new saints

Saints welcomes hannah, a sweet 11 month old BC or aussiX. hannah came to us because of a congenital malformation, her bladder drains into her vaginal area, she is missing an urethra so she leaks urine. this is non repairable. hannah is a very sweet dog and she quickly became nova's best friend. i have to say with all of the oldies here, the youthful abandon of joyful and continuous play is a bit of a treat. i got such great pleasure watching nova and hannah playing catch me if you can and king of the castle on the shavings pile and romping and running thru the pond. last night at bedtime it was several hours of me getting jostled around as they wrestled and played bitey face on the bed. even alex eventually became tired of barking at them and climbed over top of me to squeeze into a safe spot on the very edge of the bed. i think even mystic and luna are somewhat grateful to hannah, nova finally has a young friend which gets them off the hook for entertaining her. they like me just get out of their way and let that youthful joyfulness wear itself out.

speaking of alex, he is doing so well. there is no doubt that he gets easily wound up and barks his fool head off. but he has a good and gentle soul and even tho he sounds quite vicious when chasing after nova and hannah, he is actually just playing...loudly. there has been absolutely no sign of aggression, he listens really well (as long as he isn't drowning me out with barking!) he is an affectionate and cuddly little guy with a bit of anxiety but the great thing about him is when he starts to feel overwhelmed, he comes to me for a shoulder massage to help him calm himself down. alex reminds me of the ADDH kid who wants everyone to love him but who actually annoys the shit out of everyone he comes in contact with. and the sad thing is these kids (and dogs) can feel that negative energy no matter how well we try to mask it. it just makes everything worse for them. it took me a long time to learn to really love the unlovable, the pain in the ass, the annoying as all get outs. but believe me when i say...when these irritating misfits begin to feel unconditional love and truly feel they have value..their world changes dramatically...for the better.

new dog arriving today from the north...apparently her name is Tay-Tay...i think we will just call her taylor. taylor is terrified of men and is a terrier mix about 8 yrs old. tammy and i are picking her up at YVR this evening.