Always late with your kisses...

I love my weekly visits to hug and kiss on Paolo, Rza, Sza and Cardi. Each week they get more and more adorable and share a bigger place in my heart. They've inspired my new Reunion Rescue newsletter to try and help dogs like the Bakersfield 4. Their story is so important. See, rescues like Reunion Rescue should be helping dogs like these four who needed trauma rehab with good people and experts who know what they're doing like Angela and Ruben. There are so many dogs in shelters right now who are there for no reason other than their owners dumping them. Those are adoptable dogs who can go straight into someone's forever home. Lots and lots of information and resources on the Reunion Rescue website to help pet owners and even more on the new newsletter. These four dogs are responsible for this effort. They are truly an inspiration. 

So, selfishly, I am anticipating the day when they will come to live with me and Scott here at Reunion Rescue. I daydream about walking them in the Greenbelt and showing them all the magic and wonders that make my world such a wonderful place. Like the two black-throated hummingbirds that were playing and flying above me the other day deep into the trail. Or the wild lantana that blooms in all the colors of the rainbow. There are spots that remind me of Golden Gate Park complete with the same smells. I can close my eyes and almost feel the ocean on my face, air conditioned by God like they say out there. 

But until then, each week it gets better and better. I can tell they're as happy to see me as I am to see them. I get out the pick axe and go to work on the weeds. It's easy to work up a sweat while doing so. And then I whip out my fur-a-lator and go to work on Paolo. Take a look at him! What a beauty he is. I don't think anybody's every brushed his coat. And he is so pleased, he struts around and lets me photograph him like he's posing for the cover of Dog Magazine. He is truly a superstar.

The little girls are so full of kisses, it reminded me of the old Lefty Frizzell song, so I'm including the video at the end of this blog post sung by Dwight Yoakam..the Bakersfield sound of course. I love them so much and think of them all during the week until it's time for another visit, daydreaming of them while I'm hiking the trail. 

                                                           Soundtrack Dwight Yoakam singing Always Late

What a glorious girly day with the Bakersfield 4

We had such a good time today. It was hot and sunny and lots of breakthroughs. Apollo who I'm calling Paolo with a huge bad Italian accent just got neutered Wednesday so he's still getting his sea legs back. Ruben was in Hesperia on a dog run and so it was Angela and me and Rza, Sza and Cardi B. Up until today, Rza who used to be Dorothy just stood looking at me and barking nonstop. I get it. She, like the others, has been hurt and abused very badly. I just tell her, it's okay. I know it's going to take a while. Just for her to take her time and we'll get to be friends sooner or later. Well today was a a very special day. Today she let me hug her and took treats from me. A big big moment for me. 

Also another thing happened...Apollo née Paolo learned to eat a cookie. That might not sound like big deal, but for me and Apollo dash Paolo..Paolo..it was huge. I had to gently hold him under the chin while he chewed and looked into my eyes. A very special time today. Each day they get more and more relaxed. Caty at the shelter had to take Rza and Sza out together as they were so bonded. Now that they're feeling secure in their new world, Rza is able to roam the yard like a little office manager, making sure everything's under control while Sza hangs out with sometimes Apollo and sometimes Cardi and sometimes wandering over to see what kinda cookies there are. She's a real cookie hound. Her thing is to take the cookie, eat it and the minute she's through, start barking at you.

And please sign up for the new Reunion Rescue newsletter - organizing to #savelives just like the Bakersfield 4. 

A lovely day....and the Bakersfield 4

It was a Bill Withers Lovely Day today. I got the pleasure of driving out to spend the day with the Bakersfield kids, Cardi B, Rza and Sza and brother, Apollo tha' Dog! What a gift and how lucky I am they came into my life. These four little broken souls are putting that awful past behind them and learning to be dogs, to smell the green grass and feel the warm sunshine on their coats. Everywhere is blue blue sky and it's so healing. They are in a wonderful place. A place where only love is allowed and real good food thanks to Healthy Pet Tomlinson's and Pet Wants. I wonder if the people at these awesome pet stores know the joy and good healing they are giving these dogs. Thank you so much.

After I got the food unloaded, I got to sit for a moment and catch up with my good friend Angela. She is the proprietor of the rescue where they're boarded. Angela has dedicated her life to saving dogs nobody else would give a chance to. There are so many animals who have great lives today thanks to her. She doesn't have 'angel' in her name by accident. And Ruben. These four adore him. He was busy doing electrical and plumbing work around the sanctuary today and every time he walked by, they dropped what they were doing to say 'hey!' Dogs have a long memory and Ruben is their soulmate for life. 

