Jest Another Day in Pear-A-Dice - Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm in Alberta

[CanuckBock]

I've been trying to get @Sharps Big 50 to make me cookies for days....I have bad cookie karma...
yep my sleep pattern is so erratic and constantly in different time zones

I have bad cookie habits too...I try to make them as healthy as possible (substitute some brown sugar for some of the white death) as I often find myself reaching for a KOOKie instead of stopping for a proper lunch.

No worries on the sleep issues (well OK, not happy on that as it is not quite right not to get a restful sleep!)

Forty percent of Canucks suffer from some sorta sleeping disorder.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110908104005.htm:

I'm not good in shelters either... 8 cats can attest to that... And 28 "inherited" chickens...
Most ( all but one, my Australian Shepard who I bought from a breeder who kept his dogs in horrid conditions ) of my dogs have been strays...

Yeh, I STAY away from shelters unless I need to come home with something forlorn and needy. Sigh. Giving is good but so is saying rightfully that "I have things of my own I want to attend to!"

I don't get all hung up on the "well you hafta take up what other humans ruined" because you can spend your entire life mopping up the messes. I probably have a tad too many years IN rescue.

I did a real about face the one time I fostered an ACD rescue and got her all fixed up to be adopted. Yes, we found her an excellent home BUT (big one!) not before she lashed out and bit my sweet Makins on the ear the first day we brought her here. Blood dripping down Makey Make's face and there my lil' Boo dog Makins is nose bonking her right back..."Behave! behave! BEHAVE!" in dog speak. Yeh, then I really started to wake up and realize...it was not just me that was putting myself out there when rescuing dogs...but I was putting the whole show on the line and making everyone pay the risks (and rewards...but how so, reward was to work at placing them...we never really did get to see the dogs in their new homes having a happy life too often) to help others.

I like the saying, "charity begins at home."

Oh oops... Think I might have ruffled a few feather earlier... Sorry about that. I think I was trying to say that there are dog breeds out there that I know *I* am not right for... Not that they're bad dogs.
I've spent time with different breeds and have found that there are some I really like and some that I know wouldn't be right for our family just because of our expectation's, tolerances, and what we can actually offer a dog as far as training, consistancy and for a working dog a fulfilling job...

Heavens NO Northie...ACDs are very BAD dogs for some people to have. No ruffled feathers here unless you count on me being fluffed up for the insulative qualities being outside and all! Burrr....

I would far rather people not get an ACD because they realized the combination is not going to be a good one! Truth be known, I would rather an animal is humanely put down (not a happy part but a reality!) than have it spend on second making itself miserable or others. Lotta damage an ACD can do, eh! Lotta good too.

Gotta laugh because I am the first one to call them BAD dogs...they can be nightmares...and angels. Just ask Fancy Fix?

The key is for all to be happy...happy happy happy and I know you will pursue happiness with a vengeance and make the best decisions on the dog for the family...that's a given!

Getting guilted into a situation is the worst because one cannot help but feel nasty towards having to do something you got pushed into doing. Free will = true happiness!

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[perchie.girl]

Oh oops... Think I might have ruffled a few feather earlier... Sorry about that. I think I was trying to say that there are dog breeds out there that I know *I* am not right for... Not that they're bad dogs.
I've spent time with different breeds and have found that there are some I really like and some that I know wouldn't be right for our family just because of our expectation's, tolerances, and what we can actually offer a dog as far as training, consistancy and for a working dog a fulfilling job...

Not ruffled here.... we each have a lifestyle and not all dogs are suited to the same lifestyle. Me I am 59 and get about with a walker... Arthritis... But I have a horse and can raise chickens.... I need a dog thats willing to be with me and come when I call just to check on their whereabouts. No matter what they are doing at the time. I have eighteen acres my neighbot has twenty and beyond that is BLM land and beyond that is Mexico....

So A dog to bark and not be taken by a coyote would be good. and that I can bring in and cuddle with at night.... if its cold or sleep on their own bed if its not. Rosie will be hard to replace for me... not expecting to but expecting the next lost soul that needs a good home and a pack leader that is fair.

deb

 

[Amberjem]

 

[Northie]

Wow, reading about how its not just yourself your're putting on the line when you rescue, its the whole show hit home... Our last 2 rescues left quite a sad mark on us and I think I'm done with rescuing until the kids are grown if ever at all.

The puppy we found, sick, crying, covered in parasites and infection went straight to the vet and didn't even come home. On top of all the other things causing her suffering she had distemper. So we paid to have her put down, that was an expensive bill for an animal that wasn't even ours.

