Rest in Peace, dear Grandpa

We sadly report a great loss at the Red Lake Rosie's Rescue shelter this past week. Grandpa, our majestic alpha shepherd, who made his home at the shelter since August, 2006, crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Wednesday, May 4, 2011.

He will be sadly missed by the dogs & me and the volunteers, as well. He was one of a kind, and a very great manager of the shelter.

Karen

GRANDPAIN MEMORY OF GRANDPA

For the RAVS Clinic in the heat of the summer of 2006, I volunteered for kitchen duty. It was my first clinic and I didn’t trust what I might say if I saw an animal in a dire or abused situation.

The first afternoon one of Karen’s helpers came racing in and asked for help to load large sized crates and off she went. A bit later she came back with 4 dogs. Turns out she had seen these dogs laying along a road malnourished, no water or caretaker.

GRANDPA, DAISY, MAMA, GINGERWhen she arrived back at the warehouse, volunteers helped her unload the dogs. There was Grandpa, Grandma and two of their pups. Grandpa was in the worst shape and was so dehydrated and malnourished he staggered left to right and could barely stand up.
Due to his size no one felt right about crating him so we got a tie out and connected him to one of the main posts by the kitchen. What happened after that was nothing less than a miracle.

The general consensus was that he didn’t have much going for him. He was quite old, half lame and could barely stand. Many times during that day one of the many volunteers brought him a little bowl of food and gave him a hug. Numerous times I looked out and there was someone crying over him. To put it simply- he was pathetic and no one thought he would make it.

GRANDPA AND HIS PACKKaren came cruising in late in the day and since we didn’t know what to plan for him and since he was in no condition for neutering we packed him and his “girl” dog off
to Karen's.

They got their own kennel the first night and, if I recall correctly, by morning Grandpa had “busted” himself out of the kennel and was free roaming. There
was no keeping that dog penned up, but by this time he realized that there was good food coming his way and he probably thought he was at a 4 Star hotel so he didn’t run.

GRANDPAEach time I would go to Karen’s, we would stand and chuckle over the fate of Grandpa. The dog no one thought would live through the clinic fooled us all and became head dog of Red Lake Rosie's. I personally am thrilled that he had a good number of years where he was well cared for and had great days in the sun.

He also taught me a lesson about the durability of these animals. That
with some TLC and possibly love for the first time in their lives, these animals can bounce back from horrendous circumstances and surprise us all.

Colleen