#376 Phoebe, born 7/18/05

Phoebe on the day of her rescue.

On July 27, 2006, Judith Bruno wrote:

We just arrived home from Orange County and Phoebe is a angel.
I met her plane yesterday at 2:30 pm, just an hour later than originally
scheduled, thanks to the hard work of the Continental ground crew in
Houston, who enabled Phoebe to make her connection in spite of a delay on
her inbound flight of a few hours due to thunderstorms (otherwise she
would have been in transit for 5 hours longer).

After Shelbina I was terrified that she would bolt in the busy, noisy,
unfamiliar airport, so we loaded her crate, unopened into the back of
the SUV and drove to our host's house, just a few miles away. We carried
the crate into the back yard, and my host took no chances and secured
both back gates with plastic cable ties.

Then I let her out of the crate, which she came willingly, wagging her
tail, licking my face.

Our host is the son of my childhood neighbor. I explain it in that
awkward way, because he was already at West Point when I was a young
child. I consider his family my family (although there is no blood
relation) and his younger sisters were our babysitters and role models
as kids.

But Bill is no softy - and he has never had a pet in this 60 odd years.
Still Phoebe followed this big, 6+ footer around, greeting him and
wagging her tail.

My first impression was that this was no 1 year old. She is smaller than
Pinky was when she arrived here at 5 months. She's petite and tiny -
seems to be just 15 inches and her tiny head is the size of my palm!

After 24 hours I can say she has done everything right and seemed like
she's done everything before.

The only trouble I had was trying to get her back in the car in her
crate for the ride home this morning. She clearly enjoyed her first
taste of freedom and was not about to leave it easily.

She slept the entire 3 hour ride home and we then met Heddy in a park
nearby. Heddy thought she was great and Phoebe returned the compliment.
We brought Heddy home and took Pinky over. Pinky is rambunctious at
best, and did a lot of barking, jumping, but still tail wagging
dominated the body language, When Pinky got too loud and obnoxious,
Phoebe, to my surprise growled, just once, just a warning.

We all returned home, and all dog were but in crates and puppy pens.
Phoebe and I stripped down for her bath - 2 baths actually. She was a
good girl in the tub, although she does not like having her face sprayed
with water, so I did the wet face cloth mop up instead.

Ro took her for a look around the yard to dry off - today it has cooled
down to 107 - plenty warm enough to dry a Kerry coat.

I'm just about to spray her with Coat Handler Anti Static spray, and
we're spending the remainder of day on grooming. We brushed for several
hours yesterday, and 3 hours this morning. The good news is she loves
brushing, even if it means matt removal, and slept most of the time in
my lap.

This dog is a doll.

If I finish grooming and time permits before an important 6 pm meeting,
we'll get some photos taken and up on the website. I'll be sure to have
a rule in the photo so you can see for yourself how tiny she is!
If I did not have Pinky, I would not be making this post because Phoebe
would not be leaving my house again!

It is so worth the time, energy and resources to rescue these deserving
dogs.

Judith Bruno
Palm Desert, CA
jbruno@ralden.com

On July 27, 2006, Judith continues:

OK, I knew I had an ambitious to-do list. At least we're totally clean
and fresh smelling, and partially brushed.

I am glad to resign myself to a far more leisurely afternoon.

Whereas last night and earlier this morning Phoebe melted in my arms as
I brushed her, she was not at all interested in being brushed once we
got home.

There was something far more compelling - a house that has
been home to 4 Kerries - waiting to be explored.

Since she has clearly never seen the inside of a house, it was comical
to watch her explore. From the couch she climbed onto a table (nearly
knocking over a lamp 4 times her size, to look out the window. She'll
clearly need lots of supervision - until she learns the ground rules.
She and Pinky have been hurling insults at each other whenever they
pass, and as a result they are keeping to their separate quarters on
opposite side of our office. Passive socialization often helps take the
edge off.

Everyone is having a time out, and I think I will too. The world wasn't
created in one day.

