Our New Furever Friends

This is Creigh and Bella, our new furever friends. They were adopted on December 1, 2009, from the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter.

After many, many weeks of anxiety and tears from our terrible loss of Nigel, I decided I could no longer wait for the government to send us a check to install a fence so I get could another big dog. We love all dogs, we are just bigger fans of larger dogs; however, right now that was not feasible. So the Saturday morning after Thanksgiving I called my mom to ask her if she would ride with me to the local humane societies and animal shelters. I have looked at Petfinder.com obsessively enough to know when new dogs were listed and when other dogs were gone and adopted and I saw these two and wanted to meet them.

Our first trip to the Antietam Humane Society gained us an appreciation for a senior German Shepard named Sampson, who my mom fostered two days later to give him a retirement home. He was old, probably as old as the hills, but he was super happy and one of the best pets anyone could have. They sadly lost him only five days later to what they think may have been congestive heart failure. May Sampson rest in peace. We will miss him, but I appreciate my mom and consider her one of the human angels on this earth that God placed here to have a special heart for animals. It is because of her Sampson did not die on a cold, concrete floor, lonely and surrounded by constantly barking dogs.

Our second trip was to Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter to see the two dogs we adopted. They were given the names Carina and Davina, which I quickly wanted to change since Davina just didn't sound right to me. Carina is called that sometimes, but mostly Creigh, after an elderly lady who used to room with my grandmother in a nursing home named Anna Creigh. She is the white one. Davina was changed to Bella and she is the brown and white one.

We didn't know much about them, only that they were found as strays in Spring Run, starving nearly to death and sick from an infestation of fleas. Creigh's backbone and ribs are still sticking out and it will be quite a while until they reach their desired weights, but we are working diligently on that. They are guessing both dogs are a year old and some sort of lab mix, but the truth is, we will never know. I have learned a lot in the last week from these two. They trust me incessantly and whine and howl, running circles around the downstairs when I go upstairs, even if Ty is downstairs with them. They know I'm not leaving them. I have been their security that protects them, feeds them, speaks kindly to them, praises them when they go pee and poop outside and allows them to lay across my neck and head to sleep at night in a warm bed.

My imagination has been flowing this week, watching their behaviors, what they trust and don't trust, what they like and what they don't like. Creigh is the protective one, the calm one, the one who watches out for Bella and her barking, rambunctious ways. Bella is the barking and growling one who lets everyone know they are not trusted and yet begs for attention and licks every inch of your face while you fight her off.

I have watched them settle into their new home slowly, learning the new sounds that are made inside. They bark at the bread maker, they bark at a closing door, they bark at sounds on the television. This is what rescued dogs do. They are not puppies, excited and interested to see everything in the world. They have lost their trust in humans and other animals and have been dealt a bad hand in life thus far.

The ends of their ears have died and have been picked off, which means they probably suffered frost bite somewhere along the way. They sleep on top of each other and lay together as if keeping each other warm. They jump at any sound when they are sleeping, still on guard, wondering what wild animal might be near that can hurt them.

So, as happy as I am to introduce these beautiful and sweet, loving girls to you, please do me a favor. Please remember they were rescued. They do not trust you. You are welcome in our house at any time, however, please do not push yourselves on them. You may be approached, you may be barked at, but they will warm up to you because after all, they are dogs and all they want is doted upon and loved. If they don't do that the first time you are here, please give them time.

They are terrified of backpacks and hate little kids. They want to go into defense mode when seeing other dogs. I've seen them enough this last week to know that it's safe to say they were abused in some sort of way, probably by kids that were wearing backpacks and probably attacked by other dogs and wild animals in their search to survive in the wild.

They are truly nothing but sweethearts and love their new home. They play more now with each other and have learned that a rawhide chew bone will not hurt them, instead they can chew it up and have fun with it. They have learned that toys are fun and have learned to chase a ball.

It breaks my heart to see and wonder what these two have gone through from uncaring human hands, but it lifts my heart to see them beginning to trust and grow each day in their new home, learning to love life. They are beginning to learn that it is not their job to protect themselves, that everyone is not an enemy and that Mommy and Daddy plus four kids can provide them with constant food, love and attention.

Feel free to stop by any time and see them, keeping in mind the things I have said. I want them to trust humans again, especially children. I want them to know this place is their safe haven and they will be here until they die, no longer stuck in the freezing cold, no longer wondering where their next meal is coming from, and that they can live their life being happy dogs.