A Goodbye, A Hello and Something New

Late last week we received an email to let us know that King was having a retirement party on Sunday July 3rd at the Agricultural Museum. King is a Clydesdale, not just any Clydesdale but the reason Sid goes to the farm. For some unknown reason, Sid has a deep attachment to King. We have been going to see him since she was about 8 months old and when she first began talking she would say "Ing!, Ing!" and reach for him. When she was two, we had to go to the farm once a week for almost a year to visit King because he was going to miss seeing her. "King miss me!". The past few years we have visited fewer times but when she would see him she would talk with him and let him know all the interesting things she was doing. She would always tell him he was her best friend and she loved him so much. Even in the dead of winter we would trudge up the long road to the barns because she needed to see King.

When I got the email that after 11 years King was moving to a local farm to retire, my heart sank. Why King? Of all the animals at the farm why is he the one going? So with a deep breath I told Sid the news and it was received as well as I expected. Heart felt sobs that led to anger and then sadness. "I suspect I will NEVER see King again!!! He's my best friend. I need King! He's the only reason I go to the farm! I LOVE King!!!!"

Saying Goodbye
It was truly heartbreaking to see her raw emotion and realization that her buddy wasn't going to be there after Sunday. We wept together and planned our final visit to see King. Sid made him a picture and knew he would have a big going away card we could sign when we got there.


Goodbye King, we love you and will miss you! Enjoy your retirement, you have brightened the lives of so many kids!

And now for a Hello!

Meet Lili ~ Now Lilly ;) She is a foster who came to us yesterday from Montreal. 18 months of pure energy. A lovely dog from a family with 4 kids. She is bringing quite the spark to our home.

She is the one on the right. She moves to much for a good picture right now! Sid was having so much fun playing in the crate. The three girls couldn't quite figure out what was going on :) More to come soon! Right now Sid is learning how to do some dog training while we teach Lilly a recall. She doesn't hear her name at all!

And lastly at Karate last night, Sid was told she was going to get to fight. "What?" After a month of kicking and training she started learning her first Kata last night when Sigung came over and put a helmet on her head and HUGE gloves on her hands. The rest of the kids in the club grabbed their gear and suited up. Everyone was giddy, this is there favourite thing to do. I am not sure if Sid ever pictured this as a part of her Karate but afterwards she was pumped and really excited about doing it again. She can now see how all the training comes into play. We will have to get her some equipment that fits, those huge gloves on her make her look like Popeye! Look at that spin kick though! Sigung has been using her to demo it to the class and now she can see why she has learnt it!

Help Airedale Rescue of Canada!

Airedale Rescue here in Canada is trying to win 1000.00 through the animal rescue site. If you follow the simple directions below you can vote once per day for AireCanada Airedale Rescue and we might win 1000.00 this week.

Here is how:

Step 1 http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/

Step 2 Click on the Big Purple Button to donate a bowl of food

Step 3 Look for the Shelter Challenge on the side of the page and click on it

Step 4 In the Search Box, type Airedale for the name of the shelter -- nothing else

Step 5 In the Search Box, choose CAN as the country

Step 6 In the Search Box, choose BC as the Province

Step 7 Click on Search - thenWait

Step 8 Right below the search box, you will find the Vote button - click on that

Step 9 Identify the animal that shows up on the next page -- keep it simple, i.e., fish or sheep or lion or cow or squirrel

Thank you for helping us!

Yesterday November 9th, Sid the Kid and I drove 4 hours round trip to pick up a surrendered 10 month old Airedale puppy and deliver him to his foster family. He was taken to the vet to be euthanized by his owner and when the vet refused, the owner said he was going to open his door and let the dog go. This poor pup has spent the first and only 10 months of his life in a pen in the garage. No training and very little socialization. Like most Airedales, this has not kept the joy of life out of this crazy spinny Aireboy named Taz. He is very underweight at 42 lbs and from a puppy mill in Montreal (where else???!!!). He will need to be neutered, and needs some deworming. His wonderful foster family will house train him, groom him properly and see what this little guy is all about. Life just got a whole lot better for little Taz!

The rest of the weekend was very relaxed and Sid and I went to the big park with her bike for likely the last time this season. She really wants to skateboard and she was getting pretty brave with her running bike on the skateboard ramps.

After several attempts to ride up the ramps Sid decided to climb them instead. This made me breathe a lot easier!
TA-DA!!

Then off to the big park to climb and swing.

A "cool" moment Sunday morning with the cat Nookie.

A Great Monday

This week is starting off really well. Yesterday we brought Gitan to his new home and he moved in with his beagle brother and two cats. Our house has been so calm today. Sidney isn't hitting the dogs or yelling "GITAN NO!!!" It was indeed time for him to find his forever family and they are so happy to have him!

We cuddled and had free play all morning and went off to our music class. She had lots of fun and the teacher commented on how funny she was while doing the craft. Sidney really likes making people laugh and I am glad other people are starting to see her sense of humor.

It was so beautiful out we played in the backyard for most of the afternoon. We laughed so hard catching grasshoppers and putting them on Groovy's head. Sidney was really brave and held one for a few minutes until it jumped away.

Sid asked if she could try the camera. I put the strap around her neck and set it so she had to look through the view finder to take pictures. Was I ever surprised to discover she is a budding photographer! Here is one of my favorite pictures she took today.

At bedtime we write in Sidney's journal and talk about what we did during the day. I was putting her laundry away and she had her back turned and was doodling in her journal, or so I thought. I had the hardest time keeping a straight face when she stood beside me and I looked over and saw Sidney's cheeks streaked with pen. I just looked at her and said NOTHING thinking I was going to burst out laughing and she stood there for about 10 seconds and then wrapped both arms around my neck and gave me a huge hug. While still biting my tongue I said "that was nice, why did I get such a great hug" Sidney answered "Cause you're nice mom!" Oh the little monkey knew she could have been in big trouble for coloring all over her face but we both laughed and cuddled and went and washed it off. She is so clever!!!!

Mommy Loves Purple

This was our first full week with school and gymnastics. Preschool Tuesday and Thursday and gymnastics on Wednesday. It was a good week. Next week we have a music class at the family which is a one hour class for Sidney and an hour in a separate room for me. I am not sure what the parents do but it should be fun for her.

We had a fun week getting into our new routine. Sid loves school, gym is still her favorite and thankfully the last part of the day so she always leaves with a big smile on her face and is so eager to go back. She is learning her friends names and always reports who cried and missed their moms. Usually it is Gage and Eric. When I ask her if she cries or misses her mom she say "NO! I love school."

At home we are still doing lots of school stuff. Sidney is learning to recognize the numbers 1 - 5 and now knows the letter A as well as S, I, D, and X and O. She taught herself X and O! After telling me how much she LOVES Diego we started a field journal of all the wild animals we see around our house. The first animal was a fox we saw across the street and tomorrow we will add the Canada Goose. We colour and decorate a picture of the animal and I do a little write up about them. Next week we are going to work on saying the alphabet without singing it and to do some more work on her writing skills. She loves crafts but gets frustrated trying to colour. Colouring should be fun!!!!! I also bought some silicone muffin tins to start sorting buttons, or our large paperclips by size and colour.

Ken has had a busy week at work but has still found time for bedtime stories, Siddy cuddles and a special lunch meeting with us at McDonald's today. We LOVE daddy, he's the best! My weekend house league hockey has started and my competitive hockey starts on the 18th. Ken's parents are thinking of coming home so it will soon be time for Ken and his dad to start working on the plane again too.

The foster dog is still here and driving us crazy. He is a sweetheart but into everything. He is very slowly learning manners but now that his hips feel better he is an Airedale through and through. All three dogs are suffering from ragweed allergies but the rain this week has been great for keeping the pollen down.

We have a relaxing weekend planned at home. If it stops raining we might even close up the pool for the year. The south bound geese and rain means fall is here!

