NEW BEGINNINGS: A year ago November, we adopted a senior cattle dog at your shelter. She was 9-1/2 years old at the time and had been waiting for a home since the previous June. I visited “Matilda” three times that week - to chase balls in the long pen out back and talk with the folks there at the shelter about her. She was owner surrender and no one knew much about her. They thought she was incontinent. She had bad teeth. But her enthusiasm for life and her athleticism was so obvious. She just had that innate joy that I’ve come to know raising several (shelter adopted) cattle dogs since the 1980s. Our cattle dog, Gibson, joined me on one of the visits to your shelter and the two got along just great. They still do. Turned out she was free because she was a senior dog and I was 59 (which I don’t think is very senior!) so we donated $100 to the shelter as thanks for taking her in. We drove straight to our vet who did a senior workup on her and she was declared very healthy, just a little arthritis in one toe. She’s since had dental work to remove abscessed teeth and to clean the others. It wasnt clear if Matilda was ever her name, but she immediately responded to being called Fiona. So we named her Fiona Blue. And her adventures began. She spent Christmas playing in snow in Boulder, Colorado, and this past summer she went back and hiked in the gentler lower parts of the Flatirons. Here in Austin, she joins us at the parks and walking trails – and enjoys walks in the wild areas around our house and neighborhood. Because both of our dogs are rescues, we avoid kenneling them. They either go with us on our travels or we have a friend stay with them at the house. Smart, gentle, opinionated, and always up for Frisbee, Fiona Blue has brought such joy to this house – and were grateful you took her in so we could find her. She is a testament to the glory of senior pets. Like us, they have lived a long life and, now in their prime, they still have a lot left to bring to a home. Love. Wisdom. Joy. I just thank my lucky stars every day that Fiona’s previous owner took her to your shelter and gave us the chance to bring her home and love her like crazy, for the rest of her life. Many thanks to everyone there for doing what they do there to ensure a happy ending for so many loving, deserving animals. Thank YOU for adopting Fiona Blue!
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 17:30:00 +0000
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