Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

I was promised a recession.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

Joe Lieberman disappointingly reemerged to remind us that he’s still alive.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

No one could have predicted…

This really is a full service blog.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / A Pet Rescue Story

A Pet Rescue Story

by | 90 Comments

This post is in: 

Today has sucked. I hope this makes it suck less:

sunnycowdog1

We always seem to adopt dogs that have a little too much personality. Our first dog was a beautiful black dog that doted on us almost as much as we doted on her. After she was gone, it took a lot of time before we were ready to welcome another dog. But when we did, our new dog became an instant and important member of the family.

This is Sunshine or as we affectionately call her, Crazy White Dog.
Sunny was rescued from Arkansas by the Camano Island Animal Rescue north of Seattle, WA. We found her through Petfinder.com (http://www.petfinder.com/index.html) a great resource for finding pets! We thought we were adopting a golden
retriever mix but 2 weeks after adopting her the yellow part of her
coat disappeared and we got Crazy White Dog(TM)

Note: Camano Island Animal Rescue found Sunny while adopting 2 other dogs from Arkansas. A trucker’s network that transports dogs for adoption gave Sunny a ride to the Pacific Northwest (where it is not quite sunny).

When you look at Sunny, people often think, “what a beautiful and
happy face”. That is how she pulls you in. Behind the good looks is a lot of crazy. There is a lovely path worn through the grass from her insistence on running in only one trail in the yard. She grumbles and complains through all her tricks. She spins like the Tasmanian devil after a bath, while throwing herself on the rugs to dry off. She sleeps in the shower after storms. She will only go to the bathroom in our yard, which is not so great for weeklong vacations.

Her favorite thing to do is run full speed at the sliding door to show her great desire to come inside. She sometimes scratches at the screen door for added effect. As soon as we open the door, she sprints away. It never gets old.

But she loves every person and animal she meets. She tells you a
story when you come home. She grabs your arms and makes sure you pay attention to what she is telling you. She entertains us with crazy runs through the house. And the whole family loves every strange and wonderful part of her.

060109_crazywhitedog

This is your open thread.

Reader Interactions

90Comments

  1. 1.

    gogol's wife

    Thanks for the beautiful dog! So much better than calling Sen. Lieberman’s office yet again. And thanks for a new internet hero, i.e. Ezra.

  8. 8.

    Aredubya

    What a fantastic beast! All 5 of our pets were adopted via different rescue listings on Petfinder. Those folks do great, yeoman work.

  9. 9.

    General Winfield Stuck

    Today has sucked. I hope this makes it suck less

    It has, and it does.

    Sunny is a sweetheart, and I can see she haz a happy.

    Charlie is crashed on the end of the bed.

  13. 13.

    Annie

    She is awesome…Quite the fashion plate. I think one of her stories is what an asshole Lieberman is. She can’t understand how humans can be so stupid…

  14. 14.

    ford powers

    i needed that today. gracias.

    nothing like cute puppies to keep me from wanting to stab myself in the eye.

  17. 17.

    wonkie

    That second picture is so sweet! That happy face!

    I spent the morning at my local rescue today, waling dogs mostly but also I had the fun of washing a shar pei. FOur pups came in this morning, six yesterday. Yeserdays’ pups are from Puerto Rico: an outfit called Island Dogs brings dogs from Puerto Rico to Washingon state. One dog went home today: a rottie mix to live on a hobby farm. A very old dog brought in as a stray was recovered by his family today. He’s fourteen and got a little doggie dementia but his family loves him and they were glad to get him back. I love voluntering at dog rescue.

  18. 18.

    MikeJ

    Sunny looks very much like my old dog, Pablo. He was also an insane rescue, but very sweet. And guaranteed to piss off my girlfriend who would bake me things, because no matter how well protected the baked goods were, he would find a way to get at them.

  19. 19.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Resuce? I wish someone would resuce me. Or recuse me. Or secure me. Because yeah, there has been a fair amount of suckitude hanging around today, so resucement sounds like just the thing.

    (Seriously, John, love your typoez, and that is one amazingly happycute dog.)

  20. 20.

    MMM

    This one is for you Mr. Cole:

    Clears away the cobwebs,
    And the sorrow
    ‘Til there’s none!
    When I’m stuck a day
    That’s gray,
    And lonely,
    I just stick out my chin
    And Grin,
    And Say,
    Oh
    The sun’ll come out
    Tomorrow

  21. 21.

    HRA

    Great story about a wonderful dog and the fun she has and brings to her family.
    I needed this, too. More, please or at least one per day.

  24. 24.

    TaosJohn

    Yes, this is a sucky day. However, the pooch picture made me think of poochie paws. I don’t know why, but I always like to squeeze a dog’s paws. Baby feet draw the same reaction: gotta squeeze ’em. What the fuck does this mean.

