It was June 30th of last year when Cookie came to us, her "forever family". If you haven't read Cookie's amazing story, check it out here... She was rescued from an abandoned house that was on fire (she was tied up inside- our guess is she was the pet of squatters). She was presumed dead, but then they realized she was alive. The following day, she lost all of the fur on her back as a result of third degree burns.
That was December of 2010. Cookie received amazing care form the College Park Animal Hospital, and then hyperbaric therapy at South Paws Veterinary Hospital. She lived at South Paws for over a month. We got to visit over Spring Break, and the staff was amazing. Cookie seemed at home, and it was amazing to meet people who put so much into making her better.
The last link in the chain of Cookie's recovery was Dawg Rescue and her foster family. Cookie's healing was far from over when she went to live with Kathy and her family. You can see from the video below (taken in March 2011) how well she did in her foster home.
When I came across Cookie's story, I knew she was the dog for us. Who better to adopt her than a firefighter and a nurse practitioner. The loss of our beloved dogs Spanner and Spridel was still fresh, but I realized we were destined to have another dog.
A year later, Cookie is right where she belongs. She is a crazy combination of hunter and herder, of high energy and relaxed cuddling... She is awesome. A great running buddy, a companion for all of this, and a wrestling buddy for Tommy. We think she is 2 1/2 years old, and she is still definitely a puppy. People do a double take when they get close to her. Initially they think she has unusual coloring and then they realize she is missing fur. Our hope is that as she matures Tommy can take her to the annual burn camp for children who have sustained burns. She would be perfect for the job.
Some fun pictures from Cookie's first year:
She blends right in!
Visiting South Paws
Her first week with us!
Winter running with Mom
Who couldn't love this pup?!?!?!
Cookie and Dylan making sure there are no "intruders" (squirrels and rabbits) in the back yard.
Even I am not ok with her laying in my spot!
Last week, getting back to running.
Shhhh...don't tell Daddy.
For a dog who needs sunscreen or a shirt outside, she finds every spot of sunshine!
"Helping" Mom do sit-ups
Running with Mom...the Fuel Belt doubles as a great leash holder.
Running around the lake behind our house.
Cookie helping Dylan drive Aerial Tower 23 at Tommy's firehouse.
Cookie and Cooper
Keeping cool.
Cookie meeting her cousins, the horses.
The "indestructible" dog toy, 5 minutes after giving it to her.
Many thanks again to all those who made it possible for us to have this truly amazing pup (and to Tommy, who gave into my begging and agreed to adopt Cookie...I think he is happy with the decision).
So I've been a slacker on blogging lately. The last weekend in June was set to be a big one. We had a BBQ planned with Tommy's coworkers and some friends, and my friend and teammate Laura was coming into town to hang out and to do some work.
Friday night, Tommy headed out to do some computer work (which could only be done when said office was empty), and Laura and I watched "Mirror, Mirror" with the kids. Laura got an email that the Rev3 staff could use help packing the trucks for the Revolution 3 Triathlon in Portland. We decided to bag our plans for a ride with teammates Alyssa and Maggie and head to Virginia in the morning to help. (If you haven't been to a Rev3 race, the staff is awesome. Any chance to help support people who are like family, and super fun to hang out with, is a great opportunity).
Not only did Laura drive from Connecticut, but she helped make dinner and inspired a nice healthy veggie dinner. Yeah! She also brought Leo, who Cookie harassed until he finally (begrudgingly) played with her.
Friday at about 8pm my work pager and cell phone started beeping like crazy with weather alerts. A big thunderstorm was coming. Ok- it is June so summer storms are not unexpected. We didn't know that this would be a storm that would knock power out for over 2 million people in the DC area alone. There were several deaths, and trees down everywhere! Hospitals were on generator power for long periods of time. Thankfully our house is on the nearby hospital's power grid and we had it back within 3 hours.
Did I mention that the kids slept through the entire thing?
Meanwhile, Laura, Cookie, and I hung out on the couch in the dark. (I found out later that though freak circumstances Tommy was locked outside for the entire, very frightening storm. Yikes!)
Saturday morning, Laura and I got up early to head down to Virginia. Trees down all around the area made the trip interesting.
(This is me turning around...notice the wires down on the side of the road!)
So finally we arrived in VA to hang with the awesome Rev3 crew...
Lenny and Amanda working the screen printer (I helped fold).
Amanda will probably hate me for this picture...it was hot in there!
The Rev3 Fleet!
Ashley checking out old merchandise.
Alex, the Master of Merchandise, and Lenny loading stuff for the expo store.
Ashley
Alex, the Master of Merchandise
Laura and I in the truck waiting for another load.
The end result!
So we helped load the trucks, and since we had power went ahead with our BBQ. It was great to see everyone (and whether they wanted to see us or not, we had power). The evening took a twist when Tommy had to leave to check on his Grandmother. She was fine, but had no power and ending up having a sleepover at our house. The more the merrier!
I'm happy to say everyone got power back after the storm, but there are still trees down everywhere. This is the view on my run:
Happy training and racing to everyone. Be safe out there!
