Shelby's blog

1st and last meeting with Santa!

The chauffeur and the maid “tossed” me into the truck and took me to see some fat guy with long white hair and rosy cheeks! 

Heck, they didn’t need to take me anywhere, I could have stayed home and looked at dad!

They made me sit on a bench with this “guy” in a red suit and then all these people started yelling at me to SMILE. To much pressure on the Princess, so I got really nervous and started shakin. The fat guy in the red suit, not dad, hugged me real close… so I smiled, just once…and they took the picture.

As soon as I got down off the bench, I smiled on purpose, to everyone who wanted one. They printed the picture, we put it in a frame and we were out of there!

I promise, cross my heart, I’ll be good…all year…just don’t make me go back there and see Santa Paws again!

Dad and I went to visit the vets at Martinez this morning. We had been there once before and I got my nose shocked by static electricity from someone in a wheel chair. The first person we meet is in a wheel chair. I didn’t want to go see anyone in a wheel chair, period, no way, no how.

Dad told me I had to hop up right next to the wheelchair and visit! Imagine someone talking that way to the P.P.! So fine, I did it and guess what, I didn’t get shocked. I musta talked to 20 people in wheel chairs today and I didn’t get shocked, maybe it was an accident after all.

We saw old friends who remembered me and dad, one guy had my picture in a pouch on his wheel chair! He called me by name and told me how happy he was we came back! We walked and talked with a ton of new folks in the area where they teach people how to use there new legs. Some of those guys were working really hard cause they were tired and wanted to rest for a while. I can so relate!!

It was lunch time and I wanted to go into the lunch room but they wouldn’t let us, something about no dogs allowed, dad told the workers, she not a dog she’s a Tripawd! They laughed, but the answer was still no. So we wandered down the hall and saw some guys playing domino’s so we headed outside to the courtyard. Two of my old friends were there, one of them has a picture of his dog on his cell phone and we got to see it again. He said he really missed his dog, then he gave me  a hug and said he had to go. His name is Larry and he’s going home in about 2 months so we told him we would see him around Christmas time.

Another one of my friends, B.J. is what they call “a domino playing dude” he lives to play domino’s and he must be good cause he said he won almost two dollars in yesterdays game! There were 6 guys outside in the courtyard and as we got up to leave, they thanked us for coming to see them. Dad said it was our honor and he thanked them for putting up with us. They all shook hands and said for us to take it easy and be safe on the way home. Mom says dad drives like a little old lady and from what I’ve been told, little old ladies don’t get into trouble!

As we were in the hallway headed to the sign out sheet, a pretty lady was pushing her husband in a wheelchair and asked if we could stop and say Hi!  He is in his 80’s and he smiled as his wife and my dad talked. He tried to reach down and pat my head but we knew he couldn’t do it, so dad picked me up, like all three paws off the ground, so he could give me a pat on the head! His wife giggled and I saw dad give her one one of my personally autographed, limited edition photo’s of me in my wagon. She put it in his shirt pocket and said she’ll pin it up next to his bed.

We signed out and as we walked out the front door, dad just laughed and said, not only are a princess but now you’re a pin up girl!!

Howdy, we talked to Jim and Kathleen and we decided to meet at the In and Out in Roseville rather that Auburn. I wrapped their presents the best I could, don’t forget, we don’t have thumbs, and away we went.

 We got there just after noon, late again, have to do something about the chauffeur, and they were already there! I was so excited I couldn’t wait to get out of the truck. I ran up to greet them and I so excited I just kinda wiggled around a bit. They were so happy to see me they didn’t even notice that the chauffeur and maid were there! Now that’s what I call a greeting! Everybody hugged and we found a table to sit at.

The maid and Jim went inside and ordered my, oops, excuse me, their, cheeseburgers and fries. I sat and watched them talk and eat and every time someone would look at me I’d give ’em the Golden Retriever smile and bat my eye lashes a couple of times and fries started coming my way! It was only a couple of minutes later when a chunk of cheeseburger made it my way and I wolfed that tidbit down in the blink of an eye.

The whole time we were there people, grown ups and kids, wanted to meet and talk with me, but my focus was the cheeseburger and fries. My dilemma was, how do I be sweet to all these folks and not miss any opportunity to score more cheeseburger and fries? The answer soon became obvious, they finished all the food!!! I was just getting warmed up and all of a sudden, it’s all gone…the fries…the cheeseburgers…all gone. 

I was so bummed. But I got over it and pretty soon we were all talking and laughing and I made sure I wagged my tail when people looked at me. I think that’s expected.

A short time later the maid asked Jim and Kathleen to open their presents. I was very nervous, I had never given anyone a wrapped present before. After they tore the wrapping off they smiled and said, “This is exactly what we wanted, we love them!” They were so happy they each gave me a hug.  Kathleen said I have a spot on the wall for mine and Jim said so do I. I was so excited to see how happy the pictures made them.

They told me how much they miss me and how happy they were that I found a home where people love me and take care of me and they were also very happy that I met and had so many friends that were tripawds! They also told me they would never forget me. 

It was time to leave, hugs were exchanged, everyone said, we’ll see you again soon and I ran to the truck and hopped into the cab. I was so happy we went, we all had a great time. When I got home, I was so busted by Penny and Charlie because I had cheeseburger and french fry breath.

Dad and I are going to Martinez tomorrow to visit the vet’s and then Sunday morning we’ll go to Memorial Hospital to visit some folks. I’m really excited about going and now I know why it’s so importent that we go, because now I understand how it feels to know you won’t be forgotten.

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, the chauffeur, the maid and I are going to Auburn, Ca. to see my foster parents.

