heros all around us

Friday, February 22, 2013





































Our morning walk, Winnie & I, along the boardwalk that hugs the harbour and then onto the Thinker's Lodge property

Yesterday morning I was getting dressed & running late when I noticed a lone firetruck race along Water Street in the direction we normally walk - it was around 7:30am. One fire truck is unusual, if there's a fire there's usually several firetrucks and as many firemen as can make it to the scene - it's a volunteer dept. made up of men from near & around our little village.

By mid-morning I'd found out that the racing firetruck was on it's way to rescue a dog that had fallen through the ice - a big, beautiful, goofy, handsome senior dog - Juicy (13 or 14 on his next birthday). Dr. McFarlane who walks his shepherd Molly along the same morning walking route Miss D and I take (only earlier) saw Juicy out on the ice, saw him break through and called 911. The fireman using an ice sled and dressed in a survival suit crept out onto the ice to haul the 100lb dog out of the frigid water. Apparently Juicy was clinging to the ice edge and thankfully had not been caught in the harbour's strong current. When the two, man and dog, reached land sweet ol' Juicy raised his head as if to say "thanks guys" but could not walk so the fireman then rushed Juicy to our local vet's office where the staff began their day a little earlier than usual treating a big, beautiful dog with hypothermia. I've heard that Juicy's OK - he'd been let outside very early that morning, before the sun was up, unattended. The lesson here to all of us is never leave your dog unattended. Period. Ever. Never assume a dog will stay in your yard because they have in the past & especially when they're a senior dog. They can suffer from dementia & senility just like humans do, they can become lost or disoriented. We have a fenced yard (4ft high) and I still check on Sam every few mins, he loves to just hang about with Bleet outside ... I don't know where I think he might escape to (or how), but I know I couldn't bear it if he wandered away and something terrible happened to him.

Thanks to the kindness & caring of heros all around us Juicy is still alive.
We love you Juicy !!

Animals and ice - it's been my biggest fear over the years, living so close to the water. I can remember after many particularly wicked snow storms (and before I'd had a chance to dig a trench on the inside of the fenced dog yard) the snow drifts would be so high in places Jake would leap over the fence, with Winnie Dixon behind him. Too many times I raced around this village in hot pursuit of my AWOL dogs, leashes in hand, madly crying & praying the whole time "please God don't let them go out onto the ice".  We've since moved the dog yard (or I should say Doug moved it) and it's new location is not only much more sensible but not nearly as exposed or susceptible to huge drifts of snow. My fear of open water and ice is also one of the reasons our dogs began wearing Martingale collars we buy ours from Etsy seller Mod Dog. Another time Winnie & were walking along the boardwalk beside the water/ice very early one winter morning and there was a fox in the park on our side of the harbour, when it saw us it shot out on the ice heading for the other side. Winnie wriggled out of her traditional collar and just by chance I grabbed her - otherwise in a blink she would've been on the ice too, chasing that fox for as long and as far as she could see it. Luckily I had a hold of Winnie, lucky for the fox the harbour ice was frozen solid.

It's beautiful, the ice in our harbour with that cold blue grey streak of open water ... beautiful & terrifying.

* Martingale collars were created originally for greyhounds and breeds who's heads are smaller than their necks - the collar hangs loose around the dogs neck and only tightens when the leash is pulled on. Genius.

a note : I'm afraid after nearly 6 years blogging the dastardly spam has found us & in a big way. Sadly I've decided to fend off this nasty foe by adding comment moderation to this blog ... so please leave comments, 'cause we LOVE them and be sure that I will post them as soon as I see that they aren't comments about yeast infections etc.. ;-) Susan


























































Winn & I have been totally smitten with Juicy (a Newf & Australian Shepherd cross) since we first met him the summer of 2010

13 comments:

  1. oh my! what a scary episode... yay for the urban heroes!
    love see all the white in your photos and those happy doggy faces!!!
    xo

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  2. Boy, he's a lucky dog - good thing indeed the current didn't take him. Have you ever read Jerzy Kozinski's "The Painted Bird"? Horrifying episode in there concerning skating on thin ice on a river - still gives me shivers years after reading it! Glad all went well in the end, and - from one volunteer firefighter to all my brothers & sisters in Pugwash - good work putting that ice rescue training to good use! xo n

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  3. Juicy is a very lucky dog. That kind of thing makes me want to hug my kitty friends close.

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  4. we love happy endings, but you know we love firefighters too...my Dad!
    It happens here in Colorado way too often. Tail wags ~moose

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  5. Glad Juicey was seen and saved.

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  6. Hi Susan ! It took some digging, but I found your blog. For some reason it didn't register correctly when you left the link on my comment thread. I started to read your blog and kept going and going, and going ... I almost burned the dinner I was fixing! I am at the part where you link to Lisa Congdon's interview. She is one of my favorites too. I worked on two new canvases today, a layer of warms and a layer of cools. I am glad to see you are enjoying this as much as I am. I am going to go and read Lisa's interview on Design Sponge - thanks for posting it.
    Carolina

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  7. Thank goodness for the people who go out to save the animals! So glad Juicy was rescued. What a scare!

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  8. Your images make me so happy to see. Plus, I love this reminder to notice and thank our everyday heroes.

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  9. I'm glad Juicy is OK!!! What a thing - I never thought about the dangers of ice. My ocean is very different from yours.

    (I'm happy to deal with comment moderation - the spam comments were getting pretty heavy - thanks!)

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  10. Yay!

    That's the Newf in him...My Mom's Newfoundland, Kelly, would drag me out on the ice with her...She was a giant! And deaf.

    Excellent post Susan.
    Thanks...
    xoxox

    {ugh...no yeast infection conversation from here...} :D

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  11. Thank goodness this ended the right way.....

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  12. My goodness - with Juicy's age I'm surprised, but so very thankful, that he survived the shock.
    This could have been such a tragic story, but turned out with such a heroic and warm-hearted ending. Well done to all who helped save Juicy's life.

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  13. I am sorry I missed this post Susan, how terrifying for Juicy, so fortunate that this has had a happy ending due to the care and concern of good people.

    Great photos of Winnie and Juicy, they look as if they are smiling.
    xoxoxo ♡

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