my dog farm

new pics of the farm...

2011-08-13T15:40:00.003-05:00

the farm...

the baby...

the oldest...

the happy one...

the special one...

the sweet one...

the boss...

the littles...

long time no write.

2011-07-12T20:41:00.004-05:00

I decided to give Mac his very own blog. Mostly because I adore this dog to an insane level!!! He can be found at http://pitbull-for-sale.blogspot.com/and I will keep the group here with him not as a focal point...

Mac Attack

2011-04-24T12:45:00.000-05:00

I am so in love with this baby. His mange is clearing up at this point after two dips. He is gaining weight now that he has expelled lots of round worms!! He is learning he has sharp teeth. Peanut and Wiener Dog have bitten at him to let him know who is boss. Pickle is still too passive but it's probably because she was treated terribly by the wacko that had her. Pickle was just learning what play was with our set of foster puppies. Mac is a little rough at times and she isn't sure what to do. My sweet baby girl. Mac doesn't really bother the big dogs. he is definitely a puppy!!!

Mac LOVES Pickle!!!

2011-04-23T13:13:00.000-05:00

Mac follows Pickle around, sleeps on top of her, is learning from her to crawl under the covers?! She hears him bark or whimper and she and the other wiener dogs run to where he is!!! He is a good fit!

Mac and his first outing...

2011-04-23T13:10:00.000-05:00

We were invited to a friends dogs 7 birthday pawty. It was a blast! Toby wasn't in the best of mood as the birthday boy but Mac got to meet a few new dogs! We are trying to take him everywhere and meet everyone to get him really socialized. He was worn out after his doggie cupcake and playtime!!!

First few days with Mac.

2011-04-22T16:07:00.000-05:00

So we got him inspected, dosed up with everything, bathed and fed real puppy food regularly. He got more color in his eyes in the first two days! We wormed him but every time he ate he bloated something terrible! He was so scrawny that his belly would look funny full! He went for a ride the first night and slept the half an hour it took me to pick up G. G loved him right away!!

The last photo is just an adorable one of Peanut, she is on a "couch" and a dog bed. Spoiled lazy dogs!!!

most pitiful pitbull...

2011-04-20T08:14:00.008-05:00

We live in a very diverse area in this small city. We love this. With that comes some less than "good" people. Two blocks up a house had a sign nailed to a light pole for "pitbull puppies for sale, $200". Two things that jump out that are wrong about this, seriously like there needs to be more pits? AND $200?!?!

Two weeks before these photos were taken I stopped one day when the pups were all running around the yard. Since this house has sat vacant for three years I didn't know these new people. That day I realized they clearly fought pits... There were two females chained, yes chained, to the fence line, the meanest looking toughest pits I have ever been around, puppies helter skelter all over the place! I inquired just out of curiosity about the babies. They looked terrible, bloated beyond belief, mangy, and sickly looking. I did this out of curiosity and knew nothing good was going to come out of it... I am always trying to save the animal population!! It made me sick to see them in such bad shape... and he was PROUD of them being as HOSS as they were?

I also noticed a puppy that was 1/3 the size of the others and commented on the little baby. He grabbed the little guy by the scruff of his neck, hauled him off the porch and showed me a dangling puppy. He said how tough they all would be and "that pit over there chained is the mom" He also proceeded to tell me the father dog had hung himself by his chain and had died but was a huge boy so the puppies would be big. He said this about the dead dog very matter of fact with zero emotion...The guy wanted $200 for each puppy and since we had our hands full with three fosters I chose dishearteningly to leave. I also knew I couldn't save all of them.

For that next two weeks I couldn't stop thinking about that little runt? A week after seeing them in the yard G and I were driving back from errands and the puppies were back! G noticed the little one and we talked about how he would probably end up a bait dog... :( My heart broke for him. After we took the other fosters back for adoption I focused on this guy's plight. I had to get him. Long story short, on April 7th and $80 bucks later we had our very own PITBULL BAIT DOG> :) My bff R (and G&I) went in half each to save him. It literally felt like a drug deal. ...and the woman told me the mother dog had been stolen which was fine cause it was one less mouth to feed...

We got our hands on him and both R&I fell head over heals in love with him. Realize this, he was born January 15 and he was 1/3 the size he should have been. The sibling puppies were HUGE compared to him. He had mange, his toenails were curling under, he stunk, was bloated horribly with worms, malnourished, and emaciated. But we all fell drop dead in love with the pathetic pitbull specimen in our hands. How in the living HELL did this guy survive? R kept looking at his teeth saying "he just can't be 3 months old???" but he was.

I have been asked why I didn't report these people? A. it isn't illegal to sell a dog. B. they don't keep them in the city(they keep them out of the city, probably on acreage in a dirt hole) C. i have zero proof other than a stereotype and gut instinct that this is happening.

A bait dog he will not be. period. we consider it the best $80 bucks we ever spent. He has been vaccinated, wormed, dipped x2 for mange, fed, loved, snuggled, given daily vitamin supplements, walked, socialized, given plenty of treats and is now growing like a weed. not too shabby for a worthless terrible specimen of a dog.

The day we got him in the deal.

A bath first thing cause he STUNK!!

foster madness!

2011-04-20T08:05:00.002-05:00

We got a call about two 5 week old puppies that needed three weeks of foster... I said yes of course. We already had the worm...who was 8 weeks.

Yes this is a five week old puppy vrs an 8 week old puppy... and yes the smaller dog is the older dog?

The Boy and Girl were named by a friends 8 year old, Calli & Blaze. :) Blaze was shy and hesitant, Calli was a nut with a great personality! We were actually tempted to keep them but the thought of two large wild puppies was the deal breaker. We have done that before and it is insane!

Tiniest foster yet!

2011-04-20T07:59:00.002-05:00

We fostered this little guy for a few days. He is a Beagle/Chihuahua and was too tiny for adoption right away and needed a few days of vitamins and extra love. :)

Our first set of foster puppies

2011-04-20T07:54:00.001-05:00

From top left is Lilly, Wilda(beast), Ranger. The middle right is Shorty(momma dog). The bottom from the left, Bailey, Bear, Trooper. They were the greatest and we loved each one!! It was hard to let them go.

well hellooo there!

2011-04-12T12:11:00.002-05:00

ok so I have been vacant from this post far too long. It happens when one tries to do too many social things for all the things that I do! SO I have the email thing set up and will try and catch you all up to speed if anyone is still even out there! :)

Odds...

2011-01-18T09:11:00.000-06:00

So how many puppies ya think? She weighs about 12 pounds and is ready to pop!!

Goodbye Cat, Hello Dog

2011-01-15T16:04:00.001-06:00

We traded the non-prego cat for a very prego dog. She is about 12lbs and had an exceptional first meeting with the farm. This will be our first foster moms experience with puppies. Keep your fingers crossed. She is sleeping at my feet as I lay on the couch. I also have Peanut and Pickle on me under the covers.... They make for a great heating blanket. ;)

and the verdict is....

2011-01-14T14:46:00.004-06:00

ummm "Promise"(the foster cat) is NOT pregnant.
she did however trick five different people into thinking she was.
two veteran Humane Society people.
one vet tech.
one vet.
and me.
but she did not trick the ultrasound machine.
she deserves the "gotcha" award.
so she was here pretty much so my cat Boston could have a huge crush on her...
and she will be going back to the HS to get adopted and we should be getting a dog that is CLEARLY pregnant. ;)

you want my autograph i know.....

2011-01-12T00:03:00.005-06:00

i just got interviewed by the local newspaper.
COOL HUH?
it was an article they are writing on fostering animals...
they may be coming to photograph my foster cat
GEEZ... i need to name this cat!!!
she can't become famous with out a name????
i can't ever name my art!?!
HOW am i going to name a cat?
ok here goes....

hahah yeah right i can't pull a name out of my butt just like that, you will have to wait till my next post. and the prego dog got a foster yesterday only for an almost identical dog ALSO prego to be brought in. so i am still on stand-by :)

foster...

2011-01-08T21:35:00.003-06:00

we are fostering a cat.
a crabby cat.
an orange cat
a beautiful cat.
a cat with amazing green eyes.
possibly a pregnant cat.
a shedding cat.
a pregnant cat.
a cat, my cat Boston is smitten over.
she doesn't think he is quite as charming as he does.
and i don't 100% think she is pregnant?
Boston coo's at this cat.
she hisses at him.
he swats at her tail like a child with a crush.
she hisses at him.
he stills loves her.

and maybe we will be fostering a pregnant 6lb mutt of a dog we met today...
fostering gives me a great feeling.
of giving back to mother nature.
of helping these unwanted animals.
we love them.
we care for them.
we nurture them.
then we give them back knowing they will prosper in their new homes.
all the while feeling good about knowing we helped them.

but to end on a funny note, my cat Boston thought it would be funny to climb into the furnace when g had the door off to change filters.
she called me downstairs
i knew it was serious by her tone
she said "get your kid"?
i saw her petting my cat so it was HER cat in question
i said that to her "it's your cat?"
she said it wasn't funny and to get him
i got a flashlight
i called for him
i laid on the floor
i saw his big goofy self back in the compartment
looking at me
taunting me
i got him to play with my fingers
he reached out and stretched
i grabbed both paws and tugged him out
i told him we should have closed the door and started the furnace
he is a pain
good thing he makes me laugh and we love him
who woulda thought a cat out of five dogs would be the trouble child?

a must must read....

2011-01-06T22:31:00.000-06:00

http://www.animals-abused.org/oogy-story.htm

family photo....

2011-01-03T22:35:00.004-06:00

The farm during the first snow about a week ago. This was pickle's first snow that we know of. They are squinting cause of the snow falling in their eyes?>>> goofy dogs.

We got them at 3 days old....
Our second round of fostering a momma cat and kittens. We took them back this past Saturday, traded them for a new pregnant orange cat. The orange baby kitten was born with-out a tail and has already been adopted. :)

They got independent quick and were all fat little cherubs. guess that's what happens when there are four and not eleven like our last foster momma.

Right after fostering the poodle we got this little cujo. She is 14+ years old, mostly blind, yucky skin condition & not nice. She needed the right people and my friend was trying to get her into a few senior dog rescues. We fostered her thinking she was never really going anywhere... she bit everyone in this house; me, and all the dogs. She really didn't like the sweaters I put on her.... :)

She didn't care for the big dogs and they kept a wide berth. It was pretty hilarious to watch a 3lb chihuahua bite at and back up an 85lb hunting dog. We corrected her when she did this to the little dogs, Pickle, Peanut, WienerDog. She actually got MUCH better with sharing our laps with the "littles" as we call the wieners. We didn't do this correcting with the big dogs mostly since she was so little they would break her if they mowed her over. AND since they were scared of her biting them they never got close to her. win/win. She was an adorable snuggle bug who liked giving kisses though and this made up for her old crotchety self.

A woman who saw her in the shelter with a caution sign (before we took her home) came back to adopt her, she has crusty old chihuahua's and this little beast she fell in love with. so little crusty went home with the woman.

way too funny

2010-12-31T14:34:00.001-06:00

Her name is poodle, no biggie she can't hear it anyway!

2010-12-22T16:59:00.000-06:00

I'm trying to catch up with everyone the craziness we have had lately! I can't ever seem to get to my computer to put down coherent thoughts so I am doing this blogging thing from my phone. It works great, I have my photos in my phone already and a severe addiction to this dang iPhone in my pocket anyway.

For over a month before thanksgiving we had a foster, a snow white 18month old deaf poodle. My friend R called and said poodle and I laughed? Poodles are goofy creatures. But we gladly took her in and R was already talking to some well off people who were looking for a small dog who had been frequenting the humane society a bunch.

We called her poodle, since we thought her name was stupid: blanca- Spanish for white? WTH?! And she couldn't hear us anyway since she was DEAF! Lol. I would've named her spike if she were my dog! A sissy small white girl poodle named spike! Cool.

She was great other than not knowing how to be a dog. I guess she was taught dogs should be there but not noticed or heard really. She was with a man and wife and the woman was terminally sick. :( Poodle had horrible separation anxiety- probably from being deaf?! We loved her to pieces though! She learned how to play and get dirty in the short time we had her. Her bath before going to her new home left rings in the tub from our dog friendly backyard. She is a really great dog and her new people LOVE her!

Humane Society on Wheels

2010-12-21T17:13:00.000-06:00

So this dog was walking down a four lane rural but busy highway near a town on our way to a story. I wished him the best and thought about how he needed to get where he was going and stay safe. Two and a half hours later coming back through the area nearest the next town a few miles away from our first sighting we see him again, in the median.

I look at my reporter and she knows what I am thinking. She says "are you turning around?" I said, "I can't pass him a second time!". We both know we dont have time for this but we spin a U'y. I park on the side, called for him, grabbed a video cable for a leash. Finally I get across the two lane highway, it was busy! There he sits waggin his tail. I reach out for him, he sniffs then licks my hand. I tie the cable around his neck. My reporter is walking towards me in the median, I go to bring him over and he flops over. He ain't moving!

