Celeste

On July 17^th, someone abandoned Celeste at the door of a vet clinic.  The 8-week-old Golden pup was sick with ringworms & roundworms & tapeworms & a urinary tract infection.  She sat quietly at the bottom of a cardboard box, until the morning crew discovered her, frightened and alone.  Pam the vet tech took charge of the 9# puppy.  She called Rescue, and she arranged for the medications which would make Celeste healthy again.

August 2^nd…Celeste is in her crate, awakened from her nap by my husband munching corn chips, in the middle of the kitchen.  Six old Golden Retrievers surround him, hoping he’ll give them each two chips, not just one.  Celeste glances between the Oldsters and Gary, wondering what’s so exciting.  When Gary hands Miss Celeste her chip through the wire of the crate, she delicately accepts it in her mouth.  Then she drops it to the crate floor & whaps it with her paw, not sure whether to eat it or to play with it.

These days, Celeste is healthy and thriving.  Two weeks in foster care have given her body time to heal, and her mind time to grow and learn.  Celeste is proving to be a WONDERFUL little girlie.

Celeste is a rowdy girl, yet a cuddler.  When she wakes up from her afternoon nap, she is ready to run through the yard, rounding the crepe myrtle, flashing past the Live Oak then veering between mounds of boxwood…Puppy Frenzy!  She zooms as fast as her little legs can carry her.  Minutes later, she slows to pick up a forgotten dog toy, and then companionably plops on her tummy next to me, for a relaxed chew.

It was Gary who taught Celeste how to retrieve.  One five minute session, and the puppy had the concept…smart as a whip.  At age 9 weeks, Celeste retrieved her tennis ball 19 consecutive times.  Yesterday, on her 10 week birthday, Celeste retrieved 20 tennis balls with finesse…she automatically understood how to bring the ball back to me & then sit.  Not all days are as stellar, I admit.  This morning at 6:30, I tried to entice Celeste to practice.  She brought me four balls and then sauntered off to chase a flying bug.

Celeste loves her crate and thinks of it as her bedroom.  She has decorated it with a tennis ball, two sterilized bones, a gigantic rope toy, a Porky Pig squeak toy, and a cuddly towel.  She is annoyed when I put her in the backyard every morning, so I can “clean her room.”  She complains loudly if I take too long, “I want to be with you.”

Zippy puppy, polite young lady, shoestring puller, torturer of potted plants, tennis ball retriever, flaming extrovert, nap-taker extraordinaire…that’s Celeste. 

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