Welcome my Friends, to Thursday Art and Dinner Date!
π¨For our π¨ Art Date π¨, today's optional prompt is Outer Space! Marvin the Martian is showing a rare smile as he decorates his Christmas tree. He asks that you don't tell any silly Earthlings that Martians celebrate Christmas! Click on the image to see a little bit of detail on his gun! π
I sketched Marvin and uploaded the image to my computer. I added color and fixed the outline then superimposed Marvin onto a royalty-free background image, courtesy of Pixabay.
Canine Chronicles
(Warning: the following story is REAL...I talk about dog violence, injury and domestic abuse. Please feel free to skip this section if you like.)
Left: Rain and Jack in 2023, Right: Rain and Raven in 2024
It has been a stressful week! Some of you know this story already but most don't because all of this happened after I stopped using Blogger for WordPress back in 2024. In February 2024, my beloved soulmate and hound dog, Jack, passed away at the age of 18. So then it was just me and Rottweiler Raven. I've never really had less than 2 dogs in the house...it was just so quiet - TOO quiet for me, in fact, quite lonely. I'd been thinking off and on about adding to the fur family at that time, but had no motivation to go looking.
Miley, Lucy and Benny in 2024
As luck would have it, about 2 months later, I was approached by the same shelter where I had adopted Raven. They had a family of dogs who were rescued from a very awful situation. A pup, his mum and her mum. I met them all and decided to adopt them and try to give them a safe and loving home. They were so neglected, underweight...the girls were caged to be breeders and the puppy was meant to be an attack dog. It was just awful to see the girls so skinny... From left to right: When I adopted them, grandma Miley (4 years old), mama Lucy (2 years old) and puppy Benny (4 months old).
Lucy and her pup Benny the day I adopted them in March 2024
I soon discovered that Lucy was a fighter and she tried to pick fights with Miley and Raven quite often to the point where I had to regularly separate them. At first I thought maybe it was an "Alpha" thing...but this proved not to be the case because I clearly carried myself as the Alpha, and the fighting continued. The more I dug into their pasts, the more I realized the insidiousness. The owners of the puppy mill bred dogs to fight. Little baby Benny was going to be terrorized and beaten into a violent fight dog. OMG...CAN I SHED MORE TEARS? It's very possible that Lucy was used as a "bait" dog because the inordinate amount of scars she had on her was overwhelming. Before I adopted her, there was a little waiting period because she had to have neck surgery because she'd been attacked by another dog...If in fact, she was a "bait" dog for these horrible humans who bred attack dogs, this would explain her instinct to fight to the "death" when she felt in danger. Oh it's so sad my friends.
I am taking a degree in psychology and to be honest, a lot of the concepts I am learning about can very well be applied to my dogs...fight or flight...stress response...okay more on that in another post!
This was the post on the shelter's Facebook page back in the spring of 2024
In June of 2024, I found out that Ali-Fay (formerly "Ali") the pointer, was up for adoption.
Note to Debra: She was a beautiful light shining on me, so reminiscent of Jack, so I added the "Fay".
She'd been at the shelter at the same time as the other 3, but needed surgery to amputate her broken and damaged tail. I wanted to bring her home because she reminded me SO MUCH of my Jack. So when I found out she was ready for adoption, I welcomed her into our pack. (Jack was half Beagle, half Pointer and they had the same characteristics - uncanny).
Four of the 5-pack watching the bird feeder in 2025
So, long story short, over the last year and a half-ish, Lucy has started violent fights with Ali-Fay to the point where poor Ali-Fay needed surgery to stitch up her wounds, TWICE. Last January (2025), it was so bad, that the rest of the pack joined in (pack mentality, except puppy Benny) and they all had cuts and wounds...both Ali-Fay and Lucy needed surgery to stitch their wounds - it was horrific. I tried to break it up and I got trampled by 4 of them. I was on the floor screaming for help - it was terrifying. I was the most vulnerable I'd ever been and very much alone. I ended up having puncture wounds on my arms and scratches from the back of my neck all the way down my back. I remember crawling out from under them and grabbing an air horn (that I brought with me on walks) and that was what got their attention and they stopped. It was like a crime scene.
Disclaimer: I know he's not around to defend himself but some of you already know that my late husband was abusive towards me. I've had a very trusted circle of friends (you know who you are ladies ♥) who helped me through so many miserable times and I just want to say that you are Earth Angels. Not many people understand domestic abuse, especially emotional abuse (that which you cannot see). People don't understand why you just don't leave...my gosh there are so many reasons and my studies in psychology are helping me to heal in an effort to share my story and help others heal.
So...back to the story, that day when I was screaming for help, he didn't come. He'd been giving me the silent treatment for days because I said something innocently enough that he took as a cardinal sin (as always). Sorry folks, I don't want to burst any bubbles but we had a toxic relationship and he was emotionally and verbally abusive. Oh boy, it feels good to actually say that. I know my (previous) blog pictured a fairy tale romance, but I guess that's what I really wanted. Anyway...that was the day I knew that I never wanted to be with Alex ever again. About an hour after the dog fight seized, he came out and flippantly said "You should check for injuries" and walked away as he glared at me. I was bleeding and crying and on my knees looking at him, pleading for help, but he could not care less...okay, 'nough said. This was the pattern of my relationship for 11 of the 12 years we were together.
