The Coolest Time of Year

Another year, another winter at Home for Life.As the country braces for another onslaught of cold and snow this week, it's business as usual at Home for Life. Our facility is spread out over several acres, so contending with winter weather has always been a fact of life at the sanctuary.  When we designed the sanctuary we wanted to give our animals, particularly our dogs, as much room as possible and the freedom to go in or out as they pleased. This sanctuary design  affords our animals the best quality of life possible, but makes winter a challenge for our staff who must spend a lot of time outside. Our buildings and townhouses are all heated but staff  must move among the buildings to feed and medicate the animals, to clean and to scoop the runs each day.     

There are positives about winter as we've noted in previous annual tributes to the season on our blog   here. One positive this year is that we're not located on the East coast, let alone Boston, where they're really getting walloped. Any year that we dodge that bullet and have a comparatively mild winter and a reasonable amount of snow is cause for relief and celebration.  Last year was our region's endless winter which commenced with a huge snow storm in early December, 2013 and continued, unabated with arctic temperatures and heavy snows until April, 2014.

 One memorable work day for me at Home for Life occurred in February: blizzard conditions were predicted and the staff on duty called in, nervous about the commute. I stepped up to cover the shift and found myself in the midst of a full on  ice storm, the snow propelled so strongly from the north that I couldn't see to move between the buildings and the townhouses. In no time, the drifts were nearly as high as my hips,  and  I kept sinking through the top of the snow cover to my waist. I was terrified I would miss one of our old or small dogs stuck outside and I couldn't see them in their runs because the snow was driven against the chain link creating a screen effect. Our brave overnight staff person made it to work and on time too. I asked her how the roads were; she told me I could  probably  make it home if I stayed on the main road. I decided to try to make it home. Mistake.  Just about the time I started off around 10 pm, the winds started up, blowing the snow that had fallen across the roads. I could not see 6 inches in front of me: the headlights on bright made it worse. Soon, the snow was blowing so fiercely, I realized I was in a full on blizzard, and the temperature started dropping. I crept along at about 20 miles an hour, and felt lucky to stay  on the road, which could barely be seen. In fact, I missed the exit for the interstate and ended up on a side road, and nearly stuck in a drift  and unable to see, surrounded by white whirling snow. That's the astounding thing about a blizzard- no headlights can penetrate it, and any person in the middle of it becomes completely disoriented in the white out, unable to establish any landmark( like the horizon- you're in the middle of a white snowball, unable to distinguish the ground from the sky)  or sense of direction to get out of it. I turned the car around and blasted out of the drift before the car was completely covered in snow, and although I wasn't sure of where I was, decided to retrace what I thought had been my route. Through the whirling snow I glimpsed the sign for 94 and found the exit- two tire tracks. The only other vehicles on the freeway were a couple of semis- also travelling about 20 mph. I somehow, finally made it home, my hair drenched with sweat from sheer terror and anxiety. I celebrated by watching the Men's Figure Skating Olympic Finals, relieved to be home and alive.

 The next morning, the company who plows Home for Life's roads had to shovel a path for our guard to get out because the snows were so high, up to her waist, that she couldn't get out of the building. We were  just grateful that all our animals were safe and warm, and that the worst thing we had to deal with was digging out of the heavy snows that had fallen. Here are some photos taken at the sanctuary the next morning after the blizzard: it's hard to believe it could look so beautiful after such a frightening night.

There's a beauty to winter that I wouldn't want to miss by fleeing to  a different region of the country, and it's exhilirating to bundle up and  to fearlessly get right out into it all instead  of  becoming like Jack Nicholson in "The Shining," stir crazy from  six months of hibernation in an overheated house.  I've also learned that the cold is less intimidating  and hurts less if you're not afraid of it. Another story from the memorable winter of 2013/2014: working the pm shift( 4pm- 10 pm or later) I was running between the buildings, all of which are warmly heated to 70 degrees or higher for the animals' comfort. I had dressed for the cold with many layers, so it was warm for me in the buildings. and it felt refreshing to be outside to cool off. I didn't bother with a coat as I moved around, just had my fleece sweatshirt topper and a hat on. I  thought  it seemed a bit colder than "normal"  but didn't think much about it until I started my car so it could warm up before I left and the engine screamed in protest.  Puzzled. I  checked the car thermometer -and was shocked to see that it was - 26 below.This was the  air  temperature, not   the wind chill reading, which probably would have dropped it another 10 degrees at least. 

