Goodbye Little Man

07/22/19

Our hearts are heavy and filled with sadness as we had to send our little sweet boy over the Rainbow Bridge this morning. His mind and body had finally had enough and what was once our Cordell was nothing but a shell of a dog. We had almost 10 years of joy from this lima bean and are so grateful he chose us as his people that day at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary! We wished that he could have lived forever, but knew that wasn’t a possibility. It was just by chance that he was able to spend one of his last days with all of his family and see his best friend Wemberley just on Saturday. He got dirty exploring and got lots of lovies from his aunts and uncles! The hole in our hearts that his passing has left will never be completely filled and we will miss him sooooo much! Have fun chasing rainbows and running in the fields until we see you again. We will always love you and will never forget you! Hugs and kisses from Mom and Dad.

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A Challenging New Year

Well 2014 hasn’t started very well for us in the Givens household! Granted, everyone in the Seattle area were partying with the Seahawks winning their first ever Super Bowl and that was a helluva party and something to cheer for!! And except for a couple of bumps in the road, thing are still going good for us. Now for those bumps! Back in August I did something to my right heel which created a knot on the inside of where the Achilles tendon inserts itself in to the heel bone. Deb and I went on an easy three-mile, level trail run and I felt fine. No holes or rocks were hit and no trauma was experienced. I had been breaking in some new Brooks Adrenaline shoes and they just never felt right! When we were through, my foot felt fine, but the next day I noted some soreness in my heel. I gave it a day or two then tried another run, and barely got out of the neighborhood and had to turn back. Haven’t run since!!! I kept it quiet for a while and finally gave into going to physical therapy! They worked on it for over a month and it wasn’t getting any better, so I resorted to seeing my foot and ankle sports medicine guy. We have worked on it with anti inflammatory, ice, and six weeks in the below walking boot! I remained working, but I did have to remove the boot while I drove the bus! It was a pain, but after a while, I was used to the boot and it actually felt good when I had it on. There has been improvement and I am back in physical therapy to strengthen the tendons and try to get back to normal. I am just trying to avoid surgery, because it will be major and I will be out of commission for three months!

My Walking Boot

Speaking of surgery, our poor little boy Cordell had to have some to remove a small tumor discovered during his last physical. We were very worried about our little guy and luckily the test results came back benign. He is on the mend and has almost fully recovered, although he still has a hairless patch on his side. He was a real trooper through the whole thing!

Poor Cordell has an oowie!

Now while all this was going on and we didn’t have enough to worry about, the scumbag in the photos below hacked our debit card account and ripped off almost $10,000 out of our bank account!! We presume he somehow phished our information by a fake reader or something because we still had possession of the card. Since the debit card was linked to all of our accounts, he took from savings, checking, and also a personal line of credit. What a hassle it was getting it all sorted out and changing bank account numbers and re establishing bill pays and etc. We are no longer going to use a debit card in such a manner for the future. We opened a local account that we will transfer a limited amount of money into and use it. Below are photos captured from multiple ATM’s he was using and while they are not the best, if you see or know this piece of shit scumbag, contact police. He used ATM’s at only Seven Elevens in the following places: Bellevue, Factoria, Kent on Meeker Street, Seattle on Denny Way, Woodinville, Crossroads, and once in Marysville.

Finally as things have slowly returned to normal I am going through tests to possibly get surgery to fix my GERD I have lived with for years! I had multiple tests done which included a manometry, endoscopy, and a Bravo pH study done. I go back shortly to have a consult on where to go from here! Wish me luck, I will need it!

I Rescued A Human Today

Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels.   I felt her need instantly and knew I had to help her.  I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn’t be afraid.

As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage.   I didn’t want her to know that I hadn’t been walked today.   Sometimes the shelter keepers get too busy and I didn’t want her to think poorly of them.

As she read my kennel card I hoped that she wouldn’t feel sad about my past. I only have the future to look forward to and want to make a difference in someone’s life.

She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me.  I shoved my shoulder and side of my head up against the bars to comfort her.   Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for companionship.

A tear fell down her cheek and I raised my paw to assure her that all would be well.

Soon my kennel door opened and her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms.    I would promise to keep her safe.  I would promise to always be by her side.   I would promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes.   I was so fortunate that she came down my corridor.   So many more are out there who haven’t walked the corridors.   So many more to be saved.  At least I could save one.

I rescued a human today.

By Cordell

Cordell Returns To Best Friends

We are very proud of our boy! Let’s start out with this, we are in the middle of a road trip and Cordell is with us and we made a stop in Kanab, UT at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. I’ll write on the details of our trip in the next post! Today we took Cordell back to the run where we found him on our last visit back in April 2010 and he stole our hearts. The same caregiver was there and was very generous by letting us bring him and was very happy to see him again! Her dog Ping, was Cordell’s buddy while at Best Friends and was brought in with Cordell, was there and they instantly recognized each other and got very excited. We all went on a walk on the trail that they went down many a time. We could see that Cordell did remember this trail and we got to a point where the trail used to join the road and they blocked it off to continue a different way, Cordell stopped and thought he should go the way the trail used to go. It was amazing! Whoever believes animals have very short memories, need to rethink their attitudes. We put Cordell into one of the side runs while walked other dogs and went to lunch and he was the star of the day as two separate tour groups came through and mentioned how cute he was. One lady even inquired if he was adoptable!!! She was told he was visiting as a graduate of Best Friends!! I am sure he was a bit nervous being back and was wondering if he would be going home again. We learned what a kind little guy he really is when he came out of the run. There is a dog that is unable to walk that lies in the middle of the open area of the run. We were told that all of the dogs there shy away from him because they are scared of the way he tries and scoots around. Cordell went right up to him and gave him a greeting and a lick on his nose!

 

We also learned more of his past history. He came from a hoarding situation owned and run by Kimi Peck, the daughter in law of actor Gregory Peck. She thinks she is running rescue centers for Chihuahuas, but in reality it is nothing but a hoarding situation. She has had many run ins with animal rights groups and the law. You can read about some of what she has been involved with here! We also think we have found a picture of Cordell with her and a bunch of other dogs in an article about her in People Magazine written in March of 2005. Click here and see what you think! He was brought in by a third party in a U-Haul with 39 other animals. Thank goodness it was not in the middle of summer or they all would have perished. After you see the horrific conditions he went through and then the journey he had to take, it is amazing the little guy is still alive. Well we sure are glad he is and we will give him a great life with us. Now, back to vacation!