|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
How Hope became our Millie
|
|
Millie was
named Hope
when left at the
Turlock, California Animal Shelter.
Her people moved to Colorado...but without
Millie...
or should I say they left
California "without Hope?"
|
But fortunately an Angel named
Christine adopted Hope
, cared for
her, and finally searched for the perfect
owner.
Christine knew how special
Hope was. She renamed her Millie for
"one in a million."
That is what Millie
isa good natured, intelligent,
loving, loyal dog unlike ordinary ones.
There is something very special about her,
at times the thought pops into my mind that
"she's an old soul".
Christine
had 3 young children while working full
time. Millie was too much work on top of the
kids, cat, and Yorkshire Terrier. Christine
knows dogs, she knew Millie needed to be on
a ranch or with an owner who could give her
an active life with lots of attention. Her
listing on Craigslist would have been lost
on me except by chance that day I looked in
the pet section.
Christine was very
clear about not being in a hurry to rehome
Millie, not concerned about moneyonly about
finding the absolutely best home for this
wonderful collie. It took me 3 weeks to
convince her mine was the home. She visited
us with Millie, and she visited other homes.
She took her time.
At one point I
emailed Christine to say
"When this is
over one of us is going to have a broken
heart; me if I don't get her, and you if I
do. We both love Millie."
|
|
"When this is over
one of us is going to have a
broken
heart; me if I don't get her, and you if I
do.
We both love Millie"
|
|
|
Christine's
daughters loved Millie
who was
their gentle companion. But Christine had to
leave Millie alone all day while she worked,
and knew Millie deserved a fuller life than
a back yard.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Millie and I had a clear telepathic
communication when we touched
"We have
got to find a way to be together. This is
special beyond words...and we both sense
that."
|
|
|
|
|
Christine brought Millie to
visit
I was nervous because of
my 3 other dogs. The big Livestock
Guardian in particular began barking loudly
at her.
I feared this would jeopardize the
adoption.
But at one point Millie
came over to me doing a "play bow" then
looked into my eyes. Her snout touched me;
in that instant everything was communicated
between us.
We had a clear telepathic
communication:
"We have got to find a
way to be together. This is special beyond
words...and we both sense that."
From that moment on I was in trouble.
My heart knew something amazing but it had
to be communicated to Christine such that
she felt safe and secure adopting Millie to
me. Remember what is feels like when you
fall in love? That is what it was like.
|
|
How
special was Millie, really?
More
than you may be able to believe.The
collie at right is
Lady
back in 2023. She was owned by an
alcoholic co-worker named Les.
All
my life I have had an affinity for
the "dog spirit." Certain dogs sense
that in me, as did this one Lady
who would get into my car to go home
with me. But Les would drag her out.
At
that time in my life I had no means
to care for a dog. I lived in urban
areas such as San Francisco, San
Jose, and the Silicon Valley,
California. As much as I loved this
collie she was owned by another man
who wanted to keep her as his pet.
But I
never forgot Lady. Her spirit had
touched mine such that I held a
place for her in my spirit for over
30 years. That is how long it took
for me to establish myself securely
in the country. To build a ranch
where the collie spirit could
lmanifest, sort of like a dog
landing strip...and always my heart
yearned for her.
When
Millie was adopted I knew what had
happened. The spirit of the collie
named Lady, from 2023, had
reconnected with mine. She is the
dog of my life. An experience
ordinary people cannot grasp because
it is beyond the mind. This is stuff
of the real world of life itself,
that elusive "thing" we call spirit.
Simply put there is a "Great Dog
Spirit" that manifests in every
canine. If you see it, if you honor
it, if you love it it will come to
you. It did for me. Every day I live
with my dogs is a wonderful gift of
love, joy, and sheer fun.
Believe it or not. Millie is the
collie spirit that has lived in me
for decades. She and I are part of a
mutual destiny that continues to
unfold.
|
|
|
|
|
|
When Millie came to live
with me she fit right in! She politely met my cats,
telling each one
"Hi! I'm Millie and I like
cats! Will you be my cat friend?
|
|
Living with her new family was
everything Millie hoped it would be.
|
|
Millie was very please
d
with the carefully prepared home cooked meals of
fresh free range duck & chicken eggs, roast and raw
meats raised on the ranch such as Muscovy ducks, New
Zealand rabbits, and grass fed lamb.
Verne
made sure each dog always had a good bone or edible
chew (rawhide or bully stick) to work on
because dogs need to chew a lot.
He
cut the rawhide rolls into thirds on his miter saw,
then soaked them in meat juices. Bully sticks were
cut with a large pair of cable cutters into 4"
sections.
Brown
rice or potatoes are cooked each night for the
carbohydrate portion of their diet. Mixed frozen
vegetables were added, then mixed with about 12 eggs
cooked either sunny side or as an omlete
(scrambled).
The
dogs are conditioned to chew small bones from puppy
age. You can't give the rib cage of a chicken or
rabbit to a dog
who has
eaten canned food or kibble all its life
it
will inhale the bones without chewing them, and
possibly get them stuck in the throat.
In
nature dogs eat an entire prey animal; they eat
every part without trouble. Dog stomachs (ones on a
meat diet) contain high levels of acid (very low PH
of about 2) that dissolve bones. They need the
calcium and phosphorus anyway but chewing up the
bones is something dogs love to do.
My
German Shepherd will crack lamb leg bones to get the
marrow but leave the broken shards behind; he's
smart enough not to swallow those sharp fragments.
He'll do the same to a turkey leg bone. But any
smaller, softer bones he grinds up to eat. All my
dogs consume lamb rib bones, cracked leg bones, and
the entire spine. They even eat lamb heads.
|
|
Verne took this photo of Millie the first day to send to
Christine. ALong with a heart felt
"Thank you!"
|
|
|
|
Hope had been transformed into
"one in a million Millie"
and she was finally
home.
|
|
|