  

Whining doesn't make the winter go by any faster, and the great thing about the really cold or blustery winter days is the perspective they create: Oh, how we rejoice when it's above zero, let alone 20 or even  30 degrees! Winter is also a great way to cull employees and keep the riff raff out: do you love animals? Do you love them only in the summer when it's sunny and warm and you can wear shorts and work on your suntan? Or do you care about them enough to show up and  take care of them  even when it's - 10 and you have to be at work at 7 am to feed 100 dogs and scoop their runs or when it's sub zero degrees,  10 pm at night, and you have to do a final water check and run medications.  In the winter of 2014, I interviewed a candidate and figured: why sugarcoat it? So I had her out to Home for Life and walked her around. As I recall, that day was about 5 degrees. After showing her our facility, I asked her what she thought, and she said she loved it and hoped she could work there. What?! What about the cold and all the snow?, I asked. "Oh, this is nothing- I'm from Fargo," she stated.  HIRED!    

There's definitely a strategy to dressing for our winter weather. Executing the strategy successfully makes it possible to handle the conditions with aplomb, like a duck on the water- the weather literally just rolls right off. A hat, preferably with ear flaps, is a necessity and can actually make it seem 10- 15 degrees warmer. Dressing in layers, as mentioned above, is a huge help. I find thermal underwear, armour all or my downhill ski underwear is the forcefield that makes windchill something I can laugh off. Going into the warm buildings, our staff peel layers off to stay comfortable. On 30 degree days, having become conditioned to the cold and running between our heated buidlings and townhouses, the staff will often be only in turtle necks or t-shirts.  Waterproof, insulated boots  keep the wet and cold at bay- nothing is worse than cold feet and soaking wet socks. You can't possibly be warm at all if your feet are wet and cold. I don't wear a heavy winter coat  on any but  the very coldest days where the wind is really blowing- then a  coat that is like a heavy duty insulated windbreaker works the best, and some staff go for snow pants as well. Gloves are a matter of debate: I like to be able to work without anything on my hands if possible- it seems they just make it clumsy to handle leashes etc. If gloves or mittens must be used on the very coldest days I think thin woolen gloves are the best so I still have some dexterity with my hands to open gates, handle medications ,etc. I borrow a lot of ideas for dressing for work from skiing, and  a  snood or even a  balaclava (worn by troops on Himalayan mountain duty) does the trick, rolled up over the chin, nose and cheeks to take the edge off  on those days when the north wind is blowing so stongly that moving around in it causes pain similar to an " ice cream headache", that painful condition that occurs when you eat something cold too fast. 

  About this time of the year, winter has gone on so long it's difficult to remember the warmth  of summer, and that it will ever be green and sunny again.   And in the middle of summer, will we dread the advent of winter again or remember it's beauty and challenges and that as we made it through another year, we can do it again and wouldn't have it any other way. 

It's been wonderful to have the help of photographer Mark Luinenburg, who like our staff, doesn't fear winter, and is willing to come out and take photos year around. Below are his latest photos of Winter 2014 at Home for Life:  HERE      

Snow Angels

Winter is hanging on, waiting for Home for Life's annual tribute to winter (read our prior posts here and here). Snow -more snow- and its mid April! That will teach me to be late with our blog posts.

Some of our dogs haven't minded that winter has persisted. It's the second week in April and we STILL have snow on the ground. Photographer Mark Luinenburg visited March 26 and got some great photos of the dogs playing in the snow and even making snow angels: Dottie,  Spiderman and Malamute cross Ruwan. Last time Mark visited, on December 4^th, it was 50 degrees. Two days later, the deluge: the first snow storm of the season and blizzard conditions: over a foot of snow, sub-zero temperatures and freezing northwest winds.

