Birdsongs in the garden!

Broadcasting Live from Our Enchanted Garden

Here we go!

A trial run this morning in the garden to see how well the technology works and wether I'll need help to run the show! Or wether the weather will help me with the show by encouraging the birds to sing to alll our guests in a sort of impromptu garden party!

Fostering really is the Natural Way

Lately a lot of the posts here for the garden have focused on adopting abandoned animals, fostering and the challenges of training puppies and keeping them safe in the garden. It wasn't really my intention to see our blog be centered on pet issues and yet what has come through from these experiences has been the discovery of more of nature's magic. There it was; plain as the nose on my face!

Fostering really is Nature's way. You see birds and dogs and cats do it. This points to me of how very important it is that people who are drawn to helping other creatures, including humans, follow through on their feelings and their inspirations. This is a natural instinct among living beings.

My thoughts drift to 2005, when I was freshly inspired by my calling to the garden and the wisdom it spoke to me. This came to be just weeks before Katrina bore down on the Gulf Coast of the US. At that time people came together to help each other. Multiple levels of government and specialists in safety and rescue with almost unlimited funds at their disposal seemed unable to step up to help without tripping over red tape and politics.

Fostering is what was arranged for people who had nowhere to go after government assistance ended and there were still no homes available for those left homeless in Louisianna and elsewhere! It might not be what people call it but it works out to the same sort of thing.

Right now in the United States and Canada there are countless living beings who need your help. One of the easiest ways to help is fostering. If you have the room in your home, foster children or even families. If you don't have that sort of room but still have that space in your hearts and your yards; foster dogs, cats, rabbits, pot bellied pigs, horses or other animals in need. Seek out local shelter and animal rescue groups and learn what's needed in your area. Offer those groups your administrative or fundraising skills if you can't possibly foster people or animals.

In these hard times many families and their pets will suffer without some sort of assistance. As a foster mother for Jack Russell Terriers I can attest to the needs out there that arise out of family break ups, the loss of a family bread-winner, and sudden life changes that prevent some people from being able to continue to care for family pets. None of these situations can be controlled by the pet and they come to their neediness out of no fault of their own. Animals require attention and love, exercise and socialization and these needs don't end as changes occurr in their lives.

If you've ever had the inclination to help - consider it again and make a few enquiries, someone will be happy to learn you're interested in helping. You might get a big sloppy kiss from some loveable pup for your efforts, but heck, it could be a lot worse!

Back to the Jack!

Jack met his new family a couple of weeks ago, this is a shot of his new sister Maggie.

His new owners thought it might be fun to change his name slightly to Mack. It's so close to his earlier name and he's still so young and eager that a name change likely won't cause him any stress! Maggie and John Mack, sporting a muzzle

for safety and showing

off his heart!

"Getting to know you..." This family is now having loads of fun romping together in their own garden! Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? But then that's the little bit of magic that happens when a dog is in need and a family wants to add to their pack. Like radar, they often seem to seek out and find each other.

Miller defends Toronto's cleanliness on CNN

Wow! Poor Toronto is having some woes and worries! Miller defends Toronto's cleanliness on CNN Shared via AddThis

I can't imagine our parks and other green spaces being used as dump sites. However our little city, Guelph has a large section of parkland that was once a riverside dump site and reclaimed in the seventies for naturalization and recreational use! How ironic would that be?

Jack of Hearts!

Jack of Hearts!
Originally uploaded by Our Enchanted Garden

I just had to play with this shot a bit, he's such a sweet fellow and this little heart shaped bit of dog hair is amazing!

There's a happy family that's looking forward to meeting Jack and he may be going to a new forever home soon! Lucky boy is sure to give his new family years of love and entertainment.

We surely will miss him when he does find a family. The whole point of fostering is to be there for the dog at their most vulnerable, to help them settle and re-gain their confidence and then help them become part of a new family.

By fostering any family can potentially help hundreds of Jack Russell Terriers, or any other breed for that matter, rather than just one! Any person with the room in their yards, their lives and their hearts should strongly consider becoming a foster home for animals. Look on the net for info in your area, Province or State - many are breed specific, and arrange to speak with one of their volunteers.

Jack's Heart isn't on his sleeve!

Jack's Heart isn't on his sleeve!
Originally uploaded by Our Enchanted Garden

Yipppeeee!
So glad I finally managed to get a shot of the heart on Jack's forehead. Far more visible when his brows aren't raised or furrowed!
It's a very subtle contrast between two shades of brown hairs but there's a heart there without a doubt.

Jack is such an interesting character, has been with us for two weeks now and has shown himself to be an incredible companion. Mia has loved his romantic attention (they're both fixed! crazy pups!) and Daisy has loved his robust playfulness!

