Bathtime.....

There's nothing like a cold bath in the backyard when it's 105 degrees outside. Some of the gang know this and make themselves available for bathing, some of them prefer to avoid the hose area until they are led there. The Golden Retrievers tend to belong in the first group. The webbing on their feet is probably the first clue that they consider water their friend. As soon as the water comes on, Gracie starts circling, Lucy coyly peeks around the corner and Daisy and Maggie are ready and waiting. It's too bad that the first thing that Daisy and Maggie do after their baths is roll in the dust (dust + water = mud and we know that they like that)
Next comes Gracie, she has run past the bathing spot several times waiting her turn and now she has it. Gracie loves her bath and goes into a crazy, playful run right after, cooling down and trying to get the rest of the gang worked up. Toby plays hard to get, but once he is getting wet, stands still and enjoys. Lucy comes easily and picks up her hurley and walks happily off aftterwards. Layla acts like she is shocked that I would dare spray her with soap and water, but takes it peacefully and goes off to lay in coolness in the dining room (yes, the dining room, it took a couple of hours for the inside of the house to dry off after this bathing session). Hunny Bunny doesn't smell so funny anymore, which is a good thing. The rest of them either hit the last bathing session (last time temps climbed into the big numbers) or will catch the next session. I finally dried off too... now everyone is cool  and clean, asleep in the house, catching the air conditioning where they can....

Daisy rolling in the dust

after the bath

Toby and Daisy

Layla too

Toby's wet head

Daisy cool and happy

the bath wore sweet Hunny Bunny out

Home again, Home again....

There's no place like home.... that's the absolute truth. For the first time in over five years, I have been away from my gang for over a week. It's not easy leaving 15 dogs, most of which have some sort of special need or another. Michael was gone with me for most of that time, so we had to put them in capable hands.
For the first couple of days, I had visions of every type of catastrophe I could think of happening while we weren't there. I imagined waterbowl malfunctions, Hunny Bunny rolling down stairs, Charlotte hiding in the shadows not willing to take her pills, Asteroid causing serious injury to our petsitters, Ginger unifying the gang to create a dog-only version of Orwell's Animal Farm .....you get the picture. At feeding times the first couple of days, I was focused on my cellphone waiting for a call describing these disasters and more. On the second day we checked in and , guess what, everyone was doing great and having fun. No problems at all.... After that, I relaxed and enjoyed myself. I still felt a little pang of relief after every feeding time when no call came....
Homecoming was amazing, Michael had already been home for a couple of days, so it may have been over the top if both of us came home together. First, Sentry Ginger caught sight of me sneaking down the boardwalk. It wasn't long before I was surrounded by the whole group; giving me toys, playing among themselves, jumping, barking and best of all smiling :) everyone looks maaavalous....
The only casualty of our extended absence was one Coach tennis shoe, recognizable only by the color of the shards in the yard....Oh well....I'm debating throwing the other one out the back door so they can play with that one too. Is that bad training?

I was so excited to be home that I forgot to take any homecoming pictures. We tried to reenact the homecoming today, but I just couldn't drum up the same excitement (especially in 95 degree temps). Here's a couple of group shots anyway.

they're at least coming my way

I couldn't even get this group to look at me today

we have a (Rescue) dream....

Front: Hunny Bunny, Lucy, Toby - Back: Daisy, Rosie

Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary is the next step in what we have been doing for quite a while now. It stems from a love for senior dogs and a growing obsession to help these less desirable, but most deserving dogs. We started out simply as  adopters of some more needy dogs, going from 7 to 15 dogs over the past few years. We are now at our maximum, both with space and finances, until we put together a plan and thoughtfully work to make Old Friends a bigger entity, able to rescue more senior dogs.
Our home based sanctuary is based on a deep belief that each dog is healthiest and happiest living as an inside dog in a home environment as part of a loving family in their golden years. Stability is important for the senior dog and moving is very difficult for these dogs. For this reason, they need a long term placement, committed to them for the rest of their lives.
This year is setup year.... we plan to stay as we are while preparing for the future. We are in the process of becoming a recognized 501(c)(3) charity. This will free up more funds to spend on the dogs and will give us credibility in the rescue world. We will be able to solicit tax-deductible funds and will be able to put money toward sanctuary related projects more easily. We will be able to get discounts on food and products that are available to non-profit groups.
Later this year, we are going to attend a week long workshop on setting up a sanctuary at the amazing Best Friends Animal Society in Utah. We intend to learn from the best!
We have many ideas but are not sure which of them will eventually come to fruition. Throughout this year we will put together a long term plan that will change as we grow.
I will revisit our plan again toward the end of the year to see how it has changed. Here are some of the long term goals that we would like to accomplish as we grow.

• Get a network of lifetime foster homes to allow us to take on more senior dogs into home environments.

• Emphasize work with senior humans to accomplish this goal.

• Develop dog related fund raising projects.

• Become expert and develop a network of experts on senior dog specific subjects.

• Present workshops/specific lectures on senior dog related subjects. 

• Work only with dogs who are unable to find adoptive homes through other rescue due to age or age/disability.

• Get another home environment (facility) staffed by volunteers to allow us to provide a home for even more dogs (the BIG dream).  

•  Maintain a facebook page, blog and webpage to share our experiences, what we have learned and what goes on day to day with our Old Friends.