circumstances sometimes force us to make decisions and change plans even though it may be very difficult and disappointing. this is what happened to ed and me. a lot of things that we had planned for early this year had to be postponed, disappointing both of us. one of those things was getting another rescue. after spending christmas with me crying over our postponements and being incredibly sad, ed agreed to get another rescue, even though he knew it wasn't the best time for us to do it and that it would stress him to no end. sometimes i don't recognize the sacrifices he makes for me and so under appreciate him.
i had looked on petfinder and found the dog i thought would be perfect for us. he was already neutered, young, about 50 lbs, and in desperate need of a home. he was living in the elbert county shelter - a small, rural shelter on the ga/sc border. i called them and they said he was still there, but very urgent. so...i drove to elberton and picked him up.
he is definitely a lovely dog - a lab mix that is sort of a seal color. his fur is very soft and he has these huge brown eyes that almost blend into his face. he's on the skinny side, but nothing like lily was! we'll see how he fits in.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Epilogue

Walking out their door and leaving Lily behind was the hardest thing I've had to do in a long time. Lily didn't understand why we were leaving but she wasn't. And even though I knew this was the perfect family for her -- even better than staying with us -- we couldn't make Lily understand that. All we could do was give her one last hug and kiss and make sure she didn't slip out the front door as we left.
We got a couple emails from her new mom:
Lily and her brother played some serious tug of war this morning and are chasing each other in the back yard right now. She has followed his lead with going to the bathroom outside and finally came into our bedroom this morning. She is definitely relaxing and becoming more and more comfortable.and the next day:
She had a good day today. I think she's gone into all the rooms, but hasn't stayed long in any but the front rooms and our bedroom. The dogs and kids are outside playing in the yard now.Meanwhile, our house is quieter than usual. Calvin seems a little sad and depressed. I have tried to play with him more in the evenings to cheer him up but he probably won't return to his old self until we bring another playful rescue home.
After talking on the way home, we decided we are going to wait a couple months to take in another rescue dog. With the stress of the holidays, relatives visiting in January and some very important personal events coming up, we think its best to wait a little bit before bringing another one home. But even when we have another dog in our house, we will never forget Lily and how 3 months with her brought us such happiness and joy.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
good news for lily

we met with lily's prospective adopters today at the dog park and they are perfect. :-) lily is going to a home with another dog who loves to play and is almost as submissive as she is! he reminded both ed and me of calvin. lily will love her new brother. her new human family couldn't be more perfect for her. she will have children to sleep and play with and parents who will love her and make sure she is well taken care of. she will be going to her new home tomorrow.
it's hard to say goodbye to lily. she has been such a wonderful addition to our home. knowing she will be in a home that will love her even more than we do is making it easier though. we will miss her. she has made a lasting impression on our home and will always have a special place in our hearts.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
new pictures of lily

it's amazing how far lily has come in such a short period of time. it doesn't seem like enough time has passed from the days of wondering if she was going to live to today, where she is running and wrestling and playing non-stop. what an amazing recovery she has made!! it reinforces for me how resilient and forgiving dogs can be.

