On July 6, 2011, after burying my best friend and travel companion of fourteen years, I wrote a diary "Lessons from a Dog on Letting Go".
I finally learned how to post a photo in KOS diary. This is Brandee.
By akmk
Several folks recommended a rescue dog. Five weeks later, I found Callie, a smallish, reddish retriever in Fairbanks on August 18, 2011, and she came home with me to Southeast Alaska. Callie quickly wriggled her way into my heart. She was only four and I had her only five months before an acute attack of myasthenia gravis stole her away from me on January 28, 2012. I wrote another diary "Lessons from a Rescue Dog--Callie's Story." This is Callie--an angel who graced us with her presence for way too short a time. She was perfect. She was awesome.
By akmk
Deep in grief following the loss of Callie, I was walking, a few days later, with a friend and her dog and encountered another neighbor with four Bernese Mountain dogs, two recently adopted, one of which she was looking for a new home for because this dog, Heidi, was causing some grief with one of their first two Bernese, Gracie. I looked Heidi in the eyes and suggested we try her at my house for a bit. So home she came with me on February 1, 2012. Well, Gracie improved immensely with Heidi out of the house she was in, and Heidi and I are working things out. Heidi needed a home and I needed some serious dog therapy, which she is providing in spades.
I know I'm heading for another heartbreak one of these days, because Heidi will be seven on April 30, 2012. And for the average Bernese these days, that's a full lifespan.
We're hoping to beat the odds. She's healthy, can jump into the car no problem, and is a bit of a Bernese water dog. It's the middle of winter in Alaska and she loves the ocean and icy ponds. She also like bananas. She's training me well about when it's time to eat and when it's time to go for a romp. This is Heidi.
By akmk
So my year, not even that, has turned into a trilogy of dog love and dog lessons. It's been bittersweet. I honor my trilogy.