Charlee checked in to Kelly's Roast Beef. Revere, Ma |
Revere is the original GTL town. That's stands for gym, tan, laundry, ala Jersey Shore in case you are out of the loop. Revere has changed quite a bit since I was a kid, but one thing that hasn't changed is Kelly's Roast Beef, and I had a craving. Both my daughter's are vegetarians and I rarely cook or eat meat. I was a vegetarian for nearly 6 years, but got horribly anemic and no amount of iron pills and spinach helped me. When the doctor told me to try to eating meat or give up some blood for a leukemia test,Kelly's roast beef was my first meal.
I have to say I still have some guilt about eating animals, and I nearly asked them where and how the beef was raised, ala Portlandia, but decided that I would take a leap of faith for my gullet's sake, and just hope the cows were treated well.
For the first time ever I have had something positive happen when I tweeted my location on Four Square, and 40 minutes later I got to meet up with my cousins and former foster Stella (Evon). My cousin mentioned that she thought the dog would be nervous and think that I had come to whisk her away from her new life. I had never heard of that. When I have re-met former foster dogs, they either collapse in a puddle of happy mush, or greet me and the kids like anyone else, then after a few minutes a light bulb seems to go off and then they collapse in a puddle of happy mush.
Before I go on, let me say that Stella hit the Jackpot. She got a great home complete with lots of trips to her grandparents house, which is where I met up with everyone yesterday. Stella is genius smart. This is the dog who figured out how to get out of a crate that no other dog has figured out. She had hit the latch with her paws, then pick it up and hold it with her teeth and BACK UP. That required a major amount of reasoning power.
When she met me outside, she hid behind her Mom like a little kid going to school for the first time. She absolutely knew who I was. No question. And her Mom was right. The dog thought I had come to take her. She did warm up to me, and gave me lots of gentle kisses, but the dog never took her eyes off my cousin. In this photo, she settled near me, but she is still giving me the stink eye. After I got over my slightly bruised feelings, I was thrilled for the dog and my cousin.
Kind of looks like she is saying "oh no you won't." |
In case you never saw it, here is Stella and I on Good Day Maine teaching hand targeting.
4 comments:
How interesting - I would not have expected a dog to be wary of you. How wonderful that she has found a great home. I would be interested to hear if her bond with your cousin was greater after she "protected" Stella from you and didn't send her back to you as Stella appeared to fear?
- Heather
Founder and Team Leader
New England Pet Hospice, Inc.
www.NewEnglandPetHospice.com
Hi Heather! It is interesting. I bet the more she sees me, the more she will be used to me. I have pretty good dog skills and didn't go up to her. She came to me on her own time, but was never "all in" if you know what I mean. She did demo lots of new tricks with her Mom and she is a super nice dog.
Although I was surprised to read Stella's reaction at first, it kind of makes sense ya know? A lot of how she sees you is in context of being brought to your home. And, the last time she saw you, when she lived with someone else, was when you came to get her. Given her intelligence, I'm guessing she put two and two together and came up with "Oh no! She's come to take me again!"
It's good to know that she loves your cousin so much that she doesn't want to leave. That make me feel good. It's always the smart ones that steal my heart.
I think you're right. The more she sees you and doesn't go home with you the more excited she will be to see you.
p.s. I wonder if Stella could learn 1022 words? I bet she could!
Stella was a long term shelter dog resident. She did meet my cousin at her parent's house, which is where I caught up to them. I left her there in August for a few hours when everyone fell in love.
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