I sat quietly with them. They're still not quite used to me, so being still and quiet and letting them get to know me is my job. We have all the time in the world. I brought some really really good expensive peanut butter treats and also some Valentine tiny Milk Bones that were the bomb. The girl's really chomped on those and then they were like, 'ok, we'll give those ritzy peanut butter ones a try.' For the life of me, I couldn't get Apollo to take a treat. You know how dogs take something you offer them and don't really want it? He would take one in his mouth to be polite. I could tell. And he'd keep dropping it in the dirt. Finally, the peanut butter ones were soft, so I squished one in my palm and offered it to him. He began to lick it and I could tell he really liked it. When it was gone, I squished another one and he went to licking that one, too until it was gone. And again. Then it hit me. And I was sad. Apollo had never been offered a treat in his life. He didn't know what they even were. All he'd knows was meanness and beatings. I gave him a big hug and told him he could have all the cookies he wanted. All of them could. Just hold off a little until spay and neuter, so the price won't go up for the extra pounds. To help them with moving past their trauma and the torture they endured, my order from Robert McDowell arrived just in time. Two bottles of Animal Botanical arrived just in time for me to bring with me. There's enough for them to each get one dropperful into their food at night. The stuff is amazing and I get it for every incoming dog with issues to overcome.

Here are the photos from the most glorious day. I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Or better company. Again, I am super blessed. 

And please sign up for the new Reunion Rescue newsletter - organizing to #savelives just like the Bakersfield 4. 

 

 

Then I look at you
And the world's alright with me
Just one look at you
And I know it's gonna be
A lovely day 

 

 

 

 

Sunshine, lollipops, rainbows and hot dogs: the Bakersfield 4

Spent all day yesterday at the sanctuary with the Bakersfield 4. I had fun calling them by their new hip hop first names. Rza and Sza, Cardi B and Apollo tha' Dog! They looked at me like, "what???" But when Angela gave me some weiners to treat them with, it was all over with. Best friends...almost. Turn up your headphones and join me and the Bakersfield 4 on a glorious afternoon.

Apollo tha' Dog was the first to run over and make friends. The three girls weren't so quick to bond. That's ok. I know what they've been through. The Bakersfield Californian wrote a great article about our four survivors and feature the great video shot by Danny Spanks of KCAS Bakersfield Animal Shelter. 

I've changed their names from Dorothy and Indica, a pot name. Chiquita and Apollo. I believe in all dogs getting a new start which includes a new collar and a new name, a new leash on life. Dorothy now called Rza after the great poet and Wu Tang Klan founder, well she's got a lot to say, too. And said it all yesterday. I wish sometimes I could speak better 'dog' cuz boy, Miss Rza had a tale to tell. Her partner, formerly Indica. I've never liked naming dogs booze and drug names. It's disrespectful, so she is now called Sza after Solána Imani Rowe the recording artist from St. Louis MO whose current hit Kill Bill is in steady rotation over here at Reunion Rescue where the music plays for the dogs, birds and cats pretty much 24/7. Sza and Rza were plastered to one another in fear subject to the incredible abuse they suffered, but now they're beginning to let go and relax. They were wandering around, sniffing and getting into stuff all afternoon yesterday. It will be a nice thing to watch them become their own dogs and learn the softer side of living a good life, not waking up every day in terror of the next beating.

Yeah, I sang to the dogs and they looked at me funny. They didn't seem to mind. I sang a little bit of What a Wonderful World a la more Joey Ramone than Louis Armstrong. I can't always remember all the words to songs, so I make up verses that appeal to their interests. Or what I think they are thinking. Chiquita - now called Cardi B - and totally living up to her new name. She is little miss sass. Her likes the men folk most. By the end of my visit Cardi was coming around with the others and checking me out a little bit. That's ok. Take your time. I kept telling them they didn't have to be best friends now, but they're gonna learn how much I love them and we're going to be comrades. They have good long lives to get busy living.

Apollo tha Dog! was from the first ready to party. He jumped right out of the SUV the other day and commenced to sniffing and getting to know his new home. For a dog who's been beat in the face over and over with a baseball bat to make that kind of transformation and to trust his new humans is nothing short of miraculous. These dogs are good dogs and they deserve a good life.

Thank you much to Angela and Ruben who run the sanctuary and give their lives to dogs like our four and many others. Their place is dog heaven on earth, home to many pets who had nowhere else to go and no one to care for them. It is filled with wonder.

And please sign up for the new Reunion Rescue newsletter - organizing to #savelives just like the Bakersfield 4. 

two drifters, off to see the world ...
there's such a lot of world to see ...
we're after the same rainbow's end ...
waitin' 'round the bend ...
my huckleberry friend ...
Moon river and me