Trooper Going on Vacation

Well, Trooper and Timber got into it again last night. I had just walked in the front door, handed hubby the car seat with our son inside, and they suddenly went at each others' throats. NO idea why. The only thing I can think of is that we were all sort of bunched up around each other and jealousies brought out the mean in Trooper (he pretty much starts everything).

So hubby is holding Marshal and I've got my hands full with diaper bag, purse, work stuff and we're both trying to break up this big "KILL" fight. Basically we're both sort of kicking at the dogs to break them apart...which does not work.

Finally hubby "dropped" (set down heavily) our boy and got between the two monsters...bad idea. He's now sporting quite the red marks on his upper leg and torso ... technically a dog bite, but thankfully no actual punctures.

These two are going at it to kill. These aren't just "leave me alone" growling or snapping. They are full fledged going for the throat fights.

And yet not one time has any blood been drawn. I suppose we can just be thankful for thick fur and tough skin.

When we finally got them apart, I pulled Timber into the kitchen but he wasn't done fighting and was still growling and barking. I think he just is reacting and not actually instigating. He enjoys his brother and they do play more than they fight (they are hilarious when they play).

So I finally convinced my hubby to let Trooper go visit his aunt Jennifer.

Aunt Jennifer with nephew Marshal and Timber Wolf.

It might only be for one week but if he does okay with her I might lobby for a more permanent status. I love my fluffy boy, please don't misunderstand. But I love my son more. If it had been just me coming in the house by myself with my arms full with my son ... I would have had to let the dogs fight it out. There's no way I'm setting down my boy to break up a dog fight. So I'm supposed to let these dogs kill each other?

Or even worse to consider, what if Marshal got in the middle of the fight by accident someday (especially when he's able to walk)? The dogs didn't bite hubby on purpose...his leg/body got in the way. But it doesn't make the bites less serious.

Who Me?

This dog loves me (as much as any animal can "love") and I know this. He's "my" dog more than my husband's and yet I'm the one who wants to send him away. Because I do love him and feel responsible...he doesn't get enough exercise or attention and his aunt Jennifer can provide this for him.

I bet he loses 10 pounds in one week from all the exercise he'll get!

Cats and Dogs, Worlds Colliding

My little brother has the sweetest dog named Echo. He is a rescue dog labeled as part Rottweiler. Before we actually met him that label made my brother nervous. This would be his very first dog ever. (My mom never let us get a dog when we were kids...just cats.)

Plus my brother gets anxiety attacks, especially with anything new. So you can see how this would have been a stressful experience for him.

That's what big sisters are for, though, and I just forced him to go with my mom and I to the humane society.

This is the "Rottweiler" ... vicious looking isn't he? :)

He will apparently pick either of the cats up by the scruff of their neck and carry them around. hahahahaha My dogs would eat the cats!

Echo just likes the company.

Real or Fake?

I admit...fur coats intrigue me. Especially older ones from a time gone by. I love the feel of fur pelts from hunters as well and always have to touch them when I see them at the fair.

However... I'm not into any and all fur. Nor am I in support of horrifying conditions that many Chinese farms inflict on animals ... including, apparently, dogs. (And yes, I realize there are horrible conditions in some farms here...but that's not the point of this post today...we don't have DOG farms!)

Dog fur may be sold in the United States as "faux" fur ... which truly makes me sick.

The article from Dogster has a link to another article with a video that I refuse to watch because I know it would upset me too much. Someone in the comments said that their "favorite" and most highly prized dog coat was German Shepherd.

China, as a society and government, has little regard for human life so it doesn't surprise me that they would farm dogs (and probably other animals) with such blatant cruelty. It's the same country that forces women to abort female babies (leading to their shortage of females for marriage now!).

I'm not a fan of government laws and regulations but I would not be opposed to stronger labeling regulations for faux fur. The Dogster article has another link to help explain how to recognize fake versus real fur.

R.I.P. Mischief

When my Mother in Law called today and didn't immediately say anything I knew it was bad news.

Mischief had been acting strange lately and had lost a lot of weight. We took him to the emergency vet on Saturday where they did some blood work. The levels associated with his liver were super high and he was extremely jaundiced, something we hadn't noticed at home but was obvious in the office lights.

