Sadie's Story

 

It has been a year today since Sadie, Sadiekins, Sadie Pants, Sadie Girl and about a half a dozen other names she was known by left us for Rainbow Bridge. There is still a giant hole in my heart, that I do not think will ever be filled until I get to pick her up and hug her again on that fateful day when I get to see her at the Rainbow Bridge. 

It has taken some time to sit and write about it due to an out of state move with nine other animals all while renovating the house we were moving to. Along the way there have been many signs and synchronicities that let me know beyond a shadow of a doubt that our little Sadie Girl was indeed safe at Rainbow Bridge and peaceful. 

Many people have followed not only my music on social media but also my animals. I mean after all, how could you miss it? I am always plastering pics and videos of them all around. For anyone who is new or may have missed Sadie’s part in my life, I wanted to share her rescue story and how her life changed because of being rescued… this is her story.

It all started because I love animals. Even though I have plenty, and do not ever need any more, I just cannot seem to help myself when I hear of a furkid in dire straights. This is always the case, and in this instance, we need to go back to April of 2014 where Sadie’s rescue adventure all started. 

In April of 2014 the Mr. (who should be sainted many times over for not putting me in a garbage can for always bringing more animals into our lives) and I had four dogs. Pookie, Punkin, Bobo & Pepe. Life was pretty simple compared to now with the seven cats and three dogs in our current pack incarnation. A rescue that I followed on social media was sponsoring an adoption event nearby in New Jersey. It was an event mixed with arts, crafts, vendors and it being a Saturday afternoon with not much going on, we decided to go. 

We were walking around taking it all in, there were several rescues there that day. Each one had dogs that were up for adoption with them. Being the animal nut that I am, I was busy stopping to pet and talk to all of the dogs that we saw.  It was innocent enough, I stopped did our thing and we moved on. We checked out the crafts and bought a few things. We made some donations to different rescues, and were making our way to the exit when I saw her. 

She was with one of the last rescues we saw that day, there was a wire crate with a sad, depressed looking gray and white dog laying in the crate. She was facing the opposite direction. I bent down to talk to her, and she did not turn around. She was flat out, her little head on the crate floor almost like she had given up. I persisted. I tried to get her attention by talking in my best high pitched cutesy animal tone… she would not budge. Finally she turned around and looked at me, then turned back to the opposite direction. I again started talking to her, telling her she was a pretty girl, Hello, etc. Then all of the sudden she whipped her little body around with a happy face almost as if she was saying “Are you talking to ME”? I asked if she could come out of the crate so I could pet her… before I knew it she was out and her butt was wiggling so fast and her smile was so big it broke my heart. 

I knew that if I asked the Mr. if we could consider taking her, he would most definitely had me committed to an insane asylum. See, we had previously foster failed with Pepe, whom many followed for a long time and he was, well lets just say one of his nicknames was Pepe-laden (as in Bin Laden). He mellowed with his old age but when we rescued him with the intent to just foster but ended up adopting due his many quirks needing a very understanding home when he was ten from the NYC ACC having been horribly abuse it took much time, effort and adjusting to get him to feel safe, and fit into our little pack. So, I know that just two years after that, if I had asked my Mr. To get this little girl he would most understandably had said NO. 

I played with her for a bit and took her for a mini walk. I took her back to her crate, got the rescue’s information and set my mind on finding this little girl a home. I told her I would help her find a momma and daddy, and then said goodbye. 

On the way home I told my mom about her. If anyone wonders where I got my love of animals from, it comes from her. This is a woman who is outside in two feet of snow in a snow storm blowing off her back deck for her feral cats, which all have heated shelters, heated water bowls and she heats up their wet food in the winter. 

At the time she had two dogs and one cat inside. She said she would mention it to her work friend. Weeks went by and her friend was on the fence about Sadie. Then out of the blue one day, my mom asked me about her again. Had she been adopted yet, yada yada… I checked the rescue and she was still sitting in a crate in NJ waiting. So my mom blurted out, “I want her”. She then hatched a plot to get her, in which her my step dad would not have a chance to say no, and my husband was sworn to secrecy, and so we were onto the mission. 

