Wolfsong Sanctuary

[retiredhappy]

Did a great post this AM and lost it after trying several times to post pictures from Photobucket. Am going to do the post and then try to add pictures in an edit.

Beth and Sparkle got here Monday and we met up with Dede who drove us to the Sanctuary. Beth and Sparkle met a couple of solo women at City of Rocks Park who also joined us. Hopefully they'll be our new forum members pretty soon.

The drive to the sanctuary is up a dirt road and then up a creek bed which is why she took us in her 4-wheel drive. When you arrive there is a group of rescued dogs who greet you at the gate. Dede has several large fenced areas which separate the different packs. The majority are wolf mixes - where some idiots have bred pure wolves to German Shepards, Malmutes,, etc. These mixes DO NOT make good pets - they are wild animals and need their packs rather than living inside a house. Many have been badly mistreated. Dede tames them enough so she can get close enough to treat them if they need it but they are allowed to live in natural packs with an alpha pair. She neuters the females but not the males. They make better pack leaders if the male isn't neutered. She never breeds them or sells them. Once she has them they are there for life.

You can go inside one of the areas and they come right up to you - helps that they're used to getting treats from people. You haven't lived until you've looked a wolf directly in the eyes - so much intelligence. So much for the "Big Bad Wolf" theory. Their normal behavior is to stay away from humans.

Dede also has some birds, a couple of very old horses and many rescued dogs, some of whom are up for adoption. Right now she is nursing a packrat which currently lives in a cage with her cockatiel. I don't think there is any wild critter that she hasn't nursed back to health at some point in her life. She is quite a woman - somewhere near 70 and all alone up there in the woods with caring for all her critters. There are times in the winter when she can't even get out. I admire her stamina and love for all God's creatures.

When I got home both my dogs sniffed every available inch of me and Sassy gave me a dirty look, as much as saying "You've been unfaithful."

After we got back, the three of us sat around my rig and finished off a bottle of Mimosas or "MYmosas" as Sparkle says.

[WickedLady]

Sounds like a great place to visit. Maybe some day I will make it there. Dede must be quite the woman (my kind of person).
Hope you can post some pix.
Marda

[retiredhappy]

Just wanted to bring this forward to go with the pictures in another post.