Angel's Christmas List

I think I know Angel pretty well by now. We've had her for just over 7 months, and she's the queen of the house. Just like the kids are starting to present their Christmas Lists, I can only imagine what Angel's might look like. Here's a peek... 1. My own laundry basket that I don't have to share with the clothes. Pink, of course. 2. Loud, squeaky, furry chipmunks. One for each day of the week, as I will certainly desqueak them the first chance I get. 3. Busy bones in packs of three. I don't know why. I just like busy bones. And the number 3. 4. A friend to play with would be nice once in awhile. These humans just don't understand my need to jump and bite at them. Babies. 5. A new U of M ball. I'm pretty sure one of these humans lost mine. I miss it. It's my favorite ball. My humans wing it everywhere in the house and it doesn't bounce too far for me to catch. Tennis balls are okay, but pretty lame if you ask me. 6. A few pieces of roasted chicken in my dog bowl once in awhile. How hard can it be? 7. I don't mind running loose in the garden, but it's a bit humiliating to smell like rosemary when I come in. Could I get a fenced in yard just for me? 8. I would like to meet Snoopy from Peanuts. Evidently my mom loves him, so I know I would too. I sure hope Angel finds a few of these things under the tree this year. I'm planning on putting a bow on her and calling her my best present yet!

Back to Joy

Angel and I went on a nice long hike through the woods yesterday. I had to stop saying the word, "walk", because it just makes her so excited that I can't get her leashed! So now I say "hike?" and she tilts her cute little head at me, like "what"? It was a balmy day yesterday and the woods were a bit damp, but we stayed on the trails the whole time. Sometimes I let her take off on a "nose hunt", trying to seek out whatever she smells. I enjoy these times with Angel, just walking through the woods, talking to her now and then, watching her investigate, and getting some much-needed exercise for us both. These walks in the woods have served us both well. I was so upset yesterday over the loss of Yofi, but I chose to spend the day loving on Angel and just enjoying what I already have. We returned to the house relaxed and tired, and one of us took a long nap. It wasn't me! As we walked, I couldn't help but think of Sophie, our beardie who passed in June of 2011. She loved the woods and running like crazy, tongue flying, hair flying; you could almost imagine her laughing as she ran with reckless abandon. She never required a leash and we could just take her anywhere and she'd stay right with us. Before we lost her, I spent hours with this big almost 50 pound baby on my lap, stroking her fur and promising I'd never love another dog as much as I love her. Believe it or not, I find this to be true. Sophie has a spot in my heart that is uniquely hers. And now Angel has a spot that is hers and hers alone. I gave my heart to both of them. Losing Yofi made me realize that I have more room in my heart for lots of pets, and one day I will give yet another piece of my heart away. In the meantime, Angel and I have lots of stuff to do together! We are working on some new training to help her deal with strangers. We watch that show, "It's me or the Dog" with Victoria Stilwell. She had a method using a key word, such as "friend" when someone rings the doorbell or comes into the yard. I spent some time with this training, and it went well (without people) until I actually did it when she heard a doorbell on TV (drives her crazy). I said the word, "friend" while giving her a treat and she'd have nothing to do with it. Just kept looking at the door! She's still in fear of people and the unknown, but I can tell by how she treats my mom and dad that she wants so badly to love other humans. Natalie taught Angel "lay down" just last night! Angel is so smart! Right now we are trying to just handle the stranger anxiety, but it's fun to see her learn other commands too. The other night we took Angel with us on a Christmas Light tour around a neighboring town. It was one of those balmy nights where you could have the windows down in the car. Angel was in heaven, head out the window, on my lap, loving the ride. She loves rides and gets at least two a day! I so love having her around. Can you tell?

