Our dogs, part 1 of 3, Gypsy and Cabell

Most of the dogs that appear in this blog are fosters, but we do have 6 dogs of our own: Gypsy, Cabell, Bremo, Molly, Emmylou, and Zachary. I think they've all been shown here at one time or another, but here they are all together. Our own dogs contribute a lot to the foster operation, each in a unique way. What they all contribute is a lot of their dads' time and attention, which gets spread pretty thin sometimes with all the fosters that we have. But they are all rescues themselves, so it's fitting that they give something back, I guess, although I'm not sure they always see it that way. Yesterday was a nice sunny day so we had an afternoon pasture romp and I managed to get a few pics, although none of them are great.

The undisputed queen of the household is Gypsy. She was adopted from a group that preceded Virginia German Shepherd Rescue, probably 12 years ago. She's an old girl now and probably deserves the title of Queen of the Universe, but actually all she cares about is her own little corner of it. Here at home she reigns supreme as an iron-fisted, if not always benevolent, monarch.

Gypsy is my girl. Clay is welcome because he's part of the pack. Our mothers are ok, finally. All other people are suspected intruders. She watches the foster dogs like a hawk and immediately sounds the alert if anyone is out of place. Cabell is her buddy and the only dog she will play with. Bremo is ok because he's been around since he was a pup and it's nice to have rottweiler backup. She never saw any need to take in Zachary and she's strongly opposed to Molly and Emmylou because they are females and therefore, potential usurpers. It took her 6 months or more to bond to me because had never had that connection with a person, but now she is a total daddy's girl.


Cabell is camera shy. You point a camera in his direction and he drops his head, turns away, and disappears. It is strange, because he is the sweetest dog you'll ever meet and has none of Gypsy's protective, aggressive, defensive instincts. He's big and a little goofy, but entirely sweet. His mother was a Saint Bernard. That long tail is generally curled up over his back and he has a look reminescent of an Anatolian Shepherd. We got Cabell at about 4 months of age, maybe, and Gypsy adopted him as her one and only canine friend. He plays rough, but it's all play.

Cabell is a dog you can take anywhere. He's good with other dogs and he's always up for an adventure. He was fostered as a pup by a woman with a bunch of small children and he still loves women and children. The vet and vet techs we see are all women, which makes it very easy because they can do anything to him and he just rolls over for them. The poor guy lives with two gay men and he gives us that "I don't kiss dudes" look when we try to snuggle with him. Still, Cabell is a pretty happy guy, I don't think he's ever had a bad day, although he is scared of stormy weather. We adopted Cabell from Animal Connections about 10 years ago shortly after moving down here. We then got involved with that group, so Cabell is responsible for a LOT of rescued dogs.

Coming soon: Bremo and Zachary.