A very old stray {The Old Fella Story}

[Dixie_Flyer]

Went camping this weekend at a campground on the lake, had not been there for a few years. Once there I began to walk around looking at the different sites when I noticed a very old dog. He just lay there until I got too close then he got up on three legs and hobbled away. Just judging I would say he is at least 11 years old. Well back to my story. The next afternoon he wanders into camp and just sits there looking. He looked so sad, so the wife got a bowl of our dog's food and put it down for him and he came over and ate. He then walked over to our dog and the two of them sniffed each other over and then they lay down together for the rest of the afternoon. That night he disappeared.
The next morning he was back and was a little more receptive of me. I looked at his injured leg and found that half of his rear foot was gone. It had healed and was not causing any problem except that he was walking on the stub that was left with no foot pad which causes him to limp. His front teeth were gone except for one canine tooth and it looked decayed. His eyes were tired looking and showing his age. He spent the rest of the day just laying around looking for a handout and by afternoon the campground host came around and saw him. I enquired about the dog and was told he had been there for three years and that most of the campers were tolerant of him and gave him food.
So what to do? Do you pick him up and bring him home or do you let nature take it course. He can't harm anyone, he has no teeth and he isn't a nuisance unless you don't like dogs, and no one seems to mind him being there. He is gentle and likes other animals as seen by his interaction with our dog. He still would not let me touch him but he would eat from my hand. Enough said, what would you do???

On June 28th 2008 Old Fella passed away of complications caused by bone cancer. Fella spent almost three years with his new family and became the icon of rescued old stray dogs. He will be greatly missed but his foot prints have been left in our hearts forever.

Now Charlie, the ten year old rescued Golden Lab has come to be a part of the continuing Old Fella story. (*Note, Charlie took his journey to Rainbow Bridge unexpectedly September 30, 2008)Suzie continues to charm her way into our hearts with her antics as she has grown from a puppy into a young lady. Togther they will carry on the Old Fella legacy. Come join us in their daily lives and be a part of the best feel good thread in RV.NET history. The legacy lives on.


HIghways Article Puppy Love

Old Fella Burke County Animal Rescue

[Code2High]

Sounds like a plan, Stan.

[Dixie_Flyer]

Code2High wrote:
Richard, winter hasn't even STARTED yet. You need to get that rv winterized and tucked in so you don't have to mess with it for the next four months.

We have a trip planned to Hunting Island December 27th and when we get back from there I will winterize the camper.

[Code2High]

Richard, winter hasn't even STARTED yet. You need to get that rv winterized and tucked in so you don't have to mess with it for the next four months.

[Dashonthedash]

Welcome to the Foothills, Richard! Didn't you know that temperature decreases with increasing altitude, as well as with increasing latitude? Truth to tell, though, the South Carolina foothills are getting what the Colorado foothills should be getting, and haven't as yet. Mornings have been cold, but it's been a dry cold :B.

By the way, Richard, could you please PM me your new address in Piedmont? Thanks.

Never mind, I found it :B. Have a great weekend, and stay warm.

Gary

[Hoops]

Welcome to the reality of living further north, Richard. While the cold is not fun, the north does bring some beautiful moments.

[dogdiva]

Gosh Richard, face it YOU ARE UP NORTH,,,,,If the winter storms cause power loss, you might be glad you have your camper in the yard!!!!! Southern boys have to bundle up lol...I am sure Jan and fEB AND POSSIBLE March will be pretty cold there...

[Dixie_Flyer]

I looked in the back yard this morning and I saw something strange, it was the statue of a blonde colored dog that looked just like Mama. I looked again and there was another statue, it looked just like Suzie and then there were two more that looked like Hobo and Peaches. I couldn't imagine how they got there, so I went out to investigate and found my lovely animals had frozen in place as they stood in the back yard.

I yelled for Sue to come help get them inside to see if they could be thawed out, it was then I woke from my dream and realized they were all safe in their beds. Folks I am getting tired of the unrelenting cold weather. Yesterday I put three electric heaters in the camper, two in the living area and one in the front cargo hole and one inside the underbelly where all the plumbing is located. This morning the temperature in the underbelly was 39.4, the cargo hole was 48.3 and the inside was 55. Meanwhile the meter is turning like a wind measuring gauge in a tornado chewing up dollars and cents. Sue is going to kill me when we get the power bill. Looking back it would have been better to have the camper winterized and put up for the winter. Back in Burke County, Georgia we camped year round and never experienced anything like this. We have a trip planned to Hunting Island December 27th and when we get back I am going to winterize the camper and put it up until April.

