Many Eagle Bluff staff enjoy a canine companion. These furry friends often join us for casual events and sometimes even join us in gathering maple syrup or tagging kids in a summer camp game, Bonkers. Here’s a better picture of who we’re spending our time with:
Porter (Jeff and Gretchen’s dog):
Specs: ~13 year old rescue dog
Loves: destroying toys, runs, walks, naps, snuggling with humans, Eagle Bluff’s “Kill Hill”, rolling in deer scat
Hates: water, the river
Memorable moment: “playing” with a 3-legged raccoon
Another memorable moment: going to the outdoor archery range where there was a 3:D coyote target – Porter hates coyotes
Zahra (Colleen’s dog):
Specs: 2 year old female Golden Retriever
Loves: swimming, eating, and laying by a fire
Hates: burrs and the vacuum
Memorable moment: chasing and killing a bat
Wren (Colleen’s dog):
Specs: 1 year old female Brittany Spaniel
Loves: birds and rolling in poop
Hates: fart noises and flying insects
Memorable moment: rolling in fish guts and smelling terrible for 4 days
Another memorable moment: seeing a hummingbird and not knowing whether to be excited (it’s a bird!) or afraid (or is it a flying insect?)
Fox (Molly’s dog):
Specs: 2 year old Carolina Dog
Loves: Belly rubs, swimming, snow, and rolling in poop
Hates: when Molly goes to work
Memorable moment: The first time she came to EB was with Colleen and her dogs. It was our first trip and her first time meeting Wren and Zahra. By the end of our stay, not only were her and Wren best friends but she also went on her first canoe trip and swam in the water for the first time ever.
Diggs (Kelly’s dog):
Specs: 7 months old Schnauzer/terrier mix
Loves: walks, 20 month old human sister Libby, stuffed animals, and bones
Hates: haven’t yet found anything
Notable: Diggs is the perfect companion to my daughter Libby. Spunky, entertaining, and up to play anytime!
Tilly (Bridget’s dog):
Specs: 9 months old pug
Loves: peanut butter, apples, fishing (she gets excited every time we reel in)
Hates: mornings
And finally, here’s a special note about a dog from our founding executive director, Joe Deden:
On Saturday, April 22, 1995, Queen Ali was a six month old puppy. I took her for a jog at 6 AM before a scheduled board meeting.
At the junction of the road leading down to Shiitake, I felt nauseous and let her off her leash. Then, at the junction of the road leading into the residential campus, I had a heart attack that knocked me out and down to the ground. As a result of this, I lost fifty percent of the pumping capacity of my heart. Most people who suffer a heart attack of this magnitude lay down until they go into shock and die.
Queen Ali would not leave me alone. She got me up and I crawled/staggered back towards the house. Twice more I got knocked down and each time she got me up and shepherded me back to the house where Mary called the ambulance and we were off to the Mayo Clinic.
Needless to say, she was always a good friend throughout all our years together. She was just a puppy, but she knew something was terribly wrong. She saved my life. She is gone but never forgotten.