Their names are Kathleen and Jim and they are really special people. They were the ones who took care of me after my amputation. They have others dogs also but they foster Golden’s for Homeward Bound and I don’t know how they do it. They open their home and their hearts to help dogs like me then someone comes along and adopts “us”, then they get another Golden and do it all again.

We are going to meet them so I can give them their Christmas presents. I’ve never celebrated Christmas before. I’m a little nervous about it because it seems like a big deal to some folks and not so much to others, I don’t really understand that.

Our neighbors are putting like a ka zillion lights on his house and so is the guy next to him. They’re OK, they have a border collie, just like my big sister. Penny is so pretty and dad tells me she’s the best big sister in the whole world!

I’m giving my foster mom and dad some pictures of me. I know that sounds arrogant but I want them to see how happy I am and how much fun I have when I get to run with all my tripawd friends and…I don’t want them to ever forget me.

We are going to meet them at the In and Out Burger in Auburn, so I may be able to score some cheeseburger and a couple of fries, then we are going to walk around Auburn and look at the lights. Mom says the lights are really pretty and put her in the Christmas spirit, and dad says, ya, right, it’s a 2 1/2 hour drive, can we go home yet?

I’ll let you know how it goes in Auburn. Dad says there’s a couple of Harley dealers on the way, so he’s happy,  I’m happy because I get to see my fosters again and Mom’s happy because she gets to see the lights.

Sounds like a pretty good day to me!

Shelby is all fired up!!!

She knows there’s a pawty tomorrow and all her friends are gonna be at the Mill Valley Dog Park! It’s going to be a beautiful fall day, in the upper 50’s to low 60’s, that’s perfect weather to watch the tripawd herd run amuk! 

Hopefully she’s not so excited that she won’t be able to get her rest tonight ’cause tomorrow she’s runnin with the big dogs!

See everybody tomorrow, signed, Shelby’s chauffeur.

Howdy, we were asked to write a story about tripawds for the November/December newsletter of the Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue in Sacramento where we adopted Shelby from.

Enjoy!! It starts on page 3 and the title is, “One less muddy pawprint”

http://www.homewardboundgoldens.org/news_articles/newsletters/hb_news_Nov09_pdf.pdf

We’ll be at the hospital at 10:30 Saturday morning.

During all of the other Pet Assisted Therapy visits we’ve made, we pretty much understood what to expect and how to talk and act. My teacher say’s visiting the folks that were injured in the war at the VA Rehab Center will be something totally different. She told me that some social/therapy teams only visit once and never go back. I’m trying to prepare myself  by expecting to see and hear things I’ve probably never heard or seen before. She said the hardest thing for some volunteers to get past is how young some of these vet’s will be.

 What has driven me to persue the visits with the vet’s is I want them to know we care. I don’t understand what they have been and are going through. I don’t understand the pain and the frustration, I don’t understand how they get up and keep going to rehab. I hope I can keep the conversations easy but not trite and I hope that seeing Shelby and learning about her past and how she has accepted what was given her and gone on to lead a very rewarding life might help in some way. We have a ton of autographed pictures of Shelby in her wagon that we’ll take along with us and hopefully she’ll bring a smile or two to a vet and/or their families and friends.

 Please do us a favor and think some positive thoughts for us on Saturday morning and we’ll let you know how the visit went.  Thanks.

Howdy, my dad, our teacher, my wagon and I did our second visit to Memorial Hospital in Santa Rosa.

We had to do everything right today, it was like a final exam, because if we did OK, we wouldn’t need to bring the teacher with us anymore.

We no sooner got in the hospital entrance when 2 families came over and started talking to us. They were so nice and asked if we could come and see their dad on the second floor? I said you bet, we’ll be there! My teacher arrived and we went to the second floor intensive care waiting room. It’s really hard to see people who are so concerned and worried about someone they love in the hospital. We went into the waiting room, man, it’s really dark in there, and as soon as we came in, people started smiling and the whole mood changed. We were there for about 15 minutes when the door opened and a friend of mine came in and joined the family. We are so used used to seeing our friend laugh and tell stories. Dad shook his hand and told him, you have our phone number, call if we can do anything to help.

 A short wagon ride later, we arrived at the critical care waiting room. They were watching the football ball game so the wife and mother of the family and I talked. She told us they were from Sacramento and I told them about the Homeward Bound Golden Retreiver Rescue up there. She said she had lived in Sacramento her whole live and never knew it was there. Then she said something that made us blush, If they have dogs like her up there, we’ll head over there next weekend and check out the place! I hope they do because if you go to Homeward Bound, you’ll find a new kid to bring home.

 Another short wagon ride later we ended up in the rehab area of the hospital. We checked in with the nurses and asked if they had anyone they thought could use a dog visit. They gave us 2 room numbers . The nurses and the doctors were so sweet to Shelby, everyone of them on duty in that area came over and met her. Everyone kept saying how soft and pretty my coat was, then dad told them that they take me to the doggie laundry for a rinse and spin dry before we come to the hospital, they all laughed… It’s not nice to let out one’s beauty secrets!  Then we met up with one of the families we met earlier and went into the dads room and chatted for about 15 minutes. There are so many things to remember, but the instructor said we did good.  

 We visited 2 other patients in their rooms and all of the study and all of the practice kicked in. We were relaxed, positive and continued to do everything pretty much right. We went back to the nurses station and signed out and headed for the parking lot. We had been there for 2 hours. On one hand we stayed a bit longer than I wanted because Shelby was so tired at the end but on the other hand we met some really nice folks and we brought some smiles and some good thoughts to some folks.

 As we left our teacher said we had passed, we had forgot some things, but we passed!!!! We go in Friday to have our pictures ID’s made and we can visit anytime we want! It was a lot of hard work but it is so worth it, we had a ball and can’t wait to go back! 

T.T.F.N.