we're continuing to work on lily's behavior and on house breaking. she's doing better, but she can't seem to sit still for very long if she thinks there may be a treat involved. she gets so excited and just has to dance! hahaha
Sunday, October 5, 2008
happiness is...
- watching dogs chase rabbits in their sleep
- seeing lily progress in health and emotional well being
- knowing our multi-species pack is continuing to bond and accept one another
i was sitting here watching lily and the cats today. they rub all over her and butt heads with her and she cleans and licks them. she is so good at accepting whatever comes her way. she hasn't tried at all to chase them or anything. she is fascinated with them, but in a very good way. she wants to play with them and be near them. on their parts, the cats have accepted lily and are loving on her like they do on calvin. they like having her lick them and are seeking her out for affection now. it's pretty cool. :-)
- seeing lily progress in health and emotional well being
- knowing our multi-species pack is continuing to bond and accept one another
i was sitting here watching lily and the cats today. they rub all over her and butt heads with her and she cleans and licks them. she is so good at accepting whatever comes her way. she hasn't tried at all to chase them or anything. she is fascinated with them, but in a very good way. she wants to play with them and be near them. on their parts, the cats have accepted lily and are loving on her like they do on calvin. they like having her lick them and are seeking her out for affection now. it's pretty cool. :-)
Saturday, October 4, 2008
the amazing recovery
lily has made what has to be the most amazing recovery ever. she is eating, gaining weight, playing, running around, just being a normal, happy dog. she loves our other dogs and has such a great time chasing them and trying to get to the balls before them. she is also quite the tug-of-war player. she is the best of the three at fetching and bringing the ball back as well. she will drop it right at your feet or stand next to you until you take it from her. she has an incredibly soft mouth.
lily and i are going to begin obedience training this week. she's incredibly smart so i think she will be a quick study. she already knows the hand signal for sit and is trying very hard to learn down. she gets so excited sometimes, however, that she just can't quite get it. :-)
i think lily was a dancer in another life because she loves to tap dance when she is happy. she will hop around on her front paws like she is tap dancing. very cute.
lily and i are going to begin obedience training this week. she's incredibly smart so i think she will be a quick study. she already knows the hand signal for sit and is trying very hard to learn down. she gets so excited sometimes, however, that she just can't quite get it. :-)
i think lily was a dancer in another life because she loves to tap dance when she is happy. she will hop around on her front paws like she is tap dancing. very cute.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
what lovely teeth you have
since she has been chewing on her nylabone, lily's teeth have lost all traces of tartar and build up. she has beautiful teeth!! we're guessing she is younger than previously thought since the build up came off so easily and her teeth look so good now.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
spaying, shots, etc
lily went to the lifeline animal project spay/neuter clinic today to be spayed. she got all her shots and was microchipped as well. she did really well and her incision looks fantastic!! if i didn't know she had had surgery, i would have never guessed as she isn't acting like she just had major surgery.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Dogs at the lake

We took our dog family to Lake Lanier yesterday. Amos and Calvin love going to the lake, but this was Lily's first trip. At first she didn't understand what was going on when we were loading up the car. When I tried to get her to come into the garage to get in the back of the Escape, Lily barked with excitement for the first time! Pretty incredible that we have had her for more than two weeks and hadn't heard her bark until then.

