Mambo is a doll baby and reminds me of our Roscoe who is now in God's front yard. Big ole lopey mostly black lab with the white on his chest, just like Mambo.

I've noticed that too over the years Sharon, that gardeners and pets go hand in hand.

I believe with all my heart that when we rescue a pet, they KNOW we are saving their lives and will take care of them for their whole lifetime.

Two of the greatest gifts we could ever be blessed with - pets and plants and dear human friends too

Please give Mambo a big ole hug from me.

You know, I'm old enough that I've buried way too many pets. Some of our cats lived to be 18, 21, and one even lived to be 22.

All our pets have been shelter pets.

They bring/brought us years of joy. I always wondered how in the world somebody could throw them away.

Same way people throw plants away, I think. Our gardening hearts are just too big to do that.

I can't even imagine letting go of either a plant or an animal. Of course there are issues that must be considered, aggression, proximity to children, that kind of thing; but I like to think in that situation I'd find a pet a home.

I happen to know the former owner of Mambo; he is a local attorney. My son lives in Indianapolis and has for years, so he didn't know, but at the shelter they'd told him the owner's name. I knew of him. It seems fitting somehow that Mambo landed in my son's life; my son is an attorney too, but of a whole different breed. I doubt very much he'd ever 'throw away' a pet or a plant. He isn't a gardener either, my son, but he sure was raised by one.

The apple didn't fall far from the tree Sharon

BTW, we use the towel trick thingy when we house train the dogs too

Somebody explain the towel trick thingy?

**has a stubborn Westie...

I'll leave it for Vic. I don't have a lot of experience with dogs.
What a beautiful Westie. Gorgeous picture, Lee Anne.

What a beautiful doggie

When we bring puppies or dogs home and they are not trained, they will have accidents in the house.

Wipe their tinkle with a towel/rag so it will have their scent.

Take the towel outside and put it where you want them to go potty and put a rock or something over it so it doesn't blow away.

And then, just like training a human toddler, take them out every once in awhile to the towel area and they will learn to potty outside.

As for bowel movements, I don't remember accidents with them doing that but I would pick it up in a paper towel and put it wherever I would want them to potty.

As far as how often to take them out, it could be every 15 minutes to up to every couple hours. Reward them a small biscuit when they go potty outside and praise them and tell them how wonderful they are. If they go in the house, tell them NO, and immediately take them out by the towel. If they go, even if they tinkled in the house, they still get a biscuit.

Our pets eat all organic food and biscuits. They eat better than we do

They train very quickly.

Never heard of that towel trick, Vic... In the adopted greyhound world, when we talk about towel tricks, we mean take a hand-towel and pin it around yon male parts so that when he lifts his leg, rather than marking the wall (or bookcase, or my video collection or recliner, etc), he marks the towel instead. Wearing a wet towel is fairly uncomfortable, as you can imagine, and the dog quickly learns not to do that indoors.

Ha! That's a brilliant idea! Might have to re-think my "no male dogs allowed" rule from now on....

Oh, Sharon... I had happy tears, too... I think gardeners pick up all kinds of strays, including stray ppl off the internet. And I, for one, am beyond glad that your son was raised by a gardener, and that you are both the type to open your hearts to the strays that wander by, be they animal, vegetable or internet-ish.

Made me smile out loud, Flit!!

Sharon said:Made me smile out loud, Flit!!

Then I did it right.

Yeah, you did.
As usual.

and I've never heard about wrapping a towel around their private parts - how clever

And the first line was that this was not about gardening. Hrumpf! Not about gardening indeed. Gal's gone crazy on us. Plum out of her mind. Who else but gardeners adopt & love the unwanted, castoff, discarded? Who else but gardeners nurture & love? And who else but gardeners pass those traits on to others?


Mambo is a perfect example of today's society. "I WANT". With no thought to the future consequenses. Mambo was an adorable puppy but no one stopped to consider if Mambo was right for the family (or little girl). Or if the family (little girl) was right for Mambo. So who ends up discarded? Mambo. In this case; a very fortunate thing as he was found (fate I think) by our dear Sharon's son who is young & strapping enough to have a dog like Mambo. It's refreshing to hear one of these stories with such a good ending.

On another note re: the towel around the belly --- there is an item called a "belly band" which you can purchase which is specifically for that purpose. Closes with velcro at the top. Dog show people use them when they are in hotels to keep the males (intact males) from marking the place.

Ahhhhh my dear Ann, you call 'em like you see 'em, don't you?

I think you are right, we are all nurturers, we love the unloved.
We were trying to understand why he ran straight for me when I walked out the door, because until then he had been a little shy, they said. Finally it occurred to me that maybe I might have reminded him of that little 14 year old girl, the one whose father 'dropped him off'.

He looked healthy, the vet said he was in great health, and I don't think he had been abused, but I do think he had been unloved. That's over for him now. He is probably the most loved dog around right this minute.

When I started writing the story, I had no idea the words would go in a circle and would tie it all into gardening.
Sometimes I have absolutely no control over my words.
This was one of those times.

Thanks for reading it, and for seeing right through me.

Thank you for giving me a better glimpse into myself.

vic said:and I've never heard about wrapping a towel around their private parts - how clever

Click here http://www.gemgreyhounds.org/g...

and scroll down to the 2nd item....you can have them custom-made to fit your dog's waist.