He was a handful from the start, very strong, pushy, with a heavy herding instinct. He and our cat never learned to get along, so Thorn was not able to stay inside the house for very long, so we spent lots of time outside with him, throwing stuffed animals, balls and loving on him while this huge goofball crawled into my lap to cuddle.
We worked with him on a daily basis for 4 months, but he turned out to be too much dog for us and especially small children. Jax, Jem and Jen couldn't even play in their own backyard unless poor Thorn was crated...while he howled and cried miserably.
We considered taking him to Animal Control, but they threatened that he'd be put to sleep immediately after we dropped him off. A local no-kill Animal Shelter refused to take him as well. Big dogs were just not easily adopted and there was no room or enough food to feed them.
So, we brought him back home and promised the big lover boy that we would find him the very best home possible. We contacted Catahoula Dog Rescue groups, we sat with him at PetSmart for hours with the Watermelon Mountain Ranch Rescue group, hoping someone would find Thorn irresistable. Noone did.
The person who had him first and then had given him to the next person in line, had been constantly asking if she could have Thorn back, but we knew that would not be the best life for him. He had already been dumped from there, and they still had 9 other dogs, which is illegal in our city anyway. But would have been chaos for poor Thorn.
He wanted ALL the love and attention...and frankly he deserved it.
Finally weeks after posting in our local Petcycle group, a couple contacted me and said they fell in love with Thorn's name and photo. The husband had always wanted a dog named Thorn and one as big and handsome as Thorn with his gorgeous yellow eyes.
He wanted a dog to take on car rides and hikes through the woods. The wife just thought Thorn was beautiful and adorable.
We were so excited and met them at a local park for an introduction. The were cautious, but excited, too. Thorn really liked them. They were in the process of buying property on the East Mountain, so they could not immediately adopt Thorn. But they offered to pay for his food, rawhides, and care until they could. And just a little over a month later they did!
On August 23, 2006, we met with Teri and Ronnie to hand Thorn over to his eager new owners. They came prepared with a very large crate, blankets, a ginormous rawhide, a brand new collar, and lots of love! We hardly got the chance to cry and say goodbye to our sweet Thorn. He jumped into their SUV and was ready to go! hehe
Jump forward 8 months......
We've been trying to get out and visit Thorn since before Christmas, but there always seemed to be someone sick, too much snow, bad weather, and other stuff that came up to change our plans.
Finally today we drove on out to Edgewood, NM to visit Teri and Ronnie...and Thorn!
We were so excited!!
Would Thorn remember us? Would he be happy to see us?
Yes to all of the above!
Thorn knocked us all down, just like the old days. He gave us kisses, wagged his tail like crazy, rolled over for belly rubs, and just looked like he was smiling the entire time we were there. He has grown so much! And he looked awesome. His teeth were so clean and shiny and his eyes so bright and healthy...and he was solid and strong like a boulder!
Here's Teri and the boys with Thorn.
Thorn was talking doggy talk and I swear he was laughing with happiness!
Ronnie and Teri are really good people, kind, generous and friendly. They are both artists and love animals and nature. They own 2 cats, plus 4 kittens, and 2 other dogs, a Husky and a tiny Terrier, besides Thorn. Their animals are their children.
While we were there, they showed us around their 2 acres of property, Teri's watercolor art and Ronnie's Native American and Tattoo art. Ronnie even gave me a signed original of his art, too!
And they spoiled the kids with snacks, friendship bracelets, and video games.
Teri and Ronnie are a very sweet couple.
One of their cats they rescued had recently given birth to 4 kittens. Two were black and one white with grey stripes and one black and white(you know that was my favorite! hehe)
Teri brought them out to share with us. The kids fell in love. Those little kittens were so cute!
Here's two of them.
When we were ready to leave we had to say goodbye to Thorn. We were all a little bit sad, but we knew Thorn was so happy and it felt good knowing that we chose such a good home for him.
Jackson saying goodbye to sweet Thorn.
Jackson snuck a picture of me saying my goodbyes to Thorn, too. Thorn had just finished giving me a big wet kiss that's why I was laughing. Thorn's such a goofy sweet boy!
Post Script: Ok. I wasn't going to add this, but my heart tells me to be free and honest. I have nothing to hide.
A couple months ago, the person who had orginally had Thorn and gave him away (the one with 9 dogs and who had been pestering me about Thorn in person and through e-mails) one Autumn day contacted me and told me that she had been told by someone in her unschooling group that I had put Thorn to death because we didn't want him anymore.
I was so shocked and hurt that I could have been accused of killing any healthy animal, especially a dog as special as our Thorn is to us. I was angry and bitter for a long time and I cried that some people could be so mean-spirited and cruel to accuse someone else of such an horrible act.
The worst is that some people would think so little of me that they'd believe I was capable of such an awful thing.
Certain individuals are cruel, gossiping know-it-alls who like to stir up trouble. They were obviously never our friends to begin with, and if that's the way they treated my family, it'll only be a short time before they do that to their other so-called 'friends'.
Either way, I want to say one thing, "Shame on you, who made up stories and believed the worst. You all never bothered to know the truth. Lies were more sensational and fun to create and believe in. Shame on you."
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