The vet told my MIL that they might be able to extend his life for a month and might be able to figure out what is wrong with him if they did a Sonogram and a needle Biopsy.

My MIL is on a fixed income and while we would have helped her pay for it she did not want to put Mischief through that. He had stopped eating all together. :( The vet was not hopeful.

So around 3:30 p.m. my sweet little Mischief crossed over the Rainbow Bridge to heaven. He was the sweetest and most cuddly kitty who still remembered me when I visited. He loved to rub up against my leg (and still ran away from hubby LOL). He kept my MIL company as she fought her Leukemia.

It's very sad ... he was only 11 years old. =(

A previous post with some sweet pictures.

Breaking My Heart

How can people be so cruel? The title of this post is so true...Neglect IS abuse! I don't know how anyone could just ignore an animal to this point.

I feel bad if I don't greet my dogs. The other day I went to bed and realized that I had not petted Trooper ONCE the whole evening and I felt horrible. Granted, he'll be ignored quite a bit when papa starts working nights, but never to the point of endangering his life. And I do plan to try to take him for walks with the boy on the weekends - not to mention the attention he will get from daddy on his days off.

But even the lack of attention for my dogs makes me sad. ... And really they aren't truly ignored or neglected.

Humans always have the amazing capacity to shock and outrage me with their cruelty. We are such an imperfect species. At the same time there are such amazing people who take the cruelty head on and try to make it right. God bless those folks!

Animal Photography

Browsing my Entrecards today I came across a post on Cat on My Head (love that title!) and she has a photo that just made me stop and stare. It's very powerful.

Isn't that awesome??? I wish the photos of my animals turned out so wonderfully.

Although I do like this photo of Timber I took the other day. Daddy was putting together the human puppy's Jeep walker and Timber wanted to help.

He's not much of a worker though. :)

What is YOUR Dog Doing?

One of my favorite blogs is Two Nervous Dogs. She's got a great sense of humor and snark, which I love. And her dog is spoiled like a princess, which I also love.

I hadn't visited in awhile so I don't know what kind of trouble the doggy was getting into, but apparently a doggy cam was implemented to see what she was up to. It's brilliant!

If I thought a camera would survive at all on one of our dogs I'd totally do this. :)

O.M.G. Cutest Thing Ever

Knowing huskies the way I do, this video just melts my heart. Of course, my huskies would never be this nice to a kitty...but it's nice to know that the species can co-exist at times.

Sixth Sense or Just Super Sensitive?

You decide...is this dog displaying a sixth sense and realizing that there's an earthquake coming before it happens? Or is he just super sensitive and feels the rumbling before the humans could tell what was happening.



Whichever it is, the video is still eerie.

My dogs don't seem that sensitive. Every earthquake they've gone through, they've done nothing. No super senses or warnings to us. No extra barking. Although we didn't have Timber through an earthquake yet...so maybe he'll be more sensitive. He does bark more and seems to sense when people or dogs are "threatening" his territory.

Very Bad Dog

I was ready to put Quinn down last night (I'm only joking...but I was ticked).

Hubby called and told me that he found her chewing on my COACH wallet!!!!!! The little brat. It wasn't on the floor or easily accessible. She had to pull it off my desk. And it's completely ruined. No salvaging it.

It's not like I paid full price for it but it's over $150 wallet (No, I did not pay that, or anywhere near it...thank you Outlet store!). Hubby says he'll buy me a new one. But it still ticks me off.

I wouldn't be mad at her if I thought it was my fault...like if it were on the floor or something. She's just being a pill.

In her younger and thinner years (this is her adoption picture).

She probably is bored, but she doesn't have enough strength or stamina to go on walks. She gets bones every once in awhile but her teeth are pretty delicate. And she can't really "play" because she can hardly walk. So what are we supposed to do? She obviously has enough stamina to get into trouble and 'eat' things she's not supposed to. Maybe just walking her a few hundred feet is enough to tire her out enough.

All I know is she was *this* close to sleeping outside in the rain (again, not really...my bark is worse than my bite).

