Welcome Home Katie!

Yes, it's true - Lucky's sister Katie is here! Sorry I had to leave everyone hanging yesterday. It's been a crazy busy week. Since Monday I've had a grand total of about 5 minutes of free time for blogging, and that's all I could manage in 5 minutes!

None of us present for the family reunion on Saturday could get the image out of our minds. When we first arrived and met Katie, she was the picture of utter dejection and fear, tail tucked between her legs, shaking. We visited with her a few minutes, trying to comfort her and marveling at how much she looked like her brother. Katie looked like a petite, miserable version of Lucky.

We decided to bring him out to meet her. If the meeting appeared to increase her stress, we'd just guide him away and put him back in the truck. But when they met, she wagged her tail and smiled. It was just a little wag, and a brief smile, but the change in her demeanor was obvious, and the scene almost had us all in tears. The great photo above taken by Emily Sepik captures the reunion. If you missed Sunday's post, the "before" and "after" reunion photos are here. I couldn't post but one of the photos I took of her sad face before they met, they make my heart hurt.

It was so strange to see a double of Lucky, after 7 years with him. The resemblance between the two dogs was made even more striking by her coincidentally having on the exact collar her brother wears. It was unbelievably hard to leave without her that day, and I don't think 15 minutes went by all weekend when I wasn't thinking about her.

We made it to Monday. I won't go into all the details and make a long story even longer, but Animal Compassion Network deserves all the credit for making it possible for Katie to join her brother. They're a great organization of people with huge hearts, and if anyone is inclined to sponsor a pet in Katie's honor, please do so! There's no better way to repay them for their kindness, than to make it possible for them to save another dog like her.

Katie's first few days have gone well. We're keeping things low key, and sticking to a schedule with lots of consistency. Right now she's alternating between periods of grief, during which she's very obviously sad and dealing with the loss of her former owner and home, and periods of happiness where she's enjoying her new environment and being with her brother. I'll close with some photos from her first few days, with a caveat- don't look for any cute face photos. This is going to be one challenging dog to photograph. She has a major camera phobia. It's like she's from one of those cultures that thinks the camera is going to steal her soul. So it may be awhile before you see a good shot of her face! In the meantime, enjoy the furtive rear and side views, lol!

Walking the "pack!" :)