Where Is The Love?

Today was not a good day. As K was getting ready to take me on my morning walk I went and ate some grass and then threw up three times. Ugh. K had a suspicion that something was up with me because earlier when she went to fill my bowl with food it still had the food from yesterday in it. I did fine on my walk, though. Lollygagged as usual. I know it sometimes annoys K but hey, it is my walk and I like stopping and sniffing and taking my time. K needs to learn to chill and just be Zen about it – go with the flow, K. I met a new friend on my morning walk, a very sweet yellow English lab who is deaf. She was very friendly and we hung for a bit as our humans talked. I like meeting new dog friends! The rest of the day consisted of a lot of sleeping. You know how E.T. took on the emotions of his human Elliott? Well, I think a lot of pets tend to take on the emotions of their human owners. K has been really down lately and I think my feeling blue is linked to her. Why blue? Blue is the color of the sky. Does the sky make humans feel down? Anyway, K is distressed about all the negative events going on in America and the World. Although she is aware about Yin and Yang and the Hindu philosophy of the cyclical nature of space and time, she still seems to be easily affected by the negative energy. The World seems to be in a bad cycle right now, and a really bad one at that. K is asking, "where are the heroes?" and “where is the love?” It may seem really bad now, and may even get worse, but in the end, it is comforting to know that good ALWAYS wins. Go good! OK, now from a blue note to a scary note (is there a color to denote being afraid?). When K was away from the computer I decided to jump on and sniff around a bit. I found something that made the hairs on the back of my neck and tail stand up! Be warned, this is very frightening! Now, I have been practicing my Ninja stealth techniques but I have not mastered the art of moving without moving. Despite its creepiness it is obviously an excellent skill to have! But now I am a bit creeped out! First the mean dog behind the fence, then Kung-Fu bunnies, and now cats that can move without moving! I think I will be sleeping with one eye open from now on. I'm just sayin'...

I am loved!

I am once again very humbled and honored to have been given an award. My third award for my first blog! How cool is that? My good buddies, the very fun, clever, rockin', creative Desert Pups, have presented me with the very sweet "I heart your blog" award. Pawsome! Thank you Desert Pups! I really appreciate the award and your very kind words about me on your blog. Woof! Now for my speech: Ah-hem. I am very appreciative to have received this fabulous award. I could not have achieved this highpoint without some fantastic furry, feathery, and scaly animals. Let me start by first thanking my parents, for without them I would not exist, and my siblings, always in my heart! And of course a huge thanks to my Pack - my human K, Porgy, Silvius, and Kitty. We are a rag tag Pack of misfits but we have lots of exciting adventures and fun times and...OK, there is that music again. Grrrrr....Anywoo, this award comes with some rules. First, the winner, that would be moi, can put the logo on his/her blog [arf!]. Second, link to the doggie(s) you received your award from [arf! yeah, Desert Pups!]. Third, nominate seven other blogs [um...]. Fourth, put links of those blogs on yours [uhhh...]. And finally, leave a message on each of the seven nominated blogs informing them of their nomination [hmmm...]. OK, I will need to take a little time to come up with seven nominees. You see, I just don't have the opportunity to sniff around on the internet very much, so my pack of blogging animals is very small. In fact, I still have not yet found five blogs to award the Cool Cat Award too, which I had received from the very kewl cat Huffle Mawson way back in July! Sorry I have not yet done that yet Huffs! I hope that does not disqualify me from the award! Geesch, this is getting embarrassing! I need to expand my horizons and surf the internet to find more blogging animal friends! I will keep my keen eyes focused on finding blogs to award and once I have found them {12 in all!} I will do a special award post. You know, we can't all be popular like Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, Benji, and Beethoven. And Morris the Cat. I'm just sayin'...

