Shelby's blog

We just got home from the Marin – Sonoma County Fair.

 The new group that we work with, “Paws for Healing” in Napa, had a “Paws for Reading” booth at the fair. This was Shelby’s first reading dog experience. We had three very special children come by and read to Shelby during our one hour shift that ran from 2 to 3PM. There were 2 readings dogs and handlers assigned to the booth for each hour from 1 until 6PM.

We had a ton of kids read to dogs that ranged in size from a Chihuahua to a Borzoi. Every child who read to a dog got 2 very special presents, one was a white pencil with blue paw prints on it and the second was a book marker with a photo of the dog they read to. Shelby now has her very own book marker.

Our booth was in the area where “The World’s Ugliest Dog Contest” takes place. One of the PAWS member has won the the title seven times with 2 different dogs. The Animal Planet Network films the “Ugliest Dog Contest” and airs the show in October. So the Animal Planet let our friend know that they were very interested in filming in the “Paws for Reading” booth so people could see what the reading dog program is all about. I wasn’t aware of it, but the film crew was filming when Shelby and I sat down with our first reader and filmed other reading dog teams throughout the afternoon.

As we were winding down and getting ready to close the the booth, the Ugliest Dog Contest was just getting underway. The MC said last years contest video was one of the top 10 visited YouTube sites last year. The coverage is world wide! There were photographers all over the place, I saw lenses on camera’s that were as big as Shelby! Not really, but man they were HUGE!  Our friend has been on the Tonight Show, twice! Still photographers, movie crews, local  TV and newspaper reporters, and a ton of spectators. It was an amazing sight to see.

Our mentor/leader said that today was a big success! A lot of kids got to read to dogs, a lot of people found out about the reading dog program and want to get involved. We had kids tell us in their school they have to do extra credit work in order to read to the dog that comes to their classroom twice a week. And Shelby carried the TRIPAWD banner high! We told several people about the website and about the Nor-Cal group.

Shelby slept all the way home, about a half an hour and she is sacked next to me on the couch. I am still blown away, humbled and amazed at what she has been able to do since she came to live with us, and just think, in Taiwan, she was a dog they had thrown away.

I hate that my friends are dying…Cherry, Caira Sue, Maximutt, Maggie. These were incredibly amazing dogs, each and every one of them. I miss them, I miss my friends. I can’t stand to think of the pain and heartache their friends and pawrents went through.

It’s not fair, it’s not right, I hate cancer.

Shelby, the P.P.

Saturday, April 4th, 2009 was a big day in our lives.

That’s the day we met and were smitten by a 3 legged Princess named Sherry.

You all know the story about how we adopted Sherry/Shelby from the Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue and Sanctuary in Elverta, California. In addition to meeting Sherry that day, we also met Kathy and Jim, her foster parents and one other very important lady, Jana Mauk. Jana is the Secretary at Homeward Bound and along with Kathy and Jim, helped us in our decision process about adopting Sherry. I honestly believe the 5 of us talked for a good 2 hours before we all came to the same conclusion, that we were the right forever home for Sherry. I laugh and joke about the “grilling” Jana, Kathy and Jim put us through before allowing us to adopt, but we came away with a tremendous amount of respect for the love and care that the fosters and the adoption people give to the dogs that are put in their care.

Even though we had previously been visited by a team from Homeward Bound and found to have a home environment that was acceptable for one of their dogs, I have no idea how you meet someone and in a matter of a couple of hours decide these folks would be the right family for one of your dogs, but they do just that week in and week out.

I’ll never forget one of the last things Jana told me, she said, remember, this is not a dog you can go out and run 4 miles a day with. And I’ll never forget what I thought, but did not say, I thought, lady, does this look like the body of someone who runs 4 miles a day? I think the last time we ran was across the parking lot at a Foster Freeze to make it to the window before they closed!

What an amazing year it has been since Shelby, Kathy, Jana and Jim came into our lives. We keep in contact with the 3 of them and share the adventure that is raising Shelby. We will be forever in their debt for the compassion, care and love that they not only showed to Sherry/Shelby and us, but for the hundreds of other dogs they have helped.   

