Hey. If you're here looking for Athena updates, you're at the right place.
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don't ignore us |
Since Athena has been doing so well and she spends much of her time with her sister, Duchess, this has been changed to focus on the both of them.
Background info:
Duchess was adopted June 14, 2013. At the time we had Galen, an almost 14 year old Collie/Eskimo mix. He was pack leader and was on the decline. We had adopted him in January of 2000 while we lived in Pensacola, Florida.
After moving to the Cleveland area, finding it not as pet friendly as Pensacola had been, we adopted another pup to keep Galen company.
Enter
Sheba, his life mate/sister, was about to turn 13. The two of them had been together since Galen was about a year and a half old and Sheba was 6 months. She's a Dutch Shepherd and a beauty.
The two of them bonded and were best friends.
Goldberg, a Lhasa/Terrier mix came into the picture a year later. He had many issues and while he did not bond with them the way they bonded with each other, the three of them were a happy pack.
Galen watched out for each of them and they wouldn't go anywhere with out the other.
Sadly and suddenly, we lost Goldberg in April of 2012. We never intended to adopt any more for awhile. We were going to be pet free.
HOWEVER, with Galen's health on the decline, we worried for Sheba. She had never been alone and already had separation anxiety issues. We worried should Galen go first, she would not handle it well.
That's where Duchess came in. At first she was the perfect addition. Wasn't very reactive to the other two and miraculously was well trained. However, we soon discovered once she became
comfortable, she came out of her shell.
We soon realized we had a much younger dog than originally thought. Her boundless energy was too much for the other two. She would try to engage them, but they were not having it.
We talked and knew that when the time came, we would have to adopt another as a companion to Duchess. She would be a handful by herself.
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| Sheba & Galen in the back, Goldberg in the front |
We sadly lost Galen at the end of January this year, 2014. Sheba mourned, Duchess didn't appear to be affected seeing as her time with him wasn't long.
April, we adopted Athena after seeing her picture in story in a forwarded post on Facebook. Duchess and Athena complement each other well. They're wonderful together.
Sheba came out of her mourning with renewed vigor in trying to keep up with her much younger sisters. Her will is there, but old age is winning the race. Our time with Sheba has come to an end and we will sadly be saying goodbye to the oldest sister in the next few days.
Duchess and Athena will go on and this is where will share those highlights.
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| The new family, Duchess, Sheba, Mommy, & Athena |
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| The first group photo with Duchess |
