the pup

Our dog, Sakina, is back to her Texas roots. She was born here and shipped up to Colorado (where I got her) when they found her and her litter mates in a basement in Texas along with many other dogs being trained to fight. She hadn't had her tail cut or ears clipped yet, so the people at the shelter I got her from thought she was not "fight worthy".  She was by far, the runt of her litter. When I got her she was a few months old and they thought she would maybe reach 30 pounds, while the others would be about 40.  She was very underweight and scrawny. She is still very calm (that's what her name means in Swahili - calm and tranquil), but she is far past her 30 pound guesstimate... She is about 110 pounds, sometimes a little more.  And we love every inch of our tall blonde babe.  We found out much later that Sakina is a Kangal mix. Look it up, that's a BIG dog. Thank heavens she is mixed with something smaller.  She is the world's greatest dog. Here she is enjoying a cool-ish morning in her new backyard.

Back in Texas for the first time since she was rescued almost 10 years ago.  10 years is fairly old for a big dog, and we are starting to see her slow down.  Her fur is getting whiter around her face and she is stiff when she gets up.  She is still in really good overall health, but I know her days may be limited... The boys have a pretty good idea of what will happen, but I'm not too sure I can be the mom of grieving kids. They love their pup SO much.  Perhaps we are majorly jumping the gun talking about it this soon, but it's a fact of life. Dogs die. Even ones as perfect as Sakina.  Hopefully it will be a loooong time from now.