I have to pick his gigantic butt and run back across the highway without dropping him or getting run over. I put him in the back of the newscar and we continue to drive on the hour back to our base. I call my dog person who always gets me outta these jams and she has me drop him in my backyard till she can get him later. He is now named Teddy and is at the local shelter fattening up and warm for the first time in probably forever!! My dog person told me today a guy called to ask about him earlier... Great news!

pickle's first days here...

2010-12-10T12:00:00.002-06:00

we went to "see" the dogs from the hoarding case. my best friend R told me there were wieners(in bad shape), i was instantly curious. we had Keira our foster still but she was leaving very soon. we knew that this would be a keeper if we fell in love. with Bishop and Destra gone we had the room. i saw her and was hooked. we took her home for the night and she never went back. :)

she was one of the two dogs the 12 yr old stuffed under a mattress, apparently trying to hide her two favorites? she came home with us weighing 6.5 lbs and caked in crud. we bathed her a few times and then cuddled her the rest of the evening with everybody in the house sniffing her and saying hi. i think they were telling her this was a good place...

her backbone was missing hair since it was so bony. she was apparently kept in a crate. i was told the crates had poop smashed in all the corners and at the front... who does this to an innocent? and the woman thinks she did nothing wrong and that the media skewed her story? WTF, i saw the photos: WHICH THE MEDIA DECIDED NOT TO AIR. so i think she needs a padded room somewhere!

I put a few photos of her on facebook and asked for name suggestions, my favorite was pickle. it was perfect. next post i will post some newer photos (before and after) :)

long time

2010-10-27T11:52:00.003-05:00

i have not posted about the farm for multiple reasons.

one, it was so hard losing Bishop and Destra and trying to adjust with-out them. we have grown to be ok though. we look at the photos and videos often and know they are in a better place.

two, we have been busy doing daily routine stuff- making ends meet, etc. etc.

three, we got a new addition. BUT.... it was from a hoarding case that made the local television news channel. i do not want the self proclaimed "dog rescuer" to find my blog. simple. my Pickle (as we have named our new kid) is mine and the woman deserves ZERO updates... Pickle weighed 6.5lbs (now weighs 8.4lbs)and was one of the dogs in "better condition". this "dog rescuer" left four dogs in a house, for over two weeks with-out food or water.

she never intended to check on them when she moved from her nasty house to her dead fathers nasty house. the local officials condemned the house (both i think), it was in such horrible condition- (trust me i saw the photos!!). the woman had dogs, rabbits, birds, and an assortment of other random farm animals. over 75 animals were removed and she was charged with, two counts of misdemeanor animal abuse and one count of child endangerment. yes she had a 12 yr old (not in school) living in these conditions even an animal isn't fit for. and after, AFTER she was busted we found out she was in the process of adopting two more dogs? WTF? almost all of her dogs were really high dollar dogs from other rescues.... why do people do this?

so you can hopefully understand my fear of her tracking us down even just for photo updates of MY pickle. because i will be forced to hurt anyone wanting to harm or take one of my kids. Pickle was kept in a small crate and forced to live in/on her own poop, lots of it. Pickle has since gained weight since the bitch clearly didn't feed her and has just been spayed last week. she also had her teeth cleaned, her teeth were in bad shape from the lack of nutrition. so hopefully i will be brave enough to post some of her before and after photos soon. :) she is pretty amazing and probably the favorite, shhhh don't tell the rest of the farm. :)

this makes me really mad.....

2010-09-23T10:54:00.001-05:00

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Philadelphia-newspaper-s-controversial-Vick-head;_ylt=AqDf4Jj0rWBZQA0_3aGFRvcdsLYF?urn=nfl-271545

Destra's Birthday.....

2010-08-28T20:24:00.001-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY my sweet Destra....
we miss you terribly.

dog farm award!!!!!

2010-08-19T21:06:00.006-05:00

1) thank the person who gave this to you

2) Share 7 things about yourself
i am choosing to write about the farm, simply because i am boring!

3) pass it on to 15 bloggers you have recently discovered. i have to go with ones i know(i barely have time to post to this!)

4) tell them

1) thank you sprinkles! :)
2) seven things about the farm
* Monte is petrified of fireworks and storms!
* Peanut is the smallest and the biggest attitude
* Wiener Dog is c.r.a.z.y. he sees ghosts.
* Harley has allergies and we give her human allergy eye drops
* Boston is our trouble child
* Gehrig hates people (except us) dog sitters NEVER! see her
* Keira (foster) is a kangaroo, and she boxes.

not sure if i have 15 but i will give it a try:
SILVERWALK
Wilf
STL senior dog
dog day afternoon
Lilligirl
is it pathetic i can come up with only five?
i have no time but feel bad i have put this off so long. and right now i should be designing one-zee's for two separate orders, making a friend some business cards, trying to get these insane cats to leave me alone, figure out what cardboard recycle my crackhead dogs are chewing on in the other room, finish some dog abuse fiber art pieces (and posters) for the local Humane Society for an art show i'm having there in october...... list keeps going..... i fail at these things, sorry sprinkles!!! :)

peaceful bath, yeah ummm.... nope

2010-08-14T09:28:00.006-05:00

i came home Friday night after driving over 300 miles for work, for one interview. i was pooped. i wanted a bath. G is usually home when i want a bath so i can close myself away. she was at work so i left the door open for dogs/cats to come and go. i know at this point my bath is only going to be 50%peaceful since they drive me c.r.a.z.y.

all of them.

even Keira our foster dog came in to see me, and having had her demodex mange dip for the past 6 weeks she HATES to see a bathtub full of water! so here is where it gets funny. a little history: Boston and his sister Gehrig LOVE, LOVE, love the tub, empty of course, they sleep in it, play in it; for hours. banging around making loud bumps and thumps all day.

Boston our boy cat who has to be where we are came to visit.

he is fascinated when there is water in the tub.

this always brings Harley since she bugs the snot out of him.
she is a true Wiemaraner- a hunter, game driven, stares at him, nudges him with her snout.
Boston is sitting on the edge of the tub.

he then decides the other side of the tub would be a better place, the side with the inch edge.
the inch edge he won't fit on since at about 8 months he is getting to be a pretty big cat!
the inch he tried standing on,

i told him this wasn't going to end well......
he fell in while trying to back up.
i didn't help him.
he needs to figure it out, i believe in problem solving for the farm
and grabbing a freaked out cat while naked in a tub full of water is a really bad idea!

he fell out of the tub after jumping out of the water.
now imagine how small our bathroom is,
6 ft long, 2ft of floor space between the sink and tub on each side of the room.
hardly enough for G&i to pass each other.
and it's our only bathroom.

now at this point since i am laughing and a loud splashing commotion was happening
the farm all decides to squeeze into this teeny space.
3 big dogs, 2 little dogs, and one wet cat.
i am still laughing.
the cat jumps to the toilet which is about 1 1/2ft from the tub,
he skids off of the toilet then back onto the floor,
im still laughing
he jumps up onto the vanity and lays in the sink licking his soaked back paws.

i figure finally he has figured out the close proximity thing to the water is a bad idea.
nope
my boy Boston is not going to college.
he comes back over to the tub after dogs start to clear out.
the dogs think the craziness is over!
not even close.

he comes back over to the front of the tub
then he tries to get to the far edge by walking over the faucets...
i again say to him this is a bad idea...

Harley is looking intently at him
Boston gets his feet tangled up in the handles and spout

and he falls in

he jumps upward spinning his body around to escape the depths of the tub

he falls back in

he jumps out into the pile of dogs waiting for the freshly bathed morsel
and of course he leaves a trail for me to clean/mop up when i get out of my non-relaxing bath.
i need a doggie nanny. who has my winning lottery ticket?

video,

2010-08-11T09:27:00.003-05:00

our walk from about two weeks ago before it has been 100+ everyday.

few minor updates...

2010-08-10T19:38:00.003-05:00

Keira our foster dog is wonderful. She has had her last "mange" treatment today and has hair growing back in almost all of the bare spots. AS much as i want to keep her, we will give her up. knowing that we helped her and it will allow us to help another.

Peanut is crazy spoiled and enjoys sleeping on part of our pillow, half under the covers, always touching us and usually in between us.

Wiener Dog is just crazy. and he does a great job of making us crazy...

Monte can play fetch as much as he wants now, and i just bought him a new mini soccerball (along with tons of new toys for all) this weekend while on vacation. he loves it!!!

Harley is as goofy as ever. She goes and grabs a toy for her favorite game of keepaway as soon as the other dogs go outside... goofy i say!

Boston has been chewing on the top corners of our wooden kitchen chairs and may die.

Gehrig is competing with Wiener Dog for crazy factor. one second she is purring, kneading bread on your lap the very next second she jumps straight up in the air then bolts horizontally like a rocket?!! and she chases her tail for an eternity it seems and plays for hours in the tub, chasing what? i have zero idea. guess that's what i get for picking the runt of the litter? :)

the hamster is still alive and running on his effing wheel all night. i may send him away with Boston. :)

one month...

2010-08-03T13:00:00.003-05:00

it has been one month. things have changed so drastically. i find it hard to believe they are both gone most days. i am still good with our choices to give them peace. i still miss them and the Katrina anniversary is right around the corner which is also Destra's birthday. :( i started doing these "artdogs" which are art dolls of a dog variety. i am doing one in memory of each of them. Bishop will be about heartworms. Destra will be about hurricane Katrina. i think it will be good for me to do this. check out the ones i have done so far... link i donated one to a shelter/rescue in tennessee called aplacetobark.com

our foster looks great!!! her hair on the worst mange spots has started coming in. it will be sad to give her up but when i look at my four, it will be good for them. but i can't lie, i have been on petfinder almost everyday. :) a french bulldog is pretty darn cute, but geez why are they so expensive? even in rescue? so i think unless one of those comes along we will be just a dog farm of 4. i tell myself this so i don't go to the humane society and adopt them all. if i give myself a hard-to-find breed then i won't say yes to everyone! :)

i also have some insane news that will change the farm forever. g, (my better half of ten yrs!!!) is finishing 4 classes at our local university and then applying to vet school next fall. ummm vet school... it will be perfect for us! i am soo proud of her!! it is great to see her this excited! it will also allow us to open a vet/dog daycare. we have wanted to open a dog daycare for yrs! we will live on site which will be better for the dogs in our care. this is all pending everything goes well. we go tour the campus which is 4hrs away in the next couple of weeks. we are both kinda crazy excited.

in october i am doing a crazy cool project that i will blog about when i can have the time to show/explain it properly. ;)

so things go on, even with two giant holes in our hearts. i look at their videos and photos often on my phone and feel i can keep missing them and not forget them. :) i am sure some pitiful soul will be guided our way and the farm will grow. so since i feel good about things hopefully i will blog more often the antics of the crazies still here... and let me tell you things, at times, have not been dull.

farm updates...

2010-07-21T08:00:00.011-05:00

as we walk in the front door into the living room we see this photo. i took the paw prints the night before we took them to the vet. it is a good reminder of how much we love them. read their post here, Bishop and Destra.

all the collars are from the kids over the years, when they outgrow or the collar gets worn out we retire it here. a chinese exchange student did the paintings for me, we traded artwork. from left to right, Bishop r.i.p., Monte, Harley, Destra r.i.p., Roxie (a foster at the time), and Wiener Dog as a baby. :)

we got the kids back, they are separated but together in the box on the bottom. the box on top was the crusty old mean cat Mittens.

we have adjusted to having 4 dogs, still seems extremely empty in the house. Monte and Harley are settling into their older ages more than ever. they lay around and sleep most of the day away. partially because it is BLAZING'LY HOT!!!! we go out early in the morning or later at night to play in the backyard, same for our walks. the ground gets to be sweltering on their paws and i refuse to walk them when it's that way. they get lots of banana/ice cubes. (blend bananas and water, then freeze in ice cube trays- fill less for the smaller dogs) cheap and EASY!!!
our walks have increased by tremendous numbers since Bishop and Destra are gone. Destra couldn't walk, and Bishop always got "over excited" then would be worn out for two days after the walk.

new collars for the crew. i keep two collars on them for my mental well being. i always think if they get out and lose one they have a backup. i am genius! :) only the wieners are micro-chipped.
pink camo for the boss, Peanut
blue stripes for the weeny boy, Monte
pink polka dots for goofy, Harley
black stripes for wacky, W.D.

the wieners "yard-sale'ing" with us last weekend. G stays in the truck planning our next stop with them while i buy what seems like only stuff for them! this weekend in particular i got stuffed animals for the dogs and two different cat tunnel/climb toys for Boston and Gehrig. they have the office all to themselves divided by a baby-gate and it seems to be full of things for their spoiled butts!

Boston the crackhead redsox cat thinks it is funny to trash the bathroom. this is the first and hopefully last time this happened!!! we keep this door closed since my artdog sculptures are usually drying. this is because it's the only room we can keep them completely out of, even though they LOVE the tub. the minute one of us goes in there to use the bathroom they both come running from where ever they are in the house to play in there? it's like a crazy fighting ring.... and the noise of them flopping around cracks me up.

i love the way they "alter" their toys...

meet Keira, our foster. we have her for a month/2months. she has to be the SWEETEST dog ever. my friend R was saying this dog was sweet and needed a home until she could heal and get her hair back and i said yes! she is doing great on potty training and crate training. and can i just tell you how SOFT her fur is!!!

her walking on a leash is really good as well. she really looks up too the dogs for how to act like a dog. her transformation is amazing.

i like to call her ding dong. since she is just that, a 6month old ding dong. she is sooo curious. she was apparently found swimming in a rural lake around this area. i was excited and filled the baby pool thinking she would flop down in it. pfft no such luck!!! she will be a GREAT dog for whomever ends up adopting her.

such an empty house...