Judith Bruno
Palm Desert, CA
jbruno@ralden.com

From: Cindy Radamaker <cidrad@ATT.NET>
Date: Sat Jul 29, 2006 7:01:31 AM US/Pacific

Wow. A big thank you to all of the volunteers who participated in the Rocky Comfort Rescue. The passion felt for our breed and the resulting selfless dedication to rescuing dogs living in the mill hell hole world, surely has earned these exceptional people a special place in the hereafter.

My gratitude and respect also goes out to Judith Bruno. My husband and I had planned a vacation some time ago (heading for the Sierra Madres in Mexico with three other people to look for Thick-billed Parrots and Eared Quetzals) and were not going to be home to receive our little girl coming from Rocky Comfort. In stepped Judith Bruno. Judith went above and beyond, traveling to Orange County to pick up Phoebe - once known as #376. When Judith met my hasband and I today in Blythe to transfer Phoebe, she had packed enough food to last Phoebe several weeks, had purchased a harness that seems absolutely "slip-away" resistant, provided bedding with the crate, and the most poignant touch, had placed a collar around Phoebe's neck that had belonged to a very loved member of Judith's family. Judith had also fallen in love with little Phoebe, and in the short time they had been together, had given Phoebe the affection she had sorely missed so far in her life, and given her a promising start. Thank you, Judith. You will always be a very special person in my world.

I brought my two older dogs to meet their new little sister in a neutral ground. It was wonderful to have Judith's assistance to introduce all three. It was a smashing success! My older girl, Ani, was curious, but true to her rather aloof nature. Ani seemed to say, "Ok, if this is what you want, Mom, then I guess I will learn to live with it." Merlin, my 10-year old male, is a bit more tricky. He started out showing some interest, but once we got home, he was a bit too interested! He is a big boy, and doesn't have any idea how easy it is for him to knock smaller animals around. He's a bit in your face at times. He'll learn, In a couple of days, Phoebe will be old hat.

Phoebe is no bigger than a peanut. Tomorrow we go to our vet to double check on parasites, etc., and to give my vet an opportunity to meet the newest member in our family. I'm betting that Phoebe weighs in at around 16 pounds, and measures about 14 inches at the withers. I'll give you all an update tomorrow. Her papers say she is 4-5 years old; I'm guessing closer to 14-16 months. We'll see.

Once all of us got home, it was a pure delight to watch Phoebe explore her new world. Her biggest challenge is trying to figure out the sliding glass door. Until she gets used to glass, I will have to put something in front of the door so she doesn't run into it. When we go outside, I have to open the door as wide as it will go so she can easily get through. Coming back in is no problem. She is hot on the heels of the two older dogs.
The yard, oh the YARD! Zip around, roll in the grass, stare out at the arroyo. So many new sounds, scents and sensations. What a day.

Phoebe has now said good night. She is asleep at my feet, and will soon be gently placed in her crate, in our bedroom, where I pray she will have nothing but pleasant dreams of her life to come.

To see some photos of Phoebe, please click on the below link.
http://www.mexicobirding.com/adventures/Phoebe.html

From: cidrad@ATT.NET
Subject: [KBL] Phoebe - Rocky Comfort Rescue # 376
Date: September 18, 2006 8:40:50 PM PDT

So sorry I haven't updated the group in some time on Phoebe's progress. But progess fabulous made has she (Yoda is one of my favorite characters....).

Phoebe has been with us now 8 weeks. It has been two weeks since she last had an accident in the house, and dutifully runs to her open door to the patio to relieve herself. The patio has an x-pen that is about 4' high and well secured so she can't get to the back yard without supervison. Our next step, once I am completely comfortable that she has the whole outdoor thing nailed, is to teach her to use the dog door and go out into the side yard which has been built as a dog run, to do her thing. Or to let me know at the back door that she needs out. I'm still timing when she last ate, or last went out. Oh joy. To stop having to disinfect the concrete each day... Life has many simple pleasures!

Her muscle tone is well defined. When I first received Phoebe, she didn't feel like there was a muscle in her thighs to be found. Now, she is hard as a rock (I could take a few lessons...). Her hip bones no longer stick out like a chicken wing, and her ribs cage is well covered by a layer of muscle and meat (?) We have progressed from walking around the block to a 3 mile jaunt every morning. Phoebe is the darling of the 5:30 am Starbucks crowd here in Fountain Hills, and many ask about her progress. They know her story. I'm a bit of a chatter box.
Phoebe is great with people. She loves kids and adults. I have yet to find any loud noise that frightens her. She slept through some pretty impressive thunderstorms during our monsoon season while one of my two older kerries challenged the thunder and lightening with very deep barks and growls each time the thunder rolled through and the night lit up. How come the loudest and most exciting thunderstorms always arrive at around 1:30 am???!!!