Five dogs from a rescue that had to close came to Home for Life this late fall, before the dropping temperatures and winter weather hit. The dogs included Ruwan  and also three other Malamutes or Malamute mixes: Ruwan's best friend Cindy (aka Brandi), Sasha who is a beautiful red color, and Ice who is all white, woolly and looks like a giant white bear. The woman who ran the rescue had a special affinity for the northern or arctic breeds. We first learned about them through one of the rescue's former volunteers who was concerned about the fate of two of the dogs, Ice and Sasha, as the rescue faced closure. It seemed as the months went on that everyone in the rescue world knew about Ice and Sasha-they are so stunning and magnificent. We had never had Malamutes before, and really believed that with the admiration they generated from all quarters, they could find alternative placement somewhere else. Over the ensuing  months, however, it became clear that in fact, there was nowhere else for them to go and that the same was true for Ruwan and Cindy. They were huge, painfully shy and wary of people, not great with other dogs. They were never going to make a “house pet”. No other rescues that do adoptions were stepping up for them, and the dogs had had no offers for help in nearly eight months.

The other issue was the director of the rescue. As she faced the difficult situation, she found placement for the other dogs of the rescue, but these four Malamutes and Malamute mixes were very special to her, and she struggled at the thought of having to surrender them. First, she was going to give them up, then she wanted to find a way to keep them, then she was ready to surrender them, then not, then she was, then she wasn't and this was how it went for months as she struggled to save her rescue somehow and keep the dogs that to her, represented all her organization stood for. When,  at last, she conceded that she had to move them to avoid a raid on her shelter, and save the dogs from being confiscated and probably put to sleep, she was stoic and resolute. When she brought them to us, finally, there were no tears but I felt that she was handing us her heart for safekeeping. As a bonus we also got Skie who was another dog of the rescue who also had no takers.

We have never had dogs like these at Home for Life. The Director and a volunteer arrived with the five dogs in two cars, and when they got them out of the vehicles, pulling the frightened dogs out using double noose leashes, we were stunned at their size: three of the dogs are easily twice the size of our largest dogs at the Sanctuary-the males weigh in at 130-140 lbs. All five dogs are very wary of people they don't know, and in some circles would be described as feral. They are shy as deer, but would rather take flight than ever fight. The two pairs of malamutes reportedly are not good with other dogs, other than one another. Fifth dog Skie, the little cattle dog mix, is as shy as the larger dogs .She can't be housed with them but becomes frantic if she can't see them. Skie came up from an animal control facility in Tennessee with Ruwan and his friend Cindy, and Skie also knows Ice and Sasha, the other Malamute pair from the rescue where all lived before the shelter closed. In this transition, these other dogs from the rescue were her touchstone and security. Over the past few months, Skie has since made friends with Spanky, a senior pit-bull mix who has lived at Home for Life since he was a puppy. Spanky lost his brother Alfalfa, to whom he was very bonded, to cancer on Christmas Day,2012.. They had both lived at Home for Life since they were puppies and Spanky took the loss of his brother very hard. After some time for the two dogs to become acquainted, it is clear that the friendship of cute and spirited Skie has lifted Spanky's spirits and enabled him to find happiness again.

In addition to their size, the four Malamutes and Mal- mixes  are distinguished by their love of winter. They are impervious to the cold. Our other dogs like the crisp winter weather and running in the snow but they also are happy to come inside. Not these four. The weather was unseasonably warm when the dogs arrived but after a just few days the temperatures dropped, and we moved the dogs from temporary holding kennels to townhouses. Ice the white dog, had not been groomed in over a year and his coat had to be shaved off because of the extreme matting. Cindy was on the thin side and didn't have the thick coat of Sasha and Ruwan. We wanted all the dogs, and especially Ice and Cindy, to have warm housing. We need not have lost any sleep about keeping them out of the cold. (they will probably require air conditioning this summer more than they needed heated indoor areas this winter!) On the contrary, all four dogs love cold weather and in particular snow. Once assigned to a townhouse, they promptly tore their dog doors off so they could see out, never mind that they had now created an arctic draft. They disregard the careful efforts our staff makes to provide bedding indoors for them, and instead can be found at any time of the day or night reclining right on the snow. Ruwan and Cindy in particular love to spend the night outdoors, oblivious to the cold. Even on nights this winter that had temperatures well below zero, we were astonished to find them outside and apparently perfectly comfortable. We have persuaded Ruwan and Cindy to use their dog hammocks if they are going to spend the night outside, but Sasha and Ice still prefer to lay directly on the snow.