2010-07-09T10:01:00.017-05:00

let's see if i can get this out,

we finally made the decision to give Bishop and Destra their ticket to peace.
they went peacefully last saturday, with their heads in my hands, tears on my cheeks, kisses on their face. i thought i could do this post by now (almost a week later)but as i sit here crying my eyes out i guess there isn't a good time to write about one of top "hardest days of my life".

either tuesday or wednesday, seemed like i took a hundred of these...

Bishop gave us the go ahead by having a seizure 48 hrs before their appointment. this in a way validated our choice as it had been a year since his last seizure. it was like him saying, it's ok moms you need to do this.

Bishop the night right after his seizure, he looked - ready

for a heartworm positive dog named "wilber" that was literally a day away from euthanasia at the humane society, he came a long way. i think we figured we had him 6 years. he went from a severely emaciated 63lb shell of a dog to his highest and healthiest 103lbs. someone abused the life nearly out of him, it took him 9months to wag his tail. then he would wag it in circles and side to side. his favorite time was anytime food was around, he would hop like a kangaroo when we would feed him. he also was our only "begger" sitting his toothless mouth and snout on the edge of the table between us since we never had the gumption to tell him NO.

the above photos were when i was sitting there wishing with everything i had for him not to have another seizure... while playing with the apps on my iphone trying to keep occupied mentally

saturday morning after he and D got a super special breakfast with gourmet food

the birthday we gave him six years ago was sunday, and we watched his fireworks with very heavy hearts. he went to 'sleep' with the injection but it didn't stop his heart like it was supposed to, they had to give him more of the stuff. i made the comment that he had a "supersonic heart" from his heartworm treatment. he layed there with the softest ears out of the six and i kept feeling them trying to burn the softness into my memory. he was about 12/13 yrs old the best we figured and had a long good life as king of the farm.

my goofy dog...with her big brown eyes.

Destra got the raw end of the deal, she was only 5yrs old. she was a katrina survivor. we gave her the birthdate of august 29, 2005 -the day katrina hit landfall in louisiana. she was only 4months old, found in new orleans all alone. we drove down in a 24hr period a couple weeks after the hurricane with a car full of supplies and brought her back pre-picked and spayed for me. she was my precious "black dog" ALWAYS smiling, happy and wagging her tail... she blew out her knee maybe 9 months after we got her, we got her a knee operation to fix it, the same knee got messed up again about 6 months after the surgery. long story short.... it was now unrepairable we were told. we got her a wheelchair with donations from amazing people. but it wasn't a permanent fix for 24/7. (we are donating her chair either to a vet school or back to the company for a dog that fits her measurements to get it free) we had been giving her weekly steroid injections and she was still keeping the leg pulled up which meant the injections likely were not working anymore.

all of the above were taken all week, trying to "keep" her with me.

after TONS of soul searching we got her legs x-rayed for a final diagnosis, amputation, another surgery, anything! i was reaching at straws trying to save my happy dog. diagnosis- tremendous damage in the bad leg and moderate damage in the "good leg". the vet had "never seen a knee cap in the place hers was". she was a young dog- NOT FAIR! a dear friend (R) gave me insight on keeping her alive "for me", she said "do you want her to live the next 5/6 years in chronic pain?". my answer was no. so in my mind i made the choice, pissed off at the world for my precious dog that had already survived so much. she was a difficult dog even in the end and they had to give her two of the injections cause the first one didn't go into her vein like it was supposed to. she wagged her tail and smiled at me sending me right over the edge while she slipped away. i still feel like i failed her specifically, if we had more money could we have taken her to a state of the art vet orthopedic surgeon somewhere in the world? then i think maybe that would have prolonged her life but not the quality of it.

my iphone start up screen, every time i access my phone i see them.

then since i rationalized the both of them going on the same day, that would mean they would be together. this made it easier for my breaking heart. so the appointment was made on monday and they were taken on saturday. i cried all week, breaking down as Destra followed me around the house laying at my feet everywhere i went. i cried when Bishop farted knowing i would never smell his nasty old ass again. Monte and Harley started following me around by wednesday evening knowing i was upset about something... which made me cry more.

friday night i took paw prints with paint and paper trying anything to keep a piece of them with me. i cried when i gave him his seizure meds for the last time, cried letting Destra sleep with me friday night (huge no-no), cried cried cried. i had already been taking sooo many photos and videos of them all week. i wanted to be able to see Destra wag her tail and Bishop stick his whole face in the water bowl.

we are getting them cremated, i can not live with-out knowing they are safe with me forever. it seems odd but i kept telling myself they were coming back to me which made my crazy brain let them go. my best friend R was the most amazing person and took them after the appointment to the humane society where i wanted them cremated- at the same time. R, B, and the other girls would treat them as if they were their own and that made me sane. G said to me that saturday morning- "no more animals" and i told her that wasn't possible with me. i also told her it wasn't fair to never rescue another pitiful case just because of this hard decision. they had amazing lives and were treated better than some treat their human children. we loved them, spoiled them, cared for them, laughed at them and were there for them when we let them go, loving them. now we mourn them in a huge way. it's amazing how quiet and EMPTY the house is- with still having four dogs.... Bishop and Destra had such GIGANTIC personalities and are seriously missed in a way that may never be filled. they were both some of the bestest dogs a person could wish for.

the two of them together on saturday morning

last "six pack" family photo, taken saturday morning.

crash, 7 car pile up....

2010-06-28T21:22:00.001-05:00

put yourself in southern Mississippi, between Mobile and Hattiesburg.

this is where we were, in a rental car driving to Pensacola for vacation, five days of sun, friends & beach. dogs secure with our in-home dogsitter and a dog expert who was checking in on them while the dogsitter was at work. we initially were going to take the wiener dogs with us but then decided we needed the break from them all! don't get me wrong we LOVE them but 7 days a week, 365 days a year, almost 24 hours a day. 6 dogs of varying neediness and personal ticks. they are enough to drive me to drink some days, even though i wouldn't change it for the world. we were staying with friends and they had two dogs and four kids so we knew we would be occupied, and the beach? did i say beach?!!!!
are you ready for the play by play.....

a ten hour car ride, i sleep

i just woke up.

g slows down on the four lane highway divided by a grass median.

she comes to a stop, i look up.

i see a dog in the roadway.

a little black dog

she says its gonna get hit?!

she pulls over on the edge of the hwy.

i am jumping out of the car before it stops.

i run over to the dog and it runs away.

i see a car coming.

the dog gets out of the way.

i try again to get the dog.

it doesn't let me get close.

i keep talking to it in a calming voice.

g says grab the dog.

i try to get close but no luck.

g says grab the damn dog

i am following it around trying to get it.

dog and i are standing in the hwy.

i figure the oncoming cars will see me but not him.

here come cars...

a bunch of them,

they start stopping.

g says grab the damn dog

still i try but no luck

then i hear it,

screeching
and a ton of it

now keep in mind there are six or seven cars in both lanes in various staggered positions

i look up to see the full size truck slamming on his breaks

he veers to the left
he is still screeching and flying!

there is a sudden sharp cut to the right

my life is flashing before my eyes since i am still standing in the hwy!

he finds a hole

he tears through this hole in the cars

he is now careening through the median

there is dirt and gravel flying everywhere

the dogs runs toward the median as the truck is flying along side

i close my eyes not wanting to see his death!!!

the truck never really slowing and the dog is two feet from the truck tires

then it happens,

he misses the dog?!

what?! really?!
i am standing there in awe of still having breath in my body.
g says get in the car.
i get in the car,
the dog is in the median,
cars all go past.
all a little thankful the stupid guy missed. he never even stopped?

and how? i still don't know this answer?

g says get the dog.

i get out a second time and the dog runs over to me, i kneel down and reach out and grab it with everything i have ninja/matrix like in me. i barely had a hold of him and took him back to the car. we sit down and g drives off. we sit in shock for a bit.

then we call our dog expert, she gives us ideas for options.
we keep the dog
we take him on vacation with us
our friends daughter helps us drop a quick $60
on him, leash toys, bowl, food, shampoo, etc. etc..

our dog expert works at the humane society and we hear of a couple she knows who was just in there to try and adopt a..... get this.... little wiener dog. but it was already spoken for and broke their hearts. so g and i decided he would be best with them, mom, dad, and two girls (8&5).

perfect right?!

this is crash with all his scrapes and sores, poor boy!

he was a really great dog! he was better than most of ours are in the car!

the beach was amazing!

crash on his ten hour car ride home.

crash sleeping with us one night before going to meet his new family. crash is now duncan....

but to me he will always be crash!

prelude...

2010-06-03T22:37:00.002-05:00

i have a fun story for you as soon as i have a few minutes to spare to do it justice.

"think 7 car pile up and loose wiener."

farm random

2010-05-18T07:38:00.004-05:00

good old Bishop and his "birthing". this is a sweat shirt hanging over the back of the chair. he feels the need to rub his face under anything hanging. he is doing well, no seizures and his falling has been better.

Peanut & WienerDog sleeping on the edge of the bed so they can see out the window. goofballs.

this is not our dog. we rescued her from a farm auction where she was a stray, covered in mud and getting mistreated. she had hundreds of ticks on her. that is not an exaggeration, hundreds. she has the most crystal blue eyes i have ever seen on a dog. we took her to the Humane Society where she was "de-ticked" and tested for heartworms (a surprising negative result) and placed up for adoption. She was apparently adopted by a mom and a couple of kids. she was also spayed before she went home so that will ensure her to never have any pups! wow. cool huh.

Digby, a loss.......

2010-05-10T09:40:00.003-05:00

a loss to the dog world. this boy was an amazing creature and he will be severely missed. i think he is teaching all the dogs above a cool new trick, rug surfing...

i haven't posted since he got sick not wanting to "jinx" him but he decided last night he was going to a better place. his people did everything possible that two loving parents could possibly do to keep him around. his brother Wilf is just as sweet and we hope to keep hearing about him and his trips to the big city.

keep an eye on them from where you are "wee Digby"

we need some positive energy in a big way bloggers!!!

2010-04-25T20:00:00.002-05:00

a blog "the farm" has been following for a long while now needs some serious positive energy. send it for Digby...

http://wilfanddigby.blogspot.com/2010/04/not-without-fight.html

nice weather...

2010-04-06T23:20:00.002-05:00

nice weather means lots of outside time for crazy doggies. the farm needs this nice weather since these cute faces were soon gonna get smothered by us. too much inside time brings on major cabin fever. they are enough to drive us looney so this weather helps by getting them away from us for a while.

we have been recommended... cool huh!

2010-03-30T13:10:00.004-05:00

Thanks Dogster.com!!! we got tweeted out to the masses so if you are new, come back cause you don't have to pay for the laughs you will usually get here! ~the farm

spoke too soon...

2010-03-28T22:26:00.006-05:00

so the day after my last post Wiener Dog got worse...way worse

i came home from work that night and he kept following me around and trying to climb my leg to be held, whining and acting like his butt was hurting?. now when i say whining i mean more than usual for himself. he was worse throughout the night but in the morning had a normal poo. i was still confused? no impaction... but still over the top odd behavior. i then thought urinary tract infection? and we knew this diagnosis was gonna cost a million dollars, it's like saying "we don't know what's wrong but here he is and here is a blank check"

SO we take him to the vet, and $74 later we get the diagnosis, -anal gland infection-? WHAT!!!<:?? what the heck is that??? so google was my friend and i got more info than i ever wanted on anal glands. he is on an antibiotic and has pain meds. he JUST started feeling better yesterday. and now he is a real pain in our butt.... HAHAHA get it, anal gland, butt... and this is probably a reoccurring thing. all that i care about is he feels better.! he is soo sensitive to anything and everything that i want to shelter him from all things bad! i got him a new stuffed toy, and he has been suckling it like a wee little puppy.... so cute but it makes him happy.

such a cute little Wiener Dog tush...

Kitten update, the spay and neuter went really well and they have been running and jumping and crashing into stuff like mad flying rabid squirrel creatures... so they are back to normal... :)

Boston ready to pounce on me... he is defiantly the nutty out of the two.

this is Gehrig's belly. poor girl got the worse end of the surgeries.... she gets her stitches out in a few more days.

we also are some sort of dogster.com recommended site now...

an e-mail i got the other day,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear My Dog Farm,

That is quite a farm you have indeed! It's funny, I tell my coworkers everyday that eventually, I want to have a shih tzu farm with a bunch of them running around a big field, this blog reminds me of that!

I was just stopping by to personally say........

CONGRATULATIONS!

On behalf of Dogster.com I have selected your site to be one of our top favorite sites! We love how informative and interesting your site is : ) I go through about 50 blogs a day, choosing about 5-10 I feel worthy!

If you accept this invitation, we'll gladly send you one of our "4 paws up from Dogster" award badge or one similar for you to place on your site.

