Thursday, November 3, 2011

In praise of great love .....

I love making cinnamon buns on a chilly day!   What's not to love!   The delicious fragrance that fills the house?   Being able to warm up with a yummy treat out of the oven?   Best of all of course is that after all these years, my recipe is a familiar old friend that it is easy and foolproof!
To be perfectly honest, one of the best bits about being fifty seven is that there are fewer life lessons that need to be learned the hard way!  
After one shot at scrubbing a sticky cinnamon bun pan, I have never again forgotten to pick up parchment paper!   It only took one session of scooping a three hundred foot lane out after an early surprise snowstorm to remember to always have gas in the jug for the perfectly serviceable snowblower. 
I am a middle aged grandmother, not a professional dog trainer ... but over the years I have learned a thing or two from every dog I have ever shared space with.
I had never heard about crate training until going to a good breeder for my lab puppy all those years ago.  She wouldn't let him leave the yard until I bought a crate and she was confident that I understood how it worked.
I found out first hand what an easy fit adopting a senior pet was from Scamp. McG taught me about terriers.  
Did that mean that I was an old hand by the time I adopted Ben?  Of course not!  Ben had lived his whole life in an outdoor pen in Newfoundland and it was clear that I was going to have to do my homework before bringing him home.
Happily there is no shortage of good information out there on rehabilitating chained and penned dogs.   It gave me the confidence I needed to make his first days here easier and get him off on the right paw.
Did that make me an expert?  Of course not!   I would run out of fingers and toes to list all the lessons learned since Miss Ruby and Henry came in the door.    Truth be told, that has only made them all the more precious and dear to me :)
Mind you, Andy and Rascal reinforced what I already knew ... that adopting a senior pet is a great way to embrace the love without the sleepless nights.
Last month, there was a puppy mill seizure in New Brunswick.   As part of the new partnership between Atlantic Canadian SPCA's, the Nova Scotia SPCA will be bringing in approximately forty of these little purebred dogs to care for and prepare for adoption.
The society is asking interested adopters to fill in adoption applications at their local branch.  This will not be a journey for everyone.   These little dogs are unaccustomed to the joys of domestic bliss.   They are only beginning to discover that a human hand can offer a kind and gentle touch.
Many of them will relate well to other dogs, but have never been given a reason to give their trust and love to a human.
Adopting one of them will be a very special and rewarding journey for the kind hearts willing to go the extra mile.  
If one has never adopted a puppy mill survivor before, there is a wonderful and informative action kit available on the subject in the Best Friends' resource library.
What time is it?   It is always time to pull out all the stops to set everyone up for success!
We can do no great things, only small things with great love. Mother Teresa

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