Party Out Of Bounds

I just returned from a great party in the desert! It was my buddy Toby's (aka "Meatloaf" and no, he is now what's for dinner!) birthday party and it was a wild time! In case you have not met Toby he is one of the four Desert Pups, the other three being Scuba, Keiko, and Norman. They are a great pack of dogs who will give you the collar off their neck. And they know how to throw a great party! Anyway, sniff on over to their blog and check out the birthday photos and some incriminating photos!! I think I overindulged during the party because while running home to Northern California from Southern Arizona I had Animal Control called on me near Lake Tahoe. Seems some people thought I looked a bit tipsy running through the mountains while howling that I was winning the Iditarod. I think the heat of the desert got to me. And I may have nibbled on some peyote. No I didn't. Do I look fat in that picture? I'm just sayin'...

Cycle of Life

One week ago today Ginger crossed over the Rainbow Bridge. The Vet will be bringing her remains over this evening. I know she is in a much better place and having lots of fun running and playing with all of her friends, but we sure do miss her! For only knowing her a little over five months she sure touched all of our hearts and is truly missed. One of the Truths in life is that if you are born, you die. There is no getting around it. The cycle of life - birth and death. It really really sucks to lose someone/something you loved, but then the pain you feel is indicative to how much you had opened your heart to love, and that is a wonderful thing. Porgy has experienced death a lot more than me. K has had Porgy since 1991 (? - K thinks - she does not remember, or keep track of, "Gotcha" days. Gee, thanks K! I guess that means I will never have a birthday or "Gotcha" day celebration. Way to go, K!). Anyway, every animal that Porgy has bonded too since coming into K's life has crossed the Rainbow Bridge, except for me. And one of the members of K's family with whom Porgy was particularly close also passed. Poor Porgy has experienced a lot of loss. Porgy was particularly close to the dog previous to me and when he passed Porgy had a real hard time coping. He is buried in the field behind our house in Kansas and a close farmer friend brought over an old Kansas rock for a tombstone. When we are home in Kansas K will take Porgy to the grave and call "Bozie" (his nick-name) and Porgy will look around. I think Bozie is there in Spirit and Porgy can feel his presence. Ten months after Bozie's passing I came along and although Porgy took his time getting to know me, he finally bonded to me and has become my shadow and Protector. So, for Porgy's sake, and mine!, I hope to be here for a long while. I just need to stay one step ahead of those kung-fu bunnies. I'm just sayin'...

Sweet Ginger

Beautiful, sweet Ginger was put to sleep on Thursday, 4 September. She was 17-years-old. Out of respect for Ginger I will not go into detail of what happened, but suffice it to say that her body decided it was time to go. The Vet came to the house with his Vet Tech and they so gently and compassionately put Ginger to sleep with K by her side, stroking her and loving her to the end. Ginger was one of the sweetest and kindest dogs we had ever met. Ginger was extremely spunky and had an incredibly strong Will. She was a fighter until the end. Despite her age and her condition, which recently had been gradually declining, Ginger was determined to partake in life and not be left out. K takes me for walks twice a day, every morning and evening. Ginger always waited by the gate every morning and evening for K and me to return from our walks so that she could have her walks too. And she got them, right after me (and sometimes before!), every morning and every evening. The night before her passing she had her normal evening walk at 7 p.m. She did just fine. At 10:15 p.m. she had her nightly dose of medicines, and again she was fine. At 2 a.m. everything started to happen and by 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, 4 September, Ginger had crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Ginger's passing has left a huge void in the house and in our lives. K was waterworks yesterday, and even today (the 5th) she is still very sad with some waterworks. It will be a difficult adjustment for all of us, K, Mr. Thicket, Porgy, and myself, to live our daily lives with no Ginger. The owners of Ginger, the family we are house/animal sitting for, are deeply saddened over Ginger's loss, which has been made much harder for them since they are overseas and were therefore not able to be with their beloved pet during her passing. It is a very heartbreaking time for all who knew and loved Ginger. Ginger: 1991 - 2008. Godspeed Ginger! I'm just sadly sayin'...