God is soooo good! The past 3 weeks have turned somewhat frustrating with all that needs to be done over on our new property. We had opted to have a metal barn built so as to be able to store the tractor and other stuff over there instead of taking it back and forth as needed. Having signed the contract for one, that company then ignored calls and messages when I needed their license number and type for the building permit causing us to basically grind to a halt on our plans (and worrying that our deposit was just going to disappear into thin air). Well, Cindy, the lovely lady at the place we ordered it at on Clemson Boulevard, stepped in and cancelled that order and got us the same deal with a better company who uses all-American steel to do the build, and so, today, we went over to sign the contract on that one.
We were already planning on looking for the nursing mama dog that I'd seen before, heading into the woods, up the road from us. We'd sat by the tract entrance where I'd seen her go in, and had left food, a few days ago when we'd last gone over. Today, my plan was to do the same again, and set up a spot on our property to attempt (over time) to coax her to, in the hope of trapping her and her puppies, and eventually getting them all vetted and adopted through one of the rescues. To that end, we'd taken over one of our dog beds, to put in the one wood shed that's over there, and were going to begin getting it cosy, for when we managed to catch her.
So, today, we had grabbed lunch from Arnold's and were going to sit down by our creek and eat before heading to Cindy. Lo and behold, as we're eating, out of the corner of my eye I see what looked like my Lightning and (yes, my brain sometimes is slow) I thought "what is Lightning doing running around?" before it dawnied on me that we hadn't brought our dogs with us. It was the little mama, same colour, sorta looks the same but smaller. Well, I put some of my fries outside my door and she gingerly came over, grabbed one and backed away, and repeated the action, with me talking to her the whole time. I took a chance and opened my car door but stayed still, and she continued grabbing fries while I talked to her. Hubby snuck out the passenger side and grabbed the bag of dog food we had for her, and went around and out some down for her in the take out container. She sniffed at him and backed away but continued to eat, only backing further away when he attempted to stroke her head. After she finished eating, she ran slowly away from us, and towards the sheds, where she then managed to disappear from view.
We put more food and water down, in the take out container, but decided to hit up the Dollar General after seeing Cindy, and getting better bowls and more food, which we then took back to our property, and Mark changed out the food and water, and we left the new bag of dog food there so that tomorrow, we can put more down for her.
It's as if she recognised my car from the time we'd sat by the wooded area up the road, when we'd left food, and when she saw us on our property she figured she'd take a chance. So, we're going back tomorrow, with cedar chips to put on the ground under the dog bed, and then also on it, and a blanket to go on the top as well. Since it's supposed to be bitter cold tomorrow night, I'm hoping she'll find it and get her puppies to it. We're going to use blocks to prop it open just enough for her to go in and out but hopefully shut out most of the wind and cold.
It's just lovely that she came to us, I'm hoping to build up trust with her and (although I'm hoping a rescue will work with me to get the puppies vetted and adopted) I'm thinking she will probably end up as ours eventually. She has a very submissive nervous posture, so I don't think she'll end up as anyone's lapdog and wanting petting all the while. She's not as timid nor anti-people as Mystery was, but I just think she'd be happier with us so that she can be who she wants to be.
I'm pretty certain God had a hand in that! From about 1/8 mile up the road, in the woods, to just coming over to us on our property. Yep, He def had His hands in it. Praying he helps mama find the savvy to bring her puppies to the shed so we can keep them all safe.