Sad

Angel is doing great and is as happy as can be. She's asleep on the couch nearby as I write this. I can't say that I am doing great today. In fact, our whole family is incredibly sad. I found out this morning that we will not be able to adopt Yofi after all. In fact, he has already been released to another family. All of my efforts to locate him and adopt him were futile. I had contacted the first shelter and simply asked if they could at least just let me know when or if he was being moved to another location. No one called, as I expected. After some information I was given prior to Thanksgiving, I was waiting for the shelter to contact me with the time and place we could finally come and get him. NO call came, and he was in fact moved, unbeknownst to anyone. So late Friday night I find this out, and I began crying, just knowing if he was moved, he was going to be adopted quicker than I could get to him. I applied for him anyway, trying to explain the story the best I could, letting them know that we were his intended family way back in October, but it was too late. So, that's it. We will not be reuniting mother and pup. We will not be able to take care of him the way we've been planning. We have puppy food to now donate to an area shelter. We have breaking hearts and I am angry. This poor dog that the legal system thought was important enough to remove, instead let him sit in a shelter for almost 2 months, while he sat there and got worms and fleas! The taxpayers of that community paid for that too. Some of those dogs were wanted and planned for by some of us out here and instead of making that a priority, these places did not care! These pets deserved so much better than this and for that I am just beside myself. Not only did the legal system let them down, but evidently, some of these shelters did too. I really can't go on, it will just get ugly. As angry as we all are, we do understand that everything happens for a reason. All I cared about was that he got out of there and into a home, and that has happened. It's just not ours. I wanted the best for him, and i hope and pray that is the case. It's just not with us. I understand that someone probably needed him more than we did. That maybe it just wasn't meant to be. Truth be told, it was going to be a financial stretch for us to get him and make sure he had all he needed. We were willing to make the sacrifice, but maybe it was going to be too much. Who knows. Life isn't fair, as we always teach our girls. It just isn't. And in this case, Yofi is making someone else incredibly happy. I can't be sad for that. I'm just sad for us. I just love Angel so incredibly much that I had already fallen in love with her pup. That's all. I just wanted to reunite them and give them both a blessed life and a fairytale ending. Maybe they will still get that despite the circumstances. And Angel really doesn't mind being an only dog. Believe me. She is the heart of our home and the daily blessing we all need. She loves us always! She gives us all she has every day, even with the sad events of her past. She's willing to take another chance, and that speaks volumes, even if it is from a dog's perspective! We will keep on loving her and meeting her every need, and that will keep us going. I am sorry if my words or the posting of this information causes undue stress to anyone, however, I don't mean any ill will. I pray that this post actually inspires my readers to act on the needs of the pets in shelters around them. I don't waste much time on yesterday and staying angry. Rather, I spend that energy trying to make things better. We can't go back, we can only go forward. Without the things we want, and sometimes without the plans we had in mind. Peace to you and yours this Christmas season.

To Grandmother's House She Goes

We took Angel to Grammy's for Thanksgiving and she did pretty well. We waited for most of the family to leave before we drove back home to get her. "Pee Wee", an aging dachsund, is king of the house over there and hasn't quite accepted Angel into his kingdom. She does okay as long as we don't put her on the floor! She jumps from lap to lap, chair to chair just to avoid a sneak attack from Pee Wee. He's actually a really good boy, but he kind of nips at her when she walks by, so we don't trust him to be a gentleman just yet. Grandpa has a special spot just for Angel, and she is getting so much better about loving on others lately!

Isn't she cute sitting up there on my Pops' lap??

Both dogs finally got tired of each other and climbed up on either side of Natalie, declaring an official truce! Natalie loved being the mediator and snuggler of both sweet dogs!

Snow Dog

Yay! We're back! I have been both busy and a bit under the weather. So has Miss Angel, poor baby girl! She threw up in the van on the way home from school on Tuesday, then again in the house later. She had a bit of the runs, but after a day of being coddled and babied, she is as good as new! Turns out she loves crushed ice, just like my girls do when they are sick. She's a good little patient! On the day after we got most of our Christmas lights up, we got a good plop of beautiful snow! We were so excited to see what Angel would do. I watched from the window as Steve walked her outside. She went bananas! She ran around in circles over and over, jumping around in the snow. She came in absolutely covered! What is it about dogs and snow...I don't know, but I love it!

Thankful

Angel, you entertain us, soften us, love us, keep us laughing, smiling, and celebrating. We love you so much!! We are all so THANKFUL for you and for Nancy, who brought you to us back in April!!

Guard Dog

Angel doesn't miss a beat. She always seems to know where I am in the house! I've even played "Hide and seek" with her, and she always finds me! We have a open divider wall between our kitchen and family room area, and everyone loves to play "tag" with Angel around it. We peek around one side, then run to the other, hoping she doesn't catch us, but she is so clever, she always wins! That girl LOVES to play, and I'm so happy because my family loves to play too. She provides hours of entertainment to our two teens, and for daddy too. She also has to make sure I'm always within her sight no matter what I'm doing. So if I'm on the computer, she is sitting in the chair nearby, keeping watch.

I've also noticed that she enjoys cooking, laundry, and washing dishes. At least it seems she does, since every time I try to do those things, she is right in my way! I have to laugh about the whole laundry thing...our laundry room is small, so there is barely room for me to be in there by myself, let alone Angel too. Sometimes she gets out of the way by climbing into the basket of dirty laundry. I just look at her and smile. Really, dirty laundry? You love me THAT much?? Oh, we would sit in dirty clothes just for her too! :) Hanging out in the kitchen with me while I cook has yielded some very good deals for her. She always gets a taste of what I'm chopping. She loves green peppers, hates celery and raw potatoes, and seems to know when I drop something! She loves to sit under the sink while I'm doing dishes, however, she doesn't like it when it "rains" on her. Oops. Anyway, I love that she's my little shadow. My best friend with four legs, and my constant loyal companion. I am never alone when she's around, and if she is out on a ride with daddy, the house just isn't the same without her.