A Disastrous, Not-Good, Quite Unpleasant, Yet Very Remarkable Day

Shiloh's Murphy of Vista Real - Jack Russell Terrier (before)

Recently recovered from surgery to remove the hardware from my repaired elbow, I was very happy to be back to work! In the early morning of my fourth day back, I walked my Staffy (Hoss) before leaving for work ..... and, well, let's just say: that was the beginning of a disastrous, not-good, quite-unpleasant, yet very remarkable day!

My daughter, HisGirl, did a wonderful job of reporting the morning's catastrophes. Hop on over, catch up, have a little laugh on me. While you're there, shout out a little howdy to my firstborn child, favorite and only daughter!

CAUTION: Below, I am about to show pictures of my poor little "Frankendoggie" with stitches. They are not too graphic. These were taken about halfway through his recovery. If it creeps you out too much - don't click on the small picture! If not, be my guest: you can see how close my Murphy came to losing his life! I actually didn't catch all the injuries in the pics either!

I can't totally blame Sadie (the fawn boxer), for attacking Murphy. As typical of his breed, our little JRT doesn't know he is a small dog (shhh). He chose to do the attacking and not back down. I actually think they were both fiercely trying to protect me. All of my "pack" circled around me when I was on the ground - they KNEW I was hurt. Both of these dogs are very possessive of me too! I do blame her for not letting go, when I commanded her. She would NOT call off! She was determined to finish that vicious little varmint off. Really scary and tramatic, it was! Surreal now.

Sadie is going to need special care and caution from now on. I have no doubt that she will do Murph in, if she gets another chance. Because, of course, Murphy still wants to show her that he is the Ranch Boss! He strutted over to the walk-in kennel and growled at her as soon as he got out of the hospital! The boy obviously has no discernment or wisdom, but he does have grit!

Sadie is so sweet and gentle with our little Rattie (Ricochet); they are best-friend play-partners! Quite a couple, I might add! They really are playing gently with one another in the picture, and they make all sorts of weird moaning sounds, as they mouth each other ... odd doggies! However, now I do not completely trust her, even with him. She is very gentle, cuddly and affectionate with the grandchildren, of course they are 9-14 now. I would not now want her around small children, just in case. :/

Any ranch-readers out there with similar experiences? I could sure use help with this situation! I don't want to pass this beautiful boxer-girl on to a 3rd home, if I can avoid it. You may have read that I rescued Sadie from a shelter about a year ago. Click here for background stories on most of the Ranch Hounds. I now have to manage many shift changes, so the 2 guilty parties are never allowed physical access to one another. Grrrr.

Murphy looks and feels SO much better now. *BIG sigh* He will always have a lump on his throat, to remind us. :) But he is back to his old grumpy, bossy self! Hallelujah!

OK, the GOOD news in all of this!

~ Thanks to Hoss' warning, I did catch Sadie just in the nick of time.

~ Thanks to God, I was able to pull her off of Murphy, in my "crippled" state.

~ Thanks to God, their was no crowd in the doggie ER.

~ Thanks to Amber, she got Murph right in, while I waited in the car!

~ Thanks to God, no crowd in the human ER either (a very rare event out here)! WE were in and out with x-rays and the whole shot in less than 2 hours!!!! MIRACULOUS!!!

~ Thanks to God, Amber got to make all of her appointments in perfect time.

~ Though a wanky way, I was able to be home with Murphy to treat his wounds.

~ Though not too mobile, I have been able to be home (which I LOVE) and get lots of rest ... yummm!

~ AND ... shhhh ... I was able to go to my son's wedding in Las Vegas and spend quality time with both of my grandsons, individually! I will catch you up on our adventures on Shiloh Ranch Ramblings soon!

~ MAJOR props to God for using my precious children to take such good care of me, throughout all of this debacle! They sacrificed their time and resources to help us when we so needed it, without even grumbling! Thank you kiddos, I love you more than you know!

PS: I get to go back to work tomorrow!!!! HURRAY? Yes, hurray for His provision; it has been lean around here! lol ... not me of course, I am the opposite of lean, after laying around so much. It will be good for me to get back to work. :)

~ So all in all, it was, indeed, a very remarkable day with a very remarkable outcome and a great story to boot!!! ~

I know I am taking this Scripture out of context (which I do not recommend for doctrine)

but it seems so fitting for this post:

" ... they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you;

for I am with you to save you and deliver you,"says the LORD.

"I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,

and I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible. ..."

~Jeremiah 15:20-21~

Meet Ricochet aka Rick-O-Shay ~ Rat Terrier

CJ and KJ with Ricochet

I finally got somewhat decent pictures of "Ricky." Better late than never? Do you remember (or have you read) "Yard Sale Find?" Click here for the original posting.

Ricochet definitely is a Rat Terrier, although he has yet to show even the slightest interest in "ratting!" No one can seem to spell "Ricochet," so his alias is "Rick-O-Shay." He quite resembles our 'Ranch Boss', Murphy, the J.R.T. Their markings, colorings and size are very similar ... except Rick's ears stand straight up, he has a more refined build, and a tri face.

Murphy and his sidekick Ricky ~ happy ranchdogs!

