Asher

Catching Up

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Ash

You don’t have to be a genius to have noticed we were slacking on the barks. For a while the DailyBark became a weekly bark and then we didn’t even keep that up.

Mom called us all together for a staff meeting, just like she used to do when she was working. There was some serious stuff to discuss. I got real nervous when she asked if we really wanted to keep putting out the DailyBark. We all shouted “Yes!”

Then she asked us how come, if we wanted to keep barking, we were slacking. Mom said sometimes you think you want to do something, but if you don’t do it maybe you’re just fooling yourself. None of us had a good answer for her.

Next Mom asked us what we thought was keeping us from barking. Nellie started to cry. “It’s all my fault,” she said. “It’s because I’ve been sick and there’s so much work taking care of me and cleaning up after me.”

Boy, that’s for sure. Nellie has been fighting giardia for almost two months. She had to take a gut medicine followed by two rounds of antibiotics. She still gets Chinese herbs, fiber, and a bland diet. Poor mom had to wash all us mutts, all the dog bedding, clean the rugs and mop the floors with disinfectant. Then she sprayed the grass where Nellie poops with bleach water.

Tess always feels sorry for Nellie when Nellie cries, so she tried to take some of the blame. “No.” Tess said. “It’s because I got in that awful fight with a guest dog. I upset everybody so much nobody wanted to bark about anything.”

I had to admit Tess was partly right. Her bad self came out one day and there was one hell of a dog fight. Both Tess and the other mutt got hurt. The people were plenty unhappy. But that was a month ago and we were slacking before the fight.

Something good came out of the fight. Tess has to go to reform school. Our trainer Matt came out and started her on lessons. Tess has to mind mom and do her homework even if she doesn’t want to. Funny thing is Tess is liking her lessons.

Mom asked if we wanted to have a schedule of who barked when. Jack looked down and licked his paws. Being the strong silent type, he’d rather not bark about his feelings.

Tess swished her big red tail in my face and told mom not to count on her. Nellie said she’d be thrilled to have a bark schedule.

I told mom me and Nellie would handle the barks for the next few months. If we got tired or needed a break, mom would have to ask Tess and Jack to help.

Maybe it’s because me and Nellie are blue dogs. We see the world the same way. We both just want to hang with mom and enjoy life.

I can’t imagine life at Asherpark without the DailyBark. Neither can Nellie. So we’re on it. We got some catching up to do!

 

 

 

 

Nellie

What If

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Nellie

It was April 2011. I was picked up as a stray. People thought I had been hit by a car. Some nice lady took me to a vet clinic. The clinic called the pound and soon I was locked in a cage waiting to die.

I don’t remember how I got loose. Did somebody dump me off because I was old and stinky? Or did I finally manage to escape from a place where nobody cared about me?

I had a huge hairball full of pee and dirt. My front legs had been injured a long time ago and never been fixed. Maybe before I lost awareness I made one last ditch effort to get away from a bad place and find somewhere better to live.

Next thing I knew I was in the animal control shelter. The vet checked me out and decided I wasn’t worth saving. Since I was going to be put to death anyway, there was no point in treating my pee infection. They did give me a pain pill. That helped me sleep and forget about the mess I’d gotten myself into.

After I’d been at the shelter a few days I was put on death row. I was going to die on a Saturday. That makes for one less stinky mutt to take care of over the weekend.

While I was waiting to die I thought about how my life turned out. I remembered some fun times when I was young and cute. But my people lost interest in me. I was just another mouth to feed with old dog health problems. I cost too much and I wasn’t fun anymore.

I had seen that happen with other dogs. When you’re young and fun and pretty, everybody likes you. When you get old and smell and take some looking after, most people don’t want you around.

The last night before my execution I was all mixed up. I was angry that I was going to die alone in a shelter with nobody to tell me good bye. I was scared that maybe it hurts to die. I was sorry that I couldn’t have a few more months of life with somebody who might love me. Then I got another pain pill and fell asleep.

I dreamed about an old Aussie named Codie. She came floating in through big bright clouds. The sun was huge behind her. She told me I would not die at the shelter. She had made arrangements for me to go to Asherpark. Codie told me to keep my mouth shut and do exactly what the shelter people told me. She said she would visit me again once I was free.

The next morning a shelter worker took the death sign off my crate. She told me I was a lucky mutt. Somebody had spoken for me and I was going to be released on Monday. Then she said there was no point in saving my filthy butt and walked off.

Sure enough Monday morning a volunteer loaded me into her car and drove me to a drop point where I first met my new mom. I was with a young bouncy Lab mix. The volunteer asked my mom which dog she was going to take. Mom pointed to me and said, “The little Aussie.” The volunteer said that would be a waste of time, that I was incontinent and didn’t have long to live.

Mom just nodded and loaded me into the car. I was scared and excited at the same time. I knew I was going to some place called Asherpark. I knew a spirit dog named Codie had arranged for me to be set free. I knew forces were in play to change my life. I just didn’t know then what was waiting for me.

I’m an old tired dog. It takes a lot out of me to tell my story. I am falling asleep, ready to dream the dreams of a dog who has little time left. I’m lying next to my friend, Jack. He too was saved by grace. I will bark more soon. Perhaps Jack will share his story too.

Nellie and Jack

 

 

 

 

Asher

Our Little Angel

by  • 

Nellie

Nellie has been real sick now for a couple of weeks. She got the runaway poops the end of April. Mom treated her at home for a couple of days then called the vet.

Dr. Brad gave Nellie some stuff called Panacur. It’s supposed to kill worms and tiny critters that don’t belong in a dog’s gut. Nellie got better right away once she took the Panacur, but a few days later things went from bad to worse.

Mom quick took Nellie and some of her smelly poop to Dr. Brad. I had to smell that stuff all the way there. Yuck, it was awful! Dr. Brad sent the poop to some lab to see what was messing up Nellie’s gut.

Dr. Brad looked Nellie over. He said he didn’t think it was anything real bad. He gave Nellie some stuff in a tube to soak up the toxins and some Chinese herbs to calm her system.

The medicine is helping. The runaway train inside Nellie has slowed down. Things aren’t quite back to normal, but they sure are lots better.

The whole time Nellie was sick, she never complained. She stood still while mom cleaned her up after she had an accident. She let mom trim her butt feathers so we could see what was going on back there. Nellie took all her medicine and never said a word to us mutts about how bad it tasted.

Me and mom feel so bad for Nellie. Here she is the oldest mutt in the pack. She’s deaf, mostly blind, has a tilted head and stumbles when she walks. But she wakes up each morning so grateful for another day at Asherpark.

I got to thinking that our Nellie is an angel. She’s a perfect little spirit sent to teach us about kindness and gratitude and caring for others. Maybe that’s why we feel honored to help Nellie when she’s sick. Caring for her feels like a sacred act. Nellie might not know she’s an angel, but we do. Thank you great spirit for the gift of our angel. We love you Nellie.