06/17/2026
We had to say goodbye yesterday to one of our longest term fosters -- sweet Miss Serena, who was not quite 13.5 years old. As recently as one month ago, I posted a photo of Serena smiling, standing close to Tim's chair at the dining table as we were eating lunch, knowing that if she was patient, she would get a tasty treat. Over the last week though, Serena had stopped eating very much. She was still very spry and insisted on spending most of the day in her favorite shady spot in the yard. She would always come inside for meals, and she slept in the house at night. She was terribly afraid of storms, so she spent a lot of time inside during recent weeks as we've been having thunderstorms 2-3 days a week. The weather was nice yesterday, so she was happy to get back to her normal routine. Around 6:30 last night, Tim found her in the yard, looking like she just slipped away as she napped. While I'm sad we weren't with her as she passed, it's comforting to know that she went out on her own terms. When my time comes, falling asleep and not waking up seems like a pretty good way to go.
If you haven't been following us for long, you might not know Serena's story.
Serena and her sister Venus were the only two surviving offspring of a Great Pyrenees working livestock guardian dog and the neighbor's Pointer. The girls grew up completely feral. When their elderly owner was moved into a nursing home, a neighbor asked the local vet for advice on catching the dogs. The vet told her it was pointless, and said "Just shoot 'em." Thankfully, the neighbor was too kind-hearted to take his advice.
She called a local rescuer, Lynn of Project Pawz, and the rescuer called a trapper, Tammy of Tails. The "Guardian Girls" were smart and elusive, but Lynn and Tammy were dedicated, and they persevered through MANY weeks, adjusting the fencing and the trap until finally one night in the wee hours, they caught both girls. Lynn hit the road from Corsicana and made it to Windsong Ranch early in the morning. We unloaded the girls and put them in one of our barn kennels. The black dog reminded me of a black dog Tim's mom had years ago, named Beauty. We already had a foster named Beauty, so we named this girl Venus (as in de Milo). Once we chose her name, it seemed logical to name her sister Serena.
The Guardian Girls spent their first few years with us in a barn kennel with a 32' long dog run. We knew we couldn't give them any more freedom because we might never catch them again. Day after day, I worked to build trust with them. One day, I noticed a discharge from Serena. I took a photo and sent it to our vet, who said that looks like pyometra. So I put a blanket over Serena to protect myself as I picked her up and put her in a crate. We went straight to the vet, and she had a massive infection. We're lucky I noticed that discharge because if we had waited another day, Serena's uterus would probably have ruptured, and then she would most likely have gone septic. In cases like that, pyometra can be fatal. Once released from the clinic, I brought Serena into our Infirmary. It was the first time she had ever been inside a house, and she was terrified. But she settled in and seemed to decide that life in the house was a pretty good thing. We scheduled spay surgery for Venus, then moved her inside to keep Serena company.
Over the years, Venus and Serena learned to enjoy life in the house. They were crate-trained and house/potty-trained. Thanks to the diligent efforts of our fosters Susie and Joe, both girls learned to walk nicely on a leash. We kept the girls on our adoption website, hoping to find someone who would appreciate their good manners and sweet temperament. But most people want the "easy" dog -- the one who will love you immediately and give you kisses. There aren't nearly enough people with the patience to earn the trust of a feral dog, even when the feral dog has become very well domesticated. Eventually we moved Venus and Serena from "Available for Adoption" to "Sanctuary Dog."
We celebrated Serena and Venus on their 13th birthday earlier this year. Both girls were still in good physical health, though both have been showing some signs of dementia. Nothing major, just some occasions when they seem a little confused, disoriented. Over the past week, Serena has been less interested in food, even turning down an air-fried chicken liver on Monday night. 24 hours after saying no to what had been her favorite treat, she crossed the Rainbow Bridge. 🌈🐾
Serena lived with us for 9 of her 13 years. We know her life in rescue was good -- Tim and I loved her, and our fosters Susie & Joe loved her. And Serena loved us back. She came to each of us at different times, asking for us to pet her, or hoping we would give her a treat. She loved her walks with Susie and Joe. She may have started out as a feral dog that one country vet thought should be shot, but she ended her life as a much-loved member of two families. Her foster dad Joe was waiting for her on the other side, so I'm betting they are already enjoying a walk together where the grass is soft and green, and legs don't get tired. For the rest of us, this is just farewell for now, until we meet again.
NOTE: Photos are in reverse chronological order, with the most recent photos first, working back to the Guardian Girls' first day at Windsong Ranch. I will add captions after this posts -- Meta Business Suite doesn't let me add captions before posting, which is annoying. If you're squeamish, you may not want to click through all the way. Photo #19 shows the pyometra/infected uterus and I don't know whether Facebook will blur the image.
