Whew! I'm tired.

What a day yesterday! I went to work with my girl and visited with everyone there and then after work, I went to my second job at the nursing home. I met lots of people and got lots of petting. A couple of people told us about their dogs that they used to have. We spent about an hour there but it seemed so much longer. Two levels with lots of hallways to go up and down. I definitely enjoyed it and look forward to going back next week. I just hope I don't have to go in that weird box thing again....I think my girl called it an elevator. I didn't like it one bit. It's scary and I don't get scared easily.

My girl was surprised that I went straight to bed when we got home. We both forget that I'm eleven and that I get tired a little quicker than when I was a pup.

Oh, one other thing. My chemo that I was supposed to have today had to be rescheduled to next week. Something about a hurricane or something in a place called Florida has delayed shipment of the medication. I suppose it is okay because it gave me a chance to stay home and rest and keep Stella company.

My boy and his dog

This is a picture of me and Guinness helping with the gardening last summer. My boy has been really sad this week because it was year ago that Guinness left us. My boy really misses him and worries that he made the wrong decision in ending Guinnie's life. Guinness was 13 and was starting to get some icky arthritis that was making him hurt and slow down from his ball chasing. My boy had been concerned about this and working with the vets to try to make Guinnie feel better. After coming home from a weekend trip, my girl and boy returned home to find Guinness in really bad shape. He seemed to be really suffering and in a lot of pain. They rushed him to an emergency vet who did some tests on poor Guinnie and discovered that he had cancer. It was down around his tummy and had spread bad. After consulting with Dr. Webb, My boy had to make a really hard decision. Even though he really worries that he might have given up to soon, none of us think he did. Guinness had a really good last day with my boy and girl. Stella and I went to visit my girl's parents so that Guinness would have all the attention to himself. The weather was perfect for playing in the yard with a ball. Guinness was so obsessed with chasing balls. Sometimes he'd get really nutty and try to stuff a couple in his mouth and then chase another to try to get it stuffed in there too. They also had a picnic outside with yummy grilled cheese sandwiches.

Our friend Alysha who works at the Broad Ripple Clinic arranged for Dr. Lee to come to the house to give Guinnie his last shot. I'm really glad I wasn't there. Everyone was so heartbroken. I hope that I'll always be as loved as Guinnie had been his whole life. I know Guinnie also really loved his boy and trusted him to keep him free from any pain and suffering. I know I can trust my boy and girl to do the same for me and Stella.

What a weekend!

What a fun weekend. My boy and girl went away for a few days so Stella and I went to stay at my girl's parents. We always have such a good time there playing with Bon-it (the dog that lives there). And gosh, do we eat good! Because of my sensitive tummy (from the chemo), my girl and boy don't give me much treats. Forget the dry stuff when we are there though! I dislike it so much that I have to scoot the food bowl off the rug and then I try to cover the bowl with the rug to hide it. It seems to fool my girl's mom when I do that because then she gives me good food. I'd try to tell you all I had but like she said, it would be easier to list what we didn't.I didn't even get sick from all of it!

We all went for lots of CAR RIDES too. I prefer to be without the other dogs. They don't seem to get that there is work involved. While I'm trying to control traffic and keep all those cars in line, Stella and Bon-it just like to go from window to window and get in my way. One time we ended up in a big field. Bon-it and Stella just wanted to run around and play but I decided to stay in the car. I was hoping maybe we could just leave them there for a little bit so I could get some work done.

Bon-it is the funniest, happiest go lucky dog. So opposite of Stella who's always nervous about everything and everyone. Bon-it just wants to play and love, play and love. Even though she is huge (70+ pounds), she is still pretty young. She had a really serious accident last summer when she got hit by a car. Would you believe the woman driving didn't stop? Poor Bon-it was trapped underneath the car. The woman went a block dragging her until some people got her to finally stop. The car then had to be jacked up to get Bon-it out from underneath it. She was against the exhaust and had horrible burns that went into the muscle. The vet had to wire her hip back together too. She's all healed now but the fur the will never grow back where the burns were. Its just black scar tissue. She's a pretty blond too. Such a shame. It hasn't affected her personality at all though. She still loves everyone and everything. Especially chasing Stella and playing with Miley, the dog next door and her best friend.

Even though we had a great time, we were so excited to see our girl and boy (and to take a CAR RIDE!). Its good to be home. I get to go to work in the morning too!

New gig!

