Queenie was owned by a neighboring, abusive and usually drunk rancher, who abused and only fed her intermittently.
One day while I was doing the traditional throwing scraps off our back porch to the wildlife…I saw her hiding under some nearby bushes….and realized she was getting her meals from our scraps thrown out for deer, etc.
She was thin, ribs showing, and would shy-away if noticed… I blew kisses to her and sweet-talked her to crawl up toward me and threw some scraps directly to her… My wife fed her some dog food we’d had since a few months earlier when we had to put our elderly Black Lab Roulette down.
Queenie appeared to be untrained and wild and for the next 17 months she lived under a large rosemary bush outside our house. Her “owner” would drunkenly call and accuse me of stealing her dog. I told Beverly that it was HER DOG… that we didn’t have her tied up or fenced in…and she could come and go as she liked… but we didn’t mind here being around here as long as she liked.
Then one night, the temperature was predicted to drop to 17-degrees and I told Jamie “We can NOT make that dog stay outside in this!”…. and I went outside and called to her and I pointed to our fireplace thru the open door…
Queenie made a Bee-line to the fireplace, curled up in front of it and remained there ALL NIGHT.
That was 7 years ago...and Queenie is a Changed-Dog! She is playful, loves strangers (no longer shy), and her favorite thing to do is chase along when I cruise the ranch or play ”Keep-Away” with a tennis ball.
The neighbor died last year and the state declared that ranch to be a “heritage site” and a watershed for the lake…never to be developed…. and Queenie is living the Good Life …and We Love Her.
She no longer sleeps under a rosemary bush… She has taken-over a rug in my daughters’ former bedroom… Now Queenie’s Room.
In this pic she is waiting for me to get in the RTV and check on the ponds below the house, where she will take a swim.
One day while I was doing the traditional throwing scraps off our back porch to the wildlife…I saw her hiding under some nearby bushes….and realized she was getting her meals from our scraps thrown out for deer, etc.
She was thin, ribs showing, and would shy-away if noticed… I blew kisses to her and sweet-talked her to crawl up toward me and threw some scraps directly to her… My wife fed her some dog food we’d had since a few months earlier when we had to put our elderly Black Lab Roulette down.
Queenie appeared to be untrained and wild and for the next 17 months she lived under a large rosemary bush outside our house. Her “owner” would drunkenly call and accuse me of stealing her dog. I told Beverly that it was HER DOG… that we didn’t have her tied up or fenced in…and she could come and go as she liked… but we didn’t mind here being around here as long as she liked.
Then one night, the temperature was predicted to drop to 17-degrees and I told Jamie “We can NOT make that dog stay outside in this!”…. and I went outside and called to her and I pointed to our fireplace thru the open door…
Queenie made a Bee-line to the fireplace, curled up in front of it and remained there ALL NIGHT.
That was 7 years ago...and Queenie is a Changed-Dog! She is playful, loves strangers (no longer shy), and her favorite thing to do is chase along when I cruise the ranch or play ”Keep-Away” with a tennis ball.
The neighbor died last year and the state declared that ranch to be a “heritage site” and a watershed for the lake…never to be developed…. and Queenie is living the Good Life …and We Love Her.
She no longer sleeps under a rosemary bush… She has taken-over a rug in my daughters’ former bedroom… Now Queenie’s Room.
In this pic she is waiting for me to get in the RTV and check on the ponds below the house, where she will take a swim.
