Uncategorized – Zac And Layla

Zac & Layla and the Chickens – Warning: Complete Cuteness Overload! :P

This is how it all began 🙂

Then we decided to put some eggs into an incubator – et voila!
We had 6 chickens hatch <3

At first I wasn’t quite sure if Layla was interested in the chicks to secure her food or if she started to develop Momma instincts 😛

But after a while it became quite clear that she was ready to adopt them <3

In the beginning Zac didn’t want to have anything to do with those little creatures – but pretty quick he turned into a great uncle 🙂

He LOVES to babysit (for instance when I need to have the chicks out of the brooder in order to clean it) …

They both sit very excitedly in front of the bathroom door when they think it is time for some chick action 😉

This little guy got hurt and needed some extra care <3
You can barely see him – he is the yellow spot right under Layla’s curled up paw 🙂
Uncle Zac is right there in case he’s needed <3

More to follow 🙂

How Layla came to join us <3

Zac was a bit of an internet celebrity, so I setup a facebook page for him to keep his former foster parents, people of his rescue organization and everybody else who was interested in his story up to date 🙂

Sometime in summer of 2013 Layla’s foster Mom to be posted a picture of her on Zac’s facebook page with the comment:

“Layla says hi to Zac”

The picture shows Layla right after her surgery – they had to amputate her hind leg to save her life because it was badly infected.
In the beginning they weren’t even sure she was going to make it 🙁

Layla had been dropped off at the same shelter in Greece as Zac, with some kind of flesh eating disease in her back paw.
She also eventually found her way to a foster family in Germany …

My first response to this post was – “Hm … Interesting” 😉
But I was not looking for a second dog at that time …
Zac and I enjoyed our one on one time <3

So I kept Layla in my mind but did not closely follow her recovery and further development.
I don’t remember the details of my thought history but eventually I came to the conclusion that Zac needed a sibling to play with and that Layla should come stay with us – if they were able to find someone to bring her to Vancouver or Calgary – I could not afford traveling to Germany another time (that would have been the fourth trip to Europe in 2013!), and shipping Zac with a professional pet shipper would have been as expensive as my complete one week trip to pick him up myself, so not really an option either …

They indeed found someone who was flying to Vancouver and was willing to take Layla along 🙂
So Zac and I drove 10 hours to Vancouver to meet Layla around noon on Dec 3 of 2013 🙂

This is Layla right after her arrival at YVR – she was still rather skeptical:

And this was during the 10 hour ride home – her foster Mom had sent that stuffy with her for the flight <3

Zac was totally happy to meet his new sister at the airport – she was not impressed with his forward happy personality at first, but it actually didn’t take long for them to become best buddies <3

I took these pictures just a few days after Layla’s arrival 🙂

(Layla was wearing a vest of mine during the cold snaps of -20C / -4F, as she came more or less directly from Mediterranean Greece to these arctic temperatures, with only 2 weeks layover in cool Germany, she had no protective fur whatsoever … )

Layla’s foster Mom was a professional photographer, so she took some real nice pics of her that I would like to share with you – she looks rather ladylike in those – but by now she’s no lady no more – she rather rolls in mud and uses eau-de-horse-poop as her favorite scent 😛
So there weren’t and won’t be any more ladylike pics of my Layla girl since she came to live with me 😉

Even though I may not seem close to as excited as when Zac came to me – I’m super happy to have her in my life <3
Zac was my first dog ever – and I’ve always wanted a dog since I was three years old – and no – I won’t tell you how long ago that was 😛
I still feel like I have the world’s two best puppies in my house – they are the perfect fit for me <3

Zac – How It All Began <3

This is the first I ever saw of Zac – and it was love at first sight <3

In March 2013 his foster Mom had posted this picture of Zac on facebook accompanied by a text with roughly the following meaning:

“This is Zac, a handsome young male, almost a year old. After an accident he is three-legged but faster than any four-legged dog.
Active, funny, well behaved, lives in a mixed pack with a toddler, and is looking for his own home with loving, understanding and confident people.
Zac has no problem with his missing leg, and you shouldn’t either. Amazing and extraordinary dog is looking for active fun people.”

A friend of mine was sharing this post – that’s how I came across it – and I KNEW this was MY dog! <3
I am a certified riding instructor for people with handicaps, and even though I am not practicing at the moment I knew he would be the perfect inspiration for anybody with physical struggles – just from the picture I could sense what a happy and content dog he was! 🙂

The only problem: Zac was located in Germany at that time (he had been rescued from Greece and had made his way to Germany) – so my biggest concern was that they would not send him off to me to Canada without being able to inspect my home!

So I gave EVERYTHING, trying to explain why I NEEDED this dog, and telling them all about me, sent videos of me training my horses, offering unlimited references, etc. 😛
Then I was biting my nails for two days until I finally got a response – Zac was going to come live with me in Canada! YAY !!! :o))
Needless to say: I was ECSTATIC!

So about 2 weeks later I went to Germany to pick him up.
When I first met him I was a bit disappointed that he didn’t recognize me – I was the girl who had been thinking about him ENDLESSLY over the last 14 days !! – but of course he had no clue who I was 😛
He also was very hesitant getting into my rental – he didn’t think that was the right thing to do – but within 24 hours he clued in that I was his new Momma, and I could have him off leash and he would listen fairly well – as well as one can expect from a 10 months old pup 😉

Here are some pictures of our adventures in Germany before we took our flight home a week after I picked him up:

We immediately started our crate training to make sure he would be comfortable in it during his 10 hour flight …

He spent all his nights (about 6?) and enjoyed all his meals in his crate …

… and it worked like a charm :o)

This is at the airport on the morning of our flight, waiting at the check-in counter for the animal people to pick him up <3
Zac is the bestest puppy in the world! 🙂

But before we came home we actually did a little bit of sight-seeing in Germany – we were driving 2600 kms in 6 days before it was time to head to Frankfurt airport 😛
Zac was a GREAT traveler – the bestest puppy one could wish for! <3