My neighbor has the most gorgeous dog. Koda comes round to visit every now and again. She trots around and says hi to all the neighbors and then returns home. She is an Icelandic Sled Dog, but mostly she is adorable and very sweet. Have you ever seen a dog smile?
I decided to speak less this year and listen more. I am making a real effort to open myself to what the universe has to say with me, through the people I meet, the animals I come in contact with and the nature I visit. I had an epiphany moment recently when I watched a short video my kids took of me visiting the neighborhood fire station. It was embarrassing, not just because I hated the way I sounded but also because I blabbered on at length. Even though I am often bursting with enthusiasm, I’m going to try and share myself by listening to others. I had a great opportunity on New Years Day to practice this new resolution when I met someone who actually speaks a lot more than I do. I just sat back listened, smiled and enjoyed what she had to say and it was fascinating really. I poked in appropriate questions to show I was really listening and interested too so we had a lovely time together. I guess time will tell if I am successful at my goal.
My Christmas present is doing well but still not fully house trained. My dog Teddy is pure love. I am so in love with this furry little dog, despite his need for much training. There is just so much to learn from our dogs. Each day is like a gift to them and they live so beautifully in the present. When Teddy wakes up and I let him out of his crate, it is Christmas, Easter and his birthday all rolled up in one. He is positively joyful, every single day. He is so happy to see me that despite his voracious appetite he will leave his food to have me pet him. He is the cuddliest animal I have ever known and his fur is luscious, beautiful blue meryl, soft and silky. When I go to pet him he first leans against me and then sort of melts on to my foot and then just gives it all up and rolls right over to his back ready for a belly rub.
Though Teddy has learned much since he came to live with us three weeks ago, he still has a way to go. He needs to learn that we are all friendly and will not hurt him, so he needn’t pee submissively. He needs to learn that when we go to pet him we are going to do just that and not strike him. How anyone could possibly throw this gorgeous animal away is beyond me but people do worse to their own children. Teddy was found tossed away in the woods with his puppy siblings, and a blind beagle. One of the pups was run over by a train and is now buried at the rescue where we adopted Teddy. Who knows what kind of treatment Teddy received before he was rescued? He was starved and covered in fleas and ticks and he is still catching up on his weight. Teddy is a work in progress but so are the rest of us and I’m going to be patient and in the meantime I’ve taken the rugs up.
Good luck to the rest of you in your goals for 2011.
Impossibly cute, I know.
"I'll even ocassionally fetch a stick like I'm supposed to."
Sometimes I put myself in time out, under the bed.
"who, moi?"
"I shall sit where I please, including on your arm."
"What can I get into next?...that is the question.
I am sorry, well at least a little bit.
See I told you I was sorry... let's kiss and make up.
What's this thing, is it friendly?
Are you sure we can't play, I love to play!
I know I am only the princess but I would rather be the queen.
Over the course of the last two days my four girls and I have gone twice to a big dog show in our town. What fun we’ve had seeing all the numerous breeds of dogs up close and personal and meeting with their owners and handlers. I also found the owners naturally very proud of their particular breed and are happy to answer questions and talk about their dogs. Before we got our first rescue dog eight years ago, the girls and I studied dogs for six months. I mean we really studied dogs. Being a homeschool family we try to take every opportunity we can to get kids to research things that interest them and the dog topic has always been a favorite in our home, except for my husband who just is NOT a dog person. We love him anyway. We learned an amazing amount about dog breeds, temperaments and which dog is good for which type of family. We have also read many stories with dogs in them so we had lots to talk about with the dog fanciers.
We observed lots of fascinating things today. For example, the handlers actually put “the bait” in their mouths during the time the dog is being judged or waiting to be judged. What this actually means is that the handlers put dog treats in their own mouths and then remove it and feed it to the dogs. I just hope I didn’t see it the other way around but I’m not entirely sure. I love my dog but I generally don’t put it’s food in my mouth at anytime even though I know that their mouths are supposed to be cleaner than ours. I also saw more grooming on these dogs than I see with three teenage girls in my house. The amount of hair drying, hair spraying and primping was astonishing! I am so over joyed that at most we have to bathe our doggies in our own bathtub and on a good day brush them. In the end I must say that the whole experience was fascinating and I’m glad it’s not my hobby. I’ll stick to the two lovely mutt dogs I have at home.
Much has happened around our household since Christmas has come and gone. We have added a new family member. Tula has joined us from a rescue shelter near our home. Tula is a puggle, a puggle with a pedigree no less. Her mother was a lovely beagle named Sweet Little Resee and her father a handsome pug names Pugsley Faust. Such a dignified beginning but in the end she was dropped off at a rescue as many dogs are after their initial cuteness wears off. After having her here for the last ten days, I have a feeling I know why. This dog is bursting with energy but then so is our house. She seems to fit in well and though she must be watched at all hours there are four eager girls to do just this. So far we have taught her to sit, go down and to stay for a treat. She comes to her new name most of the time and best of all she gets along with our old rescue girl, Emmy. Emmy seems to tolerate Tula and has even played with her a couple of times when we had some nice weather. It will be a looong time before we’ll be able to leave her unsupervised but if memory serves me right it took about two years for us to leave Emmy unsupervised as well.
