Tia - companion and friend

Tia stands waiting with her backpack in which she carries water for her and her friend. She's waiting while her friend takes her picture at Maplefest.

Tia is a rescue - a beautiful golden retriever cross. She's been the beloved companion of her new family for about a year or more now. She loves going on long treks through apple orchards, and other wonderful places. She'll even venture out onto skittery boardwalks that make her nervous - across marshes. She's developed confidence because her family believe she can make this scary trek across the shifting pathways.

The wonderful thing about "second-hand dogs" - (that's a term that I learned from the title of a book I was encourage to buy at the Humane Society in Toronto where I found Coffee, my beloved husky/border collie cross) - is that while they carry lots of emotional baggage from the trauma of losing their first home, or from never having a home but living in a crate somewhere, they can become completely devoted friends once they learn to trust. It just takes patience and love.

And, like Tia they will become loving happy family friends. Tia has a sunny personality and is a pure delight to meet when she's out for a walk or at her home in the country.

And an update on the two kittens from yesterday's post - Dumped!!! - They have a new home. The woman who rescued them persisted and found several people who particularly understand the plight of unwanted and feral cats. These people helped her find a new forever home for the babies.

This friend of mine - the rescuer - recently took a ladder and climbed down inside a four foot wide cement holding tank - about six feet down - and rescued a bunch of frogs that had jumped in by mistake. Now that's a devoted animal lover!