Our Best Friend – Lighting Up Our Days

This is the first time in our life where we only have one dog.  At least in our life as a married couple and family and we have been married 26 years.  Xena Lee is a Lansier Newfoundland though she absolutely does not have the personality of a Newfie.  She is small – must have been the runt of the litter and has more of a Springer Spaniel type of personality.  She is crazy, spontaneous and fun – but she is also overly protective of her humans.  She has no desire to share her humans with any other person or any other animal.

We purchased Xena by searching for a breeder online.  We really did think we were doing all that we could do to make sure we weren’t falling for some scammer or some sort of puppy mill situation.  My husband searched high and low for months.  Then he found Xena – I think it was in Missouri.  After constant back and forth with the breeder we signed a contract, arranged to have her flown here and waited anxiously.

Xena was not at all what we anticipated.  She was not 8 weeks old – she was 12-15 weeks old.  We still don’t know her exact date of birth.  Different documents have different dates.  We had already made an appointment with a local vet in Maine (we were on vacation when she arrived) to see her within 24 hours of her arrival.

When she arrived she was a basket case.  She couldn’t stop shaking and was out of control nerved up.  That could have been attributed to flying since it is obviously not something she would have done often.  She had defecated all over her crate and she stunk to high heaven.  The problem was she didn’t stink from the excrement – she stunk sour like she had infections that had been there for a long time.  The stench was pretty unbearable all the way back to the camper.

The next day we brought her to the vet and they basically told us if we were smart we would put her right back on a plane and send her back – but of course if we did so that would be a death sentence for her surely.  We couldn’t possibly do that.  She was quickly placed on antibiotics, given shots, special food and more.

It took months and followups but she eventually shed that nasty unhealthy coat, her ears and skin all cleared up and she started learning that we were trusted friends.  From then on out – we were her life and her only loves.  So we are devoted to her until she is no longer with us.  She is so special and a true friend.