarmac is very gentle with him and shows him that is not how he is supposed to play. He really does not enjoy his crate time but settles down after being in there only a minute. We have had him around our young nieces and nephew and he absolutely loves children. We are still working on potty training but he will now go up to the door and sit to tell us he has to go out to do his business. He has learned a few new tricks too! We learned sit, lay down, shake and wait for his food. He is definitely a smart little boy and so lovable! He loves the outdoors and is beat after a long weekend running with the bigger dogs outside. Both my husband and I are extremely grateful to TLC for providing us with this loving little boy! We will definitely give you some updates along the way!

  Wendi FKA Wednesday (& Monk aka Monkey FKA Tyson)

Just a quick update on Wendi and Monk.  It is our 2 week anniversary and they are doing very well.  They are playing together well; sharing and stealing toys and antlers!  Chasing after each other.  They walk really well on leashes. I walk them together and I am still up-right!

Wendi is starting to get into a schedule for going out.  The first week was a little rough but she is coming along.

Wendi is an adorable little girl. We are so glad to have her. Her spa day is Tuesday!  Can’t wait to see how she looks all groomed and trimmed up.

  Bear FKA Copper

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We are head over heels in love with Copper (now Bear)! He has been amazing! He loves affection (which he gets plenty of), he’s great on a leash and he’s settled right into our world. We are thrilled with him! He’s still trying to charm Lanie, but each day they are getting along better. Thank you so much for all you do! We were so impressed with your rescue! 

  Hazel FKA Jesse

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Hazel is doing well.  She’s getting better with potty training and crate training.  The vet checked her out and she is very healthy.  Attached are a couple of pictures of Hazel and her big sister.

  Luna FKA Laurie (Lady’s pup)

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Laurie now Luna is settling in wonderfully now. It took her about a day and a half to warm up since she is a bit on the shy side. We are working with our bulldog on her sharing skills. She doesn’t get mean but tends to hover over her so we are watching them very very closely to work on that. They are doing great though playing tug of war with each other and running around the house like the crazy pups they are! Haha We only decided not to keep the name Laurie because of the amount of people we know with that name. I have made an appointment for Luna with my vet for the 6th of February to get her 3rd set of shots. Her incision is still looking great and I check it at least twice a day since the two of them are always playing. She is doing very well with potty training and even knows to use the potty pads we laid down for her in case she couldn’t hold it. I’ll attach a few pictures of her on this email. I will be updating the info on the micro chip this week. Thanks so much for such a wonderful adopting experience! We love the new addition to our family! ❤

Lawler

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Lawler will get a new name as soon as we can agree on one! Lol. He seems to have settled in and has made himself right at home. He has his vet appointment tomorrow morning. We’ll continue to check in as he grows, and we’ll check in with a trainer if we need one.

Cooper FKA Laddie

Cooper FKA Laddie

Laddie is now Cooper   😁 we LOVE him.  He’s very smart and super curious.   He’s learned to sit. Housebreaking is tough but he’s getting it a little bit.  We can’t wait to see what he’ll look like as a big boy.  He’s such a joy. Just what our family needed. 

Thank you so much.  Your rescue is so professional and well organized.  I’ll be recommending you.  People are already asking.  It was a very easy, well planned adoption. 

  Piper FKA Lally

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Piper just had her first vet visit on Monday. We also ordered a DNA test today as we are very curious about her mix. We will send you the results as well.

She has been doing great and we are so happy to have her!

  Taz FKA Darius & Addi FKA Dara

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Everyone is doing great!  Taz loves having a sister and Addi is growing up to be a great dog.

We are so grateful that we have 2 TLC dogs!

  Maulik FKA Blitzen

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I AM so happy I found Maulik!!  I am in love with him! He seems to be the perfect dog for me!  He is doing very well. He had his vet check up at Banfield Pet Hospital at the Pet Smart near where I currently live. The vet said “Maulik was welcome back anytime” (I got the impression she didn’t say that to all the dogs)  She also said he was an “All Star” as he was very well behaved for baseline bloodwork and his lyme vaccine. Banfield vet and staff also commented on all the records I had from TLC and said it seemed like a very organized and well run rescue!

At home he has been a complete love. He is eating well and all bathroom business has been done outside. He loves his toys! and does well in the crate. Maulik is curious about Niko, but not persistent or aggressive in any way. Niko is still not sure…..lol….to be continued. I feed him in the crate and have not seen any signs of food aggression. However, I gave him a Busy Bone and he did growl when I came near him while he had that.

We are going on at least four walks a day. The easy walker harness makes a big difference. He does very good on leash unless a squirrel runs by.  Initially he got super excited when he saw another dog. So we went to the dog park early in the morning before any other dogs were there so he could sniff around and did long walks when the dog walking traffic was low. He is now at the point where he notices another dog near by, but doesn’t get so excited and goes about his day. 

We’ve done two dog/dog introductions this week and all dogs did great! 

I would like to do a basic obedience class with him and also try Agility Training with him. (he leaps and jumps like no other dog).  

He has already fulfilled a part of my life which had been missing something. I feel like life is full now with Maulik by my side!

Thank you TLC!

[editor’s note: we had discussed Maulik’s resource guarding, and the work we’d already done with him, with his mom prior to adoption and have referred her to our trainers for additional training]

  Ellie FKA Jill

Ellie FKA Jill

I did change her name to Ellie and she is coming along fine.

In fact, she’s with me right now in the car. Ellie really loves riding in the car! See the picture.

Before the trainer begins the process we need to bring her out of her emotional  shell and let her bond with me, my wife and the trainer.

Ellie is so gentle and sweet!!!!

  Bodie FKA Washington

Bodie FKA Washington

I adopted Bodie in October. He’s settling in quite nicely, my house really feels like a home with him around now.

He loves meeting other dogs and new people, especially kids.  The neighbors love him and my parents enjoy showing off the grand dog.

I discovered he super inquisitive and smart.  I had him in line to vote and all he did was sit patiently and people watch for an hour.  He’s also picking up new tricks pretty well, we’re showing progress on fetching his leash.  I’m enjoying watching the wheels turn as he’s learning.

We’re working on coming to the gym with me, but if his playmate isn’t there (another dog adopted from your rescue) he gets a little too hyper.  I just had him in Lowes last night and he loved the attention he got!

I’ll keep the photos coming!

Thanks again for letting me adopt Bodie!

[editor’s note: we received DNA results from Bodie’s litter mate Gigdet FKA Wanda and posted them in last week’s update. To be honest, we were a little surprised at the notion of GSD in their mom’s lineage but these pics of Bodie certainly lend credence to those results]

Lovey

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Lovey’s family let us know that she is such a Lovey-dovey they kept her name. They’re tickled pink with her.

  Celly FKA Grumpy (Avery’s pup)

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Celly … he is king of the house . He is a big boy about 35-38 pounds a gentle giant. He has a vet appointment 2/18 and we will see if he can get neutered and we will be doing a DNA test for curiosity. He fetches, house broken and loves the cold . He goes to the ice rink with us and he’s the hit of the place. He goes everywhere with us. We were approached to see if we would bring him to assisted living homes to cheer people up. Yeah he’s that loving.We absolutely adore him, I truly understand now when people say I didn’t save him he saved us . Thank you guys again.

  We also received pics from some other alumni

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Denny

Denny

Gaby – mom to G litter of Aug/Sep 2015

Gaby’s pup Ziba FKA Gala

Gaby’s pup Ziba FKA Gala

Gaby’s pup Ziba FKA Gala