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| Rusty |
Minden Times Column This Week
So, here I am in California getting to know Rusty.
He was withdrawn and wary at
our first meeting. That’s understandable considering he spent his earliest days
in the mean neighbourhoods of Los Angeles. Now he is enjoying a stable and
loving life in the San Francisco area.
Rusty is my newest granddog.
He joined my daughter’s family about a year ago and this is the first opportunity
I’ve had to meet him.
He is a fine looking fellow.
Medium size, light reddish brown in colour with fine rusty blond leg and belly
feathers. Amber eyes. He looks a bit like an Irish setter but his face is too
long and pointed for that breed.
He didn’t look this good
when my daughter’s family adopted him from a dog rescue organization in Palo
Alto. He had a cut on his head, was missing a tooth, had kennel cough and had
lost the hair around his eyes.
The rescue group believes he
was an LA backyard dog - dogs left on their own by owners who do not look after
them. He doesn’t like loud voices, indicating he must have been kept by people
who shouted at him a lot.
He was very tentative with
me, watching me out of the corner of his eye and moving away whenever I came
near. He is getting to trust me now and even brings me his ball to throw.
Rusty is my third California
granddog. The first was Koona, a half Huskie, half Malamute my daughter brought
with her from Canada when she moved here roughly 20 years ago. Koona lived to a
ripe old age – 14 – for an Arctic breed.
Then came Ozzie, a pure-bred
Malamute from a breeder who lived in the mountains near the California-Nevada
border. Ozzie, a gorgeous big dog, died unexpectedly at four.
Both were among the most
intelligent dogs I have known. They vocalized a lot, a trait of the Malamute.
They were loving guys, but fiercely independent.
Rusty doesn’t talk. He
communicates with body language. He is loving but more laid back that Koona or
Ozzie. He likes to be around other dogs, and people once he gets to know them.
He joins a long list of
Poling granddogs who have graced our lives - Diesel, Memphis, Emma, Chase,
Tasha, Molly and others whose names I might have forgotten.
The only other living
granddog is Georgia, a Great Dane Harlequin who lives with another daughter in
Mississauga. Georgia is so large that she rides in vehicles with her head
protruding through an open sunroof.
Rusty filled a huge
emotional void left when Ozzie died unexpectedly. When a cherished pet passes it
is difficult to think about getting another.
The day she adopted him, my
daughter took Rusty for a get acquainted walk. Not long into the walk they came
across five white feathers laying in their path.
There is a belief in some
parts of society that a white feather fallen from the sky is sent by the spirit
of a loved one who has passed on. It is a sign that all is fine and life should
be carried on without them.
I don’t know about that, but
I do know that native Americans believe a white feather signifies rebirth and new beginnings.
Rusty has a new beginning
here thanks to an animal rescue group and a family that has given him a loving
home.
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