Dear Sarah,
Having recently perused the dog rescue sites on the internet I truly
appreciated your article today. I was deeply saddened by the number of
wonderful dogs I saw who were dumped at shelters or with rescue
organizations because someone didn’t do their homework; page after page
of certain breeds. Your article was MUCH needed and timely I think.
Unfortunately the people who need it most probably won’t even give it a
glance but if even one person reads it and it changes their mind about
that wonderful “zippy brilliant breed” as you put it so well you might
have save a dog from an ugly fate.
I hope you don’t mind but I’d like to share with you about our dog,
Emmy. When my fourth daughter was only a toddler I found myself pining
for a dog. Instead of going right out and getting the first puppy I
saw, which frankly can be tempting, I persevered for six months. I learned not to
take my children into the pound as they would cry when I would not
bring home the cute puppy they saw when we visited each time. I
agonized and read book after book about the right breed. The one I
found most helpful and accurate you mentioned in your article was, “The
Right Dog For You” by Daniel Tortora. I have since shared this book with a number of
friends. I investigated on the Internet. I even visited a couple of dog
breeders. I also asked all my friends who had dogs how they choose
their dogs.
In the end, I met a man walking a Brittany Spaniel with a baby on his
back. I asked him how the dog was with the baby and he said very
gentle. My first goal was to get a dog that would love children and
would always be friendly. According to Tortora, the Brittany Spaniel is
great with children so I went to the rescue site online. To make a long
story a little shorter, we visited and found a litter of mixed puppies,
lab and spaniel. I knew had found the perfect dog. Emmy came to us at five
months having never lived inside or being with people much. Though we
loved her right away, it took some days for her to respond to her name
and it took me a full six months to house
train her.
I took her for dog training classes and excuse me while I brag she was
the quickest to learn everything they taught us. She is extremely smart
and has continued to learn quickly. I have taught her a number of fun
tricks which she loves to show off to friends and family. She is a high
energy dog who thinks she’s one of the kids. She adores children and is
happiest while running with them all in the back yard. I can not tell
you how we love Emmy, she truly is an important family member for us. I
think the kids sometimes take her for granted but when we went away on
a one month tour of the United States they missed her terribly and were
very happy to be reunited when we got home.
I certainly hope you will educate someone to think twice about bringing
a dog into their lives, rewarding as it is, it isn’t something to do
without much thought, planning and preparation. Thank you very much for your important article.
In honor of Emmy I will republish her very own photo album, so please visit and enjoy.
Well aren’t I just the prolific writer. Actually I’ve had some photos for a week and just wanted to post them because they came out well. Being the chatty type person I am, I am forever meeting new people. I know I do embarrass my children talking to every stranger I meet, and what a horrible example to them I am, but, oh well, life remains interesting this way.
I befriended a wonderful lady at Walmart. She moved here a couple of years ago from outside Boston. She told me she is retired and doesn’t really need to work but does need to get out of the house. We have chatted over the grocery cart on all matter of subjects which is what I love, talking about everything. She inherited her Father’s small house on about 2 acres of land out in the country and she has said she wanted me and the girls to come for a visit. Well she has been caring for her son’s puppy while he was away and so it was the perfect time for a visit.
She called at dinner last week and I was dragging my feet about cooking the spaghetti anyway so I said,
Come on girls, we’re going to visit Pat,” and off we went. The following are photos we took while there playing with what she calls a puggle, a beagle pug mix. Being a puppy she is bursting with energy and my children being children, even the 14 year old are also bursting with energy so it was a great mix, the dog and the kids got some romp time and a good time was had by all.
I really never thought I’d be so stressed over leaving my dog to go away on vacation. I abhor those articles on dogs that speak of them as “children”. I wanted children and I had them, they are my four girls. My dog is a cute and smart little mutt who we all adore, however she sleeps in the laundry room and isn’t allowed on the furniture or in the bedrooms. She is happy most of the time as she has her family to play with be with just about every day. She goes out when she wants and stays in when she wants. We often take her with us when we go because she loves to travel and is great in the car.
So I’ve been scrambling to
find someone to keep her while we go away on our trip to England. My one dear friend is perfectly willing but just got a puppy and I feel we might not be friends anymore after three weeks with my dog and her puppy. Emmy is a wanderer and an escape artist and that is the main problem and reason she couldn’t stay with my other dear friend. She can leave most yards. Mostly she’s trying to get out to find us. Thank goodness I managed to find her a great location today. This is a family and I am not making this up, has five dogs, four cats, a ferret, two sugar gliders, a giant iguana, four snakes, two bearded dragons, a tortoise and a few others I guess I didn’t see today. Emmy was as happy as a hog in doo doo running with the pack and I know they’ll take good care of her. What a relief. Now I can focus on getting the humans ready to go.
On another subject, I looked at my blog on homeschooling from yesterday and realized it’s too long and too preachy. Oh well, I guess I’ll get better at blogging as I do it. In the meanwhile, it sure is fun and if you’re here, thanks for reading.
Mimi