This will not only give you recognition from one of the top pet sites (Dogster.com, a community of over 1 million members generating over 15 million page views a month), it'll also hopefully generate you more traffic to your site!

I'll also promote your site to our 12,000+ followers on Twitter!

Let me know what you think!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

fun huh, how cool that they sent us a badge! ... i would write this madness whether people read it or not. the Farm and i need this outlet to vent, laugh, document, etc...

drum roll for price of surgeries

2010-03-25T00:04:00.002-05:00

$145 that was it... for 1 spay and 1 neuter of Boston and Gehrig! and they are doing great, running like crazies.

the dogs are also great. Bishop, Monte, Destra, Peanut...

i think Harley pulled a muscle in her front leg she was slightly limping this morning. she isn't getting any younger i told her... haha.

Wiener Dog is still restless and i am starting to wonder if he has an issue? more than typical that is!

random farm stuff...

2010-03-23T12:57:00.005-05:00

Boston and Gehrig went for their "cut" this morning, as in spay and neuter. yikes, i haven't even asked what it is gonna cost, A* because it has to be done and B* it is kinda like playing roulette. i'm hoping for under $200. who wants to bet? it is calm around here, no maniac kittens climbing me.
__________________________________________________________________

Wiener Dog has gone off the deep end... the past four/five days he has been very restless in bed with us. as in really bad, we keep talking about kicking him out. but won't since he is such a sensitive beast.

i thought at first he was constipated, since the fool eats chunks of stuffed animal and grass. nope he had a normal poo.

i then thought he may have a urinary tract infection, nope no pain or problem peeing.

i thought he may have a problem with his back, no noted pain and his back legs are not weak. so what is it? you tell me... he was just outside playing and helping us keep the grass trimmed by scratching and pulling it out of the ground. he is such a nut. if you have any ideas? we at the farm tend to take dogs to the vet when they have an apparent problem. the farm is not able to pay $500 to diagnose the fact he may need prozac. lol...
__________________________________________________________________

everyone else is good. :)

whoooo.... !!!

2010-03-16T23:12:00.004-05:00

need a little reassurance in humanity?

dog treat recall.....well not yet anyway... :(

2010-03-14T14:57:00.002-05:00

NOT COOL.

random stuff...

2010-03-10T23:06:00.003-06:00

DOG FaRM updates, including kittens & hamsters...

Boston is crazy, i was making some hard-boiled eggs, and yes you see where this is going.

I turned my back on the two sleeping kittens laying on the table to peel the eggs, and next thing i hear is a kitten yelp/scream that had me thinking Monte had him by his face...
nope he ran onto the stove.
burned his paw.
i thought we were making a trip to the emergency vet!!! i checked his paw a hundred times and kept loving on him, G said "guess he will stay off the counter now" "he shouldn't be up there anyway". i know that and now so does Boston with his peeling scabby paw. he really milked it for a while and got full sympathy from me and g. it was just the one little pad and part of the other for two days until the others peeled and scabbed over. and it is virtually impossible to put medicine on a crazy kitten that will just lick it off anyway... so we have watched it for infection which thankfully there isn't any and he seems fine.
...and he might stay off the counter now! :)

Gehrig has molted like some random bird? she felt like a stuffed animal fuzzy furry thing then she got a gray peppery coat under that coat and now she is all black again and super soft? leave it to her to be different? :)

Bishop is very weak in his back end and usually does this half fall/skid down the outside steps? we see excitement in him still and can't bring ourselves to wack him just yet? he has been seizure free for a long time now although it is supposed to storm tonight and those STRESS him out, valium time for the old man... :)

Destra started another round of adequin injections this past week after her leg started bothering her again. she did really awesome with the injection this time! and seems to be a little less pained now. she was starting to lay down every time she made it to the destination she walked to? ... she is one tough stubborn dog. :)

Monte still carries the rock around outside and dumps it (filthy) at my feet for me to throw. and why is his toy a rock you ask... cause that's the only thing the asshole won't chew up in like five minutes.! and it is a special rock, no tricking this jerk with a random other rock. so that means i have to go look for it when i want to play catch with him?... :)

Harley, Wiener Dog and Peanut are all same old same old...
Peanut ~spoiled,
Wiener Dog ~LAZY,
Harley ~crazy needy!

i have "unplugged" some things (a few of my many blogs, twitter, computer time in general.)and have been spending lots of quality time with the "farm" animals, it has been good. it has helped that it is getting nicer outside and i can enjoy standing out there with them instead of this horrible thing called winter....

Hamsters-
#2 PC is fine and seems to be getting unsociable, little jerk.
#1 MAC has a tumor and i took him to the vet since it got this huge gaping hole in it and i was thinking 'his death date has moved up" the vet says to keep him until the little porkchop doesn't want to eat...!>? whatever!! he is like a little butterball!!! i figure his little butt will last for weeks on his fat storage! geez. so i have this Frankenstein hammie looking like someone shot him in the tumor on his leg? he may scare small children!

NEVER DULL on the farm...

a dog farm loss (not bishop)...

2010-03-03T09:52:00.008-06:00

my hateful crusty MEAN asshole of a cat mittens
i found dead earlier today. :(
he had been inside sleeping on the chair cause it was cold just a few days ago. and he never went far from his food bowl on the porch. so to not see him around for the last few days i knew something wasn't right. i called out to the humane society thinking he was taken to jail. i told the girl i would go bail him out if he showed up. she knew what to look for, a crooked eyed, ear permanently bent backwards, tooth broken, asshole who would bite in a split second. but there he was in a pillow of shrubs, outside the fence, near our backyard apartment. he didn't look hurt or wounded. it looks like he just laid down and went to sleep...

when we lived in the rental house before buying this house we "acquired him". the first day i met him i was petting him and he sunk his teeth right into my arm (deep). out of instinct i wacked him with my almost closed fist since he wouldn't let go! we shared a bond after that and he actually tolerated me. he usually let g mess with him also with-in reason, just to feed him.

the woman who owned him said he came with the rental and if we didn't want him to take him to the humane society. well i knew for sure what his fate was if i did that so here began our years with the asshole. when we moved we figured we would take him with thinking he may go back to his old house since that was all he knew. we brought him over as our last thing to move, he crawled out of the pet carrier and bolted, we didn't see him for a week. he came back extremely skinny and stayed here till today. i guess he figured we fed him, didn't bother him too much so he would put up with us if we put up with him. this is also how we ended up feeding half the neighborhood. we fed him, so others showed up to eat the free food buffet...

he was a real charmer, *cough *cough *gag *gag. i remember any pizza guys delivering pizza would stand on the porch and i would say "watch the cat ~he bites" and they would laugh and not take me seriously. he would inevitably charge them (and they would take me serious the next time they came). he would circle them like a veloca-raptor in Jurassic Park. he was actually a terrible liability for a homeowner! at the new house he sunned himself on the porch all day and the few mailmen we have tell us they are more scared of him then the giant dogs barking in the window. one mailman actually refuses to deliver the mail if mittens is on the porch, flat would not bring us mail. i thought "you go mittens" we will get the mail eventually :)

he was not a starter cat! i don't know what made him this way? but i loved him tremendously for his horrible attitude. he fought with anything that shared his space, and that meant space as in an entire block of this neighborhood. he got into more fights than i could ever count!!! after one summer of going to the vet over ten times to get infected wounds cleaned out i finally started doing it myself. he was ok with this, it meant he didn't have to get bum-rushed into a pet carrier! i would put rubber gloves on that g would bring home from the hospital just for him and pick off a part of the scab and then push all the infection out, which sometimes was a lot! then put antibiotic ointment in it and he was good-to-go. this was almost a weekly thing for him.?

a few summers ago he came up with a huge wound in his eyeball! you can see it above, and back to the vet he went to have surgery to repair the eye. they fixed it up after a million dollars just so he would have his eyeball since he probably already lost his sight in that eye. we laughed at him telling him he was already ugly enough! what more could he do to himself.

we think he realized changes were coming and gave up. he was 10 when we "acquired him" and we have had him 6 years, that means the crotchety old man was somewhere around 16 years old. this is a pretty good life for a cat this horrible. but he sure was/is loved.

peanut decides....

2010-03-01T11:57:00.002-06:00

final piece!

got one where everyone is looking!

this is how it starts, everyone lines up great~ until ~the "pain in the ass" peanut. you can see the progression of her deciding she is finished with the photo shoot five seconds after it starts.... she drives everyone else crazy! :) so a five minute shoot ends up taking twenty minutes. (and a frustrated mom who doesn't know whether to hug her or choke her.)

six pak in the snow...

2010-02-11T11:53:00.003-06:00

Wiener Dog has to have his crooked foot up always.
he looks like an old man with the snow beard.

Destra acting like a goofball.

Harley hates getting anything on her feet.

Old man Bishop, only walks around to pee then back to the porch.

Monte never holding still for a photo...

Peanut, enough said right?...

crazy girls playing in the snow...

Wiener Dog and Peanut shivering in the background.
her 1 minute minimum was up for outside, :)

stupid hamster...

2010-02-04T19:55:00.002-06:00

so we got two hamsters from the Humane Society (that never got adopted) a month or so after my beloved rat-attack died. they came as a pair, i really only fell for the little brown one not so-much the multicolored one.

we feed them really good food from petco, a few different kinds and mix them together. some brands have different things than others so we figure they are pretty spoiled. i named them Mac and PC. completely stupid names. and of course the one i like is named Mac.

i separated them weeks ago since they started fighting. luckily i still had the rat cage, but i had to buy another wheel. them they get put in their ball regularly for exercise. NOT that they need it since they walk on those stupid wheels ALL EVENING AND NIGHT!!

squeek squeek G keeps saying we need to put WD-40 on the wheels so they stop squeeking but i tell her "zero chance"! HELLOO it is probably poisonous, and she chuckles and always says "she knows that". to which i get all offended and say laughing "leave my psuedo rats alone"!

disclaimer***- she would never even do that! but she did suggest cooking oil the other day and i might go for that solution.

so why you ask (if you are even still reading this) am i even babbling about these crazy vermin? i noticed the hamster i *LIKE* has come up with a tumor in his front armpit. :(

i am so not happy about this. as horrible as this is why can't it be the one i don't really care for? to which my dear friend "R" says, "it knows you don't like it so it will live ten years to spite you!" WTF! and my luck it probably will.

i guess we will be having a trip in the future to the vet for the murder of a darn hammie. and then i will be stuck with the PC. just my luck. i am so a Mac girl.

surprise... well not really.

2010-01-31T20:25:00.004-06:00

yes we decided to keep Boston & Gehrig. shocker!
and surprise Gehrig is a girl. yes a girl.... w.t.heck!!!
even though she is a she i am still calling her a he.
did you follow that?

We have a farm that two of the outside cats get to go to, with a horse barn and other cats.
We never picked them, but feel somewhat responsible for them. they are fixed and that makes me feel a little better for sending them away. they are used to the outdoors so again i don't feel bad.

these two guys(snickers) will be fully inside. Boston is venturing outside the babygate to the other part of the house, Gehrig not so much.

any guesses?...

2010-01-30T12:21:00.000-06:00

the dogfarm has a surprise, anyone wanna guess what it is?

some random photos of rugrats...

2010-01-22T11:44:00.001-06:00

BOSTON

GEHRIG

normal sized Boston and pixie sized Gehrig.
isn't it insane to know they are from the same litter?

two wieners taking a nap with mom. the end.

poor wiener...

2010-01-17T23:29:00.002-06:00

so g&i went out this evening for about two hours,
not very long by OUR standards.
BUT by a sensitive wiener dogs standards ~a lifetime.
i usually make a head count before leaving...
you see where this is going don't ya?
we pull up to the house in the dark and what do i hear?
or better yet who do i hear?
why it sounds like a howling/barking wiener dog on the side porch.
my stomach sank?
surely that isn't our dog?
all our dogs are SAFE inside the house.
right where we left them.
but i know how each one of them barks and this sure sounded like him
our most preciously sensitive ninny of a boy, Wiener Dog.
he was yelling his displeasure.
for all the world to hear.
i am thinking all terrible thoughts,
someone could steal him out of our fenced yard,
poison him, hurt him,
did i say steal him!
i ask g if she counted, nope
she asked me if i counted, nope
1,2,3,4,5,6, how hard is it to count to 6?
clearly we both fail at the mom job today!
i don't know whether to laugh
or run through the house to my little baby boy
pick him up and cuddle him until i gained his forgiveness
i did a little of both,
i laughed while telling g we are terrible parents
thanking whomever there is to thank he isn't a human child,
while going to pick him up and love all over him.
but as i held him and his 'little greased sausage self'
i told him he is like the pokey little puppy.
ALWAYS LAGGING BEHIND!!!
he has been sleeping under a blanket on the couch all evening.
we suck.
my poor baby boy.

i didn't cry???

2010-01-16T23:53:00.002-06:00

so i got sick the other day when i was gonna take the kittens so i had to take them this morning. momma cat and five babies, the gray and white, the two calico's, the diluted gray calico, the bigger all black one.

i still have Boston/Sox who is on antibiotics and the two teeny tiny little dudes, Mickey, Gehrig.

i did not cry dropping the rest off today? i found it strange to leave them and not be upset. i guess i had it in my thick brain they were not mine.

