Troutbirder II

Troutbirder II
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Friday, June 26, 2020

Chapter 1 Lily's rescue and naming 2012

Lily's rescue. As you all know now Lily is my house dog. But the story didn't begin that way. It's a story of survival which involves a very young female German Shepherd. First I will introduce the dogs rescuer. Her name is Jewel and she and her husband Steve became very good friends of the Troubirders.... 



Jewel narrates the story "We didn’t want a dog! But, one April morning as I was walking out to get our mail, as I turned, I saw a skinny, dirty German shepherd behind me. I looked at her and asked, “Who are you?” I wasn’t sure if I should be afraid or not. No collar. No sound. No approach. I said, “Sit!” and she sat. I asked my husband, Steve, if. . . and his only words were, “We don’t want a dog.” The next day we still had a dog so it was time to ask around.
Our neighbor at the bottom of Norse Road said he had been watching her for 2 weeks. Every night she would go back to a certain spot by the river, lie down. and wait. No body came. He didn’t want to feed her because he didn’t want a dog.
The second day at our place I gave her some food. She became my dog from that moment on.

Steve said, “Now that YOU have a dog. I think she should stay outside. If anybody comes looking, she’s leaving” When nobody came, we took her to the vet. It was a small investment including a wellness check-up, shots-rabies & dystemper, spading, heartworm, flea and tick medicine and food. Our friends, Ray & Barb Potthoff, have a German shepherd, Baron, and they thought she would be a perfect dog for our farm. They even gave us a little doghouse and they were happy we adopted a German shepherd. They thought maybe our dogs could be friends but our dog wanted nothing to do with other dogs in her space.
Since she came at Eastertime and since she was mostly blond with black, I decided to name her Lily. It took about two weeks but one day when I fed her, she wagged her tail. Lily has been with us for 2 years now. She has a good home, is fed once a day, is not mistreated, and feels safe. She has space to run, she goes to the bathroom way out in the pasture, and lays mostly by the entrance step. She patrols our yard, guards our door, and loves my attention. If I am outside, I am always in her sight.
About 14 years ago, our daughter, Megan, bought a 4-month old black pigmy goat. Three years ago, Megan got married but Geno, her goat, stayed on the farm. Lily, the dog, picks fights with Geno, the goat. They are about the same size but Geno has threatening horns . Lily pursues the battle but Geno mostly walks away from the annoying dog.
Lily’s biggest fault is that she barks at night. Her ears hear all sort of sounds in the woods across the road so she wears a bark collar most nights. There are times when our lives would be easier without a dog but Lily has
wiggled her way into our hearts and she will stay as long as we live here.

As most of you know Steve passed on do to pancreatic cancer and Jewell lives close to her daughter and grandchildren in northern Minnesota. Now it's just me and my best buddy Lily. She's now nearly deaf and so am I. Neither of us chase squirrels up trees any more and take long naps in the afternoon. Obviously  we make a good team and no doubt share memories of those who loved us past.






19 comments:

  1. animals give us back 10x what we can give them, i think. glad she found your friends' hearts...

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  2. I think she ended up in a good place! Very nice and heart-warming story. Thank you for sharing with us.

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  3. Too bad Lily and Baron are not friends. It is wonderful that she has a good home..makes you wonder what the before the rescue story was. Sometimes things are just meant to be:)

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  4. We have a rescue dog too. He's one of the best we have ever had. Great story!!

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  5. I was also hoping she and Baron would hit it off. I will never understand the mentality of a person who will abandon a dog. This story has a lovely ending.

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  6. So nice to hear that she found a wonderful, loving home. Animals are really at the mercy of the humans that will love them and take the time to care for them.

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  7. Nice story. I wonder what drew her to the river? Lily is a lucky dog and her new family is lucky to have her. Well, excepting Geno.

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  8. This is a wonderful story -- thanks for sharing it with us.

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  9. Dear Troutbirders,

    I am a sucker for any animal that is lost or hurt. Though I am still nursing wounds from the loss of my German Shepherd dog Una (who I rescued), I know that I would've done exactly what you did. Lily is a treasure. It is as though a rescued dog feels gratitude. Oops, sorry to get sentimental here.

    Thank you for this wonderful posting. I loved it.

    Sharon Lovejoy Writes from Sunflower House and a Little Green Island

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  10. I am always highly interested in reading success stories for GSDs! Such a wonderful breed of animal......

    Jane

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  11. Such a happy story -- made me smile this morning. Thank you for sharing, Ray. :)

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  12. She is a good rescue! You have a good friend there! :)

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  13. Hi Ray - she found the right place to live and obviously was happy ... lovely to read - all the best - Hilary

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  14. The best dogs have the best stories.

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  15. How lucky Lily was that she found such a loving new home with a goat and another dog (even he wasn’t as interested in her!). Don’t you wish she could talk so she could tell you the story of her life before she found her way to you???

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  16. This is a good time to relect on past events in our lives. Thanks for bringing this one back.

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