Friday, September 19, 2008
a different dog
since starting on the new antibiotics, lily has become a new dog!! she has her appetite back and is eating and wants to play some. she isn't coughing as much and her nose and eyes are looking much clearer!! i think she will be okay. :-)
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Some pics
Here are some pics of Lily taken on her first weekend with us:
http://picasaweb.google.com/loganvillerescue/Lily#
http://picasaweb.google.com/loganvillerescue/Lily#
First Thoughts on Seeing Lily
Ed here. When I came home that night and saw Lily in the bathtub, I didn't quite know what to think. We had talked about fostering another dog in the future but I wasn't expecting one so soon. Once she was out of the tub, I could see that Lily definitely needed help.
The first thing you notice about Lily is how skinny she is. On second thought, "skinny" isn't the right word. "Skeletal" would be a better choice. She is severely underweight. You can see all her ribs, every bump on her spine and her hip bones. When you pet her or pick her up, she feels just like a collection of bones in a bag made of skin. I don't want to think of how long she's been starving to get that way.
There are other signs that she's had a hard life -- some small scars on her face and head, a skin infection which has left her skin dry and flakey and her coat like straw, worms (which we found after the first vet visit), fleas and one particular huge tick.
Seeing her broke my heart. I knew that this dog desperately needed our help. It would be a long road to recovery for her but we would do all we could for her.
The first thing you notice about Lily is how skinny she is. On second thought, "skinny" isn't the right word. "Skeletal" would be a better choice. She is severely underweight. You can see all her ribs, every bump on her spine and her hip bones. When you pet her or pick her up, she feels just like a collection of bones in a bag made of skin. I don't want to think of how long she's been starving to get that way.
There are other signs that she's had a hard life -- some small scars on her face and head, a skin infection which has left her skin dry and flakey and her coat like straw, worms (which we found after the first vet visit), fleas and one particular huge tick.
Seeing her broke my heart. I knew that this dog desperately needed our help. It would be a long road to recovery for her but we would do all we could for her.
back to the vet...
i've been thinking we needed to take lily back to the vet, but ed thought we should wait a little bit and let the antibiotics kick in. when she stopped eating last night, he decided we should call this morning.
they told me to bring her in at 9:15. she was such a good girl again! they drew blood and gave her subcutaneous fluids, but lily didn't even flinch. her white cell count was high, indicating an infection, but everything else looked good. so, her internal organs are working and all of that is okay. she doesn't have parvo, either, which is really good!
the vet gave me an additional antibiotic to give to lily - this one should help the respiratory problems she is having. when i got her home, she looked a little better. i gave her some food and her pills and she kept it all down! she even wanted to eat which is a small miracle in itself!
myra
they told me to bring her in at 9:15. she was such a good girl again! they drew blood and gave her subcutaneous fluids, but lily didn't even flinch. her white cell count was high, indicating an infection, but everything else looked good. so, her internal organs are working and all of that is okay. she doesn't have parvo, either, which is really good!
the vet gave me an additional antibiotic to give to lily - this one should help the respiratory problems she is having. when i got her home, she looked a little better. i gave her some food and her pills and she kept it all down! she even wanted to eat which is a small miracle in itself!
myra
Saturday, September 13, 2008
we need a name
we finally decided to name the new dog lily. we named her just in time as she had to go to the vet. she has been coughing and vomiting so we decided to go ahead and take her in.
lily weighed 37.3 lbs. she's about 15 pounds underweight. her skin is flaky and her hair is so dry!! the vet said she has a skin infection and gave us antibiotics to help clear it up. she also gave us a wormer since lily has every parasite a dog can have. luckily, she does not have heartworm!
lily did GREAT at the vet! she didn't bark or cry or anything. what a good dog!! :-)
myra
lily weighed 37.3 lbs. she's about 15 pounds underweight. her skin is flaky and her hair is so dry!! the vet said she has a skin infection and gave us antibiotics to help clear it up. she also gave us a wormer since lily has every parasite a dog can have. luckily, she does not have heartworm!
lily did GREAT at the vet! she didn't bark or cry or anything. what a good dog!! :-)
myra
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
finding lily
i found new dog on wednesday, september 10th on my way home from work. she was standing by the side of the road looking scared, hungry and all alone. when i stopped to pick her up, she cringed away from me, shaking all over. i picked her up and put her in the back of the escape, all the while knowing i was doing the right thing, but wondering what the consequences would be.
when i got home, i let our other dogs outside, changed clothes and got new dog out of the car and into the bathtub. as soon as the water hit her, it turned orange from the clay mud that was all over her. as i lathered her up with shampoo, i realized that there wasn't an ounce of fat anywhere on her. she was, quite literally, skin and bones - a skeleton of a dog. all i could do at that point was cry for this poor dog and apologize to her for what someone had done to her.
as the water washed away the dirt, grime and fleas, i could feel the fear, anxiety and nervousness washing away as well. i think for the first time, new dog understood that she was safe - no one was going to hurt her, use her or allow her to suffer anymore. by the time her bath was over, it was new dog who has comforting me with soft, gentle licks on my cheek to stop the flow of tears.
myra
when i got home, i let our other dogs outside, changed clothes and got new dog out of the car and into the bathtub. as soon as the water hit her, it turned orange from the clay mud that was all over her. as i lathered her up with shampoo, i realized that there wasn't an ounce of fat anywhere on her. she was, quite literally, skin and bones - a skeleton of a dog. all i could do at that point was cry for this poor dog and apologize to her for what someone had done to her.
as the water washed away the dirt, grime and fleas, i could feel the fear, anxiety and nervousness washing away as well. i think for the first time, new dog understood that she was safe - no one was going to hurt her, use her or allow her to suffer anymore. by the time her bath was over, it was new dog who has comforting me with soft, gentle licks on my cheek to stop the flow of tears.
myra
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