Time and time again stories surface about the very special bond between humans and dogs.
I would like to say that this is very unusual but it isn’t. Maybe Lorenzo did something for his dog that many would not but that is not to say that Lorenzo’s love for Myles is unique or even close to unique. There is something very special about the bond between us humans and our dogs. We all have mystical moments with our dogs!
Have a read of this story recently published by The Dodo.
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Guy Buys A Cabin In The Woods As A Retirement Home For His Dog
Lorenzo met his dog, Myles, 13 years ago completely by accident, and that’s how he knows they were meant to be together. A local shelter used to take their dogs to the park on Fridays, and Lorenzo would always watch from afar, his heart breaking knowing that none of the dogs had loving homes. One afternoon, though, Lorenzo locked eyes with one of the dogs — and he knew he had to take him home.
“I saw him and he saw me, and his ears went straight up,” Lorenzo (who asked that his last name not be included) told The Dodo. “I knew he chose me!”
Lorenzo
Ever since then, Lorenzo and Myles have been best friends. They love doing everything together, from hiking and swimming to napping together and playing with toys. Myles has always been such a happy dog and just loves being able to enjoy life with his dad by his side.
Lorenzo
As Myles has gotten older, it’s become a lot harder for him to get around. Slowly, the diagnoses started to come in. Cataracts, arthritis, heart failure. Through it all, though, Myles was still enjoying life, just at a much slower pace. Lorenzo wanted to make Myles’ life as easy and comfortable as possible — so he decided to find the perfect “retirement home.”
Lorenzo
“I had always told him I would give him land and retire him to the woods,” Lorenzo said. “I always figured by my mid-30s, I would have left the city. The pandemic really showed me what I value and that both he and I need to move towards a simpler life.”
Lorenzo
Lorenzo found and bought the perfect cabin in the woods, named it “Camp Myles” and set about renovating it to make it into the perfect home for him, Myles and his two cats, Tofu and Mama. Now the whole little family is all settled in, and so far, everyone is absolutely loving cabin life — especially Myles.
“I think [his favorite part is] both being lazy on the deck or porch and relaxing in nature, as well as roaming the property and going on walks,” Lorenzo said. “So much to smell, no cars, no sirens — it’s perfect for both of us!”
Lorenzo
Since moving, Myles has been responding incredibly well to his meds, new foods and all the fresh air that cabin life provides. He’s been there for his dad for 13 years now, and Lorenzo has vowed that in return, he’ll be with him until the very end.
“We are both so happy,” Lorenzo said.
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It is a beautiful tale and many of us know what Lorenzo is feeling. Indeed what Myles is also feeling albeit in the special way that dogs feel.
All dogs have a brilliant sense of smell. That comes from them having many times more scent receptors. As CareCredit write:
Dogs have a strong sense of smell Scientists guess the dog’s sense of smell is somewhere between 10,000 to 100,000 times more acute than ours. One of the reasons a dog has such better smelling ability than us is the number of scent receptors. For every scent receptor a human has, a dog has about 50.
So here is a story of a Husky using her sense of smell to good effect!
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Dog On Her Morning Walk Discovers A Cooler With Someone Inside
“Koda wouldn’t leave it. She was like, ‘There’s something in there. I want in there! Mom, look!’”
When a husky named Koda set out on her morning walk earlier this month, she had no idea she was about to save a life.
Around 5:45 a.m., Koda and her mom were walking on their regular route past the Fearless Kitty Rescue building. Koda usually stops to sniff around the area, but this time something was different.
“She made a beeline to our donation bench,” Teryn Jones, events and marketing coordinator at Fearless Kitty Rescue, told The Dodo. “On our donation bench was a cooler that was zipped up, no holes, and then wrapped up in a garbage bag. Koda wouldn’t leave it. She was like, ‘There’s something in there. I want in there! Mom, look!’”
