The Praying mantis

April 9, 2019

Here we are again, Hannah and I, for a second try at this new adventure.
First I want to thank Jon Katz and Patty Musgrove for their unceasing patience and encouragement in
getting this blog going.  The Army of Good took a different and unprecedented turn to accomplish this effort.  Thanks also to all who responded to Jon's request to help me.  So many good people.  There is
hope for this suffering world after all.

Hannah, the dog in my photo, is an aging Brittany who is my Service dog.  She came to be my companion a year ago when I lost my beloved Border collie who had been with me for 10 years.
Hannah had been hit by a truck and had multiple injuries.  She was taken to a veterinary hospital and
treated.  Although they advertised, the hospital was never contacted by her owner. She was thought to be around 10 years old, so perhaps her owner was not able to pay the very large medical bill and just let her go unclaimed. This was not an abused or abandoned dog.  Her very demeanor says she was loved.  She was also well trained.  A rescue group  picked up the veterinary bill and sent Hannah to a foster home where a young man, himself a Vet tech, trained service animals.  He had Hannah for 7 weeks.  Then she came to be with me.
Hannah is a very different dog than my Border collie, Daisy.  This is a bonus for me, for though I
have always acquired another dog when I have lost one, I never have chosen the same breed.
My thought was that if the same breed, I might expect the second dog to be the same as the lost one.
While there would be similar traits in a well bred animal, there is still individualistic behavior and learning patterns within each individual dog.  So I have chosen different breeds.
To date I have owned a Sheltie, a Whippet, an Afghan Hound, a Schipperke, a Standard Poodle,an
Australian Shepherd, a Border Collie, and two mixed breed dogs.  One at a time! ( Except for the
Whippet and Afghan whose presence did overlap for a short time)
Every one a great dog--the perfect dog for me at the time.

So Hannah shares my life with me now.  She is very patient with cats, although I am quite certain she is not fond of Ginger, the semi-feral cat I feed.  Ginger loves the dog but she has a short fuse-typical
of orange kitties, and has slapped Hannah for no obvious reason so Hannah does not trust her.
Hannah and Susie, the house cat, are comfortable together.  We are a happy household, singing our song in unison.



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