Peace and Glory arrives at Czar of the Woods Farm

Peace and glory arrives at Czar of the Woods Farm.  Have you ever been blindsided by love at a time when you least expected it?  Has that person or animal ever filled a hole in your heart where you didn't even realize there was one?  It usually happens when you are going along in life thinking that things are complete and perfect, at least for now, and along comes someone or some animal that finds you, more than you find them.  Paths cross for a reason and maybe you push those feelings away, trying hard not to believe them or maybe not wanting to upset the balance that is your routine as you have known it.  The more you get to know them the more you realize that they are perfect and it would be silly for you not to jump off the cliff and give it a try knowing full well that if you didn't you would kick yourself.  Probably forever.  Insert Mirka, pronounced Meerka and meaning peace and glory in polish, (into our lives and hearts).  Mirka, a dog, came in as a stray to the hospital (brought in by a good samaritan that found her) and after doing my due diligence trying to find her owner and having no success she is now at her new forever home, czar of the woods farm.  Mirka is full of love, has not a mean bone in her body and wants nothing more than to be part of the family-other animals included.  If these are her wishes then she has won the lottery in finding us.  I am shocked that no one was looking for her.  Their loss, our gain.  For the 5 days that she was at the hospital, you have no idea how hard i tried not to fall in love with her.  As we bonded, and bonded, and bonded some more (even napping on top of me during my lunch hour last thursday) she decided that she would have nothing of the sort and used all the love that she had to seal the deal.  I may have been the last person at work to accept that she was coming home with me. 

Not wanting to upset the balance at home with our current animals we decided that we would at least try things out with her for the weekend to see how they all accepted her.  She was going to be fostered until we said otherwise.  Mind you, Sarah hadn't even met her at this point yet was already in love with her.  I only told her about her a couple days before while I sat in my truck getting ready to pump gas.  Sarah, being the great wife that she is, and animal lover, at this point, already opened her heart and told me to bring her home site unseen.  She has that much love to give (and trust that I know a good animal when I meet one I suppose).

  

The bottom line was that Traveler, who is now 10, needed to accept her.  If it wasn't going to work out with him it wasn't going to work out with us, no matter how much we loved her.  We couldn't do that to him at this point in his life.

Surprise number one: Traveler loves her!  He first met her at work for a meet and greet.  accepting if not somewhat indifferent towards her.  Excellent.  Once we brought her home he took her as his buddy.  He really has taken a shine to her-they are buddies.  They go for walks together; Mirka wanting to be right next to her big brother.  He lets her play with his toys and he is very possessive of his toys-especially the stuffed ones.  I have seen him greet her with kisses on the mouth which is a dog message of acceptance and greeting that dates back as long as wolves have been around.  He is not jealous when she smothers us with kisses and lets her bound around the house in her ~year and a half full of energy body.  She is just the right temperament for him.  She is very well behaved and allows Traveler to be the boss and lets him relax (sidenote: sorry Nala, who was a pitbull that lived with us for a bit in 2003 but drove Traveler nuts because she wanted to play play play and he wanted to relax relax relax.  She has lived happily with Sarah's parents ever since) 

Traveler-check!

  

Test number two: she does not want to eat the cats (any dog that may have never met one might want to).  Initially she was afraid of some of them, indifferent towards some and interested in the rest.  Mirka knows that command "leave it" and if she tries to play to hard with the cats, a simple "leave it" does the trick.  The cats are quickly realizing that she is not there to eat them. 

Cats-check!

I really didn't know if I could deal with a change in routine either.  Walking 2 dogs in the morning in addition to barn chores...but you know what, it has been fine.  I give all the credit to Mirka.  It is amazing how a dog that a little over a week ago we didn't even know has now figured out our routine to the point where it feels as though she has been there for years.  They are amazing animals indeed.

Routine-check!

  

Parents-this one is short...they met her and loved her immediately.  Bought her a winter coat the next day.  You can see how Mirka is a spreader of love and smiles, bringing light to everyone she meets.

Parents-check!

I brought her over to my parents house for her to meet my Gram, whom if you didn't already know, is Traveler's best friend.  He comes first in her world.  Mirka was on her best behavior exploring the house first and then spreading her love there as well.  My Gram quietly watched to see how Traveler tolerated her and I think she was surprised at just how much he did.  She didn't say much but i could tell she was opening her heart to another polish "stara baba," even though mirka is a young lady!

Gram-check!

On the ride home from my parents house she curled up in a little ball on the front seat; sound asleep, Traveler in back.  She only awoke when I pulled in our driveway and shut the truck off.  She woke up from that deep sleep and seemed happy, if not still a bit surprised, to be home.  This warmed my heart.

At this point you are probably wondering what kind of dog she is.  Wait for it.  Mirka is a pitbull.  "OH THE HORROR!"  Right?  Isn't she going to eat all the kids in the neighborhood, us, the animals, fight to the death and kill, kill, kill?  Don't you have to feed her a steady diet of babies?  NO.  period.  For all of you that were enjoying the story up to this point and turned "breedist" on me and now have backed off a bit it is now my turn to educate you.  It was no accident to wait until much later in the story to reveal Mirka's breed.  I wanted you to fall in love with a nice dog rather than be mentally blocked by her breed.  Pitbulls get a bad rap because on the news you only ever hear about the bad one's that do bad things.  Any breed that is raised in a bad environment has the potential to do very bad things, that's right any breed.  Even your favorite breed.  With any breed of dog that has a few bad seeds it is a product of irresponsible ownership, bad breeding and ignorance.  This is especially true with pitbulls because they often live in bad environments, are around bad people and as a result can be bad dogs.  These are the exceptions i promise you that.  Pit bulls, by nature, are loving family dogs, that love people, kids, most other dogs and always seem to be bursting at the seams with love and those "clam face" smiles.  They are happy to be alive, happy to be loved and share life with you.  All the while making your life better.  They want to play, cuddle and sleep.  I know plenty of people that own them and they all would agree.  

Introducing Mirka (again pronounced meerka): she has brought us peace and glory...and I will add happiness to that.  Welcome home Mirka!

us-check!!!

ps-this morning before I left for work Sarah was in the bed with Traveler on one side and Mirka on the other.  A Sarah sandwich with dog bread if you will!  I hope Sarah left for work eventually...I wouldn't blame her if she didn't! :)
pss-thank you to our friend Erin for finding the name!


Mirka tries on her new sweater!

 Babooshka on Pani Mirka!

 Sarah and Mirka napping...this is one of Mirka's favorite things and she is somewhat of a blanket herself.

Traveler and his new little sister, Mirka.

Traveler catches a snowball while Mirka romps around in the snow.