    So yeah, the dog picture makes me feel a little better, looking at the paws.

  26. 26.

    Kryptik

    This post makes me happy and sad all the same time.

    Sad because Sunshine reminds me of our old dog Tundra. Similarly found at a shelter, he was a Shepard/Chow mix that somehow was born with white fur, that ended up beiging with age. I still miss him since we lost him last year…

  28. 28.

    Svensker

    I can’t decide whether the green sombrero pic is come hither or why are you torturing me again. The second pic is just straight up good times.

    You guys have probably all read this years ago and seen the movie — but I just finished Joe Katz’s Dog Year about the first year of his rescue of a crazy border collie. Such fun, such weepies, such good heart warming doggie stuff. Read it if you haven’t already.

  33. 33.

    Sleeping Dog

    Looks like she has some Great Pyrenees in her. The tan markings, and the grey on the ears. Wonderful pooches, though they bark a lot and if you don’t keep them on a lead they’ll become a dissa-pyr.

  34. 34.

    John Cole

    @General Winfield Stuck: I’m looking at that dog, thinking to myself, “That is a dog that is going to love spaghetti sauce.”

    We had a dog with whiskers and a bushy face like that who LOVED spaghetti, then you had to chase him around the house to catch him to clean him. We never learned. Or maybe we did and that is why we let him do it.

    BTW- I have informed my parents I am scanning old pet photos over christmas break, so be prepared for some pictures of the GREATEST CAT WHO EVER LIVED- Mr. Purr Puff.

  38. 38.

    Tom_23

    @John Cole:
    Actually, she has not had a bath in 6 months. She is self cleaning. I have had her many times at one of the muddiest off-leash parks here in WA.

  39. 39.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @John Cole:

    so be prepared for some pictures of the GREATEST CAT WHO EVER LIVED- Mr. Purr Puff.

    LOL. I for one, look forward to seeing Mr. Purr Puff!

  41. 41.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Demo Woman 9:08 pm

    Thanks, DW! Didn’t mean to alarm you — I was just ragging on John for his misspelling of “rescue” as “resuce” and then throwing in some additional anagrams :-)

    No, except for the fog we had all day, and a sense of being overwhelmed at work and my life seriously unbalanced, I’m fine. (Well, and, you know, Republicans and health care and Lieberman and all.) But all that said, did Cole ever send you my phone # and email like I asked him to? I know you’re in the same general ‘hood and would be glad to meet you in person one of these times even with no crisis going on. Hope all is well with you. Have you seen anything of AMomAnon recently? Hope she’s doing okay. Cheers.

  43. 43.

    Annie

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    Oh… He is wonderful. I am going to cry. Congratulations Dad…I can tell he has your smarts…I assume that he has been writing the latest posts. I noticed that when someone mentioned Lieberman, he growled…Good dog.

  44. 44.

    Shell

    I don’t know why, but I always like to squeeze a dog’s paws.

    I like to smell them. No, this isn’t some fetish. Dog’s paws always smell like fresh-cut grass, even into the middle of winter.

  45. 45.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Shell 9:32 pm

    And cats that have just thoroughly bathed themselves smell like very yeasty salty soda crackers.

  46. 46.

    CaseyL

    Yes, a really really awful day…

    Some you may have heard me speak all the time once or twice about my elderly gray tabby, Ariel. Today we ran out of second chances and miraculous recoveries: her kidneys had failed so badly it was affecting her motor control (translation: she could barely walk, or even stand) and after test results showed there was really nothing to be done, I had her euthanized. I held her before, during, and after.

    Ariel was 19 years and a few months old: the last link to a lot of things, including the last vestige of my youth. She was demanding, jealous, hated other cats, talked frequently and loudly… and adored me to a humbling, frightening degree. We liked to take walks together (no leash!) around my townhouse complex, which is beautifully landscaped and perfect for playing jungle kitty in. She never met a puddle she didn’t want to drink out of (“Here’s the fearless jungle kitty approaching the watering hole”) even though she had a Platinum Drinkwell at home. I never sat down for more than half a minute before she was in my lap. Late in life she liked to join me in bed, curl up on my chest, and go to sleep. I knew the end had come when she no longer wanted to do either of those things.

    I’ve done this 3 times before, signed that godawful death authorization for 3 kitties before this, and it never ever gets any easier.

    My sweet baby girl.

  49. 49.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Annie:

    I assume that he has been writing the latest posts.

    That would be Purl the Parakeet. He still runs the show around here.:-)

    ** and if that ain’t troll bait, nothing is. Not you Annie.

  50. 50.