My girl finally got in touch with a woman at a nursing that she has leaving messages with back and forth for a couple of weeks. She said they are excited to have me come visit because their residents love dogs. My girl has to go in and fill out an application for us and get a TB test first. She's going to try to do that tomorrow and then we'll be able to get started. I think I'll be going once a week. We'll be going after work so once we start I'll have a long day but think of all the petting I will get! Have I mentioned how much I like older people? Don't tell but I think they are better than little kids.

UPDATE:
I start next Wednesday at the nursing home.

I'm a celebrity!

Okay, I'm not really a celebrity but because of my girl's email to the humane society, we've been asked to be part of their holiday fundraiser in November. How exciting is that? They will be sharing amazing adoptions and survival stories during the dinner. Its at a fancy reception hall, the kind that dogs don't usually get to go inside. My girl said there will be a silent auction and hors d'oeuvres followed by dinner. Hope they will share them with me. I bet it will be yummy!

Humane Society

Yesterday my girl emailed the Humane Society she had adopted me from to tell them about the new life I have since being adopted by her and my boy. She said they see so many sad things everyday (kinda like she does at her job) that maybe they'd like to hear a good story. This is the response she just received:

Thank you so much for updating us on Dominique’s new life. It is people like you who really make a difference in these animals’ lives. We love to hear these kinds of stories, it makes our job a little easier knowing there are people in the world who really do care. Thank you for giving Domi a loving home and a second chance at life.

I really am lucky that I was adopted by such wonderful people. While I don't fault people who do want a purebreed (after all, I am and quite proud of it), I do want to encourage people to check their local shelters first and also breed rescues. Its a good way to get a really good dog for much less and to save a life at the same time. And if you do go to a breeder, make sure its a reputable one who really cares, not a puppy mill that's all about making money.

Oh wow, my girl just received another response from a different person at the Humane Society as I was writing this. And they remember me! Here it is:

Thanks so much for your update on Domi - I remember her well (not to mention the fact that we somehow had her down as a male). It is very heartwarming to hear back about how our dogs have done - and we do consider them ours, as most of the staff spends more time with them than we do our own dogs. She is truly a miracle and was placed with you for a purpose. Thanks again for the update!

That's a great response! It makes me feel good even if they did think I was a boy. I don't know why since I'm so pretty. My boy and girl get a chuckle out of it as they say I am a bit prissy. Hmmph, they should try keeping white paws clean.

I'm at work today and I should go see if anyone needs to pet me.

Bad Dog

Well, my girl is at work but I'm not. I'm stuck hanging out at home with Stella. There was a big storm last night with lots of thunder. My girl and boy just don't seem to understand the importance of me getting that thunder and putting it where it should be. Its a really hard job because that thunder is so hard to see. It just moves so quickly too. It gets me so worked up that I can't help but bark at it. And I guess I barked quite a bit last night. Stella even got up and tried to help me. My girl was a little bit grumpy with me this morning. I kinda forgot that she was sleeping in the midst of all that. When they finally let me out this morning I got even more worked up because I was finally out there where the thunder actually is. I got soaked running around the yard. My girl was just little upset with me. I made her late for work and she said she was not taking a soaking wet dog in the car and since I was a bad girl I didn't deserve to go anyway.

Its been a long day here at home too because in my excitement, I kinda forgot to go potty. It's supposed to storm again tonight. I'll have to try hard to just ignore all that noisy thunder and go to sleep. I don't want to get fired for missing too many days at work when I haven't even got to start yet.

New job!

What exciting news today! My girl works at a non-profit agency that works with families in crisis situations and also assists Child Protection Services. They help lots of kids that are being abused or have parents involved with drugs and lots of other sad things. I'm not going to talk about any of it specifically because of all sorts of privacy laws....and well, this blog is about me, not her job. But anyway, one of the supervisors there had this big epiphany that hey, I am a therapy dog. What do you do when you are therapy dog? You go to places like nursing homes, hospitals, places that can be stressful and you help people there to unwind and feel a little less stressed. Where my girl works can be very stressful. So, she spoke with the director and they decided to offer me a full time position. They will even keep a personal file on me!

My girl said that I can start tomorrow. She warned me that even though they have said I can go everyday, she may not always take me with her. The other dog in my house, Stella, really hates to be left home alone. I guess it wouldn't be fair to her if I get to do something cool everyday but she doesn't. I'm really excited to have a job. One of the things about Border Collies is that we are workaholics and can get depressed when we don't have something to occupy us. It will be so neat to not be there as a visitor but as worker! My girl makes me stay on my blanket beside her usually when I am there but she's promised that I will get to visit more and maybe even get to see the office next door!

I'm off to bed now. I want to get lots of rest for my big day! I hope I don't snore too much tonight so my girl can get lots of sleep too.