Ice and Sasha are brother and sister and when young adults, were purchased from a breeder by a dog musher near Hastings, MN who bought them to beef up his sled dog lines. From all reports the two dogs suffered greatly while with this owner; they were chained constantly and had nothing for shelter but overturned plastic drums. They were sadly neglected in almost every way, and were near death when saved by the rescue. Sasha's collar was so tight around her neck that  it was was impairing her ability to breathe, and had to be cut off when she and Ice arrived at the rescue.

While at the rescue, where they lived for at least a couple of years, Sasha and Ice were well treated and well loved by the director and the many volunteers as much for their beauty as for all they had overcome. Although in many ways the two dogs never got over their tough start and have remained very shy, some of the volunteers whom they grew to know and trust could give them big hugs. Less is known about the background of Ruwan and Cindy other than that they had come to the rescue in early 2012 from an animal pound in Tennessee. It's so much warmer in Tennessee that Ruwan and Cindy must have been thrilled to be in a climate they were born to thrive in. All four dogs are estimated to be about age 4. Even though the two pairs of dogs came from different parts of the country, as arctic breeds, they all share a similar nature.

When their fate was in the balance as the rescue faced closure in 2012, I talked with one of the volunteers and asked, in a vain attempt to dodge the bullet, why these dogs couldn't go to a shelter or rescue. She acknowledged, reluctantly, that those options would have been better than a premature death. Now knowing these dogs I can see why it was difficult for her to imagine this scenario for them.

Shy but not unfriendly with people, there is a part of them that will always be untamed and need freedom more than the typical dog. House pets? Crated, kenneled or confined indoors for eight or more hours a day? They would never be able to breathe in the walls of a residential, suburban setting, or even in a backyard, or walked once a day on a flexi leash. They were born to be wild in the best sense of the word: longing to be outside, especially in winter, staying connected to nature is as necessary for them to live as having air to breathe. There is a difference between existing and living. It might have been possible to keep body and soul together by keeping the dogs alive in a shelter kennel, but their spirit would have been extinguished, and they would have been shells of themselves.

There were so many people concerned over the fate of these dogs; the director naturally. Yet after she brought us the dogs, we never heard from her again. I hope she has seen their photos that Mark took and knows that her dogs are doing well.

People everywhere- from those who had volunteered at the rescue to those who knew they were in need to those who had visited the rescue where they had lived and met them there- all seemed to have a stake in their outcome. After the dogs were settled in a bit at Home for Life, I posted the first photos of them, that I took myself, on our social media pages. The photos were nothing special in terms of composition but the dogs looked happy. I was really surprised at the feedback we got. We received posts and emails from dozens of people from all over who had met the dogs or who knew their stories. They were all so grateful to see these dogs safe and happy. We all care about animals at risk and are relieved when they land on their feet. But these dogs seemed to affect people on a deeper level. We (some of us) care about what happens to our national parks, wildlife and endangered species and yes even animals like these dogs who may never make a pet but still want to live. It restores our souls to know that their habitats are  conserved, and the animals are safe and can live as they were meant to in the same way that we are diminished when beautiful places and creatures are desecrated. It has been great to know that Home for Life's snow angels mean so much to so many people and that those who care about them have also found joy to see the happiness and security the dogs have found at the sanctuary.

Cold Names, Warm Hearts: Home for Life's Winter Animals

As of last year, Home for Life established an annual tradition- to do at least one blog post celebrating something positive about winter (See HFL’s last year’s winter post).Around this time, we are deep in the throes of what seems like the never ending season (the Beach Boys’ “Endless Summer except 70 degrees colder). We don’t believe it will make a bit of difference if the groundhog sees his shadow; we know from experience that we are still at least two months away from spring, even with the warmer temperatures this year.

Anthropologists believe that people’s environment can shape their language, and a vocabulary of a people strongly influences how they see the world. An urban legend that illustrates this idea is the Inuit people who are said to have 100 words to describe snow. Since the Inuit live along the Arctic Ocean they must see far more of the stuff than we do in the Upper Midwest. Their many descriptive words for snow shows their appreciation of the variations and beauty of their frozen world.

For an animal sanctuary located in the northern part of the United States, how could we not name some of our cats and dogs in honor of the season that trumps all others? Winter has inspired some great names for many of our white or mostly white animals. (who are all winters no matter what their color charts say). Winter and the snow and cold it brings are such a big part of life in the north where the sanctuary is located, and the many facets of the season are expressed in the names we have chosen for some our white animals at Home for Life.

