Follow-up Lily and Maddison

The previous post on these pages told the story in pictures about "A dog's seeing eye dog". Little did I realize that these dogs were rescued, placed in a new home, then separated. Their current situation doesn't seem dire to me, but it is ashame that they had trouble adapting to a new home; the trouble part is that they ceased to get along. Here is an update from the UK rescue organization that is caring for them:

Lily and Maddison

Thanks to Phyll, Khyra's Mom for sending the link for the rest of their story.

A dog's seeing eye dog

Lily is a Great Dane that has been blind since a bizarre medical condition required that she have both eyes removed. For the last 5 years, Maddison, another Great Dane, has been her sight. The two are, of course, inseparable. I love this story. Anything and everything seems possible - with a smile on your face.

Fly Free Jake

Jake, who came to Golden Pines to spend the winter of his life, left for the Rainbow Bridge yesterday. We blogged about him just a few weeks ago Post dedicated to Jake hoping he could thrive and overcome years of "less than stellar care". Stop by and paw a message to Kim, who was kind enough to give him a caring home for his last 24 days. 

Goodbye Jake

Her post about him really hits home with all of us who rescue. It is very well said.

For Jake

Mr. Cedar Breath

Our neighbor took down 8 GIANT cedar trees recently. So everyone within earshot gets free cedar mulch, sticks and firewood. Easton is in heaven. There are hundreds of sticks to pick up and present for throwing. After one or two tosses, he decides he has to chew them. This happens every day we go out to pick up our mail. At least his breath smells better!

This looks like a good spot

Nom, nom, nom, nom

Nom, crunch, nom, peel

Bitey nom

Yep, it worked. Now give us a kiss!

All short hair breeds.....

can learn from this.

Every dog ....

To all my fellow Veterans

Happy Dance dedicated to Jake at Golden Pines

Video credits: Devo dancing, trotting & burping, Cosmo bouncing and Sunny taking it all in.

Jake is an old Golden just rescued by the wonderful people at Golden Pines.

Stop by and paw Jake a woof. He's had a hard life and deserves the best.

We are so happy he can spend the winter of his life at Golden Pines

Life at Golden Pines

Easton is off the DL - for now

Easton has been on the DL (disabled list) for almost 4 months now. After being blind sided by an illegal block to the back by a misguided mix-breed linebacker, much to his disappointment, Easton has not participated in any full contact running and fetching since the incident. Until yesterday! I'm happy to report he has returned to his "just adopted" retrieving condition with an extra dose of enthusiasm.

We headed to our secret off-leash area, 4 blocks from home, hoping no one was there so we could conduct a controlled work-out for the NFL scouts. Golf ball retrieving for about 15 minutes went very well. His enthusiasm was sky high and his running looked good. Eventually we had company sharing the field. Thank goodness it was a responsible owner and her sweet, balanced dog. Holly is a 5 year old Labradoodle who is a wonderful playing companion for Easton. Kathy, Holly's Mum, brought the chuck-it and a tennis ball. That's all it took to wear Easton out. He went full bore for about 20 minutes, but then I had to cut him off. We took a long, slow cool-off walk home. Easton was one tired, but satisfied boy. 

I know how much he misses playing. He has the play drive of Devo, but has not been in any shape to ask his body to do the things his enthusiasm demands. We'll continue to walk every day and are still going to swim therapy every couple of weeks. We brought the Costco dog bed up from the garage hoping he would use it after his workout. As you can see from the pictures, he took full advantage of the opportunity to crash in style. Both Cosmo and Devo would sleep together on this bed. It's the perfect size for one Big Red! He never showed much interest in it before, but I think he's coming around.