This little guy was likely bred to show. You can't tell here, but he is very well put together. He also inherited the characteristic rattie 'grit' that he needs for our gang. He is always happy, willing to please, and so athletic, that I think he would excel at "agility" classes! If we only had time to do everything. *sigh*

Little 'Prince' Ricochet has put on a noticable amount of weight, since joining up with this outfit! Especially after we had him neutered! His little ribs no longer even show (which is a good thing!) He was way too thin when we found him.

He fit in with the Shiloh Ranch Bunch right from the gate. He is very handsome, good, loving, smart, funny, forgiving, adaptable, and pleasantly odd. He quickly endears himself to everyone who meets him. He has a wild and free, yet very sweet "spirit."

Ricochet and Sadie

Quite the little character, he runs and wrangles (and cuddles) with the two biggest dogs on the Ranch, the AmStaff and the Boxer. He keeps right up with them and manages to maintain a 'big-dog' persona.Even our stallion tolerates him already! His kindess begets him much grace! Thank God, from Whom all grace comes!

Ricky and Hoss

This little pooch is a force to be reckoned with as well. As a member of the Shiloh Ranch Rangers, he has come up to task as a 'formidable' guard-dog. He has a big, low-toned growl and is very protective of his land, ranch family and stock.

Have you ever seen a little dog, jack his mouth open SO wide?

Believe it or not, these guys are playing, GENTLY!

God SO blesses man and beast, with kindness, love, sweet affection, joy, humor, and faithfulness through this little bundle of 'rat dog' energy!

The grandkids ADORE Ricky, which naturally makes Murphy jealous. He is NOT used to sharing the prized position of being the children's favorite; nor does he like it! There is quite an age span betwixt the two, as well: Murphy is a 'mature' 9 years and Ricky a rambunctious 1 year old!

However, even Murph is now softening towards this citified "greenhorn." That is a another good thing, as they are the only 'littles' around here!

They partner-up for morning and evening varmint-patrols of the barn and property and keep the horses in line. VERY cute!

When Chevelle (our other boxer) was reunited with her Marine family, the Rickster was promoted to permanent crew.

I just love how the Lord works everything out perfectly, don't you?!!

Anyway, there - we're finally caught up. Whew!

LOVE and SACRIFICE

Chevelle has been a beloved member of Shiloh Ranch for almost 3 years. Her story IS one of love and sacrifice. She was given to us by the family of one of our United States Marines who was to be deployed. They had to move to an apartment where they could not keep a large dog. Because of their great love for our country, this family was making the ultimate sacrifice, laying down their very lives to defend and protect OUR freedoms.

Because of their great love for this pup, they chose to make yet another sacrifice of adopting her out, to give her a chance for a better life. Because, "it was the RIGHT thing" to do! I was so blessed by God that they gave her to me! I FELT and saw the love they had for this pup, as well as their sadness at giving her up! It was a truly bittersweet moment when they handed her over to me! :/

Chevelle was just 3-1/2 months old when she joined up with our outfit. She has run and played and grown into a BEAUTIFUL animal, with the same sweet, kind, loving temperament she had when we got her. She has been a dear, faithful and kind companion to me AND the other dogs, horses, and grandkids. We have loved her deeply and she has given us her unconditional love in return. Chevy had her 3rd birthday just last week! During the time she was here, her Marine daddy was deployed at least 3 more times!!!

Well, long story/short (or short story/long?): Marine-dad now gets to go to school Stateside to do his 'dream' job. The family gets to buy a house with a yard and finally all be all TOGETHER!!!! PLUS, he won't get deployed from there! HALLELUJAH! This war hero and his sweet 'bride' have a beautiful 5 yr old daughter, a darling new 18 mo. old son and a wonderful new home!! Their family is finally WHOLE - except ...


TISSUE ALERT: ... except for ... the family dog! The mom has cried and SO missed her running buddy and pal and the little girl has talked about Chevelle every other day for this entire time! The family planned to come over to say "goodbye." Then I got a text, Is it too gutsy for me to ask if you would consider giving Chevelle back to us? ... it would be a dream come true ... we would love her to her dying day. OH MY GOSH!!! As much as they loved her and as much as they sacrificed for me and all of US, could I do any less than make this sacrifice of love for THEM???? Of course, I would *gulp* consider it!!!

Anyway, they came and were all SO happy to see one another! Even the new toddler just snuggled right up to big 'ol Chev to love on her, like they have known each other forever. The whole family just fit together. Then, the big 'ol Marine says quietly, "I have missed her too. She is like a member of our family." *tissue please* (btw: he was the one who named her, after his fave muscle car)

Chevelle totally remembered them and still loves them. It is SO a God thing - when they were together, it was as if they picked up right where they left off!! I am SO blessed to have fostered Chevelle for this fam! To be able to restore her to her first family, and to see the happiness and joy that it is bringing to them is INCREDIBLE!!!! I am honored ... and humbled. This whole thing was so MUCH bigger than me!

I just put that precious brindle boxer girl in her new car this morning, with all of her goodies and her family. Another bittersweet moment. :/ *sniff, tears well up*


Please pray for their safe travels and God's blessings upon that whole family. They are on the road to Salt Lake City right now, and from there will be driving to Virginia to their new home.

"By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.

And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethen.

But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need,

and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?"

1 John 3:16-17