Rescue Journal

i was asleep by 9pm last night...what a concept. 5 am wake up calls suck.

Carol  ·  Apr. 18, 2010

my "t" is fixed..my son told me to just hold the keyboard upside down and shake. it worked!

yoshi is home from the vets...he feels like crap. he had his neuter and 11 teeth extracted plus he has one of his third eye lids sewn shut..the vet said it looked like one of the cats scratched him and his cornea had started to ulcerate. that might have been cali...she has been a bit grumpy with everyone in there when she first moved back in. anyway..the poor guy has a cone on his head now too.

doris is much happier that he is home now. funny how quick she got used to him being in there, she missed him when he was away.

4lane has a bit of a sad story. his family found him on the side of the highway when he was just a pup. i think he was the woman's dog..the man wasn't really fond of him much. they were older, and he grew older with them. when she died, it was just him and the man who was suffering from alzheimers disease. it wasn't the mans fault because this happens with this illness, but he started getting irritable and 4lane started getting kicked around. the family felt badly for him so they took him away from their dad and took him home. but by then 4lane was a little asshole and he started biting them periodically. finally they admitted, they really did not like this dog and it was not good for either him or them to be living together anymore. 4lane was 14 yrs old. no one was going to want an old abused biting dog so they took him to the vets to put him down. the vets gave them my number and they called and told me his story and i ended up feeling sorry for the dog, for them and for their dad...4lane and their dad getting old and difficult was sucking for everyone in that family...so i said he could come.

lot's of people cry when they bring dogs here...but the tears of this family were different. they were not crocadile tears from wishful thinking...they were real tears of honest regret that 4lane was paying the price for their mother's death, their father's illness and their inability to cope with the result of both.

it was one of the few times that a family brought a dog here for all of the right reasons.

4lane has stayed an asshole with most of the other dogs for this past year. he has attacked them and made them miserable because of whatever was broken inside him. at times with his meanness and disruptiveness to the others, he has driven me insane.

but he loves the humans. he loves the volunteers, the staff, the visitors. he loves renee and he loves me very much too.

he has had a few strokes lately, he is now our little wobble-head man. he had the first one when i tried to keep him separate in the laundry room. he didn't like that, and he got his knickers in such a tight little knot that he gave himself the first stroke which i still feel guilty for.

since then we have just coped with 4lane and his irritable ways...he was picking fights with kodi just this past friday.

you would have to see him in action..the split second shift from Dr. Jekyl to Mr. Hyde...such a sweet innocent and soft little face to a snarling beast with just the shift of his eyes from my face to some dogs face and then the shift back to sweetness again as he looks back at me.

4lane1 4lane24lane3

i don't know why that made me love him but it did...maybe it was his innocent honesty. once he started wobbling, he quit driving me nutz, i made the other dogs deal with him...he was just so adorably vulnerable as he gamely wobbled around.

the saints humans are really going to miss him...i wish he was here this weekend because i am missing him now but the dogs are much happier and content without 4lane around.

altho..kodi is still here to keep them on their toes. but even he is a bit more settled without 4lane yanking his chain constantly.

you can't live with him, you can't live without him...that's our little wobble-head dog.

Comments

Colleen

Odd! Posts are missing from Mo and myself.

So, I'll repeat myself ( and hope my post doesn't weirdly appear and make me look like a nutbar )...thanks Renee for giving 4Lane the gift of being with you full time this weekend. What a wonderful gift you have given him.

Rae

What a wonderful gift you've given him a family and a home at the end of his journey.

Renee

I am so happy to be able to be with him on his last weekend. I went out and got him a pizza, some chicken and some pasta and he has been happily munching all weekend. Hes slept on the bed every night and has had hours of snuggling with me. I also got a dog tag with his name on it, even though he doesnt have much time left because I told him I was his home and dogs with families get tags. I think hes ready to go(even though im not ready to let him go). I took some pictures of his weekend that ill get nicole to post later. Just thought you guys would like an update on our little man.

Hillevi

I didn't realize he has been at SAINTS that long. How wonderful for him and, it seems, for every human around him. 4Lane will be missed.

Francesca Wilson

Dear Carol - as always so glad Four-lane was at SAINTS for his later life.
Just to say Marie and I will be out on Wednesday.
Take care
francesca

Mauro Salles

I found another, sad and beautiful.

November 9, 2008
four-lane
Filed under: Uncategorized — Carol @ 12:10 am

there is a sad dog asleep at the side of my bed.

his name is four-lane because he was found on a highway.

i asked the family today, does he have a sense of humour or is he a serious dog?

he is a serious dog said they.

the last few years have been hard for him, the old man was oftimes impatient.

he did not love this serious dog, he is glad four-lane has gone away.

i saw the tears well up in this man’s children’s eyes,

i think they were tears of regret.

regret that this sad and serious dog must now make his life here at saints.

i wonder tonight as i watch him sleep, does he feel my questioning gaze?

does it occur to he who began this journey long ago on an empty highway somewhere…

that he will be everything in the world to me?

welcome to saints little lad, i will always be here watching and pondering you.

and one day, i will know the light now hidden inside of you……i promise, it’s what i do.

Jenn

Here is the earliest post about him I can find ...
November 11, 2008
the gift
Filed under: Uncategorized — Carol @ 9:31 am

last night at bedtime…i got a tiny little gift.

a hop, a wag, a very brief smile from fourlane .

didn’t last long, just a quick glimpse before he settled to bed.

way to go little buddy, i hope to see more of you soon.

Jenn

I think Fourlane came to SAINTS in the Fall of 2008 ... so he has been at SAINTS for about a year and a half.