    Demo Woman

    @SiubhanDuinne: I think that she lives in west of me, but not sure.. I’m in Roswell and it would be great to have a meet up of the balloon juicers.. I live in the district that Tom Price’s wife just won a seat on the local council. Oh goody.

  53. 53.

    Mike in NC

    Today has sucked.

    As someone who got laid off early in 2009 and still can’t find a new job in the smoking ruins of the Bush/Cheney economy, permit me to suggest the entire year has sucked. It will suck less if Joe Lieberschmuck suffers a fatal stroke before midnight.

  56. 56.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @CaseyL: I am so very sorry. A lot of us here have had to make that toughest of decisions and goddammit, it just never gets easier. I am grieving with you and everyone who loved Ariel (lovely name). I always picture the kittehs, when they finally leave us, lapping at the creamy foamy edges of the Milky Way as they move on to the next Great Moggy Adventure. You did the right thing –really, the only thing — but believe me I know the hole in your life right now.

  57. 57.

    Max

    I am the only dog owner that was jealous as hell when Bo did high 5 on the Oprah special?

    I tried it with Max and he just looked at me like I was nuts.

  58. 58.

    Elie

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    Nice seeing the new friend snoozing contentedly nearby…

    Bill, my senior citizen is stretched out near the fire in one, long, relaxed fuzzy line. The vet came and did due diligence to him, drawing blood for a check up and clipping his dreds from failed grooming..He gave her bloody hell and though old, he stood up for himself and his dignitiy

    Still he likes his life — I think. Eating and plenty of lap time while I work on the PC…

  59. 59.

    Elie

    @CaseyL:

    What can I say? I feel for you and know what it means to go back a long time with a kitty friend.

    I am watching my Bill hit 19 next March. He is still doing pretty well, though his joints and his back are arthritic. He still gets around somehow —

    My best to you and my sympathy on your very important loss. More important was what you both got positive out of your years together…

  61. 61.

    Tom_23

    @CaseyL:
    My condolences. Fortunately for us, our previous dog died suddenly (heart attack?) when she was around 11 yrs old. At the time I was heartbroken but I look back at how fortunate we were because we really enjoyed her right up to the end and we didn’t have to go through those end of life issues.

  62. 62.

    bystander

    CaseyL, sincere condolences. That is so sad. The hole in your heart must ache something fierce. Ariel’s life was always safest in your hands.

    As for Crazy White Dog™, I have only one question. Is that amount of animation legal? What a terrific creature.

    Thanks, John. Today just blowed.

  63. 63.

    OriGuy

    For those of you in the upper Midwest, Dairyland Greyhound Park in Kenosha, Wisconsin is closing at the end of this month. All of the greyhounds must be adopted, sent to other racetracks, or returned to their owners. They don’t know at this time how many dogs will be available after the track closes, but it could be a few hundred. I’ve heard that greyhounds make excellent pets.
    http://www.dairylandgreyhoundpark.com

  64. 64.

    CaseyL

    Thanks to all for their very kind words of condolence. I love this place, and the emotional support is one of the reasons why.

    I do also want to compliment everyone on their goggies, new and not.
    There is really nothing as happy looking as a happy dog. (Well. Except maybe otters :)

  65. 65.

    Keith G

    @CaseyL: I am sad yet happy for you. Getting to know a cat that loves humans is such a joy. Those cats trust, enjoy and really grow know their human companions.

    You have been really lucky.

  69. 69.

    Tom_23

    @bystander: We certainly think so! Rumor has it her animation may be a by product of Arkansas. Maybe we will get an answer on Sunny’s blog in the future.

    Thank you everyone for the really nice comments. This made our day!

  70. 70.

    Yutsano

    @Tattoosydney: Not to harsh your mellow, but shouldn’t you be umm honeymooning or something?

    So we played the Who Takes the Most Calls game tonight at work. I kicked tail again. Yeah I’m proud of myself.

    Oh and the obligatory PUPPEH!!

  71. 71.

    asiangrrlMN

    @CaseyL: My deepest condolences to you and your family on the loss of your beautiful Ariel. I am sending a white light to guide her gently to the other side. May she look in on you from time to time to make sure you are doing ok. What a touching tribute you have paid to her here.

    Cole, thank you so much for this post. Sunny is a beautiful girl, and her story made me smile. Yes, today was a sucky day, and yes, Sunny made it better.

  73. 73.

    Yutsano

    @asiangrrlMN: The kitchen got done clean, of course it’s messy again. I’m choosing not to worry about it yet. Gonna try to get through the holidays first.

    I had another point but it’s out of my brain now. Oh great puppeh story I linked to up above.

  74. 74.

    Tim

    Sunny obviously hates that hat, and is humiliated to be forced to pose in it. She has an astute fashion sense.

