I am a retired old guy that lives in the Sierra Nevada/Cascade foothills. It is more then rolling land, closer term is mountainous. There are communities here and there, with private forests used for lumber harvesting. I hike my dogs daily in these mountains. One day in October 2007 in the late afternoon I heard a mournful howl coming from a near by peak. It was of a dog in distress. I could not follow through with looking for it, as the area was remote and the light was dwindling. So I decided to return the next day but that proved to no avail, as the howling had stopped and the area was very large. I talked to the people living closest to the area, but nothing.
Approximately two months later on Christmas Eve day 2007, I was hiking as usual on the road past the residential land and went along the side of the mountain into the forested area. I had just gotten out of the car and the dogs ran off up a side trail above me. Looking up and into the morning sun I saw a stray dog. I called my dogs back to the Jeep and put them inside, then walked up the side trail to approach the dog, but it was gone. It had gone down the hill to my car. The stray wanted to be with my dogs. He was so pathetic, his coat was in dreg locks and his eyes were caked with puss, weeping and sunken. As I reproached him he again went down the hill away from me and stopped. I called and he would try and focus on me, but I could see he was mostly blind. I could not follow because of the steepness of the land and the brush. I left to get food and water. When I returned he was gone.
Christmas day I went back up to look for him. As I approached the last homes on that road there he was in the road. He was drawn from the mountain to the sounds of dogs. I was able to feed and water him, But he was not having anything to do with me touching him or putting a noose on him etc. But he drank and ate as much as I could give him. I left to find a cell signal and called the first home to tell them, that he was on their property. But they were leaving for Christmas Dinner elsewhere. I returned to the dog, scared he had moved back up the road and into the brush. I then went to the second home and told them the dog was on their property and if he came down to call me. The morning after Christmas I got a call and went to pick him up. They had him in a pen where they would keep their dogs. He ran away from me but he was gentle yet fearful. I scooped him up and took him home.
He was a mess. I cleaned 48 large ticks from him. Cut the dreg locks from him and took him to the vet two days after Christmas. The poor fellow was blind in one eye and partially in the other. He was so skittish and frightened of me, of noises, of movement around him. But slowly he would hear my voice and his tail would wag and he would be joyful. This dog after a minimum of two months lost in a mountain lion infested woods, after suffering freezing rain and no or little water and no food managed to find joy. When his heart found and expressed this joy, so did mine. I was told to take the dog to the pound, but all I could do was to think about how I could stop him from going totally blind. How can I get the fear from him and patch up the injury to his soul. My mind could not imagine how he was abused or why anyone would have allowed this to happen. But that was the past and now is the start of his future.
The first miracle was him finding me and me finding him, but the next miracle was me finding Northwest Airedale Terrier Rescue, Coordinator Connie Turner, Salem, Oregon, at their website: http://www.nwairedalerescue.org/ .
Connie gave me hope from the first conversation; this dog would have a better life and would find some type of medical help to, if not restore, to arrest the degeneration of his sight. Within days I found myself driving north from my home toward Connie and her friend, who were driving from the Salem OR area.
I put the dog in her car and could see even though it was stressed it was in the best of care. He needs a home where there is consistent love and maybe another canine friend to will be with him through his years. Rex needs are many. His joy of life will bring reward to his future handler.
For the life of me, I do not understand how this young mostly blind dog managed to move from one mountain to another in two months surrounded by mountain lions, freezing cold and with out water or food, then come to me and have this internal joy for living.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Rex enjoys riding with his seat belt buckled
It gives him a sense of security, he sits up and relaxes during the ride, listening intently.
He leans his head up against the headrest and grooves, knows he’s in for a quality walk when we stop.
He stays seated patiently until I release his shoulder harness. That’s how he knows we have reached our destination.
I’m learning a lot about the world of blind dogs and of blindness, getting some great exercise in the bargain.
We’ve spent some amount of time nearly every day during the past week exploring the trails in and near Forest Park.
He loves it all. You would never know he was blind, the way he leads me up and down these trails.
Walking him is a lot like guiding a horse, sending signals left or right through the leash, highly interactive, working the slack, occasionally having to use the emergency brake.
I’ve fallen a little behind in posting recent photos, will get caught up over the next several days.
Rex says “Arf. Woof.”
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Haircut Boy
Rex got his summer cut on Friday, with temperatures in the 90's.
Here is Haircut Boy in Forest Park.
He's a little goofy about a little standard poodle he met up here last week, got himself fixed up in case he gets lucky, finds her again.
Nicki, his groomer at Petco, put the scarf on him.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Meeting Rex for the first time
I'm adopting Rex, this beautiful Airedale puppy dog.
We met online, through Northwest Airdale Rescue. It was love at first sight.
We met in person/dog for the first time today (Tuesday Feb 5).
He is lucky to be alive. Lost for months in the mountains near Chico, California, starving and blind, he was rescued on Christmas Day.
The man who saved him from the mountains and the mountain lions took him to Connie and Gordon Turner, aka Northwest Airedale Rescue, who are nursing him back into health.
We're giving him some time to get used to me and his new home over the next few weeks, and then he'll be with me for good. You'll want to read the story of his rescue:
Here's the link to Northwest Airdale Rescue:
Here's the link to Rex's story:http://www.nwairedalerescue.org/info/file?file=s1385m3263.doc
The Story of Rex
I am a retired old guy that lives in the Sierra Nevada/Cascade foothills. It is more then rolling land, closer term is mountainous. There are communities here and there, with private forests used for lumber harvesting. I hike my dogs daily in these mountains. One day in October 2007 in the late afternoon I heard a mournful howl coming from a near by peak. It was of a dog in distress. I could not follow through with looking for it, as the area was remote and the light was dwindling. So I decided to return the next day but that proved to no avail, as the howling had stopped and the area was very large. I talked to the people living closest to the area, but nothing.
Approximately two months later on Christmas Eve day 2007, I was hiking as usual on the road past the residential land and went along the side of the mountain into the forested area. I had just gotten out of the car and the dogs ran off up a side trail above me. Looking up and into the morning sun I saw a stray dog. I called my dogs back to the Jeep and put them inside, then walked up the side trail to approach the dog, but it was gone. It had gone down the hill to my car. The stray wanted to be with my dogs. He was so pathetic, his coat was in dreg locks and his eyes were caked with puss, weeping and sunken. As I reproached him he again went down the hill away from me and stopped. I called and he would try and focus on me, but I could see he was mostly blind. I could not follow because of the steepness of the land and the brush. I left to get food and water. When I returned he was gone.
Christmas day I went back up to look for him. As I approached the last homes on that road there he was in the road. He was drawn from the mountain to the sounds of dogs. I was able to feed and water him, But he was not having anything to do with me touching him or putting a noose on him etc. But he drank and ate as much as I could give him. I left to find a cell signal and called the first home to tell them, that he was on their property. But they were leaving for Christmas Dinner elsewhere. I returned to the dog, scared he had moved back up the road and into the brush. I then went to the second home and told them the dog was on their property and if he came down to call me. The morning after Christmas I got a call and went to pick him up. They had him in a pen where they would keep their dogs. He ran away from me but he was gentle yet fearful. I scooped him up and took him home.
He was a mess. I cleaned 48 large ticks from him. Cut the dreg locks from him and took him to the vet two days after Christmas. The poor fellow was blind in one eye and partially in the other. He was so skittish and frightened of me, of noises, of movement around him. But slowly he would hear my voice and his tail would wag and he would be joyful. This dog after a minimum of two months lost in a mountain lion infested woods, after suffering freezing rain and no or little water and no food managed to find joy. When his heart found and expressed this joy, so did mine. I was told to take the dog to the pound, but all I could do was to think about how I could stop him from going totally blind. How can I get the fear from him and patch up the injury to his soul. My mind could not imagine how he was abused or why anyone would have allowed this to happen. But that was the past and now is the start of his future.
The first miracle was him finding me and me finding him, but the next miracle was me finding Northwest Airedale Terrier Rescue, Coordinator Connie Turner, Salem, Oregon, at their website: http://www.nwairedalerescue.org/ .
