Busted!

And here I thought I had the family fooled that I was a good girl. Sweet, cuddly, fluffy, cute, and innocent. You know....an angel!

Well, I got busted by dad.

Yep. That's me with mom's slipper. Dad spotted me out the window carrying it around, so he came outside to document the evidence.

I wouldn't even put it down when I had to pee.

I was even nice enough to take it back in the house. But as soon as mom came home from work, dad ratted me out! I heard him tell mom, "you're daughter isn't the angel you think she is." He then proceeded to show her the above evidence.

But then, something happened I didn't expect (as I sat there looking at mom as innocently as possible.) Mom said "I bet Monty took it out there, and Holly found it, and she was just keeping it away from him. Then she was nice enough to bring it back in the house so Monty wouldn't chew it up."

WOW! Mom was defending me! See, Monty is well known for carrying things outside, like toys, shoes, and our plastic eating bowls. Now, I'm not saying what reeeaaalllly happened, so I'll just let her believe what she wants to believe, and therefore keep her opinion of me as that sweet, cuddly, fluffy, cute, innocent and angelic girl.

I even got to go do some pet therapy tonight. Mom took me to the hospital to visit Kelsey's mom who had surgery on her ankle. I had a great time and got lots of attention. People were really surprised to see me walking down the halls. I got lots of compliments on how pretty I am. I know mom is really proud of me when people acknowledge what a gorgeous girl I am!

So, even though I got busted by dad, mom still loves me enough to stick up for me (and blame Monty.) Heehee, I have her so fooled!

Hollybollyboo

(stupid humans)

They LIED to us!

Ok, no real surprise there. Since when have the weather indicator people actually been ACCURATE?!

No snow. Not a single flake. So actually, I was more accurate than they were. I said we'd either get a foot or nothing. And we got NOTHING!!!

Anyway, I'm over that now.

I promised I'd get back to the important stuff.....ME, but then something else came up. Something that makes me just want to horka. See below.

That's mom. She has to spoon feed Abby her canned food. This started many years ago when Abby had the e-coli up her nose and had all kinds of meds mixed in with her canned food. Ok, she still has all kinds of meds mixed in, but now it's just something she's use to, so if mom just sets the food in the bowl in front of her, she just looks at it as if to say "ummm, what am I suppose to do with this."

THEN, Samuel came over, cuz he likes Abby's food, and most of the time mom has to dab a little of Abby's canned food on top of Sam's food so he will eati it. He's quite picky. So mom tried the spoon feeding thing with him, just to see what he would do. And here's the result.....

Yep, you saw it here. The Master of Sad and Pathetic, proving he has earned his title honestly. This is the most blatant display of pathetic I have ever seen. He is being spoon fed like a baby!! He has this human woman so completely trained, it's absolutely priceless! I don't know whether to be envious because he has her trained so well, or horka all over the floor because this display of patheticness makes me sick.

What have I learned from this display? Being picky and not eating your food, gets you spoon fed by the human woman. So, if I understand this correctly...... if I refuse to eat my food, look longingly and sadly with those pathetic eyes at my mom, then she will spoon feed me? Uummmm, NOT gonna happen. I'm tougher than that pathetic, sad little sissy boy. And I have specific food issues that do not allow me to let food just sit in my bowl and be ignored. Nope, sorry, don't see me just sitting there waiting for someone else to feed me. When the bowl is put down, I'm on it like stink on a skunk! That's why, in previous pictures of me, I am eating my bowl. The food that was in it has already been inhaled!

I have SOOO got to teach these Husky's how to be less pathetic.

Hollybollyboo

(still NOT pathetic)

Siberia has arrived - Sorta

Well, the Siberian cold is finally getting here. Temp is currently 19 degrees with the low forcasted to be 10. Wind chill is currently at 2 degrees. Aaaahhhhh, nothing like a nice icy breeze blowing in my face and ruffling my fluffy fur! We're also "suppose" to get 1 to 2 inches of snow starting this afternoon. But, these weather predictors are not too good at their jobs, so we'll either get a foot, or nothing!

Personally, I'm hoping for a foot, but would actually settle for the 2 inches. I'm really ready to start rolling around in the nice fluffy white stuff. We usually have some snow by now. This whole global warming thing is really starting to irritate me.

Global warming is stupid. I want snow NOW!

Hollybollyboo
(Lookin' for the white stuff)

And not to be forgotten.....