She is extremely playful, and to anthropomorphize a bit here, seems to be living the puppy hood she didn't experience when young. She is not destructive though. She has not torn up one darn thing; and she has grabbed pillows, socks, slippers, hats, you name it. She chews dutifully on correct objects, and mouths the more fun items!

She has taken to sleeping on our bed, and goes to the foot of the bed. She still gets up in the middle of the night (I hear/feel her jump to the ground) but goes outside to her area to relieve herself. It will be nice when she can hold it all night.

The one thing I miss is how cuddly she was when she first arrived. She has great confidence now, and spends most of her time running and chasing after the two older kerries, and prefers to sleep as close as she can get to our older gurl, Ani.. I wonder what she remembers from her life 8 weeks ago?

A bit of trivia, all of our kerries are named after birds - Merlin, Ani and Phoebe.

Take care,
--
Cindy Radamaker
Fountain Hills, Arizona
The Kerry Blue Terrier Birding Clan

Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 19:54:47 +0000
From: jbruno@RALDEN.COM
Subject: [KBL] Visit to Phoenix to see Phoebe (Rocky Comfort #376)

Although I call her my foster dog, I really only helped transport Phoebe (Rocky Comfort 7.22.06) from Orange County to the Arizona border. She was with me for just 5 days or so.

I know I am easily "taken in" by these wily Kerries, as witnessed by the fact that 3 foster dogs (Scamp, Heddy & Pinky) never did make it out my front door and stayed on to live out their lives with us.

Phoebe was the most darling little peanut and I honestly considered keeping her, but Pinky would have none of it - Pinky wanted (and still wants to until today) to be the ONLY baby puppy (even if she is now 4!)

The good news is that when I met Cindy and Kurt and their Kerries Merlin and Ani, I knew Phoebe was going to a, not good, but, fantastic home.
I keep in touch with Cindy and they have even stopped en route to visit their family in California so we could visit with Phoebe.

[...]

The delight was seeing Phoebe, and seeing what a happy dog she is, and what wonderful and attentive parents Cindy & Kurt are.
Phoebe was little, and in talking at the time of the rescue everyone wondered if she might be the smallest Kerry known. Cindy had cautioned me that Phoebe had grown up and was now a big dog. She told me she had suspected they must have initially had her age incorrectly, because now she was no longer as small as she had been.

After the initial excitement of greetings and kisses and running around was over, my first comment was, "I respectfully disagree Cindy", Phoebe maybe have found her big gurl personality, but she still resided in a little gurl's body. She has filled out - no doubt, but I doubted that she had grown any taller.

So we decided to attempt to measure her. Cindy had the advantage of having shown Merlin and Ani , and I think anyone involved in shows tend to know more about these things. But of course we didn't have a wicket on hand. We actually realized that neither of us were sure exactly where the sweet spot of the whithers was. So we quickly checked to internet.

Then we didn't have a yard stick, or a level as the internet instructions recommended, but we made do with a pencil to lay across the whithers and a small retractable tape measure - so our results were less than scientific.

But after a few rechecks, we think Phoebe is in the neighborhood of 15 and 3/8 (I am the queen of typos, but I intend to communicate fifteen!).
I know that a few others from Rocky Comfort are on the small side but I wonder if any are quite this small?

The good news is that I could leave Phoenix without even shedding a tear, knowing Phoebe is right where she should be and is doing very well.
What I take away, is the memory of our morning walk. Phoebe takes a few steps, does a complete whirling dervish circle, takes a few more steps, does another complete whirling dervish circle, and on and on. It is amazing that she can do this all on leash with getting tangled up. She is bursting at the seams from joy of life, and real happiness.

Judith Bruno
jbruno@rladen.com<mailto:jbruno@rladen.com>
Palm Desert, CA USA