Saturday 19 January 2008

Blogging

I've had a gmail account for years - it's about time I took advantage of the built in blog! And how about this: I found a template called "Tequila", my poison of choice heheheh!

So here I am... Lisa in Lower Sackville, NS. After 8.5 years together, my ex and I went our separate ways in 2004 and on May 31, I moved into MY first home that I purchased, in which to live in with Delta, a 2.5 year old Boxer mix, and kitties Judah and Kayzee.

My "first born" Duncan, a 4.5 year old Valley Bulldog (or Boxer/Bulldog for Lee Anne & Joan), remained with my ex. Thankfully, we'd remained friends and Duncan spent many weekends, even weeks with me over the next 2 years. In September 2006, Duncan came to stay for a few weeks and in October, my ex officially turned him over to me for good. Oh happy day!

The first summer in our home, Delta had a difficult time adjusting as she is a very timid, highly stressed girl. I'm so sure she was depressed, missing her papa and Duncan as well as the stress of a new environment. By the time August rolled around, I knew I needed to adopt a companion for her. Given that I work 5 days a week, I decided to adopt an adult dog (puppies need more time than I had for them). I also knew Delta was very good with small dogs, and so I decided that was where I would look.

Oscar, a 6 year old Lhasa Apso, blasted into our lives and they became great friends from get. Unfortunately, Oscar was obviously not cat-tested (and I have 2!) and the hatred showed immediately. Do I give him back, or do I give him the opportunity to acclimate? For Delta's sake, I decided to give him a chance to settle in. I was his third home in a very short period so this was as much for his sake as well. Well, this was one "old dog" that couldn't unlearn 6 years of bad habits. Here we are, 3.5 years later, and he will still attempt to kill the cats if given the opportunity.

In February 2005, I was called upon by my good friend Lee Anne, who had an urgent rescue situation for Boxer Rescue Canada. I was unsure how Delta would react with an adult female Boxer as she still preferred small dogs, but decided we could only try it and see how it goes. And there began my association with what would eventually become Boxer Rescue Atlantic Canada. More posts to come on my foster dogs over the past 3 years.

After only a year back together, my beautiful Duncan succumbed to a brain tumor on November 13, 2007. He would have been 8 years old on January 1, 2008.