Alright....so at that point, I was close to re-homing all of the dogs, I'd reached my breaking point and I felt so alone. It took me weeks to trust any of them near me again.
After the initial shock and to be quite honest, terror and disbelief, I decided to take some time with my Divine Spirit. I spent many hours pondering what the heck was happening. One day I had a turning point, I realized that they came to me for a reason - they needed me and they needed to feel safe and loved. It's not their fault that they were horribly abused and I didn't want to abandon them. They were just like me, they had been abused and they needed someone to help them. Though I didn't have help (at that time), I was determined to help them.
During the last year, I've been putting a lot of time into crate training, command training and "heel" training while walking them. I purchased these collars that make beeps and vibrations (no shocks) to further the training. I show them so much love and they have a great diet with lots of playtime on the property. I can trust all of them now to stay on the property without trying to run away - something Lucy did 4 times during the first few months that I had her. She would dart out the door when I opened it, nearly knocking me down when I tried to stop her.
I'VE HAD DOGS FOR THE LAST 50 YEARS OF MY LIFE AND THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. I had to put that in CAPS because I am still in shock about the violence and aggression.
Ali-Fay and Lucy "stacking" and napping in the summer of 2025
I think that I've done the most work with Lucy to help her feel safe, but there is something unknown that triggers her aggression and she takes it all out on Ali-Fay. This photo was taken just a few months ago...Ali-Fay "stacking" on top of Lucy. They slept like that for hours together...So, 3 days ago. I was out putting the garbage into the bin and I came inside to a violent dog fight. I have the skills now to stop them without getting hurt and they were all immediately separated. I checked them all for wounds...Lucy had a little bite on her back and a scrape, but it was (again) Ali-Fay who was badly injured. The entire pack (again, except puppy Benny) was on top of Ali-Fay.
Ali-Fay today, recovering from her trauma
My best-in-the-world veterinarian, consulted with me over the phone. She knows my situation and how difficult it's been to take care of my pets (and myself)...on one salary now with tremendous debt to deal with - and of course the emotions associated with Alex's suicide. I sent her photos by email and she prescribed antibiotics for Ali-Fay by fax to my pharmacy. She instructed me how to keep the wound clean and she is pretty sure it will eventually scab over. Ali-Fay's biggest wound is in a terrible spot though, in the crease between her leg and her body. I'm sending my vet daily photos and she told me that even if it doesn't heal "don't worry about the cost of surgery", if it comes to that. OMG...empathy much? I LOVE my vet.
The Problem With Lucy...
Rain and Lucy in 2024 - she's such a good girl...so messed up though (yup, that's my Breatheright strip lol)
So what to do with Lucy? She instigates every fight. She does the most damage. I promised Ali-Fay she will never be targeted again. My heart breaks. Re-home? What to do...so after a lot of thought and consultation with my vet π and some trusted friends, I've decided to keep Lucy. She is now on Prozac - yes, the Prozac that humans take. My vet told me that it's done wonders for aggression and anxiety in dogs, so I'm giving it a whirl.
I've also given up the dream of having a nice cozy "human" home with a living room, bedroom and kitchen. I've re-organized my home so that I have crates/cages in every room, and gates everywhere. Lucy and Ali-Fay will never be face to face ever again as long as they live here. I think it's just about routine. I have to get used to spending time with all of them separately. I think I can manage it. Taking care of these pups is a full-time job in itself but I consider myself lucky to be given that privilege.
SOAPBOX MOMENT: Our society pushes the idea of "disposable". Phone not good enough? Aaaah, toss it and upgrade. Hole in your jeans? Garbage! You can get a cheap pair on Temu. Not getting along with your wife? Dump her and find a new one. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I just cannot dispose of any of my pets. So we will figure it out.
Thanks for reading this post friends. It was cathartic and healing for me to let it out. I've been on the verge of breaking lately and this last incident nearly pushed me over the edge.
That's all for now folks! Please check out the link widget below for more π¨ artistic π¨ and π delicious π creations! See you soon!!! π
***********************************************
Upcoming Art Prompts For Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date: (Prompts are optional!)
Dec 11 Conifer Trees Dec 18 White Dec 25 Gratitude
About TADD:
This art and dinner date is all about creating. For the art date, you can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, poetry...whatever you like! You can follow the weekly themes or post any art you like! π¨
And for the dinner date, please feel free to link up your foodie post! π
Don't forget to add the URL link to your post (not your blog) to the link gadget above to share your wonderful creations! Please revisit to make sure you don't miss those who join in a little late! All spam and non-related links will be removed! The link gadget will be available until the following Sunday at midnight!
Comments
Post a Comment
Thanks for your comment, I love hearing from everyone!