Jeannie's Tale of Love for Those Wagging Tails ...
Jeannie’s love for dogs, all animals & the outdoors began very early in life. By age 10 when she was allowed to ride her bike on the country roads of Minnesota, she became the neighborhood’s animal interpreter. Dogs, cats, cows, goats & horses would tell her when they felt lonely, abandoned or neglected. She would then go knock on the owners’ doors to request that they care for their pets. She didn’t know that some people just thought of their animals as food. One Saturday afternoon, a very sad horse told her he just wanted his hooves trimmed & he’d feel so much better. By the time she reached the top of that long dirt driveway on her bike, she was crying over his sadness & could barely get the words out...to the owners involved in a very large family reunion. All stopped talking; a pin dropped would have been heard. The owners responded quickly, “Oh, we’ll take care of it!” As she sped away on her bicycle, some 30 people stared after this little outspoken girl nobody there knew. When she rode by the next day, the horse was so much happier...& she was delighted to see that his hooves were trimmed. It was on her bike at 10 years old that Jeannie & her sister discovered a kennel of 13 Cairn Terriers just down the road from their house. The owner was thrilled to hire them to care for her dogs when she traveled to dog shows many weekends of the year. Soon, her older sister was employed elsewhere. Jeannie then solely carried the keys to the woman’s house, regularly attending to her Cairns & their kennels for the next 3 years. Thus, began Jeannie’s 40+ year passion & love for caring for others‘ pets as her own.