Thank you to Homeward Bound for bringing a petite little dog, that in Taiwan was a throw away, to the US and giving her a chance to touch and enrich so many peoples lives. Thank you to Kathy, Jana and Jim for caring enough to foster Shelby and to give us a good grilling to make sure we were the family that deserved her. And finally, thank you to Shelby for taking us on an such an incredible adventure. We can’t wait to see what happens next!!!

This is kind of hard to write.

The Princess the maid and I arrived at the hospital a little after one this afternoon. We stopped at the admissions office and one of Shelby’s friends told us they lost their 8 year old German Shepard to cancer yesterday. All I could do was say how sorry we were. The hurt on her face and entire body showed. Sometimes words just aren’t enough. I felt stupid and inadequate. She went back to her office and we went up to the second floor where the critical and intensive care waiting rooms were. As we got off the elevator we saw one gentleman sitting in the last chair at the very end of the hallway. Shelby and I asked if we could sit down.

We chatted for a few minutes and he told me his nephew was brain dead. He said his brother and his wife were in Haiti rebuilding a church and were trying to get back to Santa Rosa. I mentioned that a mentor of mine and his wife did Christian volunteer work in Haiti and told him their names. He said that’s my brother and his wife and they should be here in the next 10 minutes. They had spent the last 36 hours trying to get home. I walked back down the hallway and told Cindi what was going on. It was about that time that the elevator door opened and they walked out.

We weakly smiled at our weary friends, bikers hug each other,when we greet each other and when we say see you later, these hugs seemed to last a bit longer and I’m so sorry was about all I could come up with. We excused ourselves went on with rest of our hospital visits.

Shelby and I had one incredible visit. A woman had been hurt terribly through domestic violence and had been in the hospital for quite a long time.  Even though we are not supposed to do this I put Shelby on her bed and she hugged and stroked Shelby for at least 20 minutes. All I could say is no one deserves to be treated like that and the courts would never let him off of the tons of charges he faced. I gave her one of Shelby’s autographed pictures and left the room.

We hurried back to the other side of the hospital to be with our friends. They told us their youngest son will be a organ donor and has a very rare blood type so hopefully every organ will be used. Cindi told them that would be an incredible legacy for their son. They will keep him on a respirator until all of the paperwork is done and recipients are found and then the organs will be harvested and sent out to those waiting.  We spent a long time in the waiting area where Shelby continued to give out love.

It’s been a very rewarding day on one hand, and terribly sad on the other.  Shelby put in 5 very long hours today. She helped many, many people smile and gave one very broken lady something to hold onto for a while.

Well, it’s time to visit the hot hospital tomorrow, What shall I wear?

Shall I wear the PINK collar with the reflective silver bones and matching 6 foot leash?

Shall I wear the SKY BLUE collar with the matching 6 foot leash?

    or

Shall I wear the gold, tan , light brown narrow stripe, oh so revealing harness, with the matching 6 foot leash from the AKC Hemp collection? The chauffeur picked this set, I wonder why? 

I would model them so the chauffeur could take pictures but I’ve been at the beauty parlor most of the day getting fluffed and buffed so I’m ready for the big weekend. Saturday morning, Penny and I will make a guest appearance at the retirement home in Petaluma. Home for a quick snack and then to Memorial Hospital for a solo appearance and Sunday another solo gig at the VA Hospital in Martinez. 

Decisions, decisions, what’s a Princess to wear while making public appearances…

It was a year ago that the doctor in Elverta, (Sacramento) removed what was left of my right front leg. I had part of my leg removed in Taiwan but the folks at Homeward Bound finished the job. I don’t remember a whole lot about that day but I remember meeting some really special people, my foster mom and dad, Kathleen and Jim. I’ve talked about them before. They took me to their home in Auburn, Ca. and took really great care of me. They told the chauffeur and the maid I wasn’t any trouble at all. As a matter of fact, they took a picture of me on the couch wrapped up in my favorite blue blanket and my hot pink t-shirt sitting next to Kathleen. Mom and dad got that picture not to long ago. My, I was so cute! Dad’s eyes water when he looks at it.