Then we found a very sorry, sad little kitten that looked half dead. Brought him home (kept him isolated) fed him, babbied him and he looked like he was going to come around. The kids fell in love with him. The only warning that something wasn't right that we got was the way he would pause after he jumped off of something just for a second. His last day he jumped off the bed and stumbled a bit, my hubby scooped him up and put him in the bathroom where he was getting fed and by the time he got back with food our little kitten was down. We rushed him to the vet but there was no chance of saving him. The look on the vets face when he listened to his heart said "wow" he was amazed this little guy was ever able to run around, play and do things like jump off the bed. He had a massive heart defect. Nothing we could do but end his pain, and then face the kids.... That was it I can't do it again.

I can take a loss, suffer and grieve, justify that both of these animals would have died alone, nameless and suffering and that the short life they had with us even if it hurt to loose them was better than nothing. I can't do it to the again though. Or current kitten, we paid a small fee for and was vet checked and healthy before he came home.

 

[perchie.girl]

I had only one failure He never tried to bond with us.... He destroyed my house..... literally. I was his sixth owner.... couldn't keep him contained in a yard... Killed my four hens... He would go through welded wire or dry wall and climb a six foot chain link fence.... I had him humanely put down.

I vowed to never fail again by choosing wisely and going through a Vetting process. My next dog was a Greyhound.

deb

 

[hennible]

I've only had one failure also Deb. Blood Hound German Shepherd Cross named Duke who was on his fourth home when he got to me at nine months old. I completely vetted him out...Got his shots up-to-date, got him neutered.
He was 103 pounds, beautiful dog, sweetest personality... no recall training, no leash training and I tried but I was about 7-8 months pregnant when I got him, and I just could not teach him, when he pulled he actually pulled my pelvis out of position ( old Treeplanting injury ) my crazy but awesome neighbor who I love let me take them up to the farm and run him but I just couldn't keep up with him and the lack of exercise started to make him aggressive ( he got one of my hens and snarled at my young nephew etc ) I brought him to a no kill rehabilitation and rescue center he went through one more home before he found his forever home and it still brings a tear to my eye that it failed him... But I've kept up with his story through the center's website and he has a good man now, and forever homes that loves him... My next dog was my Ozzie.

Duke and my oldest son

 

[perchie.girl]

I've only had one failure also Deb. Blood Hound German Shepherd Cross named Duke who was on his fourth home when he got to me at nine months old. I completely vetted him out...Got his shots up-to-date, got him neutered.
He was 103 pounds, beautiful dog, sweetest personality... no recall training, no leash training and I tried but I was about 7-8 months pregnant when I got him, and I just could not teach him, when he pulled he actually pulled my pelvis out of position ( old Treeplanting injury ) my crazy but awesome neighbor who I love let me take them up to the farm and run him but I just couldn't keep up with him and the lack of exercise started to make him aggressive ( he got one of my hens and snarled at my young nephew etc ) I brought him to a no kill rehabilitation and rescue center he went through one more home before he found his forever home and it still brings a tear to my eye that it failed him... But I've kept up with his story through the center's website and he has a good man now, and forever homes that loves him... My next dog was my Ozzie.

Duke and my oldest son

But you didnt fail the dog.... you searched out and found someone who would work with him and eventually rehome him to his forever home.

 

[CanuckBock]

A salad last night...gotta have some greens!​

Quote:
Originally Posted by Northie

Wow, reading about how its not just yourself your're putting on the line when you rescue, its the whole show hit home... Our last 2 rescues left quite a sad mark on us and I think I'm done with rescuing until the kids are grown if ever at all.

The puppy we found, sick, crying, covered in parasites and infection went straight to the vet and didn't even come home. On top of all the other things causing her suffering she had distemper. So we paid to have her put down, that was an expensive bill for an animal that wasn't even ours.

Then we found a very sorry, sad little kitten that looked half dead. Brought him home (kept him isolated) fed him, babbied him and he looked like he was going to come around. The kids fell in love with him. The only warning that something wasn't right that we got was the way he would pause after he jumped off of something just for a second. His last day he jumped off the bed and stumbled a bit, my hubby scooped him up and put him in the bathroom where he was getting fed and by the time he got back with food our little kitten was down. We rushed him to the vet but there was no chance of saving him. The look on the vets face when he listened to his heart said "wow" he was amazed this little guy was ever able to run around, play and do things like jump off the bed. He had a massive heart defect. Nothing we could do but end his pain, and then face the kids.... That was it I can't do it again.

I can take a loss, suffer and grieve, justify that both of these animals would have died alone, nameless and suffering and that the short life they had with us even if it hurt to loose them was better than nothing. I can't do it to the again though. Or current kitten, we paid a small fee for and was vet checked and healthy before he came home.

It's OK Dear...we give what we are able but yeh...sometimes you end up giving more than you expected...it simply hurts.