Mom lived two and half hours away and was planning to visit for Memorial Day weekend. That Saturday, mom and I went off to do some “errands”. Errands meaning, mom and I drove the twenty some odd miles down to New Jersey where Sadie was, and mom adopted her. We then took her shopping for some necessities, and we came home to give her a much over due bath. 

We got home and my step dad and husband were cutting some trees down outside. We had Sadie down in the finished basement where we did grooming, and had set up a table in the garage to blow-dry her. My step dad walked by the garage window and could see us inside with Sadie. He says to my husband, “hey those two are in there with a new dog”…  My husband just smiled and acted surprised, and chalked it up to another episode of mom and I just completing another hair brained scheme. 

We took Sadie to the Vet the following day and the rest is history. She was mom’s dog at first. She always visited very often, mom at our house, us at mom’s house. She was referred to as “Cousin Sadie” for many years. When mom would go away for work, we would babysit her. She was one of the gang. However, when mom’s other two dogs passed something changed for little Sadie. The separation anxiety that she always had became extreme in nature. 

So when it was just her the only remaining dog at mom’s house, she was literally unable to be alone, ever. She would destroy crates or bags to get out. She would shake and tremble uncontrollably. She had every medical test known to man, and had tried most every anti anxiety medication and natural remedy. Nothing seemed to help. 

There was one exception, when she was at our house. For some reason when Sadie was around our dogs and in our care, she did not act this way. We attributed it to her maybe not wanting to without other dogs around. So after going back and forth a few times, staying for many months at a time, from 2020; she finally came to stay for good in January of 2022. 

 

She was approximately four to six years old when she was rescued. We have no idea when she was actually born, but by this time in January of 2022 at this time she would have been at the youngest twelve. Sadie had many medical issues that were always attended to. It was a lot of time, effort and care making sure that she felt safe and happy. I became her caretaker. Much more than just the regular taking care of an animal. There were multiple regular vet visits to manage her glaucoma, and eventually eye removal. She had liver disease and arthritis. I gave her tons of natural supplements to help her feel good. There was so much that went into making her feel safe and content, we literally arranged our entire days around her. We also had multiple Wholetones frequency music pet machines around the house. To help her and the other dogs feel safe. It was both challenging and rewarding to care for her. Many people do not understand the emotional awareness that animals have. There have been many studies done that show that they feel all of the same emotions that we do. They get happy, sad, they grieve, all just like we do. So when some people choose to abandon their pets, or not provide special care in their twilight years it really disturbs me. It is the exact time that they need their people the most. 

It is a balance. Caring for a senior pet, and knowing when it is time to let them cross to Rainbow Bridge, peacefully and with dignity. Many people think in innocence that they will just peacefully “go in their sleep”. Although as nice as that would be, it is most often times not the case. When pets are senior there are most often times medical issues, and when left to take their natural course, is not peaceful at all. If a pet passes this way, there is a good chance that the pet suffered. That is something that I could never live with. So in our family, we watch and monitor the pets quality of life. 

Can they still enjoy living. Do they eat food willingly, can they hold themselves up to do their business, do they stay with you, or are they starting to sleep alone? Away from humans or the pack? There are many signs that tell a human when it is time. Sadly, many ignore those signs or do not notice until it is way beyond comfort for the animal. It is hard, because I never want to say goodbye, ever. However, as a responsible pet owner, I have to put my own feelings and needs aside, and ask myself questions that are putting the animals needs above my own. When the answers indicate that the animal is just existing and living is more of a chore for them that an enjoyment, I know that it is time. 

Thankfully, we have an amazing caring Veterinarian who makes home visits. When crossed at home, the pet is comfortable knows the smells, can be in their own bed, and go peacefully surrounded by the familiar vs. a cold, sterile vet’s office. Naturally because I never want to say goodbye, I tend to make appointments for her to come and then cancel or postpone. Sadie’s time was no different. I made an appointment then cancelled. Due to cancelling, looming weather, and a big giant move to another state with our nine other pets, this caused us to have to bring Sadie to the Vet’s office, or it would not have been done before we moved. 

