Group
Shot - Smile and Say "Cheese"!
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Here's
Charlie! |
Charlie was our first dog, a Bichon-Frise. He was like a
ball of white cotton candy when we brought him home as a tiny
seven week-old puppy, wrapped in his brand new, thick, blue
terry-cloth bath towel. Charlie was a Christmas present to
our four children in 1994. It was so wonderful! We had
Charlie at a friends house until they all were sound asleep.
Seamed like it took forever. I drove to their house to get
him and bring him home. Our friends enjoyed playing with him
so much and were sort of sad he was leaving.
We
had made a place for Charlie to sleep, which he didn't do!
All Charlie wanted to do was keep jumping out of this bed, explore
his new home, run around, and make a lot of noise! He
finally fell asleep and luckily didn't wake the kids, and we
finally got a "few minutes" of sleep ourselves before
everyone was up Christmas morning, excited to run downstairs to
see what Santa had left.
Christmas
morning came (really early) with all the excitement of children
(and the grown-ups too, I have to confess) in eager anticipation
of events to come. What's under the tree!? What's in
our stockings!? And little did they know who was hiding in
the powder room! It was Charlie, waiting to make his grand
entrance, although he was still napping!
It
came time for them to open their final presents all at the
same time so as not to give the clue away too soon. One
child opened a leash, another opened a small bag of dog food,
still another opened small feeding dishes, and yet another opened
a grooming accessory kit. Toward the end of opening these
gifts, my husband John took their photo's that showed a hint of
confusion, and I sneaked away to bring out Charlie.
I
entered our dining room door and sat him on the oak floor and off
he bounced toward the kids like a white cotton ball wind-up toy!
He was so tiny! The kids ran to him and scooped him up, each
wanting their turn to hold and kiss him. The other things
they received for Christmas that year took second place, after
Charlie of course. Each one got their turn to hold him, look
at his face, kiss him, and pass him to the next in line.
Then
they had to come up with a name for him! This took a couple
of hours. Charlie has a very definite kink in his fluffy
tail and they tried to come up with a name that could reflect
this, but nothing seemed to fit. Then our oldest daughter
suggested "Charlie". And everyone felt that was
the perfect name for him.
Christmas
vacation ended too soon for them. Time to return to school.
One cold, snowy morning when I let Charlie outside, being the
friendly little fellow he is, he wanted to make friends with the
metal fence post, so he licked it! I had just glanced away
for a second when he did his courageous deed. And guess
what? I heard a tiny little whimper. When I looked in
Charlie's direction, I saw this "pink thing" by his head
and went over to investigate. Charlie's tongue was stuck to
the metal post! I moistened my fingers and gently pried it
away. No harm done. In fact, he did it again a few
days later, but that was the last time. I guess he learned
his lesson.
The
months passed by and it became very apparent to us by living with
Charlie and by researching more on the characteristics of
Charlie's breed of dog that they don't like to be alone. So,
guess what we did! We bought Charlie our dog a dog!
Update: Sad news, our beloved Charlie passed
away while sleeping June 8, 2007, after 13 years of love and
laughter. Charlie developed a heart murmur and then congestive
heart failure. Charlie
brought us great love and joy, and is missed dearly.
Charlie
was approximately 13 years old.
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Here's Puppy! |
There
was a lady who brought her tiny Chihuahua to school everyday to
pick up her kids. Needless to say everyone loved her little
dog. Our kids kept telling us about the Chihuahua and their
conversations with the lady. We met and found out the name
and phone number of the breeder she had purchased her dog from so
we could perhaps get another dog.
I
told the breeder we only wanted a very small, female, fawn colored
Chihuahua. She called us when she had a few for us to look
at. We were there for four hours, having the time of our
life! Luckily, she understood. After much debate,
consideration, and observations, we choose our girl!
We
brought her home in a brand new, pink, thick terry-cloth towel.
It was very exciting and the kids took turns holding her all the
way home.
We
introduced her to Charlie. Charlie was very excited and
confused. It seemed like a part of him was happy to have a
playmate. Another part of him didn't seem to believe this
"thing" could really move on it's own! It was
hilarious watching our tiny Chihuahua just walk or run under
Charlie's tummy, then watch him try to figure out where she went!
She didn't even have to duck! They made quite a comedy team.
Now
we had a dilemma. Another name was needed. She was so,
so small. She blended in with the color of our oak floors
and wasn't much larger than a mouse. Even though she was
about 8-9 weeks old, she only weighed about two pounds!