Polar:

Polar, a neutered male, estimated to be 6 years old, is a blue point ragdoll who is FIV+. He looks as if he could be featured in a Fancy Feast cat food commercial or that he should be reclining on a chaise lounge on his own silk pillow but Polar is very athletic and active, and he enjoys the companionship of his fellow cats in the FIV+ cattery and the freedom to climb and go outside in the attached cat run. Polar was surrendered to Home for Life in 2008 by a Minnesota rescue group who was not able to adopt him out due to his FIV+status. Polar’s piercing blue eyes are crossed – a touching counterpoint to his great beauty that somehow makes him more endearing. He is and has always been a loving cat who seeks out attention from our staff and visitors to Home for Life.

Winter
Winter came to Homefor Life in the fall of 2011 from a small town not far from Home for Life. Hei s a young cat, maybe a year or two old, and until he came to Home for Life,had lived his entire life outside. He'd been fed all this time by a kind elderly woman , and Winter ( who received his name after arriving at HFL), made regular stops at her porch for food and water. In the fall of 2011,we were contacted by the woman’s family after she was found dead in her home. The family noticed Winter would still come to the porch to be fed and as they had sold the house after their grandmother;’ death, they worried that no one would be able to continue to look after him. Cold weather had arrived and they didn't think that he would not make it thru the winter.Shelters and rescues everywhere were full or said they would take Winter and put him down for them. The family couldn't bear to abandon the young cat , and thought about how much their grandmother had cared about him. They asked Home for Life to accept him in her memory and honor. Winter was unneutered when we took him in at HFL but was thankfully, negative for leukemia and FIV. He is not feral yet is quite shy as is typical with cats who have lived outdoors their whole lives and have been able to trust just one or two people who have fed them.
In the photo on the right, Winter is on the cat tree alongside his BFF(best feline friend), a black and white feral cat named Shady, a young male cat, whom we accidentally caught in a live trap when trying to locate Jonathan Houdini. Jonathan got to be friends with Shady when he was on the lam,after he'd mysteriously escaped within a day of arriving at HFL and Shady probably showed Jonathan the ropes of survival in Western Wisconsin. Though Shady is still extremely feral he loves Home for Life and has gained weight and made many new cat friends in addition to his first friend Jonathan ( who Is tame even though he lived in a cat colony in Florida for years before coming to HFL). Winter and Shady have been close friends since meeting at Home for Life, and can be often found eating from the same dry cat bowl ,side by side. I have always wondered if they knew each other from the neighborhood as kittens as both were found not far from Home for Life,Winter in the town of Star Prairie and Shady in the woods that run along the Apple River near Home for Life.

Arctic Cat

With the Polaris Snowmobile plant of Osceola WI, a stone’s throw from the sanctuary we had to have a resident Arctic Cat at Home for Life.

Arctic, is a neutered male who is estimated to be about 7 or 8 and was surrendered to Home for Life nearly three years ago by an animal control facility west of the Twin Cities,Minnesota after he was found to be FIV+. He's a handsome, big cat and did us a great favor the day of the photoshoot by posing on the green blanket to bring out his green eyes. Arctic is really an unassuming gentle cat who lives and lets lives. Like all our oversized former tomcats of the FIV+ cattery, Arctic seems relieved to be indoors where he doesn't have to fight for survival or struggle to stay warm. All our FIV+ boys are very friendly though most of them lived outside for years on their own, and all of them live in harmony in the cattery –there are never any squabbles or fights. Arctic loves to go outside in the cat run when the weather is warm. Though the cat run has a big shade canopy on its top Arctic likes the heat of the direct sun , and sits on the cat tree hammock that is not under the canopy when sunbathing. Last year after a day of sun worship one hot July day,he even got a tinge of sunburn on his ears !

Icy
Icy is a beautiful white cat with blue eyes who came to Home for Life all the way from Canada when the couple who adopted her from a shelter discvoered she was positive for leukemia. (Read her bio).She is one of our many beautiful cats at Home for Life, and just can't take a bad picture. She has lived at Home for Life for over 6 years and is a great endorsement for our conviction that cats who are leukemia positive, as Icy is,should not be put to sleep if they're still healthy and asymptomatic. Icy has been in great health even though leukemia positive, and it would have been tragic to put her down before her time just because she was positive for the virus. Home for Life believes if these cats can live safely segregated from noninfected cats, there is no reason to put them to death if they are in good health, and showing no signs of the disease.