This was a very hard decision for me to make. As I was more than her caretaker, or her sister as my mom called me. She really became like a child to me. More-so than most all of my other pets. Mostly because she needed so much care. There is a bond that forms when caring for an elderly pet. Sadie was at this point losing the vision in her remaining eye, and was highly stressed in new locations. I am over simplifying for the sake of the story, but we did not want to put her through he stress of dismantling the home she knew and loved then going to a strange place. So off to the vet I went. Alone… 

The Mr. had been staying at the new house renovating since we closed a few months prior, and I was at home caring for the animals. I went back and forth in my mind and over and over should I do it, do I cancel again?… I consulted mom. She said no, do not cancel. 

So I asked our good friend Dave if he could meet me at the vet so I would not be alone. He was a trooper. He had never had to do this before and I was so appreciative that he was willing to come with me, and then to drive her to the Creamatory afterwards. She went in her little eyelash donut bed and was held, loved on, and sang to the entire time. 

When I returned home, by that time it was early evening, February 11th 2024. I was naturally very sad and wondering and questioning if I had made the right decision. We always have spa music or whole tones playing all over the house, there is literally music in every room. In our bedroom the television was on Pandora “Snatam Kaur” channel, which is a relaxing beautiful spiritual music channel. I was folding laundry in our room and not facing the TV. I was pretty familiar with most of the songs that would play. Suddenly I heard a beautiful song that I had never heard before. I turned to look at the TV, and this is what I saw… “And Now He Has Wings, The Water Poem” by Ram Dass. It is a collection from Ram Dass of gorgeous songs about the passing of his infant son. The photo was a man reaching to the sky, his hand touching the clouds and a little bird flying in the cloud. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that, that was Sadie giving me a sign, to let me know that she was indeed at Rainbow Bridge safe in the care our our Creator. 

Since that night, it has happened many many times, in fact it never really fails. I will be thinking of her, and bam the song comes on. I am about to start feeing the dogs, boom it comes on. I get in the car about to go somewhere and there she is on my car computer screen on Pandora, it is almost like whenever my heart starts to miss her, she stops by to tell me that she is OK and not to worry. I know they are signs from my Sadie Girl. 

I miss her so much. She had a beautiful life, she was dressed up in Halloween & Christmas Costumes, was spoiled beyond imagination and lived many happy years with us. But I miss her little trot, the way she smiled at me, her cute little bunny butt, seeing her sleeping happy and content in a puffy bed, there is not a day that goes by that I do not think of her, or all of the other furkids who are no longer with us and are now at Rainbow Bridge. My comfort rests in the knowing that I will see Sadie and all of my furkids again one day in heaven.  

The moral of the story is, don’t shop adopt. There are literally millions of little Sadie’s out there sitting in rescues or shelters just waiting to live out their second chance. Hug your furkids while you have them, their time here on earth is so brief. Remember our animals might be a part of our world, but to them, we are their entire world. 

Blessings, Love & Music ~ 

Ava xo

www.avaaston.com

Second Chance

With so much going on in my life between working on new music, acting and being a dog mom and cat mom to multiple beings, there has not been much time to tend to this blog. Like so many people life has been moving so fast, and we all have become accustomed to cramming way too many things into a day. That is until a few weeks ago. When all of us came to a sudden and screeching halt.

Suddenly instead of having no time, we all have too much time on our hands. What to do, what to do? Well, with so much uncertainty in the world today I think we could all use a little hope right about now.

So I thought it would be nice to share a story about second chances. (WARNING: LONG BLOG POST) Hey, but it's a true story and aren't all true stories long? Anyone that has followed this blog over the years knows lots of things about me, one of the most important is that I love animals. I can't say what I think should happen to stupid humans who hurt them because if I do someone will surely show up at my door to lock me up.

My social media has been flooded with pics and videos of my furkids both K9 and feline over the years, especially of my beloved Pepe. I have blogged about his story before when we first saved him from the NYCACC.

The short version is, he was on the euthanasia list because he was slapped with the label "New Hope Only". This is a title given to dogs who do not pass their shelter behavior evaluation for whatever reason. They must be pulled by a "New Hope" approved rescue in order to make it out of the shelter alive. In Pepe's case a rescue we have adopted from asked us to foster him. Not knowing his actual situation we agreed. We drove to the NYCACC and busted him out of the clink on October 3rd, 2012.  

