All snuggled in her coat ready for a walk in the dog stroller

It is hard to believe it has now been a week since Joie came into our lives.  I continue to be amazed at how seamlessly she has fit right in with me, John and Kylie. This is my first dog I got from a rescue situation, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But it seems like Joie was meant to be here. This was her destination. My heart sings that she chose us. She glided right into hanging out with me in my writing cottage, running errands perched in her car seat, going for walks in her stroller with Kylie walking next to her, and loves to be with me wherever I am.  She sleeps in a kennel next to our bed, on my side, as that was John and I thought would be best.  She is happy in what I have dubbed her “pink camper” because it is a soft sided pink kennel with screen sides.  She is really good about going in it at night and immediately starts her “snorkel” process of finding her way under her blanket.

Yesterday I visited my best friend who works at a hospice community in our area. This is the hospice Frankie and I used to do therapy dog work. I don’t yet know if Joie will be a therapy dog as that will be up to her. I also don’t know if we will concentrate our efforts at the same facilities as Frankie and I did– but maybe try other avenues if it is to be that she becomes a therapy dog.  For now, I have to be honest and say I want her all to myself.  So time will tell.  We’ve also got work to do in getting her up and running in her wheels and I hope to take her to a specialist in about one to two weeks for advice on physical therapy, etc.  But John and I feel like her front legs have actually become a bit stronger in the week since she has been here.  I keep her in a child’s onesie which protects her belly that is healing from an infection and helps give her nice traction across our wood floors.

I also decided the other day that since we don’t know exactly when her birthday is (previous owner thinks sometime in March), that since she came to us on October 13th, her birthday will be March 13th.

Later this afternoon, Joie will experience her first chiminea fire as we relax on the deck for the perfect ending to this perfect fall day… and quite frankly, perfect week.  We will roast hot dogs and relish in our new little bundle with Kylie at our side too.  Did you like the play on hot dog and relish?  Don’t mind me…. I can get quite silly when I am happy!

Joie, happy and content in her new home with us

Today I had the pleasure of meeting in person, for the first time, Dawn Baumann Brunke.  She is an animal communicator who has written four books about animal voices and teachings.  She is also the woman who helped me greatly when she did an animal communication reading for Frankie this past June as Frankie was in transition. I will never forget how healing that time with Frankie was– as it prepared me to move forward with Frankie in spirit.  At the time of the reading, as well as for several weeks afterward, I couldn’t accept that Frankie was right in the timing of her leaving. But I know now, she was right. She knew I’d be okay and she knew what lay ahead for me and it was time for her to move on. That in itself is such an amazing gift that our animals give us.

As Dawn and I talked, and I could have talked to her all day– we had an instant connection– but she told me about a saying she has on her desk, “Life is right.” It’s so true. But how often we try to project our idea of how things should unfold in our lives.  I never wanted Frankie to die because I didn’t want to lose that pure joy and bliss our life had been. I wondered how I’d have that again as the last five years were some of the best of my life with the work we did together.  But how true it is that life is right, and change occurs when it is right and needs to be.  We may not understand that at the time, but when we look back we can usually see it.

I see it coming full on at  me especially the past five days since Joie entered my life. I see and understand that joy does come back again–in a new form– yet the same– at least for me. As Dawn and I talked and talked about how I named Joie her name (and a reminder the spelling in French means joy) I said how I was trying to transition Joie from her previous name of Mylee.  I started with Mylee-Joie and then My Joie.  Dawn smiled and said, “My joy.” That really struck me because yes, I now have that joy again I had with Frankie– just in a new way with a new little bundle to love.  This is MY JOY.  This is right where I am supposed to be at this time.  “Life is right.”

It’s so easy to lose track in the middle of grief and tough times that yes, “Life is right.” It’s hard to sit in the discomfort of changes and grief of sadness. We struggle with the why’s of why is this happening. But if we can try to find that small space in our crowded mind of letting go of the  “should be’s “and trust things will unfold as they are meant to be, we could move through the transition a wee bit easier.  I can’t say I was the best at that this the past couple of months, though the small light of trust started to glow again in my heart as each day passed after Frankie passed.  Holding Joie in my arms now, I feel at home again and my soul is fulfilled. And I realize I was never far from home, but was just being reminded that this is part of life and that “Life is right.” This is a saying that is now going on my computer to remind me every day.  Thank you, Dawn.

It has been so fun again getting out the dog car seat for Joie, as well as the doggie stroller that Frankie so loved to cruise in.  I think, as you can see, Joie loves the stroller too. I also posted a photo of her on Facebook in her dog car seat.  I just love having a dog companion with me again when I run errands.

Now to get something off my chest.  Two days ago I had posted a photo on Facebook of Joie and Kylie hanging together.  Someone added a comment that Kylie is overweight.  I’ve also since heard from a friend that someone we both know commented that Kylie is fat.  So just to let everyone know– I am very, very aware of this.  I am not happy about it and it hurts my heart.  But we are working on it.  I guess what really bothers me is that people who don’t even know you or the circumstance say these things. I couldn’t help but think of the Wisconsin reporter who recently came under attack from a viewer who felt it was his duty to tell the reporter in a letter (or perhaps it was on Facebook- I don’t recall) that she is fat.  I don’t know if you heard that story but I gave the reporter a lot of credit for going on air and addressing the attack on her.  She did it gracefully, yet got her point across saying that this person does not know her or her family or their situation, so how could he make such a judgement against her. She also said that she didn’t need him to point out that she needs to lose weight– she knows this.  And how would he know if she had some condition or was in fact working on her weight?  He just assumed.

So while it is likely the person that left the comment meant well– I was still very hurt.  I love my animals deeply.  I wouldn’t purposely cause them harm. Kylie from the beginning has seemed to have issues with her weight– she has never been overly active and she is just not your typical Lab.  She has never enjoyed playing ball or really going for walks.  She does not enjoy riding in the car or care to go for a swim. She just loves to hang and be.  Yes, that was hard at first for us– we wanted a Lab that did all the Lab things, but it is not meant to be with her– we accepted that.  She has really never been overfed either– could we be better in portion control and have we slipped on that?  Yes, we have, but we are working hard on not doing that anymore given we realize her activity level is what it is.  I’m also trying to walk her more, even though it is not her favorite thing to do.

I am by no means a perfect person– and gosh, don’t think I’d ever want to be– that would be so hard to live up to, besides there being no such thing, though society sure seems to want to impose that on us.  So I guess my point is I think most of us really try our very best and I’m not happy that Kylie is overweight.  I honestly wanted to cry buckets when I had her last in to our vet and realized she had yet again gained weight. It just didn’t make sense to me.  It made me feel like a horrible dog parent.  The other part of this is I think a lesson in judging without knowing all the facts.  I’ll admit, I’m human and have judged others too without knowing all the facts, but am much more conscious about this now and work hard to think before I speak.  But to the person who pointed out to me what they felt I may not have known, it makes me feel better to state the facts whether or not that person reads this post or not.