Meanwhile we have to endure the cold and snow predicted next week with high’s in the 30’s and low’s in the teen’s. It is supposed to warm up by the end of next week, back to weather I am used too with high’s in the 50’s and low’s in the lower 40’s, I wonder how long that will last? Mama and the fur gang are all doing well wanting to go for their morning walk, so let me go and get ready with all my layers of garments that I to put on to stay warm, I don’t want any cold air touching my skin, can you tell I am a Southern boy that hates the cold?

[Dashonthedash]

From everything I have read on this and other forums, you should not use the tank heaters if your tanks are empty. If you really need the heaters, and are not going to use the fresh water tank, close the gray valve and place a little water/anti-freeze mix in the tanks.

[campingshadow]

Quick question on all this cold weather and RV's. I live in mine full time and it has tank heaters. I have never used them, but this weekend it is supposed to get down to 23. I have no water in the fresh water tank or the gray water tank and that valve is left open all the time. However, there are contents in the black tank. If I turn on the tank heaters, will there be a problem heating empty tanks?

It usually does not get below about 30 here and so far there has not been an issue.......but at what point are the tank heaters needed?

[Dixie_Flyer]

I now have three, yes three electric heaters inside the cmaper. Two are in the living and bedroom area and one is in the underbelly, cargo area. Sunday night and Monday morning the forecast is for snow and cold weather.

[ljr]

Dixie Flyer wrote:
I went to Wall-Mart and bought RV antifreeze and put some in the black tank, the others I know are empty. I have heat inside the camper so I am not worried about that. Starting Sunday we will be going down hill with the weather and by Monday morning we will have snow and a high of 28* with a low of 18*. Tuesday the high will be 34* and the low 25*. Sue and I will be moving to Florida after Christmas!

Speaking as somebody from where what you are experiencing would be considered a warm spell, in places where toxicity doesn't matter, windshield washer fluid works just as well and its cheaper.

[Martyn]

Dixie Flyer wrote:
This is the first time I noticed our fish pond is frozen over. The fish will be wanting winter jackets if this keeps up...

Welcome to the World of Winter! I have heaters in the horses' water troughs, otherwise they would be frozen every day! :B

[Dixie_Flyer]

This is the first time I noticed our fish pond is frozen over. The fish will be wanting winter jackets if this keeps up...

[Dixie_Flyer]

It was somewhat warmer this morning at 18*, but by my standards this is not Deep South weather. It doesn't take long for the fur gang to take care of business each morning and stand at the back door wanting to come inside. Sue and I got the Christmas tree decorated yesterday and last night all of the lights went out except for one string of red lights at the bottom of the tree. I got lucky with the first try and found the problem and all the lights came back on. Why doesn't someone make a string of lights that when one bulb goes out it doesn't effect the others?

Peaches is hobbling around on three legs again, maybe the joint Strong is loosing it's effect. I doubled the dose this morning to see if that helps, if not, then maybe she will have to go on the Metacam along with Mama.

Today I am going Christmas shopping and finish that part of Christmas, Robin and Scott will be coming Saturday from Augusta to spend the day with us. This will be their first visit with us since we moved. I talked with a very good friend last night that has been a part of my life for over forty years, Lt. Thad Calhoun. Thad was a Richmond County deputy for many years and I spent many a night riding with him keeping him company on some of those long shifts.

When Bill Anderson was Sheriff of Richmond County I became good friends with a lot of the guys who worked under him and experienced a lot of things most folks never see, that's another story. I will never forget the night Thad was working a wreck on Gordon Highway in Augusta when a mother of one of the accident victims showed up. She immediately began demanding her daughter be released into her custody; it seems she had a little too much to drink. Thad warned her she was hindering the work of the officers and she should go home. She insisted on yelling at Thad until he turned to her and said, “Lady, if you don’t step aside and mind your manners I am going to take you to jail.” To which she replied, “Yea! You and who else?” Needless to say she was handcuffed, put in a patrol car and taken to jail.

Then there was the time officer Buster Smith gave chase to a bank robber suspect with a drunk in the back seat of the patrol car. Buster rolled the patrol car banging up the guy in the back seat. When the sheriff got to the jail he asked Buster if he was okay and then asked about the guy who was in the patrol car with him. When the Sheriff found out the guy was in lockup and had not been taken to the hospital and checked over he had a fit. He ordered Buster to take the guy to the hospital emergency room, get him a clean bill of health, go out and buy him a steak dinner and then take him home and tuck him into bed.

Okay, that’s enough for this morning, talk with you later.

[dogdiva]

Dan
Nice pics Sarah and Anna sure look content