BUT i don't really feel that way with Boston and Gehrig. i really want to keep both of them. we have no inside cats and think they would be fun to have around. they are in my and G's heart. so if you know of anyone who wants a couple of fixed outside cats so i can keep these two guys inside i would be grateful. is that bad that i am trying to pawn off those cats that we feel responsible for to try and keep these two guys? probably.

big day tomorrow...

2010-01-13T21:00:00.003-06:00

so the kittens (5 of the 8) and Momma cat go back to the Humane Society tomorrow. I am not sure if i am sad or not. i will be very glad to be able to clean and keep clean the office, BUT they have brought me much joy. even though there has been sadness and that is to be expected with a large litter the joy and laughter has outweighed the sadness. this lately has turned into the "cat farm" since most of the posts have been about the fosters. that is also good since that means the dog pack is stable and healthy.

there were no kittens today at the shelter, rare- very rare. so that is why instead of saturday we have moved it up to tomorrow. they got their vaccines today and wormer so they are ready. my wish for them is ~good happy homes.

we are keeping Boston, Gehrig and Mickey. Boston is still on his meds from his weekend trip to the vet and the other two teeny boys could use the extra time since they are really not getting any bigger. The two little ones are still 1/3 the size of the really big ones....

i really could easily keep Gehrig and now even Boston but we have four outside cats. while we never picked those cats as ours it just sort-of happened. strays that we got fixed and fed, so that puts us in the owner category. we have our hands full with the dogs and outside cats so taking on two kittens would be unfair to everyone. but what is done is done and unless those buggers magically go to nice new homes we will sadly be giving up Gehrig and Boston. but for now we get them an extra week or so. my lap will be full sitting here at the computer for a little bit longer... :)

so i consider the fostering a success even though a few were lost due to circumstances out of our control. we have 8 utterly adorable kittens and a healthy momma cat that all get an extra chance. i encourage you the reader of this crazy blog to donate time, fostering, money to your local shelter. it gives some a chance that otherwise would not have it.

trip to the emergency vet....

2010-01-09T22:02:00.004-06:00

so this morning after not really spending quality time with these insane foster kittens the past day&half cause i have a 'job'. i have been working tons of extra hours so i fall into bed when i get home.

i notice one of the biggest/healthiest kittens (Boston) is trying to pee/poop and is crying like he is in pain. my maternal instinct goes into tazmanian mode and i watch him closely for the next two hours or so.

he keeps going to the litter box and trying to go with no luck...?
and still meowing painfully.

i text my Humane Society expert and she says to try to get him to go with a trick of the trade,
no luck.
next step, trip to ER vet's office.
he may be blocked. grrr.
if you read the very last post you will notice my first "fostering" is quite challenging....

after an ultrasound ~it is his bladder.
and it is SUPER DUPER FULL!!
not good
she(vet) tries to make him pee and he does a tiny bit.
she gets a sample for testing.
sends it with the tech for testing...
she gets a ginormous syringe with a little needle and three of us hold this very passive kitten while she sticks the needle into his (belly) bladder TWICE.
she pulls out way over 15ml of urine.
that is A LOT!!!

he starts to meow at this point.
test results, he is free of crystals which is a good sign for his kidney function.
he needs to be watched for oh about 6 months?
this is because he may not be "fixable"
he is on antibiotics and anti-inflammatory for 2 weeks.
we need to change his food.
his urethra may be too narrow...
he may have problems for L.i.F.E.
what does that mean for adoption possibles?
right now he is sleeping tucked in a blanket on my lap.
i am taking forever on this post since i will have to put him down.
i sure am tired...

day he was born.

following week...

still a tiny boy...

hanging out snuggled on my lap at the vets today...

on the exam table... poor guy.

mother nature is pissing me off.

2009-12-28T22:49:00.003-06:00

So the kittens we are fostering, remember? We got the pregnant momma cat and she pop'ed having 11 kittens, one of which was stillborn. Then a second one died with-in the next few days from "failure to thrive" syndrome. YEAH well I am pretty sure a third will die by morning.

There are three tiny ones, seriously tinier than the rest. My friend R says they could be as much as two weeks apart since girl cats can get prego by different boy cats multiple times. SO this means the first set, the six bigger ones are probably way older technically than the three tiny ones. I have been trying to make sure the little ones eat and nurse on mom. About four days ago the little cream/white one was starting to seem less active. I saw that he was still eating and figured maybe he is just tired? Then he got even more lethargic and I gave him some Milk Re-placer. Then I told R this since he wasn't getting better and his body weight was getting worse.

She told me about the possible age difference and the fact that he may be using his sugars wrong. So the trick to try- putting syrup on his gums and that should make him better. This may work? and yesterday he seemed a little more active. We kept doing that a few times yesterday and this morning. tonight when i got home from work he didn't seem to be doing good at all. Now i am ridiculously sad cause i know that he will probably not make it through the night.... and as i hold him telling him that nature sucks i think fostering is really hard. I am prepared to give them all back even knowing they might not get adopted and have to get euthanized anyway but for fucks sake they can't die on my watch!??

so i am going to continue to hold him
and keep him close to me
and continue to cry like a baby while the little guy dies in my arms.

six pak...

2009-12-20T11:30:00.002-06:00

top left to bottom right,

BISHOP, king of house

WIENER DOG, crazy but loveable

HARLEY, barker, soccer player

PEANUT, queenbitch, always gets her way?

MONTE, ball dog

DESTRA, goofiest!

crazy bishop...

2009-12-12T08:28:00.002-06:00

Bishop does this thing?>>>

it is when plants overhang the chain link. one whole side of our yard is full of random vine stuff. he walks under it REAL slow, i mean real slow. like his body shakes he is trying to be so still. he rubs his face into the vines and lets it rub over his back. we stop and watch him cause he gets this intense facial expression like the feeling is euphoric or something? it may be from his days before us, some random thing that made him happy while he went through pure hell. who knows.

dog farm poem...

2009-12-09T14:13:00.002-06:00

two lumps in the bed sucking heat.
tails wagging hard enough to bruise.
begging that is too cute to correct.
barking at anything that moves.
so scared of storms medication is needed.
dirty paws on clean jeans.
dirty nasty balls placed in laps to throw again.
fresh slobbers on everything.
this is my world.

dearest bobbie,

2009-12-06T08:37:00.004-06:00

readers, please keep my dear friend Bobbie in your thoughts (&prayers) through this heartbreaking time.

the events are posted here.

Monte,

2009-12-04T08:30:00.010-06:00

Monte has pooped in every state and canada, we got him as a baby from a guy who drove an 18 wheeler. and we drove for another year after getting him. he is very well traveled.

Monte and Harley hanging out with Mittens. Mittens is an asshole, really. so this photo is odd, him snuggling with Monte. the mailman is seriously more afraid of this cat than all of our dogs. really.

Monte's paw shot here won first place in a in a photo contest for me!!

Monte when we lived on 45 acres and he could RUN!

Monte when he had the homemade bling going on!

one of my favorite photos of him in the woods.

BALL DOG. enough said.

this won me another first place finish...ball dog.

he is so handsome!

dork alert in the snow. i threw his ball in a drift and he had to dig it out.

hey there...

Monte and his Brother Ripken (r.i.p. another story) i think Monte is on the left... pretty sure anyway. they look so close!

LAZY BUM.

our Monte, is graying.

G&i have been together 9+ yrs now and have had him 8 of those years.

he has flaws,

he kills stray cats who mistakenly get into the yard, his tally is about 5 murders. (any small animal really)

he paws at us constantly to get petted and we don't help this bad behavior cause we give in.

he poops in the basement if it rains/storms for more than two days, he is scared to death of storms and AIN'T going out. (wonderful hunting dog huh?)

he bit me once. about 4/5 yrs ago now BUT it was my fault, mistake#1, Bishop was laying on the floor minding his own business and i threw the ball for Monte and he ran over the top of Bishop. they already have a shaky relationship since they are both ALPHA and met initially un-nuetered. (we have had 4 knockdown drag out fights in 5/6+yrs.) so this caused a big fight, then mistake #2, was sticking my arms in the middle of a 80/90 lb dog fight trying to split it up.
stupid. yep he bit me, 2 big holes on my forearm and he pulled so the muscle was all out of wack. and i didn't have health insurance so we did the best we could with our emergency training. he didn't know he bit me until he heard me yell. then my arm started bleeding and he sat, tail tucked and hung his ears. he was horrified he bit me. he tried licking the blood from my arm, Bishop was completely forgotten at this point. for the next couple of weeks he would sit by me real calm and sniff and lick at my bandage. we were told by a ton of people to put him down. WHY? he showed zero sign of aggression other than his "tiff" with another ALPHA male dog in his household. AND i caused the fight!! AND I STUCK MY ARMS INTO A DOG FIGHT. needless to say we did not put him down. we said if we saw ANY other sign of aggression from him we would deal with that then. and we have not. he and Bishop have had a few more small/medium fights (maybe 2/3)in the last couple of years but no more like that day. and Bishop is so old he doesn't have much fight in him.

he eats cardboard, like when i am cooking mac&cheese he waits till i set the box in the spot for recycle and will "all stealth like" come and snatch it and go into the living room and shred it. i think it is funny until i have to clean it up, tiny little pieces of cardboard- what he doesn't eat. this is almost not a flaw. he is green, mother nature approves of recycling after all.

funny things about him, he yawns- and makes the most crazy walruss/elephant/seal noises possible, i laugh hard every time. especially since you can hear him do it in any part of the house, they resonate.

he is world famous, he chewed up michael vick cards and made two of our local shelters $7,400 on a card auction on ebay. his face was on worldwide newscasts, newspapers and the bible of the sporting world the Beckett Trading Card price guide.

he comes over to us and flops on the floor and points his belly to the sky and does this sharp bark telling us he neeeeeds to be petted, NOW.

he nudges you if you have had a bad day.