Connie gave me hope from the first conversation; this dog would have a better life and would find some type of medical help to, if not restore, to arrest the degeneration of his sight. Within days I found myself driving north from my home toward Connie and her friend, who were driving from the Salem OR area.
I put the dog in her car and could see even though it was stressed it was in the best of care. He needs a home where there is consistent love and maybe another canine friend to will be with him through his years. Rex needs are many. His joy of life will bring reward to his future handler.
For the life of me, I do not understand how this young mostly blind dog managed to move from one mountain to another in two months surrounded by mountain lions, freezing cold and with out water or food, then come to me and have this internal joy for living.
I am a retired old guy that lives in the Sierra Nevada/Cascade foothills. It is more then rolling land, closer term is mountainous. There are communities here and there, with private forests used for lumber harvesting. I hike my dogs daily in these mountains. One day in October 2007 in the late afternoon I heard a mournful howl coming from a near by peak. It was of a dog in distress. I could not follow through with looking for it, as the area was remote and the light was dwindling. So I decided to return the next day but that proved to no avail, as the howling had stopped and the area was very large. I talked to the people living closest to the area, but nothing.
Approximately two months later on Christmas Eve day 2007, I was hiking as usual on the road past the residential land and went along the side of the mountain into the forested area. I had just gotten out of the car and the dogs ran off up a side trail above me. Looking up and into the morning sun I saw a stray dog. I called my dogs back to the Jeep and put them inside, then walked up the side trail to approach the dog, but it was gone. It had gone down the hill to my car. The stray wanted to be with my dogs. He was so pathetic, his coat was in dreg locks and his eyes were caked with puss, weeping and sunken. As I reproached him he again went down the hill away from me and stopped. I called and he would try and focus on me, but I could see he was mostly blind. I could not follow because of the steepness of the land and the brush. I left to get food and water. When I returned he was gone.
Christmas day I went back up to look for him. As I approached the last homes on that road there he was in the road. He was drawn from the mountain to the sounds of dogs. I was able to feed and water him, But he was not having anything to do with me touching him or putting a noose on him etc. But he drank and ate as much as I could give him. I left to find a cell signal and called the first home to tell them, that he was on their property. But they were leaving for Christmas Dinner elsewhere. I returned to the dog, scared he had moved back up the road and into the brush. I then went to the second home and told them the dog was on their property and if he came down to call me. The morning after Christmas I got a call and went to pick him up. They had him in a pen where they would keep their dogs. He ran away from me but he was gentle yet fearful. I scooped him up and took him home.
He was a mess. I cleaned 48 large ticks from him. Cut the dreg locks from him and took him to the vet two days after Christmas. The poor fellow was blind in one eye and partially in the other. He was so skittish and frightened of me, of noises, of movement around him. But slowly he would hear my voice and his tail would wag and he would be joyful. This dog after a minimum of two months lost in a mountain lion infested woods, after suffering freezing rain and no or little water and no food managed to find joy. When his heart found and expressed this joy, so did mine. I was told to take the dog to the pound, but all I could do was to think about how I could stop him from going totally blind. How can I get the fear from him and patch up the injury to his soul. My mind could not imagine how he was abused or why anyone would have allowed this to happen. But that was the past and now is the start of his future.
The first miracle was him finding me and me finding him, but the next miracle was me finding Northwest Airedale Terrier Rescue, Coordinator Connie Turner, Salem, Oregon, at their website: http://www.nwairedalerescue.org/ .
Connie gave me hope from the first conversation; this dog would have a better life and would find some type of medical help to, if not restore, to arrest the degeneration of his sight. Within days I found myself driving north from my home toward Connie and her friend, who were driving from the Salem OR area.
I put the dog in her car and could see even though it was stressed it was in the best of care. He needs a home where there is consistent love and maybe another canine friend to will be with him through his years. Rex needs are many. His joy of life will bring reward to his future handler.
For the life of me, I do not understand how this young mostly blind dog managed to move from one mountain to another in two months surrounded by mountain lions, freezing cold and with out water or food, then come to me and have this internal joy for living.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
