CDuncan
03-16-2004, 07:20 AM
Today is Java's first birthday! :party:
At least that's what the rescue lady told us when we met her and decided to bring her home with us. Her mom was a black lab and she lived with an elderly lady after her first owner (the lady's nephew) died suddenly. The lady was very kind but didn't quite know what to do with "Mom," so let her stay outside in a fenced yard. That wasn't much fun, so Mom dug a hole and got out to see what there was to see. She met lots of other dogs and had fun running around. She went back to the lady's house to visit and, next thing you know she's fat and pregnant with six little black puppies, 4 boys and 2 girls. Nobody knew who their daddy(s) was and the lady couldn't take care of them all, so she called Briony at A New Leash On Life Dog Rescue to see if she could help find them homes. They found homes for Mom and all the puppies and everyone was thrilled. The family who first took Java home called her Ebony and they had a baby boy, too. The baby got sick and they couldn't figure out what was wrong... they didn't think it could be allergies because they also had a cat. Well, it turned out it was allergies and so they tried medication, but he was just too young. So they called Briony again and "Ebony" went to a foster home for a few days.
Shawn and I knew we wanted to get a dog since we first moved here 2 years ago, but wanted to wait until we got a house... then we wanted to wait until we had finished renovating the house. :p: After our honeymoon trip to Colorado and Utah and stayed with our friends and their two Golden mix girls, we knew it was time. We decided that a lab mix was for us and we wanted an older puppy. Boy, girl, black, yellow, chocolate... didn't matter to us. So we called and emailed and looked around. I saw an add in the newspaper for a black male pup, "Free to a Good Home" and called the number. The message said that this pup had been taken to A New Leash On Life and so I went to their website. I emailed the application but then talked back and forth with Briony and she told me about a pup that had been returned, almost 8 months old. She described her as black with longer hair than a lab and said "60#". So we thought, "60 pounds at 8 months! She must be part Newfie!" We decided that might be okay and we arranged to meet her. Well, as it turns out, the 60# was an estimate of full-grown weight... she only weighed about 45# at the time. :p: So we met at the vet school and she was happy and bouncy and sweet as she could be. My heart just melted on that cold, windy night in November. I told Shawn, "I think we've found our furbaby." He agreed and so we filled out the papers and took "Ebony" home. She didn't seem to know the name, so we decided that if we could come up with something cool in 5 minutes (before we left for PetsMart to get her a new collar and tag!) we would change it. There had been a litter of black puppies we'd seen on another rescue's site that were all named for coffee... Mocha, Latte, Caffe, Starbucks and Java. That Java was a boy, but I liked the name and remembered it at that moment. It just seemed to fit. :) So it has been a little over 4 months now that Java has been our furbaby and I love her too much for words. As I type this, I'm hoping no one comes by my desk and sees the tears in my eyes. :p: She's such a good girl... healthy and happy and a real stinker sometimes! I don't think she'll even make it to 60#, unless she starts getting fat, she's a lanky girl. We still don't know her mix, what with her slightly longer and wavy hair and curling tail. She has the most beautiful amber eyes.
Happy Birthday, Wild-Thing!
At least that's what the rescue lady told us when we met her and decided to bring her home with us. Her mom was a black lab and she lived with an elderly lady after her first owner (the lady's nephew) died suddenly. The lady was very kind but didn't quite know what to do with "Mom," so let her stay outside in a fenced yard. That wasn't much fun, so Mom dug a hole and got out to see what there was to see. She met lots of other dogs and had fun running around. She went back to the lady's house to visit and, next thing you know she's fat and pregnant with six little black puppies, 4 boys and 2 girls. Nobody knew who their daddy(s) was and the lady couldn't take care of them all, so she called Briony at A New Leash On Life Dog Rescue to see if she could help find them homes. They found homes for Mom and all the puppies and everyone was thrilled. The family who first took Java home called her Ebony and they had a baby boy, too. The baby got sick and they couldn't figure out what was wrong... they didn't think it could be allergies because they also had a cat. Well, it turned out it was allergies and so they tried medication, but he was just too young. So they called Briony again and "Ebony" went to a foster home for a few days.
Shawn and I knew we wanted to get a dog since we first moved here 2 years ago, but wanted to wait until we got a house... then we wanted to wait until we had finished renovating the house. :p: After our honeymoon trip to Colorado and Utah and stayed with our friends and their two Golden mix girls, we knew it was time. We decided that a lab mix was for us and we wanted an older puppy. Boy, girl, black, yellow, chocolate... didn't matter to us. So we called and emailed and looked around. I saw an add in the newspaper for a black male pup, "Free to a Good Home" and called the number. The message said that this pup had been taken to A New Leash On Life and so I went to their website. I emailed the application but then talked back and forth with Briony and she told me about a pup that had been returned, almost 8 months old. She described her as black with longer hair than a lab and said "60#". So we thought, "60 pounds at 8 months! She must be part Newfie!" We decided that might be okay and we arranged to meet her. Well, as it turns out, the 60# was an estimate of full-grown weight... she only weighed about 45# at the time. :p: So we met at the vet school and she was happy and bouncy and sweet as she could be. My heart just melted on that cold, windy night in November. I told Shawn, "I think we've found our furbaby." He agreed and so we filled out the papers and took "Ebony" home. She didn't seem to know the name, so we decided that if we could come up with something cool in 5 minutes (before we left for PetsMart to get her a new collar and tag!) we would change it. There had been a litter of black puppies we'd seen on another rescue's site that were all named for coffee... Mocha, Latte, Caffe, Starbucks and Java. That Java was a boy, but I liked the name and remembered it at that moment. It just seemed to fit. :) So it has been a little over 4 months now that Java has been our furbaby and I love her too much for words. As I type this, I'm hoping no one comes by my desk and sees the tears in my eyes. :p: She's such a good girl... healthy and happy and a real stinker sometimes! I don't think she'll even make it to 60#, unless she starts getting fat, she's a lanky girl. We still don't know her mix, what with her slightly longer and wavy hair and curling tail. She has the most beautiful amber eyes.
Happy Birthday, Wild-Thing!