8 State Hurricane Kate

On Saturday I took Cay to the local groomer to get her toenails clipped. That is one thing that we still have trouble with. I have tried doing one nail per day and taking it slowly, but it never seems to get done. I work on touching her feet at bed time and other times when I don’t have the clipper. I found this local person who is very helpful, even though Cay sometimes does her bucking bronco imitation when we’re trying to do her nails. She freaks out at the sound of a dremel, so we clip her nails instead. Even so, she doesn’t like it. I wish I’d given her rescue remedy and other calming oils or drops before we went. Next time I’ll try to remember to do that. I also do some TTouch strokes on her, which should have a calming effect. Still, it was a battle to get her nails done. We were pretty worn out by the time we were through. I can’t let the nails get too long because Cay plays hard with the other dogs and could hurt them with long dagger nails.

In the afternoon, Cay and I went to a dog birthday party. My friend Beryl, who I met caring for rescued Katrina dogs in Louisiana in September 2005, was celebrating the 13^th birthday of her rescued Golden Retriever Razzie. Razzie spent the first 8 or so years of her life in a Missouri puppy mill as a breeder dog, no doubt a dismal existence. She was rescued and came to Retrieve a Golden of Minnesota. Louise (who I met on a local transport in January 2006) was the president of RAGOM at the time, and asked Beryl to foster Razzie. Beryl says it was a set-up 😉 since she was a “failed foster” and Razzie was there to stay. That was also how Beryl first got involved with RAGOM and now she is the executive director. Funny how we get into these things! And funny that we met in Louisiana, yet we only live about 11 miles apart!

Razzie has not had an easy life. She’s survived various cancers and has healed herself when given only a short time to live. It was wonderful to see Razzie celebrating her birthday with supportive canine and human friends. The second part of her life has certainly been better than the first. We can all learn from Razzie, the old gray-muzzled girl who gives pure love to all who know her.

The party was a good opportunity to socialize Cay in a friendly environment. I realized lately that I need to take her out more by herself. She is comfortable going with Bandit and Chase and takes cues from them, but doesn’t always know what to do when I take her without the other two dogs. Cay was unsure of herself at the party and sat behind me for much of the time. I had been concerned that she would play too rough with the other dogs, but she didn’t interact much at all. All those retrievers (Golden and Labrador) were bigger than she is and she isn’t used to being the smallest dog. Plus it was a new place with new dogs and people. So we hung out and Cay relaxed a bit after a while. She loved the “Pupcake” that was given to her and overall I think it was a good experience for her. Afterward she was exhausted and slept all the way home in the truck. Seeing how far Razzie has come since her puppy mill days gives me hope that Cay will one day be more comfortable in different situations too. I’m sure the big world outside the puppy mill cage seemed overwhelming to Razzie at first, but now she lives a joyous life, giving hope to all of us.