Welcome to the Neigh-bourhood

6 years ago when we moved in, there was a small herd of cows in the field across the street. I loved the cows. There was Whitey, Blackie, Brownie1, 2 and 3, ah the memories! Anyhow the neighbour sold the cattle after a year of us being here because it was no longer cost effective to raise them. The fields have been bare since except for the very occasional deer, coyote or fox..... until today!


Sid and I were in the living room reading before nap and I heard a very loud and very clear whinny. I sat up, looked out the window and lo and behold, there were 4 horses in the paddock right across from my living room window. I called Sid over and the dogs jumped up and we all said goodbye to nap time and watched the new neighbours for the next hour. Tonight we took Sid over to meet them and she cried when it was time to leave. We can now cancel our cable. We have live entertainment to offer Sid and the pups!

Left to right, Sid, Gitan, Groovy and Maggie. Gitan is doing really well and is such an awesome dog. If I didn't love having just two dogs, he would stay with us. BUT I know how great it will be for him to have his own family and all the attention to himself, he deserves it. He is hilarious and very much like Groovy. They are half brother and sister. This picture really captures his happy go lucky personality.

Apples, apples, apples

"How many apples fell on Newton's head before he took the hint? Nature is always hinting at us. It hints over and over again. And suddenly we take the hint."Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Our Apple tree has really produced a lot of apples this year. They are still quite tart but both Ken and Sidney love them like this.

We have been working on name recognition with Sidney and she now can pick her name out quite easily and knows the letter S. Our next step is helping her to learn the letters of the alphabet. Since our apples are already ready and we are going to the apple orchard in 3 weeks with our playgroup friends we are doing lots of apple activities. A = Apple! On the rescue front, we have another foster boy. He is the nicest Airedale I have ever had here. He is 6 and was surrendered because his owner was tired of picking up poop. He has some serious hip or back issues so he will stay with us until we know what is wrong with him and can put a care plan in place for his new family. He is our little Gypsy boy and Maggie and Groovy have accepted him right into the pack.

Also, Airedale Rescue has started their 2008 Quilt promotion. As always it is a beautiful work of art. You can see it here: http://www.airedalerescue.net/a_day_in_the_life/

The Many Faces of Sid

We were out rollerblading in our neighbours driveway when I caught this clip. Gosh she is a funny kid!

Today we went to the Navan Fair and Siddy went on the ferris wheel and the swing ride. She loves rides and was so disappointed to find out she was still too short to ride the kids dragon roller coaster. Next year!

On an Airedale related note, our foster boy Benni went to his potential forever home yesterday. The family met him at the groomers and they were approved for an Airedale by me over 3 years ago but had not adopted due to the health of their own dog. They met Benni, fell in love and came and got him Saturday morning. Hopefully he is home to stay!

Papanack zoo

Rain AGAIN! We packed our splash suit, spring coat, hat, rubber boots, and sweatshirt not knowing what the weather would have in store for us. It worked out ok as we managed to see all the animals before lunch and then the storm opened up on us half way through our meal. We ran to the van as the lightening lit up the sky and got there safely but very, very wet. We live south of the zoo and by the time we cut across country we hit sunny skies and 26 degree temps again!

Sid love seeing all the animals but most the exciting event was hooking up with her playgroup friends she used to play with every week two years ago. Here is a picture taken at the apple orchard in September 2006 and these are the same three girls in the picture taken today.

So neat to have them together again. It was great seeing the moms, they each have another daughter, a two month old and a three month old. Sid really impressed me today. A little friend from playgroup came up to her and took her hand. Sid turned to her and said "hi, nice to meet you." I cracked up because it was the cutest thing coming from two little two year olds!

At home we have another foster dog which will hopefully be short term. We discovered tonight that he likes cats waaaaaay too much and although my kitty is ok, he is a bit balder than he was yesterday. You can see Benny at http://www.airecanada.com/ I think tomorrow we are going shopping for a muzzle!