Koda’s mom was startled by her pup’s excited reaction and unzipped the cooler. A black cat popped her head out and began to gasp for air. Even though it was still early, it was already getting hot outside, and the cat seemed relieved to be free.
Koda’s mom contacted a volunteer at the rescue, who rushed over to welcome the cat inside and out of the sun.
“She was just shaken up and was kind of in freeze-mode,” Jones said. “And that’s how she’s been since.”
The little black cat, now known as Juliane, has been slowly acclimating to life at the rescue.
“She’s so sweet and very nervous and shy,” Jones said. “But she loves being pet — she purrs and rolls around on her belly. The resilience of her, in going through, what she went through is really amazing.”
“In the Danish culture, the name Juliane means ‘Fearless,’” Fearless Kitty Rescue wrote on Facebook. “And Fearless she is!”
But Juliane isn’t out of the woods just yet. A vet exam found a large mass on Juliane’s tail, which will require surgery. Once she’s healed and feeling better, Juliane will be ready to start her search for a loving forever home
“She’s very sweet and very clean — so she’s your ideal cat,” Jones said. “She sits and does her own thing, she doesn’t make a mess … She’s just very dainty.”
Thanks to Koda, Juliane has a second chance at a happy life — proving that guardian angels come in all shapes and sizes.
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I want to add another small remark that was on the website:
Once again, the pictures are selected by me and duplications cannot be ruled out. Thanks to Mr. P for showing me how to download smaller versions of the photographs! It was easy once I had my eyes opened!
We are relying on a Level One call, a Be Ready call, to finish off the packing. Of course we hope that never comes but at least we have done the planning.
The Dodo had a great article the other day and I wanted to share it with you all.
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Dog Refuses To Eat Snow Cone After Mom Orders The Wrong Flavor
Lola’s story started when she was taken in by a local shelter, but when she was spayed she experienced rare complications that left her unable to walk. She started to recover very slowly, and after a few months, she was taken in by Big Hearts for Big Dogs. The rescue found her a foster family who could commit to taking her to physical therapy every week, and they fostered her for two years — before deciding they couldn’t pretend anymore and officially adopted her into their family.
ANNIE BELANGER BURLEY
Now Lola lives on a farm with her forever family, where every other animal has a rescue story, too. She’s blossomed into the weirdest, most personality-filled dog her family has ever met, and they wouldn’t have her any other way.
Annie Belanger Burley
“We have had her for six years, but she’s been ‘ours’ for four,” Annie Belanger Burley, Lola’s mom, told The Dodo. “We have no clue how old she is, but she literally doesn’t age. She has the most amazing temperament, but she’s a total weirdo! She requires being tucked in at night. She’s goofy, she snores when she’s awake, other dogs think she’s growling, but she’s really just breathing. She has looks that could kill. Sometimes her happy face looks like her mean mug.”
Annie Belanger Burley
Lola’s family loves her so much and loves to spoil her whenever they can. One of her favorite activities is going out for snow cones, and she always gets so excited, even if she’s not always sure how to show it.
“We go to Pelican Snowballs in North Fort Myers a few times a month,” Burley said. “Her favorite flavor is chicken broth served with a Milk-Bone on top … When she gets excited, it’s usually with her eyes. She has a grumpy face the majority of the time.”
Annie Belanger Burley
Lola and her mom were getting snow cones recently, like they always do, but this time, Burley decided to order Lola a plain snow cone because she’d had an upset stomach the night before and she didn’t want her to overdo it. She figured Lola would still enjoy a treat even if it wasn’t her normal order — but she was wrong.
Annie Belanger Burley
Lola sniffed the plain snow cone, then stared at her mom and made it very clear that she had absolutely no intention of eating it. It wasn’t the right flavor, and she refused to compromise.
“She refused to eat it the entire way home and glared at me in her usual side-eye,” Burley said.
