COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL JANUARY 18, 2017 7A
Internationally traveling mutts
A guest spot by 'Tips' pal Ila
Ila has been an animal advocate since I met her in high school in
1965! Today, she is an international artist and author. Here is a peek
into her and her husband, Franck’s, hearts.
“Living in Tahiti, I was astonished to fi nd a purebred German
shepherd abandoned and starving on the roadside,” said Ila.
The Polynesian island’s dogs have been isolated for centuries
from the rest of the world, resulting in a breed of dog that is small
and slender with a nondescript color and a ratter’s temperament.
Ila gently helped the weak female dog into her car, spontaneous-
ly naming it Misha. It took weeks for the dog to regain her strength.
“What was more curious,” said Ila, “was that after Misha re-
turned to health, she produced eight black sable and pinto puppies.
Our pet hen, Babalu, and rooster, Kubilai, stood by her all day in
apparent appreciation of the event, as she lay giving birth resem-
bling a little manger scene.
It soon became obvious that one of the pups, Cesar, was an
unusual dog who possessed a great sensitivity and spirit. He and
Franck were inseparable. Cesar grew into the biggest dog on the
island! He was so handsome and gracious, that he was known all
over the island.
Each evening Franck and his dogs went for a swim off our beach
and they played uproariously. Sometimes, Franck would play a trick
on them by pretending to have drowned. Only one dog responded to
‘the emergency.' When Cesar saw his beloved friend looking dead
in the water, he lost no time in saving his life! He ran to the water
edge, swam to Franck, grabbed him by the hair and hauled him to
the beach. Cesar did this whenever Franck tested him, which wasn’t
often.
Cesar’s behavior demonstrated his insight that humans need to
breathe indicating that dogs, love, think and respond.
I was busy rehabilitating seabirds and roosters that had been used
in rooster fi ghts and was amused that when Franck was traveling on
business, Cesar went to considerable effort to become my closest
buddy. This unusual dog tried convincing me that he loved the birds
as much as I did.
When we moved to France in 2009, only the three youngest fe-
males were still alive. We lived in Paris, then they accompanied
us to our mountain home in Canada two years later. Our dogs have
swum in warm Tahitian waters, the cold Cascade mountain rivers
and the Mediterranean.
One of our female pups, Petite Loup, named for her wolfi sh look,
was dog-napped at three months of age. The captors kept her tied
up with a rope around her abdomen, for their future meal.
After living in captivity for two weeks, Petite Loup escaped and
found her way home. She had a deeply infected injury around her
belly from the rope and her struggle to break free. It had to be kept
bandaged for weeks before it healed, and for the rest of her life she
refused to stay in a shelter where rain was pounding on the roof -- a
clue to the torment that she had lived.
In Tahiti, Petite Loup had been my only companion on the long
excursions, far up a variety of uninhabited valleys, that I took to
fi nd places to release the birds. We had to remain undetected by
everyone, including sharp-eyed marijuana farmers, who would be
very interested in fi nding such gorgeous fi ghting birds in the wild.
Petite Loup could tell, from a glance at me, if it was the moment to
bark or hide. When we moved to France, she was a town dog, walk-
ing at my side and politely socializing in the village square. On our
return to Canada, she was able to come with me on hikes until she
became too old last year.
The dogs led free and happy lives for many years, then one by
one, they passed away. When the alpha male, Wolf, died of old age,
the birds noticed immediately. We found him lying on the lawn in a
circle of chickens, all standing perfectly still in homage, gazing at
him, just as they had stood waiting and watching the night he was
born.”
TIPS
“When you, too, have many dogs,” said Ila, “they can be diffi cult
to control at meal time. What worked for us, was to put each dog’s
bowl down in the same place, and in the same order, each time.
They will learn the routine, and the insecure ones relax, while the
more aggressive ones will stop looking for an opportunity to steal
food from the others. Staying with them as they eat, not only reas-
sures them, but gives you valuable feedback into each one’s state
of health over time.” Ila’s website: http://ilafranceporcher.wixsite.
com/author
- Take easy and awesome pet photos with the SqueakNSnap! It
is a little stuffed toy with a squeaker that works with smart phones,
iPhones and Androids. You squeak the toy, the pet or child looks
towards the cute toy, just as your phone snaps the photo. Brilliant!
squeaknsnap.com
Share your pet tips and tales.
angelscribe@msn.com
“Follow” Pet Tips ‘n’ Tales on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/PetTipsandTales
Adopt Loving Pets
www.PetFinder.com
Play Continued from A1
Lastly in December, the the-
ater will end its season with Se-
ussical the musical. The musical
is an adaptation of a classic Dr.
Seuss story “Horton Hears a
Who.” The original music is by
Stephen Flaherty and the lyrics
are written by Lynn Ahrens,
both of whom wrote the Seus-
sical book.
Cottage Theatre executive
director Susan Goes says to ex-
pect much of the same colorful
and entertaining effort that the
theatre is well known for.
“Our only real challenge is
that we would love to have more
people audition,” she said, “be-
cause of the limited auditions
we sometimes have to make
compromises for certain roles.”
While busy with the upcom-
ing production, Goes was also
pleased to announce that the
Cottage Theatre has been se-
lected as one of six theatres na-
tionally to participate in a world
premier in 2018.
The American Association of
Community Theatre (AACT)
selected Cottage Grove to be a
part of the world premiere of a
specifi c play submitted by play-
wrights. The theatre will work
-
directly with the playwright
once a play has been selected.
Other participating theatres
come from Minnesota, Indiana,
Nebraska, Wyoming and New
Mexico.
When public notices
reach the public,
everyone benefits.
Some officials want to move notices from newspapers to
government-run websites, where they may not be easily
found.
2 out of 3
U.S. adults read a
newspaper in print
or online during
the week.
Why try to fix
something that
blgm[khd^g8
Keep
Public
Notices in
Newspapers.
www.newsmediaalliance.org
Lorane Country News
A dispatch from Lorane by Lil Thompson
While the snow and ice seemed to cancel sev-
eral events in our school district, they have been
rescheduled.
This is Homecoming Week at Crow Middle/
High School through Thursday. Classes will be
dressing up. Basketball games are Thursday,
January 19 with JV at 3:30 and 5 pm. Varsity
games are 6 and 7:30 pm.
The Drama performance has been resched-
uled to Wednesday, January 25 at 7 pm. Then
on Thursday, January 26, come enjoy the Win-
ter concert at 7 pm in the Applegate Elementary
Gym.
Just a reminder that senior baby pictures are
due by January 20. For further information, con-
tact the school.
Rural Art Center will continue the Ukulele
Lesson Club on Thursdays at Crow Middle/High
School music room from
3:30 - 4:15 pm and 4:15-5:30 pm for begin-
ners. All ages are welcome.
Lorane Grange meets this Thursday, January
19, at their new time of 7:00 pm.
Several items are on the agenda including the
Spaghetti dinner and Bingo planned for January
28 starting at 5:30 pm.
Come enjoy a movie at Lorane Christian
Church on January 21 at 5:30 pm. You will en-
joy the fi lm, " Miracle From Heaven". Everyone
is welcome to come see the fi lm at the church.