Airefest 2008

It was threatening rain all morning and the forecast called for 40% chance of thunderstorms. We went ahead with the party for all our rescued Airedales and friend and lucked out with a perfect day!

17 Airedales and lots of people made for a terrific party! Many guest thought the party was going to be cancelled and didn't make it out. Next year I expect to almost double that number! Enjoy the pictures here: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=37grz1l3.2mqqvkwj&x=0&y=-q60bl&localeid=en_US

A Looooong Weekend

"Can we keep him?" asks Sidney for the fifth time in a row. "No honey, he is just visiting for a sleepover then he is going to his new family." "But can we keep him?"

Friday night around dinner time I received a desperate phone call from a woman at the Montreal SPCA. There was an 8 year old intact male Airedale just surrendered by his family. The SPCA had no room for him in general population and he had a few minor health issues so he was put in the garage and slated for euthanasia. He was literally given hours to live. The fast acting staff called Barbara in Toronto who encouraged them to call me and started putting something in place for this boy knowing I was totally out of foster homes.

When the call came I was told they already had a transport that was coming to Ottawa and they could put him on and have him dropped off to me. It was leaving in an hour!
At 6:00 I got a call from the driver informing me he had a 200km trip to do before coming to Ottawa and would be here around 10:00pm. We agreed to meet at a gas station right off the highway to make it nice and easy. At 10:45 I got a call saying he was just leaving Montreal due to some issues they ran into when picking up some dogs at a puppy mill.

12:45 I am waiting in a now dark parking lot when a large SPCA van pulls up. The van is rocking and barking and I think "oh no, I hope that isn't mine"! Fortunately for me it was Chubby, a spaniel mix and Jacob our Airedale was quiet and calm just waiting for his new life to begin. The local O.P.P. were also curious about why there were two vans parked in dark parking lot of a closed gas station in the middle of the night. After a quick chat they seemed very appreciative of the work going on.

Allow me to introduce Jacob. He is about 55lbs, does not pull on a leash, gets along FAMOUSLY with my two dogs, cats and is even carefree around my daughter. He sits, shakes a paw and ignores his name with the best of them. Friday night (acutally Saturday morning), after an hour of introductions and play in the yard, he came in the house about 1:30 and stayed on leash. He was escorted to a crate in the bathroom where he quietly went in and did not make a sound until I let him out Saturday morning. He stinks, his breath is horrible, he is a bit arthritic and he has an epulis which is a non-cancerous mouth tumor and he is intact. He has a beautiful disposition and was very loved at some point. I suspect the family could not afford the dental care and tumor removal.

Barbara worked frantically to get a foster home in place. The man taking Jacob will drive from Toronto and pick him up on Monday from his parents place. His parents live about 15 minutes from me. I would have kept Jacob here but I had Charlo coming Sunday and spending the night. The MacNeill Airedale Inn only has room for one short term guest at a time.

Sunday Morning I got a call from the family I delivered Jacob too. Their son was supposed to come and pick him up. He is not coming. Jacob is going to be adopted by the family who has him now. They have taken him to get groomed and we will meet at the vet tomorrow to get the lesions, tumors and testicles dealt with! Hooray for Jacob he is now on borrowed time and deserving every second of it! Here is Jacob all groomed up in his new home.

Sunday, Charlamagne came to stay for the night. He was surrendered because his dad has taken on a new job that takes him out of the country for months at a time. He didn't think kenneling his sweet boy would be fair so he has asked me to find Charlot a new home. Charlot is our Groovy's brother from the same litter. There are some similarities but so many differences (aside from the bad haircut!). Here they are playing together.

Groovy letting Charlo know she is the boss!

Groovy And Charlot smiling!

Monday night my fabulous foster family came and picked up Charlamagne and they brought their rescue boy Murphy with them. So we had three male Airedales here in three days. Our two female Dales are exhausted and were perfect hosts. Sid is still talking all about Charlo, and Jacob and Murphy and they should all stay here!!!!

Finally the house is ours again and once again we realize how much we appreciate our dogs, our wonderful foster families and the friends we make through rescue!