This is Kirby the cat. He is the smallest fur member of my house. He's 17, and came to Omaha with mom when she moved here from Japan. He use to have a brother, Alex, but he went to the Rainbow Bridge in March 2003.



Kirby had quite an exciting trip from Japan to the United States. When mom took him out of his crate in Los Angeles to give him another tranquilizer pill, he accidentally jumped out of her arms, then the collar he was wearing which was attached to his leash came undone! So here is poor, frightened Kirby running around the baggage claim area in LAX airport. He tried to run back up the pet crate belt but couldn't do it cuz it was rolling down, and then he ran along the side of a wall. All this time mom was freaking out and yelling at her (then) hubby to grab him. Well, when he ran by mom, she launched herself at him and tackled him against the wall, flat on her stomach on the floor. I'm sure it was quite amusing to watch. It was very nice of mom to sacrifice her body to catch her kitty!

Abby and Samuel were raised with Alex and Kirby, so they like cats. Well, this one anyway.

Kona has been around cats before so he likes him too. (actually Kona just ignores him cuz he doesn't care)

Monty at first thought he was a large black squirrel, and therefore possible snack food. He use to lick his lips quite a lot when Kirby was around. Now he just follows him around when he ventures out as if trying to figure out what he is for sure.

I have actually shown little interest, other than staring as if to say to myself "I wonder what that is? Hhhmmmm, not sure."

Kirby is very friendly, and apparently has no clue what Monty or I could possibly do to his plump squirrel looking body. He likes to come up to me and rub his head against my chin. What's that all about? Luckily mom keeps a close eye on us when Kirby decides to do this strange behavior.

Kirby is spoiled. He has his own room! Yep, that's his room in the picture, with his very own window seat with blanket and pillow for him to lay on. He also has other spots in his room that mom has put nice soft towels or blankets that he likes to lay on. I mean, come on! A whole room?! Mom has a baby gate in the door so Kirby can go in and out as he pleases by jumping over the gate, but it keeps us curious doggies out of his room, and his snack box with all the yummy treats that mom just scoops up and puts in a bag that disappears. What a waste! Reminds me of the dead things I bring her that she puts in the same bags, yet I never see them again either! These humans are just so mean when it comes to some of the best tasty treats.

Well, hope you all have enjoyed meeting my fur family. I'd tell you about the humans, but they're pretty boring. Nowhere near as exciting as us furballs, so we won't even attempt to bore you all with that nonsense.


Tomorrow......back to the important stuff.........ME!

Hollybollyboo

Miss Abby

This is Abby. She's the oldest at 11, and mom's first husky. Mom got her when she was only 6 weeks old from some friends of her ex-inlaws. She's not a full Siberian, she's actually 3/4 Siberian and 1/4 wolf. She came from northern Minnesota, and her mom was named Lena, and she was full Siberian. Abby's dad was 1/2 Siberian and 1/2 Wolf, and mostly black, which is where she gets so much black coloring. She has the beautiful blue Siberian eyes, but a very wolf-like face.

Abby is a therapy dog, just like me, Sam and Kona. She was mom's first therapy dog. She is great with people and absolutely loves kids. She likes to give them licks!


Abby has had a hard life. At the age of two Abby, mom, and one of mom's friends were in a bad car accident. Mom and her friend were ok, but unbeknownst to mom, Abby wasn't. Less than 12 hours after the accident, Abby had a seizure. Mom rushed her to the emergency vet who did all kinds of tests, but all they came up with was that she was slightly dehydrated. Mom told them they were in a car accident, but they said that didn't have anything to do with it, and that "some dogs just have seizures." Mom though that was pretty strange, since she had never had one before. Within a few days, Abby wasn't eating, and was acting very sluggish. So mom made an appointment with a different vet who was a neurologist. They x-rayed her head and found that she had 3 fractures in her skull, and a concussion. Mom cried because she felt so bad that Abby was in so much pain. They gave her some medication for her concussion and told mom to keep an eye on her and watch for any more seizures. About 6 month's later she had another one. So mom took her back to the vet and they did some more tests and found that Abby had a lesion on her brain, which was causing it to misfire and cause the seizures. So they put her on Potassium Bromide, and she has not had another seizure since!