Stog's story is long and on my website, the dog one. Post a little portion of it here...

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/ranchrat/index.html

ACD Articles page; Stoggar A Story on Rescue:

Uh yeh...this is why I don't DO Shelters...How could anyone walk out and abandon those pleading eyes in the Shelter??​

I condone rescue, if you are not breeding dogs, not having to have a purebred and registered DOG...why not BUT you also may have to take on all the baggage and abuse the animal had to endure, if'n that is what happened to the beast. You have to make it right so there can be work to do. I see no reason why people should not take in a needy animal, but one should not go into it blind either...don't dupe the givers or guilt them into taking on a challenge and set them up to fail.

Quote:
Originally Posted by perchie.girl

I had only one failure He never tried to bond with us.... He destroyed my house..... literally. I was his sixth owner.... couldn't keep him contained in a yard... Killed my four hens... He would go through welded wire or dry wall and climb a six foot chain link fence.... I had him humanely put down.

I vowed to never fail again by choosing wisely and going through a Vetting process. My next dog was a Greyhound.

deb

Yuppers! There are some that are not salvageable and the only tough love solution is to put them decently out of the misery. WE cannot fix everything...and we need to acknowledge that, hold our heads up high and know, at the very least...someone cared enough to try. Sometimes people have to do what the person that ruined the dog was not able to do. Sucks but sometimes the only solution is the kindest and hardest of all to make.

I still will always say..."All dogs DO go to heaven..."

I've only had one failure also Deb. Blood Hound German Shepherd Cross named Duke who was on his fourth home when he got to me at nine months old. I completely vetted him out...Got his shots up-to-date, got him neutered.
He was 103 pounds, beautiful dog, sweetest personality... no recall training, no leash training and I tried but I was about 7-8 months pregnant when I got him, and I just could not teach him, when he pulled he actually pulled my pelvis out of position ( old Treeplanting injury ) my crazy but awesome neighbor who I love let me take them up to the farm and run him but I just couldn't keep up with him and the lack of exercise started to make him aggressive ( he got one of my hens and snarled at my young nephew etc ) I brought him to a no kill rehabilitation and rescue center he went through one more home before he found his forever home and it still brings a tear to my eye that it failed him... But I've kept up with his story through the center's website and he has a good man now, and forever homes that loves him... My next dog was my Ozzie.

Well there you go...you did up some of the parts that needed doing and got him a reprieve long enough to get on with it and find the people he needed. Good on you too!

But you didnt fail the dog.... you searched out and found someone who would work with him and eventually rehome him to his forever home.

I agree absolutely!


Now you can just as easily screw up a purebred, registered animal...get a bad breeder, get in a bad genetic situation...end up with a Fixins that hates everyone...whatever. But taking on any animal and thinking it is a cake walk is naïve. Like a marriage, till death do us part ways.

Stoogers here at the Ranch...July 12,2001 - That girl sure knew how to work what she had!​

When you learn to know enough to do what needs doing; then you and your family has to decide what YOU the family want. Life is about living and being happy. There are enough martyrs out thar as it is. Adopt a needy dog or go get a puppy from a breeder. I say people that rescue have already earned the purple hearts already to do as one pleases, the next time round. Two dogs, a kitten and a puppy were shown immense human kindness and that in itself means our families have shown great compassion to problems that were not even our responsibility to fix in the first places.

So to all that have tried rescued...we then get to do as we will and be at peace at whatever choices we make because we have seen it in the raw, lived the life, taken the bumps, bruises (and bites), and made the decisions that needed making. Heaven forbid, the animals got in these situations with lots of bad decisions and lack of onus of responsibility already.

I support BOTH camps of helping those that need help in rescue and also supporting breeders of dogs that are trying to bring good dogs into this world for people to enjoy too. I don't like that train of thought where someone is told that a breeder has no rights to bring good dogs into this world because there are too many here already that need homes. A human should be allowed to strive to make GREAT animals (and birds too!) and reach for the stars trying to capture perfection in a breeding program. This said, the breeder has the ultimate responsibility for THAT ANIMAL they allowed to be created...so the onus is for a breeder to be the last ditch mop up crew. I have room and the resources to take on and care for the two other ACD-puppers (some pups, born in 2001), always always always...that we here chose to have whelped. Now if every person that allowed an animal to bring forth progeny would do that, then only the wild, the lost, the feral animals would need to be cared for if they required it. Sure would make a better world in my mind. The concept that each pet like a c@t or dog has to have a litter to complete itself is deranged! I sure hope that concept has finally died the ugly death it needs to. I do get a bit of a shade of green (with envy) when someone mentions they have a litter of puppies...because I won't casually allow myself that luxury and shirk my duty to them puppies--I feel the immensity of the burden of responsibility. A life long forever duty of care. To me, nothing casual about allowing our beasts and birds to make more.

