As many of you know, Gary and I stopped racing a few years back. Last year we sold all of our equipment and we have been slowly getting down in the number of dogs we have. We placed a few with friends, but most of them are living out their life here with us. Most of our guys are seniors at this point which doesn’t mean they have slowed down much, but it does bring a lot of heartbreak as we have to say goodbye to them as old age claims them.
A couple of weeks ago we had to say goodbye to our buddy Chase. His heart was suddenly failing him and we helped him transition to his next adventure. Having many dogs has never made this any easier, in some ways it is harder as you end up saying goodbye to another friend before you fully heal from the last loss. But we wouldn’t have it any other way as they have brought so much joy into our lives. One of our dreams has always been that when we get down in the number of dogs we have here, we would rescue seniors. Well as they say “be careful what you wish for”.
Yeah you can see where this is going… Loosing Chase brought our numbers down to an even dozen. Not exactly a number where we were thinking we should add any additional guys to our crew. But life seems to have other plans for us. We were notified about a couple of Siberians who had been turned into the shelter a couple months ago. Their owner had become ill and could no longer care for them. I knew these two were safe for now at this shelter in adoptions, but one is twelve years old and the other is eight and blind. And they need to be placed together. Of course there has been no real interest in a senior and his blind sister.
Enter the “Siberian Sucker”. Yes just tatoo it across my forehead, it is there anyway. So I went to check out Waya and Kokanee. Two sweethearts, that no, I cannot let them live out the rest of their lives in a shelter, not even a good one. Yep, they will be coming to live with the SiberNyte crew this week unless a miracle happens and some wonderful soul comes and adopts them.
So you will probably be hearing more about Waya and Kokanee in the future. So in honor of these two “loves” I am in the process of creating a new work that will be dedicated to raising funds for senior and special needs dogs. It will be part of the Cherished Paws collection and 40% of direct sales will go to help senior and special needs dogs in rescue or shelters. So stay posted for updates and pictures of Waya and Kokanee and my new work (maybe this will turn into a new collection) in their honor. All the best…