She was right here all along!
Snazzy, our 11 1/2 year old foster for American Brittany Rescue, who has lived with us for two years, is exactly that dog. She came to us as a behavioral case when she nipped her foster mum who's a friend of ours and so we said we would evaluate her here for a few days while they tried to find an alternative foster for her.....
Well, what can I say?
She came in, dropped her luggage (both figuratively and physically) and said "I've had a bit of a crap life up to now, I never had any human guidance or company and was left to my own devices for nine years, living in a basement in Gainesville and roamed outside on my own during the day. That nice foster lady tried to pet me, but it was my first time living as part of a family and I didn't know what to do with that, I'm really really sorry, will you help me work through this?"
I told Pete we'd have her placed by the weekend if we could keep her for just a few days and his only mistake was not to ask 'Which weekend?' And.....'How many constitutes a few?'
Over the following weeks and months, Snazzy settled in beautifully and became a big part of the working pack, taking care of all the tiny guests we get here. It was so surprising to see this old girl let 5 pound dogs just run all over her body, rolling on her back so they could use her as a bridge, nudging them when they got stuck.
When Collin started to present with more serious symptoms of degenerative myelopathy, she would sit beside him or match her pace to his if he wanted to walk in the field..."Come on Colin, you know we have to take care of the little ones, Aunty Pen needs us, let's do this together".
She's a nurturer, a born carer, but more like Hitler with loving arms...just what we were looking for, but is oh so tired, and ready for semi-retirement. She needs a stable pack instead of the ever changing social scenery down at the Ranch; she dearly misses her dear friend Colin, Frankie whom she adored and would sit outside with every day taking in the antics of the young 'uns, and then in April, Levi, Freddie, Ava and Hoss moved upstairs to live with us.
She needs stability, and a rest, and I spoke to Pete about maybe contacting American Brittany Rescue to see if they could increase their efforts to find her a forever home as I want her to be happy for the rest of her life.
That's when Pete looked at me like I was an idiot, and said " Um, why does she have to move that far?" And looked up at the cabin.
Volunteer coordinator Kathy and super volunteer Tonya, both agreed it was worth a shot, and so she's been up at the cabin for a week now, and it's been a fabulous success!
No one can replace Lil Kim; she was unique, perfect and an incredible soul, but we think we have found the right mix of Lil Kim's head teacher style combined with the cuddliness of Naomi Watts. Snazzy loves to be with people and will really enjoy the human attention she's going to get every day at the cabin from our wonderful volunteers. Plus, she is kind of enjoying the amorous attentions of Boris!
Snazzy, welcome to your new home and your new job.....make it your own sweet girl!
