Farnival Update: Never Say Never

I started this blog as way to raise awareness for the animal overpopulation problem in rural Tennessee. When I stopped fostering, I thought I wouldn’t have anything to write about. I was wrong. Over the past three years, I encountered situations unique to being a dog mom, so unique that I composed blog posts in my head, scrawled notes across that invisible notepad addressed to every dog-loving freak out there.

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Dog Hair is Everywhere

I can’t cook for poop, so don’t get your hopes up, but I do occasionally prepare a few dishes. A broccoli, ricotta, and onion quiche is one of them. Yesterday, I spent thirty minutes shredding the Parmesan, chopping the broccoli and onions, whipping the ricotta and eggs. The dish baked for 55 minutes, then cooled for ten. When it was ready, I stabbed a big piece with my fork and analyzed the creamy mixture stuffed with vibrant green broccoli (cooked el dente) and sweet juicy onions. The crust was toasted to perfection. The smell alone made me salivate.

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We’re Back….and still sniffing paws.

Hello there! It’s been almost three years since I’ve posted any updates. At that time, I thought I’d never return to blogging, but I miss all you freaks too much. And I miss writing about dogs! With that said, I have to admit the highlight of the last three years is my budding relationship with a three-legged goat who lives in Seattle, WA. I can’t wait to introduce y’all to Rosebud.

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A Permanent Hiatus

I think it’s appropriate I started fostering dogs with a pack of five and I’m going to end my volunteer work with a pack of five dogs. I’m sorry to report the Farnival is taking a permanent hiatus. There are a bunch of reasons why I made this decision but mostly its because I’m not nearly as tough as I thought I was. Every time I say goodbye to one of these dogs my heart breaks. There are only so many times my heart can be broken before it needs to heal. It’s time to heal.

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The Aftermath

I’m worried about Adriana. My independent little soul is depressed. Bee’s attack shook her up pretty bad. It’s breaking my heart to see her so down. She won’t play at all, particularly with Bee. Every time Bee tries playing, Ade hunkers under whatever is closest.

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Let’s Talk About Aggressive Dogs and E-collars

We finally broke down and put an e-collar a.k.a. shock collar on Bee last night. We’ve witnessed aggressive behavior on several occasions, but we were easily able to correct her. Her outburst yesterday was way over the top. Frankly, yesterday’s behavior qualifies her as a borderline red zone dog because it was dangerous.

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Thank you, Meadow.

Last week we took Meadow and Dawn to the Springfield library to visit a group of three to five year-old children gathered for story time. When we got there the focus became less about a character called Penny the Pig and more about fist bumping Meadow. After the ten plus children got their chance to high five Meadow, they started heading back inside for more popcorn. Kids’ attention spans are about as long as firing firecrackers.

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Four Boxes

Mason brought Dessie’s ashes home from the crematorium. I placed her box next to the others. When Des died last month, an era ended. Mason calls Annie, Joe, Des, and Lucy our “starter pack.” We made every mistake possible raising those dogs, and from our mistakes we learned how to be leaders.

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Eating Cicadas

When we left off last, I was talking about bad habits that foster dogs bring to the Farnival. Bee taught Adriana how to hunt frogs and Shady was pooping on the couch. Well, I’ve uncovered a new habit that isn’t necessarily bad but it is interesting.

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The Blackout Has Ended at The Farnival

You freaks are awesome. I had several people write and ask me where the hell I’ve been for the past two weeks. I apologize. I had to be selfish and shut everything off so I could get caught up on school work. I was getting so far behind that my stress level was starting to affect my role as a cool, calm pack leader. Kaye, one of my most faithful readers, sent me the funniest message this morning:

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Farnival Update

Hi everybody. I’m taking a working vacation for the next week. I graduate this winter, so the workload right now is never ending. Plus, my mother is coming to the Farnival all the way from Washington D.C. So in order to spend time with family and finish some homework, I won’t be blogging this week…unless there’s breaking news…like Rosie, Dawn, or Tony gets adopted.

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Farnival Update

The last month has been crazy. Between Dessie dying, working in Denver, and my vacation, I am so behind on schoolwork that I need to shut everything off for the next two weeks and make catching up a priority. I’m sorry y’all but I’m really overwhelmed, and it’s important to me to do well during my last semester. Heck, I even told Donna I can’t participate in Shady’s now weekly trips to the library! Yep. That little shit is becoming a local star at the Springfield Public Library, chilling with a whole posse of five-year olds, and I can only participate from the sidelines. My deadline is exactly two weeks from today. Wish me luck. I have thirty-five pages due. I’m on page eight.

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Summertime at the Farnival

Hi y’all: I’m so sorry about the lack of posts. Unfortunately I won’t be posting a lot during the upcoming week either. I’m in the middle of a summertime traveling spurt. I worked at a NHRA Drag Race in Denver last weekend, and this Saturday I’m going on a much-needed vacation to the Northwestern U.S. Mason and I try to visit the California Redwoods, then drive up the Oregon Coast once a year. That part of the U.S. is our version of Disneyland. Click here for more about our trip last year.

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Thank you.

I’ve had a boatload of people contact me either by text or email and thank me for sharing the Waiting on Mason post. It’s all y’all I should be thanking. Last month the Farnival had almost 25K hits. I’m blown away (and humbled) by the amount of people that care enough about these abandoned mutts to keep tuning in. So, thank you so much. Concerning the amount of tears I shed writing about Dessie’s death, I feel like I owe it to the people that regularly read this blog to write through those terrible moments. It’s ridiculously fun pecking away on my computer about the pleasures of living with a pack. But what kind of animal activist/writer/lover would I be if I didn’t document the hardest times of all?

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Dessie's Terms: Waiting for Mason

Soon after Mason got home from Chicago, he confirmed my suspicions about Dessie’s deteriorating condition and called our vet. When he hung up, he said Dr. Dan was coming to the Farnival on Tuesday morning to euthanize D’Money. For five days, I’d been waiting for Mason to do exactly what he had just done, but the finality went down like a mouthful of nails.

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Euthanizing Dessie Daisy a.k.a D’Money

I’ve been having a rough time since I got home from Vermont. Dessie Daisy, our fourteen-year-old beagle mutt, isn’t having fun anymore. I don’t know if her condition (old age) got progressively worse while I was away or maybe I had just gotten used to seeing her so feeble, but the poor baby can barely hobble from room to room. When I pet her, I feel her ribs through her shaggy fur. She’s just a shadow of the old D’Money.

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It's Good to Be Home

For ten days I lived dog-less in Montpelier, attending a workshop at my graduate program. I spent a lot of sleepless nights in Vermont. The problem was I’m so accustomed to sleeping with dogs that sleeping without them was close to impossible.

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A Farnival Update

Hey there, everybody. I’m in Vermont until July 6th, starting my last semester of graduate school  I won’t be blogging a lot, unless something big happens, like Bee or Dawn finds a home, but I will post a photo essay of Adriana bobbing for water bottles in the pink pool (and some of the shots are underwater!) and a Lesson from Langston, so come back and visit.

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Getting Busy

I get asked a lot of questions about dogs on a daily basis, and I often try to answer popular inquiries on the blog. This latest topic is a little personal, so I’ve been avoiding it, but it gets asked so often by both friends and readers that I feel like it’s something we need to address.

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