Annie Belanger Burley
Instead, Lola let the snow cone melt right next to her. She decided it was better to stand up for what she believes in rather than eat it. She’s strong in her convictions.
Annie Belanger Burley
Even though Lola didn’t get her snow cone that day, there will be many, many other trips, and hopefully, her mom can redeem herself in Lola’s eyes by ordering her the “correct” thing again next time.
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To be honest if it were not for our dogs (and Jeannie) I don’t think it would ever be normal again.
But one can stroke and cuddle a dog or six and cuddle up to Jeannie and forget about the outside world for a tad!
Personally, I think these should be banned in all countries!
Yes, I know that sub-heading is me being away with the fairies, but one can always hope.
The reason behind the heading and the topic is that on the 21st June this year Dexter sent me a guest post for including in this blog. Nothing gives me greater pleasure, so on with the show!
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Well well, Fancy that.
By Dexter.
This blog is on a subject that I have wanted to tackle but haven’t had the chance or insight to do so. Until now.
Puppy mills are an abhorrent method of producing large sums of money at the detriment to the dogs involved. I discovered that Fancy, who is one of the Wirral & Cheshire Beagles was used in a puppy mill. As I wanted to write something on this subject, I asked for the kind assistance of her mum, auntie Karen, who has been wonderful and extremely helpful in helping me write this blog. I cannot say “enjoy it” as I hope that you find it predominantly thought provoking and enlightening as to these terrible practices.
Thank you for allowing me to ask some questions about Fancy. When we spoke you told me that she was a puppy mill dog. Can you let me know a little more about her position before she came to live with you?
She had been in a puppy farm, kept in a concrete pig pen and had 3-4 litters in just over 3 years. Many of her pups died of Parvo either there or within 24 hours of being picked up for their new homes.
That sounds awful. Do you know how old she was when you met her?
They told us she was about 5 but she turned out to be 3.6 years. She was 4 on Valentine’s Day.
So, by my calculations, she was about one year old when she would have been forced to have her first litter. This makes me feel very sad.
How did you find out that Fancy was up for rescue and rehoming?
We saw Fancy on a “Beagles missing, found and in need ” site on FaceBook and we fell in love with her immediately. She had such sad, dark eyes and it occurred to us that she had never known a day’s happiness or been loved. There were so many people applied for her we didn’t think we stood a chance. However we were contacted by Many Tears twice that week and, because I’d previously had a home check and had 2 kind caring beagles, we were chosen.
Please help me, please!
We drove over 10 hours that day to Llanelli, Camarthenshire and met her in an area used for meet and greets. She was petrified of us but not my beagles, Eddie & George. She just ignored them. There was no eye contact with us, nothing. She just paced up and down and cowered in a corner. When it was time to take her home she had to be cornered and caught to get a slip lead on her. She just wet herself. It was heartbreaking. My husband Alan carried her to the car where she laid down in the travel crate. She didn’t sleep but just kept very quiet all the way home. She came from a real lowlife puppy farmer. He’s a multi millionaire who posts “his” beagles or pups running free on fields. In actual fact they’ve never seen a blade of grass. The BBC did an undercover investigation on him.
In any case, when she arrived it was a lovely Sunday evening last July 2020. So we sat outside and watched her exploring and sniffing around the garden. She kept hiding in a corner if we looked at her so we stopped. It took 8 long days before I touched her and that was only because there was a wall behind her. She went to the toilet in the house but thanks to Eddie & George she soon got the hang of going outside. They were fabulous with her and soon realised she wasn’t a boarder but a new sister. I certainly couldn’t have done this without them and the beagle field.
Is this OK? Is this what I am allowed to do?
What sort of condition was Fancy in when she arrived? I am going to assume she wasn’t in the greatest shape, given her life up to her time coming home with you?
