Estrogen in the Air on Father's Day

I'm guessing that no one will tire of Della puppy pics anytime soon. It's obviously what we've got going on here right now and will have for some time to come. I'm looking at this as a once in a lifetime opportunity for us. It might not be Della's once only, but it will be her last litter of puppies. I intend to make it the best possible experience for all of us.

I want to get past these sleepless nights to the point that the pups are big enough, strong enough, healthy and playful enough to be outside romping in the grass under the shade of trees in the backyard. I'm going to cry when each one gets adopted and we're going to drink the beer they were named for. I can't even bear to think about Della's adoption but I know we can't afford to own two Great Danes. Clearly I'm way ahead of myself and my imagination is running wild. There's a long road ahead even if you just measure it as 8, 10, or 12 weeks.

People  have been so kind and generous. We're received so many gifts of supplies, help, contributions, and love. And then this happened. But wait, I'll start at the very beginning.

Once upon a time we had a big foster dog. I can't even remember his name right now, but he was a great big sweet goofy pup. It was early in our fostering days and Animal Connections was the only group we were working with. We met a young woman, a nursing student at the time. She and her boyfriend, a law student, wanted this dog but didn't have a place for him. It was an odd arrangement and I don't know why or exactly how it came to pass, but they adopted the dog, whom they named Cooper. We kept him during the week and they had him on the weekends. Eventually their lives came together and they took Cooper full time and they loved him dearly because he was a big dear, sweetheart of a dog.

I'm tired, but I know I've gotten more sleep than Della.
I don't know how she does it.

Again I'm not clear on the timeline and the details, but it came to pass that they adopted another dog from us, a female rottie named Cassie. These folks went on about their lives. They moved several times for professional reasons. They had children of their own, four now I believe. Their dogs moved with them each step of the way, of course, because they were part of the family. Cooper and Cassie grew old and eventually passed on, as happens with old dogs, but both had full, rich lives with these folks, who ended up living in Georgia.

Today Della started getting up on her own
from time to time when she needed to go out.
She met Serena again for the first time since
 whelping.

We stayed in touch over the years and when they needed another dog, they got in touch with me again. That was when we had the goddess Athena, a black female Great Dane with a heart murmur. We had Athena evaluated by a canine cardiologist who said that it didn't require any treatment and that it was likely that the dog could live a full and normal life. Still, that was likely to make her a tougher than usual placement. But the former nursing student was now a nurse practitioner and one of their own children also has a heart murmur. They were not put off by it and the former law student, now Assistant U.S. District Attorney, stopped by one day to meet Athena on his way back from a visit in northern Virginia. They took an enormous leap of faith that day, based mostly on trust in me based on Cooper and Cassie, and he took Athena home to Georgia. She is still there today, having made herself a part of that family from the first moment she arrived.

Serena was really happy to see Della again and wanted to
play like they had before. Della did a little bit but she's not
quite ready for a lot of roughhousing yet.

I receive pictures of Athena from them fairly often. There's another connection with these folks too. Mr. District Attorney works in an office with another DA who prosecutes dog fighting cases. It was a result of that connection that we ended up with the Great Dane, Clyde, and the German Shepherd pup, Colin, who were seized from a lowlife dirt bag suspected of being involved with dog fighting. Clyde and Colin both got adopted to great homes.

Fast forward to today when I received a text from these fine folks - a picture of their four children standing outside their house in Georgia, selling brownies, lemonade, and fresh vegetables from their garden as a fundraiser for Della. I can't blame my tears on the pollen like I did earlier in the spring, so I'll blame them on lack of sleep and also all the estrogen in the air around here. I'm an emotional wreck already and it's only day three.

The Georgia-based Della fundraising project.
Thank you.

It's nice to see Della on her feet and out in the sunshine
again. They last couple days have been beautiful too.