Guardian of the Bones

I just love these pictures of my kitty, William. Obviously, this is the dog's bed, but William decided he was going to claim it one day. I was very surprised to see him all comfortable in the bed when I walked into the room. But even more surprising was that he was nestled happily among the dog's stash of chew bones and various other toys. Would you call this arrogance? Or stupidity? Or maybe just living in the moment!




I really love the look on his face in this next one. He looks slightly deranged, as though he is tempting fate.

We Miss You, Dixie!

When we were dogless, it was a difficult decision to make that leap. But we sure made the right choice getting our feet wet with Dixie Belle.

I wanted a shetland sheepdog because I've always felt that the breed is just gorgeous. I love collies, too, but they are just so big - I'm a small dog person.

First, I visited the local animal shelter and they had a nice sable sheltie, but unfortunately he was on 'hold' whatever that means. The pound said that if the people who were 'holding' him didn't come back by the next week, I would be next in line. But, fortunately for us, they did come back.

And I say fortunately because if we had adopted that sheltie, we wouldn't have gotten Dixie!

I contacted a Sheltie Rescue organization (http://www.illinoissheltierescue.com/) and filled out their application and passed the interview. The following day, I received a call from one of the directors. She told me that she personally knew a woman who had two shelties that she wanted to give away to good homes. These dogs were not going through the rescue. The woman who was giving them up just wanted to know that they would be going to a good home and for some reason, the director of the rescue thought of me. She asked if I would meet this woman halfway from her home in Peoria and take one of the dogs, sight unseen.

Hmmm......when someone is giving away a dog, there is always that worry -- why would someone give away a perfect pet? In this case, the woman had a baby and felt that it was too much to have two shelties along with the baby. It was either the dogs or the baby and I said no to the baby.

We took a chance and said OK - we would adopt Dixie!

I was nervous driving to meet her. It was about an hour drive and I worried about how the dog would fare in the car for such a long trip. We were getting a travel crate along with Dixie so I knew she could ride in that and her owner assured me that she was good in the car. And she sure was - she rode home in that crate without a peep.

I was a tiny bit disappointed that Dixie turned out to be a tri-color sheltie. I had fallen in love with the sable (brown/white like Lassie) at the pound. But I soon forgot all that because Dixie turned out to be the most laid back, gentle, and obedient dog ever.

She had already gone through obedience training and was close to receiving the "Good Canine Citizen" award. So she didn't jump on people or act like a crazy dog. I want to get her bad points out of the way right off the bat and yes, she did have a couple.

First of all - garbage raiding -- she had dragged the entire contents of the kitchen trash across the entire kitchen on more than one occasion.

Second, she loved to bark bark bark.

Third, she insisted on herding people which would freak them out because she would follow along behind people and snap at their feet. Never biting them, just kind of butting.

Now that we're done with the bad stuff....let me just say that Dixie Belle was a beautiful dog, maybe a bit large for a sheltie, but lovely just the same. She had a gorgeous shiny black coat with brown and white trim and a white blaze on her nose. She loved to walk on a leash and never pulled and tugged. If she got out of the yard accidentally, she would just walk around to the front and sit on the porch.

Dixie was almost four years old when we adopted her and we had her for 7 years. She was just short of her 11th birthday when she died last summer. It was a very sad day for all of us.

We miss Dixie Belle and I don't think I'll ever have another dog as pretty as she.

About Teddy

This is Teddy, the little Pomapoo. Poma (pomeranian) and Poo (poodle). Teddy's dad was a pomeranian and his mom was a poodle. You can see that Teddy has little teeth that stick out on the bottom - he is so cute!

Teddy's Dad's name is Copper and his mom's name is Tabasco.

We adopted Teddy from a very nice family - his Dad (Teddy's Dad) lived a few doors down. We didn't meet the dad, but the owners of his Mom (Teddy's Mom) said that they could make a quick phone call and Teddy's dad would come running to their door for us to meet him. This is true.

When we were trying to decide whether to adopt Teddy or his brother, who was a lot smaller and seemed a little demonic, Teddy went running behind the couch. The little boy in the family evidently liked Teddy and didn't want to see him leave, so he shouted, "Chubby! Don't come out!" (the family had given Teddy the temporary name of Chubby).

This kind of became a family dog joke of ours. I think you had to be there, though.

Well, Teddy is also a very smart dog (see Toby, below). He is not even a year old and can already sit, lie down, and wave. He would be able to do hundreds more tricks, except we haven't taught him the rest at this point.

His favorite pal is William, our cat and they play together often, mostly chasing and hiding games.

Teddy loves to bark bark bark and his favorite crime is trying to escape the yard. Sometimes we can't figure out just how he did it, but we do have all kinds of interesting barricades at every possible opening. This makes it hard for the rest of us to enter and exit our yard, so we really don't use the back door much.

Teddy's birthday is May 30, so please stop by on that date and wish him a happy day. If you are a 'real person' out there reading this and you know where we live, please stop by for some birthday cake and bring your dog!

Today's Post is about my dog, Toby

Toby, the rat terrier, is 7 years old. We adopted him as a cute little puppy. We picked him out from a litter of puppies in a pen in someone's home. We had to pick him out really quickly because it smelled so bad in this house that we needed to get out in a hurry so we could resume breathing.

Toby is a pretty good dog - he's smart but he doesn't like to go on about it. He does a few tricks like sit, stay, beg, give paw, dance, lie down, roll on side, and crawl. He hates rabbits, squirrels, mice, birds and anything else that he could possibly catch and eat. When he was younger, he caught a bird in mid-air. Nowadays, he wouldn't be able to do that easily.

His best friend is little Teddy, the pomapoo. I'm sure I'll write about Teddy later. Toby doesn't care for William, his other room-mate pet. He would never admit it, but I can tell that he is terrified of William.

Toby's favorite crime is food-stealing and he does this at every opportunity.

His birthdate is June 18, which he shares with Paul McCartney. They are both Geminis.