…I had a great topic in mind that I’ll just have to write about it in another email. Right now, I have to stick with what’s honest and truthful in the moment: animals and my love for them.
My daughter and I have been looking for a German Shepherd pup/young dog to adopt. We’ve been looking for a month and it hasn’t happened yet.
I love dogs. Grew up with them. My Russian Grandfather came to visit us in 1977. During that visit, he helped his daughter (my mom) choose our first dog. I was 5 years old and I still remember that day. We bought an AKC German Shepherd and aptly named him Rex.
Rex was incredible. Loyal. Loving. Brave. Sweet. He used to take care of our deformed pigeon, Baby, that we rescued.
Yup, you read that right. The pigeon’s wings didn’t work. In fact, were it not for my love of pigeons and my mom’s love of all animals, Baby wouldn’t have survived. His mom kept kicking him out of his nest. We didn’t know and kept putting him back in. Then one day, I saw his mom push him out. Turns out the pigeon’s wings didn’t work. He couldn’t fly. At all. I named him Baby and he became our backyard pigeon pet.
Rex and Baby were buds. They used to hang out in the together. At night, Baby used to sleep curled up in Rex’s tail. During the day, he’d hop on Rex’s back and enjoy playtime in our backyard. When we took Rex to the park, he’d give Baby rides on his back.
You should have seen the looks we would get. A full size, gorgeous German Shepherd, running through the park with a pigeon clamped on his back. Baby would lift his deformed wings. I can only imagine it felt like he was flying.
Baby’s life didn’t end well.. but that’s for another story. Rex lived a full life. He died at age 11, peacefully, under a tree in our backyard. My parents were on vacation and I was trying to get Rex back in the house. I kept YELLING his name and just figured he was asleep. He was old. He had developed hip dysplasia and had been going deaf for some time. Finally went over to the tree, shook him and realized he was dead.
After Rex we adopted a shelter-found Cocker Spaniel we named Senya, then Masha, a German Shepherd mix from the North LA Animal Shelter, and then last year, Ellie – whom we found through our friends Jake and Sean, via the Westside German Shepherd Rescue. Ellie died this May, at 11 months old after a long battle with some unknown pathogen/tumor in her brain. She went through a battery of specialists at the VCA, tests, drugs and antibiotics. Nothing helped. No one had an answer for us. She died on May 9.
As you can tell, I’m a dog person. And a bird person. Ever since childhood, I’ve always had one or both.
It’s taken me almost 3 months to seriously look for another dog.
In the past, I’ve never had a problem finding a younger dog at a shelter. Something is different now. Not sure exactly what. I keep trying to get dogs that I think are good for us and one by one, it hasn’t happened. Today alone, we missed a dog by 4 minutes (traffic. Had to park 3 blocks away and arrived at the Humane Society South Bay 10:04am. Someone was already there with the dog we wanted.) Then we went to a high kill shelter in Carson and were denied 10 dogs by the staff… who believes that every single one wasn’t appropriate for younger children. These were dogs aged 6 months – 6 years and my daughter is 10YO. I was told by a rescue group that these shelters are afraid of getting sued and they tell that about almost every stray – “not good with young kids.”
We’re trying. And yes, you’re right — I can get one from a rescue. I have my own reasons why I prefer a shelter or the Humane Society. Maybe that’s my lesson. Don’t try and “save” a dog. Just get one that’s already been saved. (?)
Either that or it’s just not the right time.
In the meantime, this is what I’m learning: Give it my all and show my daughter that getting something you want takes effort and commitment.
My goal is for her to have the animal-fueled joy and laughter and memories that I did.
Have any fun animal stories you want to share? Send ’em over.
And the meditations – almost ready. I’ve recorded four. Need to pare them down. Or maybe I’ll just send out links to all….
Happy Weekend Y’all.
P.S. -New to this list or haven’t opened the last few and wondering – why the hell is she writing me about her animals? I contacted her for yoga or four doula services or for a handstand workshop (or whatevs)…it’s all good. Just unsubscribe at your Unsubscribe Link below.
I’m committing to one honest email/week. One email about me and my life and what I’m going through.
Eventually, I’ll have products to sell and I’ll ask you to buy them. But mostly, I want to share myself and share what I’m going through. Today’s email wasn’t as emotionally bare as my previous ones. They won’t all be emotional stunners…but they’ll be honest. Not prettified. Not fake. Not “hey look at me. Yoga has made my life perfect and it can make your life perfect, too.”
Yawn… boring. Perfection ain’t real, just like IG accounts filled with professional photos ain’t real, just like Reality TV ain’t real.
Real life is like birth. Messy. Juicy. Bloody. Hard. Mind blowing. A journey like no other. Real as real can be. Let’s re-birth ourselves, shall we? Let’s be real.
Happy Full Moon.
And if you’re in LA, dear God, stay cool. It’s freaking hot out here.
P.P.S. – I’m going to start putting up old emails up on my Blog. My blog emails will be at least 3-4 weeks behind what you get on this list.