Voting Continues

Just a reminder, that voting is still going on over at Art by Karie-Ann Cooper. I'd appreciate any vote for my Trooper Bear boy...either Entry One or Entry Two. I'm partial to the second one, but they're both pretty good.

Here's another pic of him with my little cousin. He outweighs her! LOL When she and her sister spent a few days with us before Christmas I was a little nervous about the dogs but they did GREAT with them and it gives me hope for out baby boy when he's older. =)

Back to Bed

My little boy slept in his own room last night for the very first time. :( It was very sad for me. But a very happy occasion for the dogs and hubby.

Of course, I didn't sleep well because I was worried about Marshal...but Timber didn't help me any as he went right back to his old habit of sleeping on my legs. Why not daddy's legs? Why mine?!?

It was pretty cute this morning when I got up ... Timber was curled up at daddy's head and sleeping like a baby. Of all the dogs, he is the most cuddly and sensitive - and extremely attached to hubby.

I still want my baby boy in my room...but I guess I have to start letting go already. :( *sniff*

Vote for Trooper

I had totally forgotten, but last summer I entered two photos of Trooper in a contest with an artist named Karie Ann-Cooper...the prize is one of her incredibly beautiful pieces of artwork - made from the winning photo.

Voting started on the 1st and Trooper has two photos (Entry One and Entry Two) you can vote for. I'd be so honored if you would vote for Trooper Bear, who has had a very rough few months. :)

All you need to do is leave a comment in the particular photo with the word "vote". I'll post reminders periodically.

New Puppies!

No, our family is not getting a new puppy. Heaven forbid.

But Carmen at Gryphon Mals has a new litter of Malamutes that are too precious not to share with you. There are four new puppies - two girls and two boys.



Mommy Amore is very excited to have new puppies to take care of - she's a very good momma.



And as you may or may not know...I am a big fan of shelter dogs but that does not mean I'm 100% against breeding. Carmen is a RESPONSIBLE breeder, which is the key. She does not do this for the money and is not a "back yard" breeder. All her dogs are genetically tested if they are going to breed and of course only bred if they have the appropriate temperament and character. She's very picky about who gets one of her lovely dogs and many of her dogs are truly "working" dogs - pulling sleds and doing shows.

Trooper is one of Carmen's dogs and as a responsible breeder she's already told us that if we had any issues with him and the baby that he is welcome back at her farm anytime.

Congratulations Carmen!!!

Having a Good Time

My dogs are such crazies sometimes. Although it's not always their fault.

The day after Christmas we had a birthday party to attend...we left the house around 3 p.m.

Dinner for doggies is at 4 p.m. and they rarely let us go past that time.

We did not make it home until after 8 p.m.

Can you guess what happened? :)

An entire bottle of whiskey was broken on the kitchen floor...we think they knocked it over getting to the bread and bagels on the kitchen counter. Which they ate in their entirety.

The living room was scattered with plastic and paper from the box of chocolates they had opened and eaten.

It's our fault, we know. We also know that we are lucky to have such big dogs who have fairly tough stomachs because between the alcohol and the chocolate most dogs would have been on their way to the emergency room.

Yesterday morning they also managed to get a hold of more chocolates that were on the counter. We're slow learners apparently.

The bread and bagels are now on top of the refrigerator.

$550 Later

Phew...that was one expensive vetrinary appointment, though we have had worse. Three of the four dogs needed updates on their vaccines and one, Kodiak, needed to be checked out for some hair loss issues.

I love our vet, but boy it's painful when the bill comes.

We did find out though that Quinn has a bladder infection!!! No wonder she pees all over everything all the time. So we have medication for her and hopefully that will help the frequency and urgency.

Kodiak is losing hair. :( The vet didn't think it was just a reaction to a new collar we'd gotten him so he's doing blood work. He also checked for mites, and thankfully there were none. He's thinking that Kodiak either has a Thyroid problem or Propecia (spelling?) ... I think that's what he said.

I see more bills in our near future.

Great Tag Line

Isn't the internet amazing? I meet so many incredible people, and so many wonderful animal lovers. On Etsy I met a really cool woman named Kathy who owns her own pet service and her website just had me cracking me up.