I look really happy in the picture and why not, I got rid of my bum leg, got a terrific foster home and was starting down the road to rest of my life. I didn’t have cancer like so many of my tripawd friends do, but losing that leg was a pretty big deal and I would like all of you to celebrate with me! You know when I left that leg in doctors office, I left all the bad stuff that happened to me in Taiwan wrapped up in that leg. I hope they buried my leg  really, really deep, like, backhoe deep. It’s think it’s a good thing to bury bad memories.

I talked to everyone’s mom and dad’s and on Thursday, march 11th, 2010, all my tripawd friends will get an extra treat!  And to all of my friends that have crossed the bridge, I miss you… and tomorrow night, I’ll look up to the stars, wag my Farrah Fawcett tail and run like the wind with a big ‘ol grin on my face! 

Shelby, the P.P.

I seem to be getting a bit overheated when we go to the hospital and visit folks. They keep the place pretty warm. I have to laugh, you think I’m hot, I look at the chauffeur and he has sweat running down his face, how gross!!!! So, the maid said, “maybe her harness is making her warm” It does cover a lot of the Petite Princess, so they came to a decision, maybe we should get her a collar to wear while she’s “working”, it might be cooler. Jeesh, do ya think!!!

Well, I’ve looked in the drawer at all the leashes and collars and “I simply can’t find a thing to wear!”  They may work for a Border Collie and a Cocker, but not for the Princess. I think a shopping trip is in order. I have 3 different colored scarves I have been told I have to wear, yellow, pale blue and purple/gold. I don’t think one collar leash ensemble would work. I can’t ask the chauffeur about what color goes with what, I heard him tell the maid, “buy me all black socks, they match everything!” and the maid is out of town.

Plus, we have another school we have to go to, so I have to “set” the fashion bar pretty high.

I’m asking for every one’s help picking out colors, pattern’s, whatever…it just has to look…stunning on me. I simply can’t leave a decision this important to someone who always wears black socks.

Maximutt’s dad John took this of me at our last Pawty! Makes me wanna say, “Howdy!”.  Shelby

Today we visited the VA Hospital in Martinez, we were there for about 2 hours. Every time we turned around someone wanted to spend some time with Shelby. We saw old friends and made some new one’s.

We met 3 vets that susutained injuries in Iraq that are going thru rehab, one of them was a young officer that had sustained a head injury. She zeroed in on Shelby and for the next 10 minutes talked about her dog back home and how much she missed him all the while holding and stroking ‘s Shelby head.

We met a few World War Two Vets that were setting on a couch just passing time, as one of them got up to stretch his legs, Shelby hopped on the couch and made herself at home. It was very sweet to watch as one of war heroes hand move over and petted Shelby’s side.

As we got ready to leave, a nurse came up and asked if we would mind stopping in a room to visit a couple of her favorite patients. She walked us into the room and introduced us and we sat with one of the vets he said he was so thankful someone came in to see him.  We moved to the next bed and this gentleman was soundly sleeping. The nurse woke him up and asked if he would like a visit from a dog? We pulled up a chair and I held Shelby in my lap as he reached out to pet her, the nurse said, “did you see that, did you see that? He’s been here for three months and this is the first time I’ve seen him smile!”  We sat with him for a couple of minutes and as he fell back asleep we got up and went back into the hall. The nurse was waiting for us and just bubbled about what had happened and thanked us again for taking the time to come out today.

Shelby was tired and she was ready to leave. After we got back into the truck, I just looked at her at smiled and gave her a hug. She slept all the way home. 

At times like these I always hear Margie, our trainers words, “Don’t ever underestimate the power of Dog.”

We went to Armstrong Woods State Park on Christmas Day.  What a wonderful place to enjoy nature and feel like there really are fairies and goblins about!  Shelby and Penny both brought home “jewelry” in their tales – all decked out for Christmas!  Don’t tell the park authorities that we removed these items from their natural environment, he he.

All Decorated for Christmas

While the park is a beautiful place, the 3/4 mile in and out was too hard on the PP.  She was exhausted from the walk and had a very hard time getting up and around for her visit to our war heros the next day.  Much better after a long nap and a little ‘purposeful petting’ (aka massage) on her front leg.  Next time, we will need to impose the Lil Red Wagon so we can still enjoy God’s natural beauty.