 Had I known what would follow, I cannot honestly say that I would have agreed originally. He had so many problems. He had been abused and was a fear biter, he hid, he attacked our other dogs, didn't allow grooming, the list was long. However I made a decision early in that this dog, this little creature had clearly been failed by humans for his entire life (he was at least ten when we rescued him) that I was not going to be that person who let him down again. So after convincing the Mr. we made it official and adopted him.  

It was an eventful first few years to say the least, but finally he realized he was safe, that we were his people, and that he was finally safe. We showered him with everything he should have had all of his life. We took him on trips, hiking, carried him around in a bag, and as much as he didn't like it, even dressed him up for holidays like Halloween and Christmas. He went on car rides which he loved, he took selfies, had girlfriends at the vets office, he even learned to be friends with his new cat siblings. He was popular for sure, everywhere we went people would almost squeal with happiness asking "What is that, what kind of dog is that, OMG that face!", heck chewy.com even had his mug painted, not once but three times.


                   

Yes we loved that little dog to the moon and back. So much so that as his little body began to fail him at the ripe old age of what must have been at least eighteen I was not able to bear the thought of losing him. So I did everything humanly possible to keep him around a little longer.

I cooked him meals, gave him every supplement known to man, and took him for weekly shots of adaquan for his arthritis. There were steroid shots, Vitamin B12 shots, and even rimadyl. In the end it was dementia that finally caused me to make the decision to set him free to fly with the angels. I've lost dogs to rainbow bridge before but this one really gutted me. I was in a depression funk especially with all of the corona homebound lockdown going on.

                  

Here is where a little magic happened. An ending that turned into a second, second chance. Courtesy I believe of my little Pepe monkey and the man upstairs.

The following is a post I made to Facebook in a Tibetan Spaniel group I belong to. It's a space where we "Tibbie" lovers share pics, videos, love and support for the ancient breed of dog we all love so much. (See Post below)
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Tibbie friends. 💜Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement about setting my beloved Pepe monkey 🌈free to fly with the Angels this week. Your words really helped. I read every comment and they all touched my heart.

I apologize for this long post. I hope you all don’t judge me for this as I’m still judging myself. However Thursday when I woke up something happened and I couldn’t help but feel it was a gift 🎁 from my boy.

Most of you know Pepe had a very hard life before we rescued him from the euth. list at NYCACC. He was unadoptable, a terrible biter and had lots of issues. After years of love he finally realized he was safe and turned into a mush. With the occasional Hannibal 😉if you tried to do something he didn’t want you to like clean his ears or trim his Tibbie feet 🦶🙈🤣

Anyway I always said I wonder how he could have been had he not been abused and we could have had him from a baby. Well the universe, God, and my boy I feel heard me.

I woke up Thursday checked the notifications of facebook of my post from Wednesday about him. Still half asleep I saw a new post with a black Tibbie. Didn’t think anything of it just another person sharing their furbaby.

When I focused my eyes I saw he was being rehomed. I thought, huh... black Tibbie being rehomed. Odd. Then one of you tagged me, I looked at the post again and saw it was mentioned he was in NY. I thought hmmm that’s odd, two year old black Tibbie being rehomed in NY... so I texted the number. Called. Turns out he was like forty five minutes from me. Not in NYC, rather the Hudson Valley where we live.

I mentioned to my husband who was like “sure let’s go see him”. I almost fell over because he never wants to rescue dogs or cats, it’s always me. Lol

The woman was in hurry to rehome him. So we went Thursday night. Still in shock really as the loss of Pepe very numbing. ESP since he was pretty much hospice (blind/mobility) for more than a year.
I wanted to wait and think about it as we do have three other dogs, are watching my moms shitzu and three cats. As well as I’m grieving my Pepe. However if I didn’t decide right there she was going to give him to the next person who paid her the next day. Really.

Sparing you the details of what we discovered as it wasn’t quite as tidy a situation as her post laid out. My husband decided for me this time, he scooped him up and said "pay her let’s go".

He is decompressing in our finished basement as he is not neutered yet and with corona I can’t get it done til April 13th. 🙏🏻 Praying our governor reopens things soon!

He’s been a complete angel. Other than being starved for attention - having bunch of matts that I’m still cutting out - we all walked together and I think my Japanese Chin Yuki and him will be play buddies.