he loves chasing a ball.

~~~he is the smartest, sweetest, best ball dog a mom could ever ask for. and i don't want him to gray!

:(

2009-12-01T09:35:00.003-06:00

RIP little guy. #53 Melky Cabrera. this is the name i give him after death. i haven't even named them all. :(

i have sort of left momma cat alone since she kept trying to move them since i was constantly pestering them. (so last week i pretty much left them be). made sure the heater was keeping the office warm enough and looking at them off and on. (mostly as a pile of kittens not really taking note of each individual one). then later on friday i picked them all up one by one and loved on them. momma cat wasn't in the room.

i noticed he was really tiny still and not fat at all. so i started pulling the chubby ones off and making sure he was getting a nipple. this seemed to work and he was nursing. sunday i started trying to give him some KMR(kitten milk replacer) and he didn't really want that. i got him to nurse a few more times on mom (all along knowing he was probably not going to make it). this morning he was dead. :( what a bummer.

My friend "r" says it was probably "failure to thrive", and no matter what i did he would have probably still died. this makes me feel a little better cause i was blaming the fact that i didn't really check that closely on them last week. so out of 11 kittens we have 9 still. ( #1 died at birth).

too cute... and not mine!...

2009-11-29T09:47:00.001-06:00

Tarsiers have the distinction of being an intermediate form between lemurs and monkeys. Like lemurs, they have an excellent sense of smell and are nocturnal. Like monkeys, though, their nose is dry and hairy.

Why are the tarsier's eyes so large? Most likely because, though they are nocturnal, they lack the reflective membrane that most nocturnal creatures have in their eyes. Why the long fingers? All the better to wring your neck with.

A_FRICKING_DORABLE!!!!

dog farm gots kittens...

2009-11-22T16:21:00.003-06:00

These ten foster babies with the exception of one will be named Red Sox players and (the better team) the Yankees. I promised my better half and a bff "R" for the Red Sox names, what was I thinking? :) Momma Cat is RUTH after Babe Ruth who played on both teams!

this is SOX, ya know after Red Sox... even though his sox are white....

this is Gehrig after my hero Lou Gehrig, a Yankee...

this is BIG PAPI, he is loud and not very smart... perfect fit.

Gracie after my friends Pitt/Lab who was lost too soon...

name for Red Sox player coming from Rain...

name for Yankee player coming from Rain...

great friend....

2009-11-20T11:40:00.001-06:00

"R"---she who is scared of birds, this is for you...

not for faint hearted- but should be read...

2009-11-20T08:31:00.002-06:00

i found this at a dog blog i read. (link) worth a stop or two if you like dogs, warning get a tissue. really. very long but worth the read. really.

"His Name is Sam"

After I was discharged from the Navy, Jim and I moved back to Detroit to use our GI bill benefits to get some schooling. Jim was going for a degree in Electronics and I, after much debating, decided to get mine in Computer Science.

One of the classes that was a requirement was Speech. Like many people, I had no fondness for getting up in front of people for any reason, let alone to be the center of attention as I stuttered my way through some unfamiliar subject. But I couldn't get out of the requirement, and so I found myself in my last semester before graduation with Speech as one of my classes. On the first day of class our professor explained to us that he was going to leave the subject matter of our talks up to us, but he was going to provide the motivation of the speech. We would be responsible for six speeches, each with a different motivation. For instance our first speech's purpose was to inform. He advised us to pick subjects that we were interested in and knowledgeable about. I decided to center my six speeches around animals, especially dogs.

For my first speech to inform, I talked about the equestrian art of dressage. For my speech to demonstrate, I brought my German Shepherd, Bodger, to class and demonstrated obedience commands. Finally the semester was almost over and I had but one more speech to give. This speech was to take the place of a written final exam and was to count for fifty per cent of our grade. The speeches motivation was to persuade.

After agonizing over a subject matter, and keeping with my animal theme, I decided on the topic of spaying and neutering pets. My goal was to try to persuade my classmates to neuter their pets. So I started researching the topic. There was plenty of material, articles that told of the millions of dogs and cats that were euthanized every year, of supposedly beloved pets that were turned in to various animal control facilities for the lamest of reasons, or worse, dropped off far from home, bewildered and scared. Death was usually a blessing.

The final speech was looming closer, but I felt well prepared. My notes were full of facts and statistics that I felt sure would motivate even the most naive of pet owners to succumb to my plea.

A couple of days before our speeches were due, I had the bright idea of going to the local branch of the Humane Society and borrowing a puppy to use as a sort of a visual aid. I called the Humane Society and explained what I wanted. They were very happy to accommodate me. I made arrangements to pick up a puppy the day before my speech.

The day before my speech, I went to pick up the puppy. I was feeling very confident. I could quote all the statistics and numbers without ever looking at my notes. The puppy, I felt, would add the final emotional touch.

When I arrived at the Humane Society I was met by a young guy named Ron. He explained that he was the public relations person for the Humane Society. He was very excited about my speech and asked if I would like a tour of the facilities before I picked up the puppy. I enthusiastically agreed. We started out in the reception area, which was the general public's initial encounter with the Humane Society.

The lobby was full, mostly with people dropping off various animals that they no longer wanted. Ron explained to me that this branch of the Humane Society took in about fifty animals a day and adopted out only about twenty.

As we stood there I heard snatches of conversation: "I can't keep him, he digs holes in my garden." "They are such cute puppies, I know you will have no trouble finding homes for them." "She is wild, I can't control her." I heard one of Humane Society's volunteer explain to the lady with the litter of puppies that the Society was filled with puppies and that these puppies, being black, would immediately be put to sleep.Black puppies, she explained, had little chance of being adopted. The woman who brought the puppies in just shrugged, "I can't help it," she whined. "They are getting too big. I don't have room for them." We left the reception area.

Ron led me into the staging area where all the incoming animals were evaluated for adoptability. Over half never even made it to the adoption center. There were just too many. Not only were people bringing in their own animals, but strays were also dropped off. By law the Humane Society had to hold a stray for three days. If the animal was not claimed by then, it was euthanized, since there was no background information on the animal. There were already too many animals that had a known history eagerly provided by their soon to be ex-owners. As we went through the different areas, I felt more and more depressed. No amount of statistics, could take the place of seeing the reality of what this throwaway attitude did to the living, breathing animal. It was overwhelming. Finally Ron stopped in front of a closed door. "That's it," he said, "except for this."

I read the sign on the door. "Euthanasia Area." "Do you want to see one?" he asked. Before I could decline, he interjected, "You really should. You can't tell the whole story unless you experience the end." I reluctantly agreed. "Good." He said, "I already cleared it and Peggy is expecting you." He knocked firmly on the door.

A middle-aged woman in a white lab coat opened it immediately. "Here's the girl I was telling you about," Ron explained. Peggy looked me over. "Well, I'll leave you here with Peggy and meet you in the reception area in about fifteen minutes. I'll have the puppy ready." With that Ron departed, leaving me standing in front of the stern-looking Peggy. Peggy motioned me in.

As I walked into the room, I gave an audible gasp. The room was small and spartan. There were a couple of cages on the wall and a cabinet with syringes and vials of a clear liquid. In the middle of the room was an examining table with a rubber mat on top. There were two doors other than the one I had entered. Both were closed. One said to incinerator room, and the other had no sign, but I could hear various animals' noises coming from behind the closed door. In the back of the room, near the door that was marked incinerator were the objects that caused my distress: two wheelbarrows, filled with the bodies of dead kittens and puppies. I stared in horror. Nothing had prepared me for this. I felt my legs grow weak and my breathing become rapid and shallow. I wanted to run from that room, screaming. Peggy seemed not to notice my state of shock. She started talking about the euthanasia process, but I wasn't hearing her. I could not tear my gaze away from the wheelbarrows and those dozens of pathetic little bodies.

Finally, Peggy seemed to notice that I was not paying attention to her. "Are you listening?" she asked irritably. "I'm only going to go through this once." I tore my gaze from the back of the room and looked at her. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing would come out, so I nodded. She told me that behind the unmarked door were the animals that were scheduled for euthanasia that day. She picked up a chart that was hanging from the wall. "One fifty-three is next," she said as she looked at the chart. "I'll go get him." She laid down the chart on the examining table and started for the unmarked door. Before she got to the door she stopped and turned around. "You aren't going to get hysterical, are you?" she asked, "Because that will only upset the animals." I shook my head. I had not said a word since I walked into that room. I still felt unsure if I would be able to without breaking down into tears. As Peggy opened the unmarked door I peered into the room beyond. It was a small room, but the walls were lined and stacked with cages. It looked like they were all occupied. Peggy opened the door of one of the lower cages and removed the occupant. From what I could see it looked like a medium-sized dog. She attached a leash and ushered the dog into the room in which I stood.

As Peggy brought the dog into the room I could see that the dog was no more than a puppy, maybe five or six months old. The pup looked to be a cross between a Lab and a German shepherd. He was mostly black, with a small amount of tan above his eyes and on his feet. He was very excited and bouncing up and down, trying to sniff everything in this new environment. Peggy lifted the pup onto the table. She had a card in her hand, which she laid on the table next to me. I read the card. It said that number one fifty-three was a mixed Shepherd, six months old. He was surrendered two days ago by a family. Reason of surrender was given as "jumps on children." At the bottom was a note that said "Name: Sam."

Peggy was quick and efficient, from lots of practice, I guessed. She lay one fifty-three down on his side and tied a rubber tourniquet around his front leg. She turned to fill the syringe from the vial of clear liquid.

All this time I was standing at the head of the table. I could see the moment that one fifty-three went from a curious puppy to a terrified puppy. He did not like being held down and he started to struggle. It was then that I finally found my voice. I bent over the struggling puppy and whispered, "Sam. Your name is Sam." At the sound of his name Sam quit struggling. He wagged his tail tentatively and his soft pink tongue darted out and licked my hand. And that is how he spent his last moment. I watched his eyes fade from hopefulness to nothingness. It was over very quickly. I had never even seen Peggy give the lethal shot. The tears could not be contained any longer. I kept my head down so as not to embarrass myself in front of the stoic Peggy. My tears fell onto the still body on the table. "Now you know," Peggy said softly. Then she turned away. "Ron will be waiting for you."

I left the room. Although it seemed like it had been hours, only fifteen minutes had gone by since Ron had left me at the door. I made my way back to the reception area. True to his word, Ron had the puppy all ready to go. After giving me some instructions about what to feed the puppy, he handed the carrying cage over to me and wished me good luck on my speech. That night I went home and spent many hours playing with the orphan puppy. I went to bed that night but I could not sleep. After a while I got up and looked at my speech notes with their numbers and statistics. Without a second thought, I tore them up and threw them away. I went back to bed. Sometime during the night I finally fell asleep.

The next morning I arrived at my Speech class with Puppy Doe. When my turn came, I held the puppy in my arms, I took a deep breath, and I told the class about the life and death of Sam. When I finished my speech I became aware that I was crying. I apologized to the class and took my seat. After class the teacher handed out a critique with our grades. I got an "A." His comments said "Very moving and persuasive."

Two days later, on the last day of class, one of my classmates came up to me. She was an older lady that I had never spoken to in class. She stopped me on our way out of the classroom. "I want you to know that I adopted the puppy you brought to class," she said.

"His name is Sam."

lazy random dogs...

2009-11-19T23:26:00.002-06:00

i am sitting in the office and everyone is....

peanut- sleeps in the dirty laundry basket

bishop- sleeps legs up in living room on lovsac

monte- sleeps downstairs on futon

destra- sleeps next to bishop on lovsac

harley- sleeps touching destra and bishop on lovsac

wiener dog- sleeps in the living room on the couch

Destra did it!!!...

2009-11-17T12:08:00.001-06:00

Destra has raised $435 smackers!!! she is getting the cart just as soon as i get in touch with the doggon.com peeps. tons of measurements and types of carts etc. etc. are in my future!!! WAY TO GO D-DOG!

special needs...

2009-11-15T07:17:00.003-06:00

hearing the lady say the comment below makes me feel even better about us rearragning everything to get Destra some wheels. if you are a dog person, which is why you are here, watch this news story. i work in news and it is not only well shot, well written, but the subject is AWESOME! way to go Titan!

"I used to call them challenges, but they're really not challenges. They're adjustments," Taylor said.

SAN DIEGO - During a ceremony Thursday, the Guinness Book of World Records officially proclaimed that a 4-year-old Great Dane named Titan from San Diego is the world's tallest dog.

Owner Diana Taylor says Titan is blind, deaf, epileptic and undergoes acupuncture and chiropractic adjustments every three weeks.

"I used to call them challenges, but they're really not challenges. They're adjustments," Taylor said.

He is also a gentle soul who knows no strangers at the beach and is often mistaken by young children for a cow or a horse. And he definitely eats like a horse.

"My budget used to be a mess, because I didn't have a line item for dog food," she said. "I finally realized -- I said, 'Wait a minute. His food is costing me $300 a month!'"

Taylor says he stands 42.25 inches from floor to shoulder, weighs 190 pounds and doesn't stand on his hind legs because it isn't good for him.

Titan took over the title from Gibson, a 7-year-old harlequin Great Dane from Grass Valley, who died earlier this year after battling bone cancer.

(RIP Gibson)

12-14 WHAT!!!...

2009-11-14T01:10:00.005-06:00

so i have tattoos right,
i really need one that states S.U.C.K.E.R. right across my forehead.
i was at the Humane Society doing my weekly volunteer photo taking thing for pet finder with R.
the girls there show me this cat about to POP.
they give me sad eyes and say "wanna foster her?" "we can't get anyone else too?"
and even knowing G will want to harm me and it will make the dogs go insane

i say yes.

i do consult G just so i stay outta the dog house!
she is as big of sucker as i am, ~hey matching sucker tattoos! ha
she says sure, and i go pick up this goofy slut of a cat.