Then, in 2000 Abby got e-coli up her nose. Don't ask how, that was never figured out! Anyway, to make a very long story short, cuz otherwise this would be a book, she was on 10 different antibiotics which didn't work, the vet even tried a breathing nebulizer to get the medicine directly to her sinus passages, but the medication that was used caused problems with her B.U.N. and Createnine levels (that affects kidney function) so they couldn't finish the treatment. Mom even had to take her to Colorado State University for special tests since her own vet couldn't figure out how to kill the e-coli. It got so bad that she was actually bleeding from her nose, and mom cried a lot because no one could figure out how to get rid of the infection. She was also put on Prednisone,which made her fat and very cranky. It completely changed Abby's general sweet, good natured personality. Mom hated it!

Also during this time, Abby got a hole in her elbow from laying on it too much because she was too fat from the prednisone. She was also shot in the head with a BB gun by someone, and had a hole in forehead. She got in a fight with Samuel over her food (thanks to the nasty prednisone making her mean and cranky) and ended up with 14 stitches in her cheek.

Finally, at one visit to the vets, mom said she was really hoping for some divine intervention since none of the medication was working. Her vet told her about some nuns who had come in with their cat who had kidney stones and needed surgery. The nuns said they would pray over the weekend and see what happened. The vet told the nuns to bring the cat back on Monday for surgery. When the nuns came back on Monday the kidney stones were gone, so the vet told my mom maybe she should go see this nun and she might be able to help! Mom, thinking "why not", since nothing else had worked, went to see the nun. The nun, Mother Nadine, came to mom's house on a Saturday, and prayed for Abby. She said there was an evil spirit in Abby and prayed for it to leave her. A few days later mom took Abby in for a new sinus culture. By the following Monday, mom called the vets office to see how Abby's culture was, and the vet told her that the e-coli was GONE! Mom was so surprised that she said WHAT?? And the vet said, yep, it's finally gone. Mom actually cried right there on the spot. 11 months later, and almost $10,000 in treatments, it took a nun only one visit to cure her. A month later they did another nose culture just to be sure it was definitely gone, and it was. To this day, mom truly believes it was Mother Nadine who helped Abby. Too many bad things happened to her during that period, so the evil spirit thing made sense. And mom isn't even Catholic.

Next came Abby's knee surgeries. She blew out her cruciate ligaments in both her knees. The vet did surgery on her right knee first, cuz it was the worst. Then, a few month's later they did her left knee. But, she was having some problems with her right knee, so they had to go back in and tighten up the inner stitches. Then, again they had to do the same thing for the last time in January 2006.

She still has no fur on her right hip, which you can see here in this picture of her and Sam on my couch. Vet has no idea why he fur won't grow back, especially now that winter is here and her winter fur should be coming in. The fur grew back from her ankle to just above her knee, but stopped there. The fur did grow back on her left knee, so the vet has not idea what the problem could be. So, for all those idiots out there who think it's ok to shave a husky, DON'T DO IT! It ruins the fur!

Then lastly, Abby and I got into a bit of a tiff one morning a few month's back, and I won. But, Abby didn't fare so well. I don't know my own strength, and being a bossy Alpha, and having Abby still not too strong on her knees, I got her head pretty good.

Now, this photo looks much worse than it actually was. Those things sticking out of her head are drain tubes. She had two pretty nasty bite wounds on top of her head, and one by her cheek. The vet actually cut 2 more holes for the drain tubes. I don't remember why we got into it, and the humans were in bed, so they don't know for sure either. They assume it was over a chewy. So now they don't leave any chewy's out when they are not there to supervise us. Abby is all healed up now, and her fur is grown back mostly. Once again it has grown back part way, but not completely.

We are getting along much better now. Mom and dad keep a close eye on me when I get too bossy with Abby(or the others for that matter). Apparently it has something to do with having two females, and my I guess my breed doesn't do well with the same sex.

Well, now that I have almost written that book, it's time for my dinner. And I'm kind of tired after all this typing, so I think I need a nap too.

Hollybollyboo

(being much nicer now days)

My geeky brother - Sam I Am

Yes, it's the Master of Sad and Pathetic, who is also the biggest geek I know. I think it's just a Husky thing that he's as weird as he is. Mom has so many bazaar pictures of him, there just isn't enough room in my blog to show them all.

