See Diva Run

Life has taken some interesting twists and turns. The night I brought Jasmine’s ashes home, we discovered Harley. He is a lovely, quiet, old dog who radiates calm. He was rescued from the Kent Animal Shelter by the wonderful people at Old Dog Haven. We aren’t sure of his age, but he is suffering from arthritis in his back, and weakness in his back legs. Despite his difficulties in getting up and walking around, he is perennially cheerful. He helps me keep my life in perspective. He also gets along very well with other dogs. Here he is with our other old dog, Baby. We’ve had Baby for 15 years, but she normally hides in a corner. She and Jasmine did not get along, and there were many fights when they were younger. She is much more tolerant of Harley.

While this might have sated my need to take care of an old dog, my need to rescue them was not yet fulfilled. Next we learned of Admiral, a 13 year old Dalmatian whose owner was moving out of state. He arrived on Father’s Day.

Admiral is as old as Harley, but in better physical condition. His mental condition is another matter. This is one very stressed out dog. He just wants to go out and walk until his legs collapse out from under him. The transition away from his lifetime home has been an ordeal, but I can see he was a high strung boy to begin with. We discovered that he is terrified of cameras, so we are no longer taking his picture.

Things might have settled down, but during the 2 week period between agreeing to take Admiral, and his arrival, I learned of a puppy that was going to be put down if he wasn’t taken from the shelter by Friday, 6/19. His scared little picture, and his sad little listing that said he was in cage 12 and had no name really bothered me. I contacted Dalmatian rescue people, and even contacted family in Idaho, to see if they could help. I also contacted the rescue group that posted him on Petfinder, hoping to buy him some extra time. They told me they had a van delivering dogs to western Washington the following week, and if I would agree to take the puppy, they would save and deliver him. That is how we came to have Friday.

Friday arrived the day after Admiral, which didn’t give anyone time to adjust. He is full of puppy energy and enthusiasm, which in not appreciated by the old dogs in any way. His constant attempts to lick their faces and engage them in play are met with growls. I didn’t exactly have a plan when I said I would take him, but once I realized that I would have four dogs, I knew that I would have to foster the puppy until I could find him a home. So far 2 prospective homes haven’t worked out. In the meantime, I’m getting attached to the little guy, and my plan to run a retirement home for dogs is in peril.

Admiral and Friday arrived 3 days before the end of school, but I somehow managed to finish my research paper and complete my last tests. The credits are all on my transcript, and soon my diploma will be conferred, Summa Cum Laude. I’m so glad that is over with!

Somewhere before the dogs doubled in number, Mr Diva persuaded me to sign up for the 2010 Goofy Challenge. We are also committed to the 2009 Honolulu Marathon, to celebrate his birthday, and the Inaugural Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon. I’m actually pretty unhappy about that, but we wanted to run New Orleans one last time, and those corporate weasels at the Competitor Group are out to destroy every good race in the country. Except for little doggy jogs, I’m not running. I suspect these races will all be really long walks, so I’m going to concentrate on lots of walking. I’ve got 4 training partners, as well as a neighbor dog who needs to walk more. I do want to get into decent 5K shape for the 2009 Iron Girl.

As I get more organized with running, I’ll start updating my Sweat365 training log again. In the meantime, I’m getting lots of walking in! I hope to start catching up on reading blogs this week. Next week I’ll be on vacation with the family. We are going to see my sister. I’m really looking forward to that. When we get home, I plan to start a “dog blog” on my jasmineshouse.com site, including a tribute page to Jasmine. Here is a link to some of my favorite digital photos of her.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 4th, 2009 at 5:54 pm and is filed under Training, Weight Loss Challenge. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.