, please go get them fixed...you extend their lives, you miss out on the mental upheavals intact animals go thru...life is good and no worries about "Whoops! WE have a litter coming up!"

But I suppose this goes the same route as planned human parenthood...I should expect people in general to be no more adept about their animals than they are about "We're having a baby!" LOL I always wonder if having a baby is a good thing or a disastrous accident and am afraid to readily congratulate them...

Fixins yesterday...giving me the eye...

"Scott, Diva, and Teila...I know they wanna see ME...you better click this for my many fans! I know they are a missing moi!"​

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Old dogs are a riot! She knows better than do a face plant in the snow...

"Oh my eyes! I think I mighta froze my sniffer!"​

But the young part of her still says she jest gotta!

This ones special--for Teila....

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Old Huntress...hunting wabbits...obviously the nose never froze!

Once about the immediate yard and she's near cold toes...back to the woodstove warmed cloud bed she goes!



Fix in the house...and I come upon them lobster tracks...lucky hare she weren't thar!

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Some of the frosty free loaders...giving the movements of life in Alberta's winter wonderlands...

Chickadees​

Woodpecker




Gettin' the EYEs..."You keep these feeders full, eh?"

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Amazing skies...cold but always a big display of purdy to go with the chill... ​

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So Rick calls me yesterday...on his way home from work. Got this sassy chipper tone to his voice, he goes on to say, "60, 50, maybe 40!" and I know instantly what he is on about...

"Sixty? No bloomin' WAY!," I say..."That's gotta be with a wind, eh?"

There is a pause and you can feel he is stringing nobody a line there..."Well yeh, it is with a wind." And I say, "Bloody well not HERE then...that would be like Drayton maybe...??" "Yeh," he admits, still that cheekiness in his voice...trying to string me along...see if he can string me along and get me going BEAKER on the phone...

For those that are not Muppet fans...this is Beaker...

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Beaker is a Muppet character from The Muppet Show. He is the shy, long-suffering assistant of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew.​

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A very common pose...Beaker expecting nothing but pain and suffering and the evil doctor mildly playing along how innocent the experiment (immanent disaster for Beaker) was suppose to go...

​

What you cannot hear is that about now, the Beaker pictured above is squealing in a very pathetic "me me me" voice! Yes, all the experiments that target Beaker and make him scream with misery...yeh...totally, I can relate!

So yeh...Rick is Bunsen (Dr. HONEYdew!), and I'm Beaker...


But Rick was busted yesterday...I should just let him walk in the door and BOX his ears immediately! Sixty...-60C/-76F...never seen that yet here. Years ago, it got down to an all time low of -53C/-63F when we did not have so many critters to be concerned about...but I don't do SIXTY thanks! Bloomin' Bugger.

Yes, yes I still made him up some fresh from the oven cookies but he really was stretching the tolerances over suggesting it was gonna get down to -60 here!

Needless to say...it only got down to -20C/-4F last night...much warmer than last and I ran my bus run no problemos...

Rick has often warned me that he can drive a person to violence with his teasing. His older sister got teased so badly, she once dug her long fingernails into his arm...Rick still has the scars on his arm...Brat Man!

Long time back when we were first married...he made up a nice poker. Burl handle, long heavy duty metal shaft on it, a good hook near the end...nice stand with yellow cedar, stainless steel rod.

Fixins is not pleased about playing Vanna White today...she wants this silly clicking to stop and back to the house...so off she goes...cold pup!

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So I asked him..."The poker is real nice but why so bloomin' big and heavy too?"...I mean I nicknamed this the CONAN poker since it is so industrial big and heavy. Rick gets the same smirk on his face, with the boyish imp tone in his voice..."Well if you ever are driven to using it...I don't want to be injured and made to suffer...I jest want to be taken right out and put out of your misery in one fell swoop...<<BONK>> on the head with the Conan Poker and it all ends there!"

Cripers that man is something else, eh? He don't avoid aggravation, he lives to see how far he can push the teasing, drive the wife over the edge...to make an otherwise mild mannered and good tempered person LOSE it on him...like somehow that is WINNING to him..."Made you lose it, eh?" I think he's a bit demented thar??

Have I told y'all about The NOTE yet...the note Rick has written me...maybe I should not...it is a rather ingenious device this note of Rick's...every living husband should write his wifey THE NOTE...say the word and I'll tell the story...I'll probably regret it I guess...that or have a pack of wives hang me from a lonely tree to feed the Ravens...

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[hennible]

Note??

 

[CanuckBock]

Note??

Are you sure you really really wanna arm them DH's out thar that read my thread...???

Tara