She was in a bad condition when we got her. She had a dull dry coat and was very underweight with her ribs showing and tail between her legs. It took a few days for her to eat and she’d only do that if we weren’t around. When I first took her to the beagle field she spent the whole time pinned up against the fence. Nothing the beagles did bothered her, only the actions of the humans. I think it took about a month for her to trust one person and let them touch her. Eleven months later and she is still very wary of people she doesn’t know and she will cower away.
That sounds awful, and so sad. Looking at the pictures she seems to have come some way on her path to rehabilitation.
Yes,it doesn’t take much to win her round. A belly tickle, something tasty and she’s your best friend.
Give us a cuddle, says Jay.
How long did it take for Fancy to stop going toilet in the house? Was she called Fancy when you met her at the meet & Greet?
She did her toilets in the house for about 4 days. Maybe twice a day then just first thing in the morning. It tailed off after that as she went out every time with her brothers. Yes she already had the name Fancy I rescued a kitten on the A55 motorway many years ago and she was called Fancy.
You’re safe now, Fancy!
You said that Eddie & George immediately knew Fancy was in need of some help. Did they act as if they were guardians to her, showing her the ropes if you like, and making sure that she felt at least some comfort with them.
Definitely. They gave her space from day one when she needed it. Even at the busy beagle field the others knew as well. She never got the initial newbie rough welcome. They all love her very much. Beagles know these things.
Welcome to the clan, Fancy.
Erm, when did you start to see a real breakthrough in her feeling more at home and less scared of all sorts of situations? What was the thing that made you think “you know, Fancy is feeling a bit happier”.
I lay that lead next to her for about a week. I started to show it to her and make a big fuss like it was a toy. She was petrified as she’d only been put in a “rape harness”. She’s still wary of it but can’t get out of it thank dogness.
A week from A to B
If you could give people a simple message regarding getting pups from a mill what would it be? Apart from “dont do it” that is.
I’ve given many messages of support to people thinking of puppy farm rescues. Don’t ever give up on them because of their fear. Beagles are so loving and trusting of us the good times far outweigh the bad and no mistake. I have a friend who 12 days ago adopted one with identical problems and the difference in her each day is amazing. Day 12 today and she was dying to jump into his arms when he got home but held back and did an excited dance. We all love his daily updates.
I wish I knew the answer to the puppy mills question I really do. They’re clever people who advertise their pups as living in loving happy homes with caring owners. When in reality they use dirty filthy concrete pig pens where they receive no vet care whatsoever. People see the advertisement and pay a large deposit, when the time comes most travel hours and they won’t leave their puppy their a minute longer so will take them home and face the consequences. Many die over 24 hours and some will be saved by a good vet. One of Fancys pups and owner I know so I know how she was fooled. She knows others.
May I ask about Wirral & Cheshire Beagles generally. Are you a registered charity and, if so, with whom do you work and co-operate?
Yes the beagle group is a charity. We give £1000’s away to beagle charities each year. Mainly Unite to Care where we got ex laboratory George from and Many Tears who are absolutely fabulous and rescue so many ex breeding beagles.
Beautiful!
To sum up I am so happy that Fancy is now safe and loved. It is wonderful that she will never again suffer the privations of puppy mill life. It is sad and wholly awful that she had to suffer in the first place. If people didn’t buy from puppy mills, then there might be a chance that they are prevented of their ability to operate. Please please think before making a decision to adopt a dog. Puppy mills are awful and make our lives a misery.
Thank you to Fancy’s mum for her wonderful help on what is a very difficult subject. Without her help, I couldn’t have written this.
Rescue dogs sometimes have a bad reputation. Cross breed rescue dogs sometimes seem to have a worse reputation. I wasn’t dangerous or bad. I was unlucky. Now I am enjoying life in my forever home and I am sharing my contentment with whoever will read my tails.
This is the essence of what having a dog in one’s life means.
I can’t voice Jean’s and my disgust at puppy mills. It is beyond terrible. All you and I can do is to never entertain buying a puppy where the commercial legitimacy is uncertain.
Learning from Dogs 