After careful consideration, the name "Puppy" was
chosen. She will always be the size of a "puppy".
Puppy
is so very sweet, patient, and affectionate. She's small but
when needed, she'll let you know if you're doing something she
doesn't like, especially her two other pet companions.
Update: Sad news, our beloved
Puppy passed
away while sleeping June 8, 2009, after 15 years of love and
laughter. Puppy developed arthritis and had to be carried up
and down any stairs. Later on she developed other health
problems but bounced back right before passing away quietly.
Puppy
brought us great love and joy, and is missed dearly.
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Here's Nikki!
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A
couple of years after Puppy came to live with us, we felt a strong
desire to bring one more pet into our home. For variety, we
decided we wanted a larger dog. We looked around but didn't
quite see what we were looking for. One spring day, the kids
and I went looking and decided to visit the animal shelter
again. That's when we found her! Nikki had just
come in that day from a family who could no longer take care of
her. She was about a year old.
She
was in the last kennel we looked at. In fact, one of the
kids hurried in front of the rest of us and told us to hurry and
look at her. When we got there she seemed to say
"Mama". Believe it or not, it's true.
She
was beautiful. Gorgeous coat, brilliant blue eyes, and very
alert. We took her to the "play area" to see how
she would be around us. We all fell in love with her, but
since she just came in that morning, she had to stay there for 24
hours. We made definite plans to go back bright and early
the next morning and adopted Nikki.
On
the way home Nikki would sometimes lift her head up in a
howling-like manner and let out a low howling noise. Soon
everyone in the car was doing it! It must have been a funny
site to see for those passing us on the street. I wonder if
they heard anything!
Nikki
seems to try her best to "talk" to you. She
watches your mouth forming words and she seems to try to do it
too. So far, not much luck, although we really don't have
our hopes too high on this one. But it's funny to watch her
try, then tilt her head when she doesn't quite understand what
you're saying and you make a new sound.
She
baby-sits the other two dogs and keeps them in line (most of the
time). You can ask her where's Charlie, where's Puppy, and
usually she'll find them for you.
Nikki
knows when one of us in under the weather too. She'll be
attentive and follow you. She's very protective of her
family, those of us with two legs, and those with four.
Update: Sad news, our beloved Nikki passed
away peacefully in her sleep on May 11, 2005. Nikki had a
tumor removed which came back very aggressively. She
kicked around like her old self until she passed away. Nikki
brought us great love and joy, and is missed dearly. Nikki
was approximately 11 years old.
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Introducing....Chip! |
I had been searching the internet and the local papers for several months looking for
another pet . We'd adopted Nikki from the
Hinsdale Humane Society. I checked their site often for a
new family pet member, in addition to other shelters.
In late March, 2008, I saw an ad for a 2 year old male Maltese
on the Hinsdale Humane Society's web site, but there was no
picture. I told my husband about him and asked if he
wanted to go and meet "Marshmallow". He said ok, and
off we went. Our meeting went very good and we fell in
love with him (not hard to do). You just had to look past
his gruff exterior, gaze into his eyes, and you'd easily see
he's really a sweetheart just longing to be loved and cared for
in a forever home.
Marshmallow was extremely matted. Almost all his hair had
to be shaved off. Since he didn't respond to his name, we
renamed him "Chipper", partly because he makes us feel chipper
when we see him, snuggle him, hold him and watch him play.
Chipper and Puppy are getting along very well. Even Puppy
is more chipper! His new name suits him to a "T".
Chip is a wonderful addition to our pet family and we look
forward to many happy years with him too
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It truly is sad how many pets are looking for a home (children
too).
Be sure
to spay or neuter your pet. It's heartbreaking looking at
all the sad faces online just desperately wanting a forever
home, wondering what they did that was so bad to get them where
they find themselves. Feeling helpless, sad, very scared
and just wanting to be loved. And you know what's even sadder,
there are probably thousands more that are never pictured online.
Adopt a pet from the humane society or private breeder.
According to recent reports many puppies in pet stores come from
deplorable conditions in puppy mills. If you do buy from a
pet store, ask them where their puppies are from - a private
local, reputable, responsible breeder or from a place they know
nothing about where the animals are over-bred, unloved, and not
cared for.
Plus, we have a newt.
Interesting little creature to say the least.
Our newt has a bright orange tummy. Don't know if we have
a girl or boy, but we must be going something right because
s/he's lived here for about 4 years already.