i bring her home & isolate her in the office,

hoping Monte doesn't want to eat her
and she doesn't want to eat my hamsters
(also in the office)(also from the humane society).
i am a nervous wreck checking on her constantly,
did i mention the girls tell me when she is loaded into the dog carrier and the dog carrier cause her belly won't fit in the cat carrier.
they tell me expect 12-14 kittens......

the dogs have actually been really good only whining at the baby gate blocking off the office a little bit. i thought they would be really obnoxious. good kids!

she still hasn't pop'ed and she will be here for the second night tonight(right now)
i am a die hard Yankees fan and G a die hard Red Sox fan, and also a Red Sox fan is my friend(R) from the HS that asked me if i wanted to foster her in the first place. did i say 12-14 kittens...

i told G and R that the kittens were getting Yankees players names. but due to the uproar from the two crazy women Red Sox fans i gave up and they will be half yanks and half sox.
then they all go back for adoption!
did i say 12-14 kittens...

DID I SAY 12-14 KITTENS...
DID I SAY 12-14KITTENS...explain how the hell i am supposed to keep track of them?

she thinks her day is rough today,
she has zero idea what the heck she is in store for...

Destra and new post...

2009-11-13T14:22:00.000-06:00

http://destra-dog.blogspot.com/

Destra dog...

2009-11-11T09:05:00.002-06:00

My dog Destra, almost 5 yrs old. I thought I was going to have to put her to sleep yesterday or today but we got a slight window of opportunity to get her fixed up with her worsening bad back legs. Ya think living through Hurricane Katrina she would have an easy go at life... follow this link for more info. I hate asking for help but it may be the only way...does anyone know anything about dog leg amputation, someone who builds carts for dogs with 2 legs and extra few dollars to help with her ever growing vet care?

not once but 3 times...

2009-11-09T08:33:00.003-06:00

so Sat night after spending the bulk of our afternoon/evening working on our detached garage apartment (trying to get it finished so we can rent it out!) i took a bath. i injured my foot falling down a couple of steps the other night and it was killing me! i soaked, then i went and crashed in bed. G was still working on the apartment and i was waiting for her to finish up. i sent the bigger kids to bed, then tucked in Peanut and Wiener Dog with me. Peanut laying right by my side, butt towards my face. the butt towards my face is important, remember this.

G comes back over shortly and is making herself a quesadilla in the kitchen, i am dozing with the wieners. all of a sudden,

blahck
peanut barfed in the bed
not above the covers
under the covers
all over my leg
my freshly bathed leg
no warning
just opened her mouth and yacked
very liquidy
i sling off covers
i yell for G
"peanut just yacked in the bed"
G laughs at my use of -yack.
i rolled over to try to keep the puke on me
maybe it wasn't on the sheets?
no good
it was everywhere
G helps me pull my night pants off
without further spreading of the mess
Peanut looks heartbroken
we reassure her without killing her
i get in the shower
Peanut gets put on the floor
sheets get taken off the bed
when a person has a dog
a mattress protector is such a great idea
Peanut's BUTT was pointing towards my face
this is why it was important!
she could've puked all over my chest!
G puts sheets in washer
i get different clothes on
G puts new sheets on the bed
Wiener Dog, myself and G crawl back into bed
Peanut wants in bed and i say nope!
then i feel sorry for her and G hoists her up.

we all settle and about an hour later she does it again barely missing my head! i sure can move when i am asleep. it wasn't as severe but we go through most of the process stated above. getting the original sheets out of the dryer and then settle back down.

i ban her from the bed, :( but we had no more sheets people! this is the first time she hasn't slept with us. :( i make her a pallet in the laundry basket and we go to sleep. and then again she wakes G to another bout of throwing up. WTF? i apparently didn't even wake up? oops! G cleaned up and put herself and Peanut back to bed, third time was a charm! no yacking!

Peanut didn't eat yesterday or this morning so i gave her some of a can of our "bad belly" vet stuff we got when Roxie had a "bad belly". Peanut slept with us last night, no yacking. wheeew! this is when you really have to love them in order not to kill them!

the farm...

2009-11-07T11:10:00.000-06:00

from left to right,
Monte, Peanut, Harley, Destra, Bishop, Wiener Dog

no siezures & random stuff...

2009-11-02T21:16:00.002-06:00

no seizures as of today at this posting, but am i now going to jinx the old farthead?

he has stayed status-quot and we are still juggling the (arm full of red-hot newly sharpened knives all telling us to give him the long rest) idea of letting him go. we keep waiting for that sign and feel like it will be a light switch on/off type of sign that tells us to take him. BUT then like tonight the butthead jumps up and down like a ten month old puppy telling me he is starving and that breakfast was way too long ago!!! it seems like flipping a coin is too terrible and the good days still outweigh the bad.

in this video i took the day before this last seizure he is rolling around in the front yard, they RARELY get this privilege!! it isn't fenced and most of my goofy dogs have no idea what "don't run off" means... and then he had his seizure that very night and i thought i jinxed the poor guy. this is why the choice is so hard for us, good day followed by a bad night...

this is a new toy we got called the SQUIDO, it makes noise and allows the dogs to not keep it all to themselves. Wiener Dog hangs onto the tails for dear life. This is a "keep up and away" kinda toy. we have a few of those, since they would destroy this in a matter of seconds mom keeps it put up until we all play together. the next photo is after the first play session.

i went to walmart the other day and filled the cart with needed stuffs, yeah right.

I had money set aside for my "remembrance" tattoo of a departed dear friend i want to get. BUT as i have multiple times the past year it seems every time i get money set aside for her tat i spend it on the 4legs at home. the only thing on the list was food, 2 different bags and pills, Bishop's Valium after his seizures. BUT in the cart you will find two sweaters, Peanut & Wiener Dog- two different toys, and a box of treats. and anyone who has dogs- knows this is an expensive cart-full of stuff. !!!

ok who is this you may ask,?,, this is the cat, Jaws. my brother (when he left) decided he didn't want to be bothered with. she is a sweet cat. maybe 7-8yrs old. spayed. now she is homeless except the food we feed her.

we have a couple of cats. three. Mittens, Gunner, Chicken. we absolutely positively don't want or have the ability to keep her. we need to not have the three we have but they found us and we feel somewhat responsible since we got them fixed. pet population is important to me but my population is not going to grow again what-so-ever. so who wants her? i will box her up with some food and ship her overnight to you. hee hee. just kidding.

no really she is going to wait till a little further into November and then i will take her to the Humane Society (low numbers during this time) where she will have the best chance at further care/love/home.

Bishop had a siezure... :(

2009-11-01T09:55:00.003-06:00

My Bishop woke us up very early this morning to a seizure. :( it took him awhile to come out of it but it's not the worst he has had. He is doped up layin on the beanbag. We know his time is hitting us in the face right now. If he has more seizures they may make the choice for us. So fingers crossed this is the only one. Fingers crossed. Lazy day on couch and all 4legs sleeping.

Wiener Dog's alter-ego...

2009-10-28T08:24:00.003-05:00

the next six posts will be me figuring out which cartoon character each crazy, silly dog of mine mirrors. the one below is our Wiener Dog. G&i laughed so hard the other day when i made fun of him using the voice of this buzzard. Wiener Dog is easy to make fun of.... if you think that is mean of me- go sit on an egg- cause they bring it upon themselves and any dog parent knows this.

need a warm & fuzzy?...

2009-10-27T10:25:00.002-05:00

Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains unawakened'

If I Didn't Have a Dog... Or Cat......I could walk around the yard barefoot in safety. My house could be carpeted instead of tiled and laminated. All flat surfaces, clothing, furniture & cars would be free of hair.

When the doorbell rings, it wouldn't sound like a kennel. When the doorbell rings, I could get to the door without wading through fuzzy bodies who beat me there. I could sit on the couch and my bed the way I wanted, without taking into consideration how much space several fur bodies would need to get comfortable.

I would have money, & no guilt to go on a real vacation. I would not be on a first-name basis with numerous veterinarians, as I put their yet unborn grandkids through college.

The most used words in my vocabulary would not be: out, sit, down, come, no, stay, & leave him/her/it ALONE. My house would not be cordoned off into zones with baby gates or barriers. My house would not look like a day care center, with toys everywhere. My pockets would not contain things like poop bags, treats and an extra leash. I would no longer have to spell the words B-A-L-L, F-R-I-S-B-E-E, W-A-L-K, T-R-E-A-T, R-I-D-E, GO I would not have as many leaves INSIDE my house as outside.

I would not look strangely at people who think having ONE dog/cat ties them down too much. I'd look forward to spring and the rainy season instead of dreading 'mud' season. I would not have to answer the question 'Why do you have so many animals?' from people who will never have the joy in their lives of knowing they are loved unconditionally by someone as close to an angel as they will ever get.

How EMPTY my life would be!!!

2009-10-24T23:12:00.001-05:00

DEAR KiDS,
why is it I can not walk through MY house at night in the dark without stubbing my toe one of the very large, very noisy, very hard bones laying randomly around just waiting for me to walk through unsuspecting...

shelter visit in California...and home...

2009-10-22T23:28:00.004-05:00

This was freckles pictured above, he was sweet and calm and cross eyed. poor guy. sweet fella though. he got plenty of scratches from me.

i visited the Peninsula Humane Society in San Mateo California while i was there last week. i can tell idiots in Cali need the Chihuahua like in the movies. I also noticed the typical abundance of pitties. :( this makes me sad.

I bought a shirt and a rope ball for my kids and gave a small donation. they already have a really big version of this type of ball with ropes coming out of the sides. Destra thinks it is hers specifically and wants everyone to leave it alone. goofy dog.

Mom2 brought the wieners to the airport and it was better than any bouquet of flowers she could have ever brought me!!! Wiener Dog apparently whined the ENTIRE time i was gone! he stopped ten miles down the road sitting on my lap...

i sure didn't miss giving these out twice a day.
Destra top. Bishop bottom.

quick update...

2009-10-20T21:43:00.003-05:00

Monte, no eating Bishop
Bishop, no dying
Harley, no stealing food off counters
Destra, no throwing up
Wiener Dog, no whinning
Peanut, no barking

be good for mom. i will be back in a few days and there will be grounding if you are not good for her. serious grounding

my post above right before i left last Wednesday.
the good the bad and the ugly below.

Monte, didn't eat Bishop

Bishop, didn't die

Harley, didn't steal any food off the counters

Destra, only a couple messes. and i am sure they were hers, she eats anything and everything- not realizing it shouldn't be eaten then throws it up in a crock-pot style disgusting concoction.

Wiener Dog, whined the ENTIRE time i was gone. seriously. drove mom2 insane. she almost put him up for bid on ebay. he stopped after about a half hour with me... hee hee does this mean i am the fav?

Peanut, only barked when mom2 made her bark for me over the phone.

mom2 brought them (the two wieners) to the airport, and it was better than any bunch of flowers i could have ever gotten!!! they smothered me in kisses and laid on top of me the whole 1 & 3/4 hr ride home. funny babies. we stopped half way for potty breaks and McDonald's and each got one fry, and that is a lot for non-table food dogs. they felt special.

everyone else got crazy excited even old Bishop who jumped up and down like a puppy trying to get his petts in!, surprising.

Harley scratched me on the arm trying to jump up on me for a hug, typical.

Monte kept running into me then ran to get something for me to throw, typical.

Destra licked any skin surface on me possible and thumping me HARD with her tail, typical.

serious threats...

2009-10-14T08:15:00.002-05:00

2009-10-13T01:48:00.001-05:00

I think Monte is feeling bad? Yesterday we played hard in the yard, lots of running after walnuts I threw for them. I even took him out just us two at one point with the special glow-in-the-dark ball. We keep it on top of the fridge and only play with it when I can keep them from eating it...:) it's like an $8 ball they would destroy in mere seconds if left alone with it.

Well I noticed him not acting right this morning, sitting like his legs were bothering him? He is 8 almost 9 and I figured it was the playtime yesterday that might have worn him out? He might be sore in his old bones? It is getting cold fast and rained the past week, maybe arthritis? But this evening when I got home he is acting VERY wierd?

He had his skunk trail up, (the fur on his back), and seemed to have slight chills, and only wants to sit? He keeps looking at me with sad eyes? WThell?? I am way too in-tuned to them and know something is going on with him? He might have a sick bug. He did throw up yesterday but I chalked that up to eating nasty sour walnut hulls? So again as with Destra the other day with her hotspot I will keep readers posted on Monte and the crazy dog antics from the dog-farm... And Monte since you suckered me to let you sleep with us then don't throw up in the bed please...

Destra is a hottie...

2009-10-10T20:31:00.003-05:00

in front of her ear is a pink spot, that is the thingy.
you can see the pink of her ear then look in front of that.

this is Destra NEVER holding still!!

Destra and mom went to the vet this morning, they squeezed us in. the spot was even bigger this morning? what the heck was it? Destra isn't very good at waiting and drove me crazy, it was a constant -tail wagging-tongue hanging out-i KNOW i can fit on your lap mom-pet me pet me!- fest. diagnosis, hot spot. they shaved her face, sent me home with antibiotics and some sort of powder. she got treats from the vet, "lean" treats cause of her waist line. BUT she has lost four pounds, 78.lbs down to 74.lbs. this was a must during her yearly checkup a couple of months ago to help her legs.

oh yeah and we met a miniature Italian greyhound getting his tooth pulled, a ginormous St. Bernard who was brothers with the Bassett hound, a funny cut girl poodle with a bump on her side, and some sort of Lhasa Apsa thing.

Destra, oh Destra ya dork!

2009-10-09T13:26:00.002-05:00

This is Destra this morning, she had this dime size sore on her temple yesterday and I was checking on it this morning and it has doubled in size!! I thought it might be ringworm? But they never see other dogs so how could she have gotten it? Then knowing that Roxie and her were inside/outside almost all weekend playing and how rough they play makes me think she wacked her head and I missed it until yesterday? well whatever it is I smeared triple antibiotic ointment on it and bandaged her nugget. How long ya think she will keep the bandage on? Yeah not long knowing her goofy self. She is such a problem child. And I foresee a trip to the vet this weekend /monday if the dork doesn't miraculously heal by the time I think she should- which is right now! Destra you are a pain in the ass, but you are so dumb and happy you make me laugh...

test

2009-10-09T13:17:00.002-05:00

test

2009-10-09T13:13:00.002-05:00

test

2009-10-09T09:02:00.001-05:00

Test for sending blog updates through my phone...

roxie, tiny tim

2009-10-08T12:05:00.006-05:00

i have Rockhead's food bowl sitting in the same place where she ate out of it for the last time. it is a raised wooden food bowl that i made with no plans. it turned out pretty cool if i do say so myself, her metal bowl fits in the center hole just right. she bugged me the entire time i made it, "whatcha doin mom, huh huh?" i can't bring myself to move it, get rid of it, etc... AND i keep going to fill it when they eat twice a day. :(