Snow
Snow was surrendered to Home for Life by Small Paws, a bichon frise rescue. They flew Snow to us from out of state. She travelled all alone on the plane, and we met her flight at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International airport. She seemed so small and alone, waiting in her crate in the back of the baggage department with the unclaimed luggage. She has been at Home for Life for nearly 2 years.

Her owner had died,and she was turned in to animal control by the owner’s family along with the other dog in the home, a pure bred bichon. From there, Snow and the bichon were rescued by Small Paws and evaluated for adoption through this rescue. Snow was described to us as a bichon mix and age 14 years old. She was deemed to be unadoptable by the rescue because of Alleged food aggression.Small Paws intended to euthanize her if she could not come to Home for Life. Upon meeting Snow and getting to know her, she would be most accurately described as mix of bichon and Jack Russell terrier, She has a white coat and pink skin and her fur is very wiry like a wirehaired terrier. She has intense dark eyes that are very striking against her white face. The terrier blood in her gives Snow her unquestionable moxie : even though her testy behavior may have gotten her into trouble with the rescue this spirit made it possible for her to survive the death of her owner, her abandonment at animal control,the loss of her dog companion who was younger and adopted out by Small Paws to a different home, a lonely and frightening plane trip to a new state and the necessity to adapt to a much different type of home than what she must have had her entire previous 14 years.

Snow looks very adorable in her Weatherbeata coat. We had to put a coat on her for her photos because with her sparkling white fur she was tending to disappear into the snowy landscape. In pictures,without her coat, Snow might seem to fade into the winter background, but with her strong personality that could never happen and she would never be lost in a crowd at Home for Life, Despite her age and relatively small size, Snow is one of the leaders ofher dog group ( along with Snoopy a formidable dachshund ) which includes dogs who are much bigger and younger than she. Snow takes herself and her role as a leader seriously and can be found at any time in the group’s large dog run which is alongside the parking lot. From this vantage point, she monitors the other dog groups and all other activity of the day at Home for Life. This is a big responsiblity as her group is the first to see staff arrive for their shifts, any vendors or workmen, and any deliveries so Snow has a busy day, every day, alerting the other dogs at Home for Life of the latest happenings.
We don't have a concern managing her " food aggression." Snow is no land shark-she just wants to be able to eat her breakfast and enjoy her treat each evening without being disturbed. She is a gentle hearted dog who has a surprising amount of energy and intensity for her age,and who was lonely and misunderstood when she lost her long time owner. At Home for Life, with dog friends and a second career as the Home for Life setinel, the hole in her heart has been mended and her behavior problems have subsided.

Snowbelle
Snowbelle came to Home for Life from the Animal Humane Society in Minneapolis, and is a small shepard mix with a cream colored coat. Snowbelle was confiscated by the Animal Humane Society of Minneapolis in the course of a cruelty investigation along with over 24 other dogs. She was just under a year when seized and was surrendered to Home for Life because of her extreme timidity. In her original home, where she was born and spent he puppyhood, she had never been socialized, treated well or cared for appropriately , and she'd become very afraid of people. We named her Snowbelle after an FIV+ cat from Louisiana , a white male cat named Snowbell who had passed away just a few weeks before the puppy arrived. (This is another tradition at Home for Life- naming dogs after eparted cats and vica versa: See blog post: "Namesakes at Home for Life")

Snowbelle saw that Daphne was not afraid of the photographer,
and so we got some great pictures of them playing happily in the new snowfall.

Snowbelle has always loved other dogs; they were probably her friends and teachers in her original home. She was as timid as a wild deer when she first arrived at Home for Life and declined to come near us at all for weeks. With dogs like Snowbelle, who are so shy, they'll learn to trust their caregivers at Home for Life by watching the other dogs. After two years at Home for Life, Snowbelle has at last become much more confident and will make a tentative approach for a pet. Her basic nature with people will always be shy,but she's gentle and easy for us to handle and has even consented to be bathed and groomed by professional groomer Antoinette who's at HFL twice a week to groom dogs. Daphne.one of the HFL border collies, a therapy dog,her mentor and friend/bigsister, has helped Snowbelle gain confidence around people. In these photos Snowbelle saw that Daphne was not afraid of the photographer, and so we got some great pictures of them playing happily in the new snowfall.

