A Pet Update

Kitty First,

Our Cinnamon turned 18 years in July, and has enjoyed a summer of sunning on the deck, sleeping on her pillow in front of the woodstove, and hollering to be fed.  Our neighbor Peter's visiting sister Marion is a veterinarian, and volunteered to feed Cinnamon a few days when we were out of town.  She did a gentle exam and declared her perfectly fit for a cat her age.  Found her absolutely adorable, too.  Ron and I don't have quite that opinion; we've been working (successfully) with some litterbox challenges. Nevertheless, we're still glad to have her company.


Then Tessie
We were terribly saddened to say goodbye to our Tessie on April 26.  She lived a full year after her cancer diagnosis, and we were glad for every minute of it.  She was one of our best dogs ever.



 

Goodbye, our sweet Tessie



Welcome, Gypsy

 

On May 19 we welcomed Gypsy. We found her on-line at the Sedona Humane Society, and fell victim to love at first sight.   I guess it's not hard to see why:   

 

 

 

 

 

Ron and I were ready for another dog and Maggie was feeling the pressure of being the only dog, so we began our search.  We looked at the Coconino Humane Shelter, and found one possibility.  I wanted to check at the Sedona shelter in an attempt to get away from the strong Reservation Dog influence the Flagstaff shelters have.  Tessie and Maggie were both Rez dogs, and they presented particular challenges having to do with lack of people socialization and a severe lack of general experience.   Tessie was our first, and we had our work cut out for us.  We felt successful with her, so we figured we could have similar success with Maggie.  Little did we know what a nut-case Maggie was!  However with LOTS of exposure to new situations, LOTS of obedience work in LOTS of situations, and on-going work still nearly three years later, she's come a long way.  Ironically, after we'd already made our decision to adopt Gypsy, I asked where she was from...the Yavapai-Apache reservation in Camp Verde.  Rez Dog! 

 

Happily, though, Gypsy had both general experience and people experience. She did lack household experience, and everything inside the house was new--from opening the refrigerator door to our normal movements around the house. Though I had severe doubts about Maggie in a leadership position, Gypsy recognized it when she saw it and immediately began watching Maggie for cues about what was going on. Gypsy is also very playful, and Maggie finally has a true playmate. They are the first dogs we've ever had who have played with each other, and they do so every day, for lengthy periods.  It's a pleaure to see them enjoying each other so much. They love going anywhere in the car, as well as walks, hikes and runs. 

 

 

 

 We look forward to many years of fun with Gypsy and Maggie.