  75. 75.

    mandarama

    @John Cole

    Would Mr. Purr Puff be related to KO’s Miss Precious Perfect?

    @Shell:

    My dog Murphy’s feet actually smell like Fritos. My kids yell, “Watch out for the Frito Feet!”

    Gorgeous Sunshine…what a pup. Her eccentricities just mean she has a lot of personality to go with her beauty.

  77. 77.

    Yutsano

    @asiangrrlMN: And I have way too much crap to do on my days off to spend cleaning up again. So it might get neglected until someone else gets disgusted with it (besides me) or intelligent civilizations start growing in the sink. Either way it most likely won’t be done by me. Of course I say that NOW…

  78. 78.

    mandarama

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Since we are the same people, have you been feeling this 55-degree weather today?

    It was so nice and balmy that I almost forgot about wanting to kick Joe Lieberman in the nads. Almost. But I bet Houston’s weather was even better, truer, and more progressive.

  80. 80.

    mandarama

    @Yutsano:

    Heh. Well, since asiangrrl and I are technically the same person, you can still claim fake-wife-monogamy. I’m just a shadowy sockpuppet!

    I might pop up to bitch and nag now and then, though, like an evil twin.

  81. 81.

    Anne Laurie

    @General Winfield Stuck: CONGRATULATIONS, General! Charlie looks like a… well, he looks like a grumpy old curmudgeon with a good heart, which seems appropriate. Especially loved your “watering the bucket” shot — our Papillon group refers to p-mail, as in “gotta read my new messages, ‘kay?” and “just one more quick response, I promise!”

    (Around our house, Petfinder is known as The Intertoobz’ Most Dangerous Site. It was a blurry photo and a sob story there that led to the adoption of Sydney, aka Goat Dog, aka Worm Boy, who after 18 months with us has matured into only one of the world’s top ten ugliest papillons. And also mostly re-learned normal dog fastidiousness, the distinction between ‘indoor’ & ‘outdoor’, and not to shpritz himself when he’s surprised… )

  82. 82.

    Anne Laurie

    @CaseyL: You’re in my prayers positive thoughts. You gave Ariel a good life, and approximately 17 years more to enjoy it than she would have had without you. There are some animal companions whose loss one never quite gets over, but after a while the memories will be restorative rather than heart-piercing.

  83. 83.

    WaterGirl

    @CaseyL:
    Your loss of your sweet companion Ariel is heartbreaking, but you are so lucky to have been able to hold your sweet kitty before, during and after you let her go. I saw a quote somewhere that said a good death is not about when or how, but about knowing love. Ariel knew your love, right through to the end.

  85. 85.

    CaseyL

    @asiangrrlMN: @Anne Laurie: @WaterGirl:

    Not sure if y’all will be checking this thread again, but I did want to let you know how much I appreciate your comments. Last night was really bad, the house too quiet (my other 2 kitties are not big talkers); me crying until my head felt like it was full of cement; just missing her so much.

    Your words help. Thank you.

  86. 86.

    asiangrrlMN

    @CaseyL: It’s so very hard. There really are no words of comfort, but just know that you are supported here at BJ. We grieve with you.

    @mandarama: You cannot be the evil twin as I am the evil twin, but if you are me, and I am you, then I guess that makes you evil after all.

    @Yutsano: Since you already have the Dawg, and you and FH#1 always make goo-goo eyes at each other, I would say you’re already Denobulan (and I had to look that up).

  87. 87.

    BruceJ

    There is a lovely path worn through the grass from her insistence on running in only one trail in the yard.

    You can see the dog trails in our yard from orbit, literally, they show on google earth.

    She reminds me of Cicely, our rescue who would place one, just one of our shoes on the bed when we were gone, or Bonnie, the rescue who could count tomatoes on the counter “one for them, and one for me!” :-)

    Katie and Hunter, the next generation, still use the trails Cicely and Bonnie taught ’em…

  88. 88.

    Jenn

    @CaseyL:

    I’m so sorry for your loss, but glad that you got to be there to the end. I loved your description of your “fearless jungle kitty,” and identified so strongly with what you were saying — my old dog is really starting to go downhill fast, and she’s been such a steadfast companion through good times and bad. You obviously have a lot of electronic hugs whizzing your way thru the wires — *that* one there was just from me.

  89. 89.

    Meghan

    Thanks for sharing about Sunshine! What a great story :)

    I am working with the Ad Council on a new website for their Shelter Pet Project: http://my.adcouncil.org/theshelterpetproject/.

    You can visit and view the PSAs, then share them with people via Facebook, Twitter, Chat, email or blogs.

    This is such a great cause and I’m glad that you are making a difference in the life of an animal!

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks