So we got a ridiculously big surprise this weekend. Jess and I had been talking about getting another Cavalier after we move at the beginning of July but I felt like we were going to be in a bit of a predicament. We wanted to both rescue again and be able to get a younger male, preferably still puppy aged, this time. That’s often difficult to find with Cavalier King Charles Spaniel rescues.

Charlie rode the puppy mill roller coaster. He was sent out to a broker to be sold to a pet store, but the pet stores didn’t want him, and he was sent back. Lucky Charlie, just before the next auction, the rescue took a trip out to Ohio and brought him back. Charlie is a puppy mill mascot. Unlike Callie who managed to make it out at six years old and in perfect health, he came to us with some things we knew about and some we didn’t.

Over the past few days, I have been highlighting several different rescue dogs and rescuers who work to save Cavalier King Charles Spaniels in particular. I do want to say that my specificity is not to negate any of the impressive, overwhelmingly hard work those who rescue other breeds or any dog at all, but merely because my blog focuses on Cavaliers. I started doing writing these highlights this week in honor of the UK’s Puppy Awareness Week and yesterday’s Puppy Mill Awareness Day, but I am

“He’s your problem child,” said both the vet tech and the vet separately, each smiling. The second time, when our vet said it, we all laughed, and I held Charlie up saying, “we can’t afford you!” We were supposed to be going in for a mere second distemper round, but, in the week before we were to go, he developed itchy, flaky, scaly skin everywhere and started losing/chewing off his hair.

Oh, Charlie, how we adore you. That’s what I tell myself every night before bed when you curl up between our chins, such soft, deep brown eyes. A melted chocolate that never ends. And ridiculously long lashes to boot. Every day lately I have to remind myself that I adore you, as you tear into one thing or another, especially during this move. Even, at a few points, my hair and yes, puppies are known to bite and pull on hair, it’s just that mine is short enough it’s pretty hard to get.

She appears to have good days and less good days. She hasn’t had another spell, thank goodness, but it’s clear that her gastro system is not happy. I’m pumping her full of probiotics now to help, but I am mostly drumming my fingers, waiting for this upcoming appointment and hoping that this vet, by looking at her diet/lifestyle/charts, etc., will be able to help. Perhaps with some Eastern medicine and acupuncture, we can bring her stress levels down again.

Yesterday Callie went for her first visit to our new holistic vet at Chelsea Animal Hospital. We aren’t going to change our regular vet as we love them but, as I wrote last week in Callie’s Gastro Issues and Acupuncture?, I am trying to eliminate possible causes of her bouts of gastroenteritis and was concerned about her having a high level of stress.

I can’t remember if I have said anything about it on here but, I have fibromyalgia (along with chronic pain and chronic fatigue – aren’t those part of fibro?) I was diagnosed when I was 29, 3 years ago, but I likely had it for a couple of years before. What does this have to do with Callie or Charlie, you might be asking yourself. Nothing and everything. I rescued this breed purposefully, not only out of my love for Cavaliers but because they can also either go or be mellow. I also knew that taking Charlie on meant a few years of craziness before the easy, mellow part – although he’s surprisingly good about that!

I had many other topics in mind for my next blog post, I wanted to introduce the newest members of the pack, our two guinea pigs. I wanted to talk about, oh gee, a month ago when we went to New Jersey and had to have a friend dog-sit for the very first time. Maybe I was even thinking about just giving an update on Charlie, but none of my potential topics included a very frightening health experience with Callie. Callie just experienced and is still recovering from, a bout of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis.

Today is the day dedicated to educating the public about the horrific conditions in which many dogs are being bred. Today is a day devoted to dogs like Callie and Charlie. Callie who spent six years in a mill, being bred over and over and over again. Charlie, who was lucky to escape the cycle at 3 months and end up with people who understand and are willing to deal with his luxating patellas. To dogs like Dewey, who was rescued by Cavalier Rescue of Alabama at a mill dog auction and is learning love with his foster mom, waiting for his forever home.

Sometimes beginning the process of re-training a rescue dog can seem more work than one thinks possible, but the effort put in returns an incredible relationship bond between human and dog. Yesterday I talked about why I want to highlight rescue dogs and their owners as well as rescue workers this week (if you missed it catch it here) and today I have two different stories to share.

“[There was an] adoption drive all set up and boy did they have puppies that day – tons. Most were in one big pen, jumping all over each other and yapping. ‘She was sitting by herself in her own crate. I swear she stared me down. When I walked over, she cautiously wagged her tail a little bit and sniffed my fingers. I asked if I could hold her and when I did, she put one paw on each of my shoulders and buried her head in my neck. So I got a puppy that day.”

To the girl who started it all, the one who fit the missing space in our family, I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love you. You are magic. Your presence has changed our family for the better since the day we saw you; first on Petfinder, with your terrified eyes and then, in person, at the rescue. Even in your eyes on the car ride home, I could see the love blooming, despite your understandable myriad of fears. I can’t fully put into words just how special you are, Callie, instead I have a photo tribute. Happy First Gotcha-Day baby girl!

We ended with guinea pigs the way many parents do - our daughter wanted them and finally wore us down. I had one piggy growing up, another pet store return who lived for about a year and a half and I thought I was pretty knowledgeable about guinea pigs, especially after doing some refresher research. It's pretty hard to resist the cuteness of a baby guinea pig, especially for a kid who wants "their" first pet.

So I thought I was prepared, and we got our two girls, Ziggy and Cuddles. And I was really hoping the cage I bought at the store would be large enough as it is the largest regularly sold in pet stores - designated for rabbits - but once we got it home and set up, I realized there wasn't enough room for all the recommended space guinea pigs need. No matter what I thought, everything I read online had been correct; pet stores do not sell cages that meet the needs of the animals.

Neglecting the care of any small animal, no matter how tiny, is going to reflect in the interactions you do choose to have with that animal when you feel like giving them attention. Letting your child neglect the care of a small animal just because it's a hamster in a cage or another creature you don't see regularly, teaches your child disrespect for animals.

When I look through the book, I feel tangibly connected to these online friends whom I otherwise do not know. I couldn’t stop smiling after we finished the first time. I was transported to a place where we were all together. It was as though my Twitter pack came alive in my hands for a moment and for that, I am beyond grateful.

I’m so proud of Callie. She taught me a valuable lesson last week, and together we informed our obedience instructor of a new piece of information to add to her large knowledge base. After the dragging required by our instructor last week (when Callie would stop walking… read more here) Callie was totally afraid of the word heel and would pull back immediately if she hit the end of the leash, as if in preparation for being dragged. She was also a little more fearful of me. So, I started over.

“You can make anything with a skillet and a wooden spoon. You can even eat out of them if you need to,” said Jo Henning-Dyer of Brook Road Catering and Bakery. (Although, I would argue you can't make those roasted ducklings with just a spoon and a skillet!) I am not sure I have met anyone as passionate about food, and, more importantly about cooking for other people, as Jo. “I try to imagine the people I’m cooking for,” she said, smiling. “I ask a lot of questions because I want to give them the foods they are envisioning.”

One morning, a year or two ago, I was making pancakes for my daughter and we began talking about how excited I was to be writing again. A few minutes passed before she ran out of questions and went silent. Then, she sighed deeply, and said to me, “I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.” I looked at her sleepy, sweet face, still snuggled up in her My Little Pony pajamas, and was reminded again how serious she was, and still is, about her life. Oh, a parenting moment I was not prepared for yet. I struggled to come up with a response that might ease the weight I could hear in her voice. She spoke as though she felt like she had to chose something now or she was failing. Finally I replied, “Neither did I.”