Love Is Patient - A Year With the Airedales

This is me and Stevie, one of the two Airedales we adopted last year from rescue. After the passing of our dearest dog-friend Henley the Great Dane, we were heartbroken. We cried every day, at things no one else would have even noticed. He and his routine were such a part of our lives that every day, many times a day, we'd mark the loss of his fellowship with tears. This went on for weeks and had almost reached two months when we got a call from Airedale rescue that two Airedales were in need of a new home.

They were brother and sister, and had started life in Florida but went into rescue and were moved with the rescue person to just outside Cordele, Georgia. They had been living on a farm initially, and were living in the country then. The first pictures we got of them were of two wild looking dogs running inside a pen fenced with what we always called "hog wire."

Stevie had even been bitten by a snake while in Florida and the feeling from the rescue folks was that they needed to be kept together, and that they need to go to a good home. We went up just to look, were talking all the way that we'd probably only want to take one, and then wound up taking them both home that evening. We were prepared for their personality being different than our Great Dane. Since we had previously had mini schnauzers, and Bunny had spent a lot of time in the last couple of years with a friend who had an awesome Airedale, we thought we were ready.

Sure they were different, but there was more than that going on. Mick, the male Airedale, was extremely stand-offish and hesitant to let anyone really have close contact with him. There was to be no holding that guy, or sitting with him on the couch. He freaked out whenever anyone tried to hold him for any reason, and would run away. It about broke our hearts again to think that this big strong Airedale had apparently been mistreated.

So we worked at letting him know he was safe and that he was loved. It was aggravatingly slow work. But here they are sleeping together on the bed. I'm asleep on the other side - Bunny took the picture.



There are times now when Mick is a loving dog. He's still nervous sometimes. But he's so lovable. Stevie is one of the sweetest dogs we have ever known and will sit with you for hours and cuddle as long as you want. We're so glad we got them both, and know that we'll be loving them both for many years to come.

Love is patient.

Happy New Year!

We're all looking up this year.

Our friends Mick and Stevie woke us up with dog kisses this morning

and we're looking forward to a great 2010.

Stevie and me

This is my Airedale friend Stevie. The 'Dales came to us without the inclination to sit on the couches or really to express much "dog love". We are rapidly changing both. :)

To Love, Again

We brought home two Airedales Friday from a rescue organization. They had been placed with a family in Florida and it didn't work out, because the family lived on a farm where wild dogs, coyotes, and snakes caused a threat to them. The female was actually bitten by a snake and that was the tipping point. They are two years old.

The contrast between them and our dear friend Henley the Great Dane is wide and it's not just the difference in size. Henley had been ours since twelve weeks of age, and was conditioned over years to be a very loving dog. He was human dependent. Came wherever you were in the house. Laid down next to you on the sofa. Rejoiced when you came home and grieved when you were gone. Towards the end of his time with us, he was even more clingy and loving.

The greatest thing Henley did for us with that kind of love was that in his giving of it, he took away our stresses and anxieties. There's just something about having a dog lying next to you and being in a state of total calm that causes the human beside them to relax too. From his beginning nuzzle to day's end sigh as he laid down next to the bed, we received a blessing that we had no idea how much we would miss. Bunny and I were at Petsmart Saturday and were both moved to tears talking about just how much we were loved.

Now we have two funny faced Airedales in our home. They are energetic. They are independent. They are self entertaining. They are NOT Henley.

We are trying to love them the way we loved Henley, and they - in particular the girl - Stevie, is beginning to respond. She'll let you put her beside you on the couch and stay there a while. The boy -Mick, can be loving when he chooses to, but still pulls away when you try to draw him near. They have improved since we brought them home Friday, but we really, really need them to love us as fiercely as Henley did. Doesn't have to be the exact same expressions of love. There are things the Airedales do that are unique and cool. But we need to bond with them as fast as we can. Otherwise we might as well not have dogs at all, and they need to be with a family that can love them as they are.

If I sound disappointed it's because I am. It's proving much harder for us to love again.

Would you pray for us?