Her tag line is ... "I love them, if you have to leave them." Isn't that cute?!? I love the idea of a Pet Nanny who comes to your home to take care of your animals so they don't have to be somewhere strange. Our dogs didn't seem to mind being boarded when I was in labor and recovery, but I know hubby hated it the whole time and even when I was recovering and could barely stand up he was asking if he could go get them. *grin* He's a goof.

Kathy is in Michigan, a bit too far away for us. But maybe you know someone in that area who needs assistance. I bet Kathy would be glad to help!

Lower Rent for Doggy Fosters

Well, this is a new one. I hadn't heard of anyone offering cheaper rent for those willing to foster dogs but an offer has come across my e-mail for exactly that.

Ginger's Pet Rescue has a home available for rent:

Two Bedroom, One Bath, huge double lot back yard 6 ft fence located in the Shoreline (Washington) area.

There will be no last month rent or damage required and lower rent in exchange for fostering 4-6 small dogs at a time or when we have any urgent dogs that need a place to stay for a few days.

There is also a garage apart from the house that we can make into a place for the dogs to play in as well.

If you are interested or know anyone who may be ~ * please email me at xxxx

How cool is that?

If you know anyone who might be interested leave a comment and I'll send you the e-mail address. Or you can visit Ginger's Pet Rescue website.

Fun Times!

Timber got to go to daycare yesterday. It had been over two months since the dogs were boarded and he'd only gotten to go one time since then.

It was quite an experience since I had to drop him off and I had the baby who was going to daycare as well.

I have a Rav4 and there isn't exactly a lot of room for a dog and a baby in a car seat. But we had an old 'gate' like thing that we used to use in our former car - a Jeep Grand Cherokee - which fit perfectly in the back of my car. So Timber got to ride in the very back for the first time ever. It was pretty funny trying to get him in there since he'd never entered my car from the very back before. And I had to make sure that his tail was out of the way before I closed the door. Poor guy was a little confused at first.

But he did absolutely perfect! He didn't cry or bark and he didn't try to crawl through the gate thing (something I was actually worried about since the very top has an opening that he *could* get through if he tried).

Of course, he was his typical crazy self once we actually got to daycare. He is SO flippin' strong!

I picked him up around 6 p.m. and he sure does pull a lot less hard when he's super tired. =) After he ate his dinner he laid down at my feet and promptly fell asleep.

A tired dog is a wonderful dog!

So Much for That

A long time ago I bought a pack of doggy diapers for Quinn, thinking it would be easier than just letting her "leak" all over the place. I bought a Medium or Large and they were nowhere near big enough.

This weekend I decided to try again, but this time I bought an XL, which is supposedly big enough for dogs up to 80+ pounds.

Ha! Yeah right! Nowhere near big enough. Hubby got one over her tail but couldn't get the tabs even close to closed.

She's fat, but good grief...she's not 80 pounds fat. They should make diapers that will fit big dogs. What if Trooper needs them someday? He's even bigger!

So that's another $20 bucks down the toilet (so to speak). We'll keep using the puppy pads on the kitchen floor. She's a very good girl and tries very hard to only go potty on the pads. She's so smart.

She is also still quite spunky. I was feeding the dogs the other day and all of a sudden hear a fight start. It was QUINN and Trooper! I'm 99.9% positive that she started it because he was trying to lick out her bowl, which he always does, but she probably wasn't done. She was totally snarling...lips fully back and teeth barred. We haven't seen her like that in a long time.

I pulled Trooper off of her (of course he was on top and defending himself, even against his sissy) and separated them. That's only the second or third time they've gotten into it. The first was when he was a little puppy and tried to steal her food. She drew blood that time! :) This time there was no blood. (Oh, I remember the second time...a few weeks or months ago, also over food, and Quinn got a little cut above her eye.)

Trooper really is amazingly reserved in his fights. He could easily kill any of the other doggies and yet he rarely draws a drop of blood.

Just another reminder that we have to be extremely vigilent in making sure all food is kept away from the dogs or keep the dogs separated when food is present. Timber and Trooper got into a fight this weekend in the garage and hubby said it was over the bags of dog food we store there. :(

Most of the time...I'd say 95% of the time, all four dogs get along very well. It's the other 5% that stress me out and make me want to send Trooper to Seattle to his auntie.