Our namesake…
Jolene came to us Valentine’s Day 2009 after my mom passed away suddenly a few months prior to that. We were all struggling and we told our daughter, Gillian, that she could get a dog for her birthday, which she had been wanting for years. We went to the shelter and found a tiny little dog at the back of the cage who barely lifted her head when we came to say hello, while all the other dogs were barking and jumping to get our attention. We asked to see her and she spent the entire time hiding under the bench in the room while we tried to get to know her. As we walked her back to her cage, Gillian decided to sit down outside in the sun... Jolene walked right over and sat in her lap. She had found her forever home and never looked back.
People who met her and knew her well, called her “a human in a dog’s body”. That was an understatement! Although she was only 8 pounds, she was in command wherever she went. No matter how large another dog was, if Jolene didn’t like what they had to say she didn’t hesitate to let them know and always ended up getting her way.
She had such an amazing presence, was full of class, thought very highly of herself, and pretty much thought she was better than everyone else on the planet. And she was probably right! At the same time she was so full of love, could cuddle with the best of them, she was extremely loyal, had the patience of a saint to put up with all our crazy shenanigans, went on endless adventures with us and ended up being my best friend and soulmate, who left this world at the end of August 2022. She was almost 15 and was a fighter to the end. She lived life on her terms and there will never be another Jolene.
Welcome to Jolene‘s Retreat…
Our favorite Jolene story…
When Jolene was about 10 years old Gillian was house sitting at my brother’s (who lived two miles away from us) and took Jolene with her. Gillian decided to go out with a friend for a few hours and left Jolene at the house. That afternoon I saw a couple walking up to our front door with what looked like Jolene in their arms. I opened the door and they asked if this was my dog. I said yes, and they told me they found her around the corner. I was SO confused to say the least! Apparently, Jolene had decided it was time to come home and walked from my brother’s house back to our place! That journey took her across a 4 lane highway, several neighborhoods, and 2 major boulevards with 4 lanes as well. To this day we have no idea how she got out, made it across all those streets and back to our place all in one piece, but if you knew Jolene, you would expect nothing less…
Then there was Charlie…
Our first rescue came in the form of a little chihuahua beagle mix who was found running around the streets of Los Angeles by two folks from San Francisco, who were on vacation. He had almost been hit by a car so they took him to the local shelter and found he had no microchip and hadn’t been fixed. They couldn’t just leave them there, so they scooped him up and brought him back to San Francisco. Logan, my oldest, had sent me a picture of Charlie saying he needed a home. I had just lost Jolene a few months prior and was still in devastation mode. Taking another dog was the last thing on my mind. However, the next day I looked at his picture again and thought maybe it would be nice to have a dog around so I told Logan I would take him if he was still available. Logan told me someone had already decided to take him. I said I was fine with that, it wasn’t meant to be. During our text conversation about Charlie, Logan got a text saying the person who was going to take him backed out due to severe allergies! Charlie had found his forever home in Occidental and arrived on Thanksgiving eve. Thank you Jolene, for sending this beautiful boy to your retreat.