Snowbelle and Daphne

Frosty

This happy guy is Frosty, a samoyed/ american eskimo mix who is paraplegic. He was rescued by the Near HeartBandits group whose focus is helping american eskimo dogs who've become homeless. Frosty is a wonderful dog who had been hit by a car and left paraplegic,then ditched by his owners at an animal control facility in Nebraska,certain to be killed. Thankfully Near Hearts reached him in time before his scheduled euthanasia date,but they pulled him without any place to take him. No adoptive homes or fosters were interested in Frosty due to his paraplegia and incontinence. The director of the rescue recognized Frosty's special spirit and begged us,relentlessly, to help. There seemed to be a thousand practical reasons not to accept another dog, let alone another paraplegic at HFL when NearHearts Bandits contacted us.But sometimes in this work,the right choice is not always the decision that makes the most practical sense. When Frosty arrived at Home for Life he was frail,skinny and unkept looking with sores on his legs and seat, thin fur that was missing in patches and in obvious need of care and attention. Yet his radiant spirit had not been extinguished despite all he'd been through: the painful injury, the heartless abandonment at animal control by his family,the lack of care, an 11th hour rescue by Nearheart Bandits, the uncertain future. A dog who could still hold on to hope in the face of all he had been through deserved a second chance.

We have never regretted for a single second the decision to accept Frosty,who is beautiful, loving and always seems to have a smile on his face. He was the grateful recipient of a new cart that we bought for him shortly after hearrived at Home for Life. The cart has returned to Frosty the freedom that was destroyed after he was hit by a car. Now like any of our dogs he can run in our meadows enjoying the new snowfall .

Flurry & Winter

This photo is of Flurry and his late brother Winter who died in 2009.

These two australian shepards were born with birth defects and came to Home for Life from a rescue in Illinois. The two brothers were turned into a shelter by a good Samaritan who found the puppies at age 4 months abandoned on a country road. Initially, the shelter asked us only about helping Flurry because he was the less disabled of the two puppies. Both pups were hard of hearing but Flurry could see from one eye. Winter was deaf and also had impaired sight in both eyes.. Australian shepards affected with blindness and deafness are known as “lethal whites” because they're often culled by breeders at birth.When we agreed to help Flurry( who was called "Wonder by the shelter), the shelter then raised the possibility of our also helping Flurry’s brother -who was Winter( known as Charles at the shelter). We couldn’t see splitting up the two brothers: they had been left on a lonely country road, and then spent two months together at the shelter. We said we would help them both.

The puppies arrived at Home for Life when they were six months old and were inseparable, Winter always following his more able brother as seen in this photo.. Together they completed the Renaissance Program when 14 months old, and were on their way to becoming therapy dogs when Winter passed away on the eve of our spring brunch fundraising event in 2009.. It was a shocking and devastating loss as he was supposed to walk in the dog parade a feature of all Home for Life events. I don’t know how I managed to explain to his poor Renaissance student that his dog had died; he had worked so hard for weeks to train Winter using hand signals and was supposed to walk with Winter, in the parade. We brought another dog for the student to walk with in the parade but it wasn’t the same. Shortly after the event, the student ran away from Boys’ Totem Town, and was still a fugitive when the session ended. I like to think if Winter hadn’t died the kid would not have run away because he was so proud of the progress he and Winter had made with training and was looking forward to graduating from the program.

When Winter died so unexpectedly and suddenly, we wondered how Flurry would cope. But he was the stronger and more capable of the brothers, and it would've been harder if Winter had lost him rather than the other way around. Flurry knows, as all animals seem to, that life is short and there's little time to mourn. He has made new friends including another lethal white Australian shepard ,a female named Whisper, and Dodi our harlequin greatdane who has epilepsy.

When I see Flurry so happy, running in the new snowfall I like to think that he is running for Winter too. He’s running and living life now, for them both.

All photos except where noted by Mark Luinenburg, January, 2012. More winter photos by Mark Luinenburg: taken at Home for Life January 12th, 2012

See still MORE Home for Life Animal photos taken by Mark Luinenburg (Jan 27th, 2012)