Here is where I need your help. He has no idea what his name is. They said it was Nimble. He does not answer to it.

So please don’t judge me for getting another Tibbie so soon. I never in a million years would I have guessed I’d have another this fast. He will never replace my Pepe. But his birthday is 2/3/18. My wedding anniversary is February third.

I can’t help but feel my boy knew of this boys plight and sent me to give him the life Pepe didn’t have (for the first part anyhow). Too many coincidences for it to just be chance.So I’ve taken the gift from my Pepe and will pass the love forward. My motto has always been - “rescue one until there is none.”
I need your help... he needs a name: he reminds me of a bear. Pepe had a monkey face. 🐵
This guy he reminds me of a bear. 🐻

           
Names.... now GO:
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I'll wrap this happy ending in a message. Please #dontshopadopt! There are millions of Pepe's out there waiting for a second chance. Contact the local shelter, now more than ever animals need help to make it out alive.

In the end something good will almost always come from something bad. Whether it's a shelter dog who seems to be turning life upside down, or a pandemic that has stopped what seems like the entire world.

Even though we might not see it at the time. Light will always overtake dark, and in the end love will alway win. So even though it might look dark right now, hold onto hope because all of us will soon experience a second chance. The sun will indeed shine again in all of our lives.

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava xo
www.avaaston.com

Safe and Sound

Just after the "Ava Aston" Doggie Rescue Ambulance picked up little "Scotty"

So I'm minding my own business Saturday afternoon running around with my very favorite person in the whole wide world. We were hungry and decided to stop to grab a quick lunch somewhere that would be fast. Since we didn't want "fast food" we decided to stop at a place that was a little off the beaten path, right next to a grocery store that has healthy made to order grub.

We walked up to the door when at the same time a man tied a little dog to a cigarette pole outside the entrance to the grocery store and the place where we were about to eat. It was less than 20 degrees outside, the dog was under ten pounds, not wearing a sweater or collar, and had a beat up old leash tied around it's neck. It was shivering uncontrollably and looked like it was suffering. My husband looked at the dog, looked at me and I could literally see the words in a bubble over his head "oh no here we go again." Being that this was not my first time to the rescue rodeo, of course I walked right up and started petting and talking to the little guy trying to see what was going on. My gut told me this was a very irresponsible dog owner, and that this dog was not safe with the man who had just tied him to the pole.

My husband sat down with the dog on the bench and the dog put his little paw on my husbands leg as if to say "please don't leave, help me". Then about 10 minutes later the guy comes strolling out with his $200 headphones on wearing Nike sneakers that cost upwards of $150. He proceeds to say "Oh you loving on him, you like him?... you want him? I gotta get rid of him - he cost me too much money. He broke a lava lamp and he's too much work." I tried and really wanted to have a rational conversation with the man but once he told me "cut his nuts off, no way I would never do that, take away his manhood - that is cruel" when I had asked him if the dog was neutered; meanwhile complaining the little dog was too "rambunctious" (which neutering would solve that issue he was complaining about calm him down - but that would be you know "cruel") I knew there was no rational conversation to be had. Best thing to do in my noggin, get the dog away from him, and to safety. The man literally gave him to us right there just like that. So even though we were visiting my mom out of town, have four dogs of our own that were visiting with us, and my mom has two dogs, making for a grand total of six dogs staying in her house already.... I scooped him up into my arms and away we went with little  Mr. Scottish Terrier/Dachshund mix.

Look at that little face... here he is after a bath,                           a good meal, and a warm bed.

Next thing, to text my mom a picture to make sure we didn't get lambasted when we walked in her house with a strange little doggie. The poor thing smelled like a giant cigarette, was dirty, starving, skinny as a rail and was so cold. I wrapped him in a blanket, then we got him a hamburger, a new red collar, matching step in harness and leash, some food and off to grandmothers house we went to give him a proper bath.