i miss her more than i thought i would. i thought i was doing ok.... nope. don't get me wrong it is very calm around here. the thought of her vet bills make me think it was the right choice. everyone (other doggies)seems fine without her, even Destra seems almost back to normal. i can tell her legs are hurting from the onset of cold weather...:(

when i let them in from outside i wait for Rockhead to come running full steam last, never even touch a step as she blasts past me usually using me as the bouncing off point to round the corner into the house.

i don't see that big goofy head in the window when i get home at night... :(
we HAD to make these hard choices for her own good (& the others) but damn they still suck for my ripped out heart.

my baby roxie...

2009-10-06T08:39:00.002-05:00

i took you yesterday, the ladies seemed very nice and more than capable to care for you. seems like you might even stay with the lady who runs the rescue, she liked you an awful lot! and she is moving to the country on 15 acres and if she keeps you then you get a fenced 4 acres all for yourself and your new brothers and sisters. i feel it is the right thing for you and the other dogs. we will always love you tremendously. Destra misses you i can tell, she has been rather mopey, and i miss you more than i even thought i would. the house seems crazy quiet this morning. nobody there to lean on me. i miss you baby girl.

random dogs photos and videos...

2009-10-02T09:24:00.002-05:00

Monte trying to get more belly rubs. He wasn't happy with the ten minute ear rub he just had.

Wiener Dog getting a bath.
His belly keeps breaking out with these little blister bumps and the vet said they will just come and go. He is after all a wiener dog that is low to the ground.

Roxie wanting to go outside while it is raining.... but the smart mom has the screen door locked.

Wieners snuggling with mom on the couch...

this is my goofy Destra, she is a tail wagger.

my roxie...

2009-09-23T11:42:00.007-05:00

couple older video's of the dork Roxie,
link linktwo linkthree enjoy how goofy she is.

g & i have figured out our budget and it is crappy. ( our student loans are really starting to kick in...) seven dogs do not fit into the budget. g says we have to take our heart out of it and use our brain. sucks- but so true. narrowing down children to "get rid" of is heart-wrenching. they are on frontline, heartguard, yearly vaccines, pills, special foods, treats, etc. and in five/six months when we are struggling i do not (will not) want to be a parent that stops doing one of the necessary responsibilities it takes to have a dog/child. we know that either Bishop will die in the next few months or we will give him a humane way out. he has lost a lot of muscle definition and is definitely geriatric.

we foresee a time in the next four years when we will have mostly older dogs and i want to be able to afford their long term expensive geriatric care. i have thought long and hard on this and g and i have really had some lengthy conversations. it sucks to know we are stupid for taking them all on thinking we could keep them forever. makes me really mad at myself thinking i could save the world.

then who next, ....Roxie. :( this kills me. she is the sweetest most curious kind hearted dog we have. but she is the biggest, costliest and disrupts the most. she drags Destra around playfully by her collar and this is terrible for Destra who has the two bad back legs. i even talked to the vet agian this past week basically begging him for some sort of fix for her. i would sell all possesions to remedy her legs. she has already had a knee operation, that failed and now the good one is screwed up. He said the pain pills, joint stuff, anti-inflam is the only option. so we have all of that for her which she takes daily. this works really well when she keeps calm, but alas Roxie and her are playmates and Destra tries hard to keep up with Rox. the vet says Destra's days are numbered...:( cause the pain medication masks the pain, problem.

we have tried every type of behaviour modification to keep Rox from pulling Destra around from squirt bottle to can of change to a broom (she has this goofy fear of brooms) to a shock collar. all forms failed miserably. those two and the Wiener Dog will go outside for hours just playing and laying in the sun. it is not fair to Rox to keep her away from her favorite dog. so my Roxie next week you are going to an amazing Great Dane rescue in St. Louis. as i sit here tears falling unchecked i realize this is good for her. terrible since i feel like a failure when we rescued her off of craigslist. i know my dumb, happy, sweet Roxie will LOVE other big dogs to play with and romp around with and that she won't even really miss us.

with Bishop and Roxie both in better places this should ease things in the household tremendously. we won't have to worry about the boys(Monte, Bishop) having any alpha male issues. we won't have to worry about Roxie getting bored with no-one to play with. and she will continue to get the level of care/love i want her to get. Monte, Harley, Destra and the Wieners are calm, lazy, never get into anything and i know we can afford them easily without problems. that is something we will have to see when Bishop and Rox are gone. and it hurts to even say gone like i am heartless or something? i mean that Bishop will be free and hanging out over the rainbow bridge and Roxie will be hanging out with people better able to care for her. not better to love her, we have that cornered. so does this fix the entire problem, maybe, maybe not, we will have to see when things settle down after the transitions. :(

raccoon comes for nightly buffet...

2009-09-21T23:17:00.002-05:00

this is for margo/windy's kids.... hope they enjoy!!!

this thing is H.U.G.E. the cats he is looking at are 17 lb cats...he makes the cats look tiny.!

Wiener Dog the centerfold....

2009-09-09T22:20:00.002-05:00

my new iphone has video and i just downloaded a bunch of these silly little clips of random dog activity and will be driving you, the viewer crazy over the next few weeks.
enjoy the male slutty dog.

bishop...

2009-09-09T08:30:00.002-05:00

we had company over this past weekend. i think bishop got way over excited, then it stormed (just thunder and lightning) but he was outside with us, sleeping by G.

he had a seizure. we feel at fault a little. it took him a long time to come out of this one... :( but the good news is he didn't have another one. SO maybe it was just that- the excitement of everything and the lightning.... fingers crossed.

CRISIS! barely averted...

2009-08-31T08:21:00.004-05:00

yesterday we spent outside. which means the dogs were outside all day as well. we went to get BBQ stuff came back and started cooking. this included many trips into the house. i cut up half a watermelon for the dogs and they loved it. we have yard that is cut in two by a chainlink fence. the gate on the fence line is amazing when we have company over for a BBQ. the dogs are kept away from us separated in the grassy big section and we hang out on the deck with the BBQ grill, pond, and fire pit. no slobbers for the guests!

nice and calm day right?
heck no, what do you think?
if i am writing a blog post it must be good huh...

we have three walnut trees and a pecan tree, this means lots of squirrels. they stay in the canopy of trees above the dogs and drive them crazy. this is a great babysitter. Monte is our biggest "hunter/watcher" of the squirrels. He is a wiemaraner- a german bird dog. he has killed stray cats and other small wild creatures that make the mistake of getting into his yard. we can not change this about him, he is a bird dog. he loves "his" outside cats, they get free passage anywhere they want.

SO on with the reason for this crazy post.

squirrels are going crazy playing chase in the trees

i say to G, "hope none of them fall out, cause they are sure to be a gonner"!

G laughs, i laugh and we continue to BBQ,

not even a darn five minutes later...

i grab an armful of corn to take into the house and butter.

i hear a very strange **thud**

i look up to see G running into the open part of the yard.

she is yelling at the dogs to "drop it"!

sure enough, i knew what happened!!

"squirrel dropped into enemy territory".

i run right behind her with my armful of corn to see a huge maylee of dogs in a pile!!!

we are both yelling at the dogs to "get back"!

and the thing at the bottom of the pile is one very unlucky squirrel.

holy hell!

there goes big old dumb Roxie, picks up the little guy and slings him in the air!

Roxie thinks this is a new squeaker toy!!

i see the squirrel flying through the air!

dogs are acting like this is a fly ball and trying with all their might to catch him.

he lands and the dog pile is on him.

dust everywhere, squirrel is hard to see under all those legs.

we are still grabbing, slapping, yelling at dogs.

me with one hand(still have the armful of corn)

we should be better parents and have them trained- blah blah bullshit.

the dog pile is on him.

**pause, now at this point if it were a cat i would be tempted to reach my arm into the dust ball and grab the little fella. but this is a wild squirrel with potential rabies issues. it is awfully close to october and a project that is taking me across the country to numerous cities. something i can not miss. i do not want to miss it. i will not miss it. this ran through my head...."stupid do not grab that squirrel!!!"

in the middle of the dog pile is Wiener Dog. he fancies himself "big bad hunter"

i see him reach for the squirrel and instantly yelp like he got struck by lightning!!

the little squirrel has life left in him- he just bit the dumb Wiener Dog.

Wiener Dog backs up and Monte grabs him and turns to run...

i don't know if i grabbed him or G, or the squirrel bit him?

but he stopped and dropped the squirrel.

i still want to grab the little P.O.W. but my brain keeps screaming at me to NOT DO IT!

we started getting more forceful with the dogs.

G was wacking dogs- i was wacking dogs

enough of them move out of dog pile for us to isolate the squirrel.

i fully expected the little thing to die right there. but alas, he did not.

i have both my feet on either side of him, standing over him.

G is doing her best to keep the pack away from the squirrel.

the squirrel starts dragging his sorry butt over to the fence line.

i walk with him, helping G to keep the dogs reminded

a few of the dogs are trying to circle like a war party...

"back! leave it" and so on. all the threatening words we us on them.

the little guy slowly climbs over the fence and makes a last ditch effort to jump to the tree.

he lands in the bushes. wheeeew.
crisis averted.
he is alive.
i never dropped the corn.

then the kicker...

we both look over to see Bishop laying by the side door eating the last of the watermelon.
he never even got involved with the squirrel!! he stole all the watermelon. what an opportunist.

we laugh -hard at this point...

Morley Woods update...

2009-08-28T13:23:00.005-05:00

this is the night my reporter and i brought her home...

this is the letter i wrote to her after trying for months
to get her to blend without luck to my dog farm.

Morley has been adopted!!!

this is the e-mail i got,

Your Morley Woods was adopted Friday for a young girl who absolutely loves her - and the family is getting an electronic fence for her :). Jen came to look at a Beagle but Morley, now known as Rizzo, would not get out of her face :). So, home she went and has been delighting them ever since - though, yep, she is an escape artist :). She charmed them, too, by opening the door and going into the house. Smart dog. Hip, hip, hooray!

this is her petfinder page,

Intake-3/18/09 Wght- 26# Adoption-8/21/2009

Morley saw, she plead her case, she SCORED! Morley Woods went home today adopted for a young girl who wanted her own dog with whom to share her room and life. I work with her mom who grew up with Beagles. I thought she would want Betsy, not yet on the site but Morley was in her eyes and heart from the get go. Way to go, Morley - and congratulations to Jen, Mark and especially Katie :).

5/31/09 -Morley is spayed and as of today, using the e-collar w/the electric fence; so far, she is respecting it but is a little freaked :( which is normal. The plan is for her to be able to out and about in the acre field/yards without fear of her going over the fence (again).

5/04/09 - Morley has completed her heart worm treatment. She will now be scheduled for her spay, then be completely ready for her new home :)!

4/4/09-Morley Woods was rescued from the streets of Morley, MO by her foster mom, hence her first name. After 7 months of no luck finding her a home, she was lovingly surrendered to SWH via a recommendation from a friend at the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri. Morley has quite the nose and climbing ability, zipping over my fence to the woods next door - hence, her second name. She is now undergoing treatment for heart worms sponsored by her rescuer, so is on crate rest with leash walking.

Morley is one of the sweetest, loving Beagle mixes I have ever met. She barks very little. She would make a very good apartment dog as she will cont. to need to be hand walked on a leash for her safety or have a privacy fence. She will wrap her front legs around your arm for "more petting, please." We are blessed to have her and YOU will be when you bring her into your home!

Morley's rescuer, shane rocket, has blessed SWH with her photographic talent which you see in Morley's photos and on the Blog. Thanks, R!

Morley is not yet spayed due to the need to treat her heart worms first for her health. When her treatment is completed, she will be spayed prior to adoption per policy of SWH. However, applications for adoption are now being accepted!

i just want to give credit to BOBBIE at http://silverwalkhounds.net/ she IS A HERO!!!!! She has stressed over Morley Woods/Rizzo for months. Enduring the stress of MW/R heartworm treatment, her escaping, her goofy self. i love you Bobbie for doing what you do. visit her site, donate to her if you have the ability. she has many others there that are wrapped around her heart. THANK YOU BOBBIE

rat attack...r.i.p....

2009-08-27T17:35:00.007-05:00

R.I.P. ----rat attack

got this little fart along with an albino rat. i was talked into taking them from the Humane Society from one of the girls who works there. She knows I am an "a number one SUCKER".
i never really bonded with the white one, he wasn't fond of getting held and died randomly a few months ago? sad and he is buried in the yard...

BUT the dude above loved to be out of his cage and really liked hoodies. he would hang out in the front pouch or the hood part for hours and just sleep. i even got my wife to let him climb aboard her when she was in the office. once he peed on her and i laughed for hours when she squealed like a girl..... the dogs always wanted him, to eat or play with i am not sure. we kept a baby gate up for the office keeping the dogs out. if they ever got in here though it was fun to see them keep their distance, the rat would bite them on the nose through the cage bars. we had quite a few bloody noses around here until they figured out not to sniff too close. except Roxie, but we all know she isn't very bright.!

a couple of months ago he got this growth in his chest. it got bigger and then i noticed yesterday he didn't want to eat his snacks with as much vigor as usual. i called and asked the vet if i could bring him to do 'the deed'. yes they said, so i did today. i made up a box for him and carried him over there crying like a big sappy baby. G took him inside knowing i could not do it. that is how it ends, two rescues from the humane society that i loved too much. man it is heartbreaking to lose them... even if it is a goofy old rat... and i called him rat attack and called for him whenever coming into the office which was often and there he would come crawling out of his box like a rolly polly.

on the ride to the vet.... :(
you can see his growth like a golf ball hanging down on his chest.

walnuts are not toys...

2009-08-27T12:27:00.003-05:00

these are not balls for dogs to play with. they do not fall out of the sky for a dog named Monte. the moms are tired of picking up these nasty things from the floors in the house usually in pieces. we know they are sour because you pick them up and spit them back out seconds later and then make the funniest faces while licking your chomps.... this is an outside item. but yet i give them back to you silly dogs every time?

it has been a long time since my last post.... forgive me doggies of mine.