Jack's most endearing traits are that sweet heart he wears between his ears and his amazing collection of barks! When he is being brave and playing sentry of the back yard he has a deep bark that belies his size - sounds like a big hound dog! When Jack is playing with Daisy and Mia he'll sometimes use short sharp barks, and other times he squeaks rather than barks - it is the cutest sound and always gets us giggling!

Rescuing Jack

Meet Jack

When I recently told a friend I was considering rescuing a young dog and giving him a foster home until a suitable forever home can be found for him, she wondered out loud - "what are you thinking?" Okay sure, with two dogs of our own it may seem like a wild idea to bring another dog home, but this little Jack needed some TLC and attention. He was suffering emotionally from separation anxiety and the poor little fellow had no idea or control over what happened to his owners.

He's just a pup, at 10 months old and really just wants to be loved, be safe and get to play his heart out. That's all most Jack Russells want, a safe loving home (safe, as in JRT proof!) with lots of play and stimulation plus room to run, hunt and explore! I enjoy the breed and their happy, energetic personalities. They have a reputation for being troublemakers but usually the dogs are less responsible than their owners for lack of training! Jack Russell Terriers do require a bit more attention than many other breeds and new owners often learn that the hard way.

Our family are now the proud rescuers of a total of three Jack Russells; Keisha whom we lost last winter to cancer, Mia we adopted near the end of winter when she was 6 months old, and now Jack. Our other dog, Daisy is a large black Labrador-Doberman cross, she's the youngest and yet she plays babysitter with the other dogs. We adopted Daisy when she was a tiny 6 wk old pup. We brought her home to meet Keisha during her last days with us. Meeting Keisha helped Daisy learn some respect for an older sick animal and other important socializing skills. Not long after Keisha died we began looking into adopting another Jack Russell and that's when Mia came to stay with us. Mia and Daisy have grown together like litter-mates and now Mia doesn't seem to notice Daisy is three times her size, they play and fight and romp together and then curl up and snooze together too!

Three dogs, does it seem too much? Nah! But, if I help JRTRO by rescuing and adopting Jack but then have no more room for dogs then JRTRO would lose me as a contact, other than for referrals. Instead my partner and I felt we could help get little Jack settled and more comfortable here while volunteers with Jack Russell Terrier Rescue of Ontario work to find him a suitable home. Then Jack can be paired with a loving family and our family, including our two babysitting puppies can move forward to help another stranded and frightened Jack Russell. Our two dogs, Daisy is 7 months old and Mia is 9 months or so. They never cease to amaze me and I'm thrilled to help them help others of their species. They are becoming fabulous hostesses!

So while people may wonder where my senses have gone, bringing in a foster puppy keeps our two puppies well occupied, gives them a sense of purpose and provides a wonderful gift to an animal in dire straights through no fault of his or her own. Our house is really too small for foster kids but our yard and hearts are certainly big enough to foster unfortunate animals!

HA HA; Hope Always Helps, Actually!

Depression is one of the strangest states of imbalance in a person's mental health. Getting a handle on how it affects my day to day experiences is a constant learning endeavor. I know laughter helps me cope considerably and that got me thinking. "Ha Ha, there's hope...", and then I realized; Hope Always Helps Actually! Perhaps this is why people search so for answers to the questions; why are we here, what's the point of this human existence. It's why organized religions, despite their shortcomings, have had such a hold on the human psyche. Hope seems to be an elixir for us all in our day to day lives, helping us see beyond challenges and pitfalls to the potential that is inherent in our life experiences. Hope says we have the potential to realize our dreams and to grow beyond any current situation. People who feel life is hopeless, or believe there is no hope of overcoming something negative or unpleasant in their lives can find themselves dissatisfied and disenchanted with the life they are living. The sensations, if prolonged and unaddressed can become dibilitating and can even lead to serious health problems like high blood pressure, obesity and premature aging. Laughing in the face of perceived danger may seem foolhardy and yet if a danger is only perceived but not an actual threat then it may be the very best remedy by far! Laughter releases chemicals that help the body relieve stress, fear, even pain. Laughter puts us on a different playing field, where anything just might be possible or where our imagination can ahke up new ideas and connections. Laughter even makes a person more approachable, as everyone knows a good belly laugh is infectious! We all enjoy laughter, at least everyone I know does. I use laughter where I work to help diffuse tense situations and to assist my customers by uplifting their moods, at 5:30 in the morning I think my customers appreciate the fact I have a smile on my face and a pleasant greeting for them! Well I'm hope-full this is help-full to anyone else in a similar situation!