He met all the fur kids and well lets just say it was one great big fat muckery sandwich. None of our fur kids liked him. Probably the fact that he was not neutered and his constant humping might have had something to do with it. We were thinking to maybe keep him ourselves having lost a furbaby to congestive heart failure a few months back, but the fur kids not taking to him and in fact two of them trying to kill him made that an impossibility. We decided it would be best to re-home him to a safe loving forever home. So after a fun filled night of having him sleep in a crate, taking him out about a dozen times during the night to potty, several chaotic episodes including almost setting my moms power cord on fire when he dumped a can of soda onto it... a friend who runs a reputable rescue agreed to take little "Scotty" and make sure he gets a loving forever home, after he is fully vetted, gets all of his shots, and is neutered. They won't just let anyone adopt, they take applications, screen potential adopters, as well as do vet and home checks to ensure the adopters are going to be forever homes where the pet will be safe. Check em' out at HubbardsHounds.com

So after 24 hrs of muckery little "Scotty" is now safe and sound from a very unsafe situation. Who knows what kind of life that little guy might have had if we had not decided to go to lunch where we did that day. Turns out we never even ate there as we left as soon as the man said we could take him, and after all of that ended up eating "fast food" the very thing we were trying to avoid in the first place via Wendy's, and little "Scotty" had some too. Just before he went onto have his bath and organic, human grade fur dog food at grandmothers house of course.

The moral of the story... so many people just walk on by when they see something that seems a little off. They think in their mind things like: I'm too busy, it's not my problem, someone else will do something. You know what?... Sometimes that "someone else" is YOU. Don't ignore your gut and that little voice telling you to do something. You might just be the answer to someones prayer. I know we did the right thing that day by helping that little doggie. Yes it was time out of our plans, yes we spent money to buy him things and donate to the rescue who would pay for his vetting, but it was well worth it to change that little dogs life around. Think you can't afford to help like we did? Think again... even if he were taken directly to a local shelter (which would have been free), he would have still been a million times better off then with a man who would make an approximately six month old dog walk in freezing cold weather malnourished with no protection from the elements and then tie him unattended to a pole.

Yes we are dog savvy and knew things to look for and do before ever exposing him to our own pets for safety reasons, as well as de-worming him in case he had any worms, not allowing our dogs to be in contact with his poo, and all that stuff. At the very least even someone who isn't "dog savvy" can help a pet in peril by simply reporting the abuse or abandonment to the proper authorities, or just take it and instead take the pet to a shelter or rescue.

So many people think of pets as dispensable, or even worse as a cash cow, pets are not for making money. They are God's little creatures and we were given charge over them to care for them. Not to make a living from by backyard breeding the heck out of them. For the life of me I can't understand why people do not spay/neuter. There is just no excuse, low cost options are available almost everywhere. Not giving shots and flea/tick prevention is inexcusable as well. Almost every chain pet store holds low cost shot clinics monthly all over the country. If you can't afford to keep a pet up to date on shots and properly protected from fleas, ticks and heart worm, then you shouldn't have a pet.

I'm not for "more regulations" but there is a very simple solution to the epidemic animal abuse and overpopulation. Stop selling dogs/cats in pet stores, period! Stop breeding for profit, pets are not money making machines. For anyone who wants to show dogs and breed for betterment of the breed, showing, etc. they can take a test like a Dr. and get a "license" and pay a high yearly fee. This will keep out the people who overbreed for money, puppy mills and the "backyard or kitchen breeders".  Unless someone is dedicated to betterment of the breed and trying to get to the Westminster Dog show then they have no business breeding their dogs.

Animal shelters and rescues are beyond full. People do unthinkable things to animals daily, abuse, dumping senior pets at high kill shelters when they are done with them for a new puppy, dog fighting, leaving out in elements, etc. Every day thousands of pets are put to sleep in shelters all over the country simply because there are not enough people to adopt them all and too many ignorant people are still out there breeding making more. I'm beyond disgusted with how little regard people in our world give to Gods creatures.

BTW who gives a flying flip about what "breed" a dog is?... All dogs are beautiful! ~ Don't shop Adopt! ~ It's Super easy... just go to petfinder.com

OK stepping down off of my soapbox for now, I'm so happy that little "Scotty" has a new leash on life and it is my prayer that one day all animals will be safe, sound and loved.

Here is little "Scotty" at Hubbard's Hounds Rescue          meeting some new friends.

Blessings, Love & Music  ~
Ava xo
www.avaaston.com