Not only have I posted pictures of him in the bathtub, the bed, hogging my couch, and now....the swimming pool. Sam loves his swimming pool. He flops around it in, lays in it, puts his whole face underwater (see photo at let) and blows bubbles out his nose. He won't let anyone else in his pool. Which is good, because he takes up the whole thing. I think next summer mom will have to get a bigger pool.

Mom got Samuel when he was only 8 weeks old. She went to a pet store with a friend who needed fish food, and in the back was this adorable husky puppy. Mom said, "can I hold him?" And that was the end of it. Home he went. Now, I know what you are thinking, and yes, mom knows that puppy stores are BAD. And she is totally against them. But, she was sucked in, and once she held that sweet, quiet, trembling puppy, she just couldn't leave him there.

By that evening, she was asking herself "what the heck did I just do." After dealing with Abby as a puppy (that story coming up tomorrow) and dealing with the husky puppy death screams, she was now doing it all over again. Sam was NOT happy his first SEVERAL nights home. He was quite dramatic, throwing himself around his crate, sighing VERY loudly, and crying most of the night. Most of the time mom was just trying to keep from laughing at him, but the rest of the time she was just trying to get him to sleep and be quiet!



He also loves yogurt. Mom has to put some on top of his food so he'll eat it (he's very picky). He is also a freak when it comes to toys. He loves to play with toys. He'll go dig through the toy box and find one he likes, then go crazy with it. I, of course, try to take it away from him, but he doesn't care. I'd say, of all my new siblings, Sam and I get along the best. He's not afraid of me for some reason. He's pretty much the only one I don't compete with. Even Monty lets me try and bite his legs. Sam does his husky growly, talky, thing at me, and I leave him alone.

Sam is very bad breeding (hello, pet store dog) and he is not a good breed representative. He is tall, like me, and weighs about 80 pounds, but isn't fat. He is hypothyroid, zinc deficient, and allergic to EVERYTHING in regular dog food. He has a special duck and potato food he has to eat. He does get things he isn't suppose to, like yogurt, and treats, but mom tries not to give him too much, or he has skin and tummy issues. He gets discolored spots on his face and his poo is not "normal" when he eats too much stuff he's not suppose to.

Sam is 8 now. But he still acts like he's 2. Mom calls him the forever puppy. He is a lot of fun though. Very entertaining with his talking, and playing by himself, and hogging the couch, and bed, and just going nutso for no reason if no one is giving him any attention. He'll just start spazzing out and doing this little dance on the floor and jumping and flopping around and woowooing at at us. Then he'll do a face/nose dive on the floor and flop around there. That's usually when mom or dad gets out the water bottle to get him to calm down. They don't usually have to use it on him, just show him the bottle, and he grumbles and lays down, and stops barking. It's actually quite funny to see. It's probably a good thing the humans don't speak his language, cuz I'm pretty sure the things he's grumbling aren't too nice!

Well, enough about Sir Sam I Am. Goodness knows I could go on and on about the weirdo, but there just isn't enough time or room here!

Hollybollyboo

(not a geek)

The other white meat - Kona

This is the other Samoyed in my house. His name is Kona. Like the coffee. And the island in Hawaii. That's where dad got his name. He just turned 10. He's the second oldest, after Abby.

Everyone always thinks Kona is a girl. He acts kinda girly. He's certainly prissy. He doesn't like to get his feet wet, so he hates to walk on the grass when it's dewy or been rained on.

He also barks a lot. Usually for no reason, other than he's excited, or because no one is paying attention to him. He is a therapy dog, just like me. And he does really good at it cuz he just walks up to people and stands in front of them. Then, if they don't pet him, he barks at them. Then, if they STOP petting him, he barks at them again, or he nudges their hand, or arm, to tell them they need to keep petting him. If you ignore him, he'll just walk over to the next person and bark at them.

Abby likes him though. She likes to give him kisses. But, then again, she likes to give everyone kisses.

Kona is also stubborn (and too smart I think). When mom use to walk him with Samuel, he would walk waaaayy behind her, really slow, while Sam was always walking fast waaaayy in front of her. Poor mom would be in the middle, with Sam 16 feet ahead on the retractable leash, and Kona 16 feet behind on his retractable. I'm sure it was funny to see. Sam pulling mom, and mom pulling Kona. She knew he walked really slow on purpose, just to irritate her. Cuz when she would slow down, Kona would slow down even more. Drove her crazy. She finally gave up trying to walk them together, cuz it was too hard for her to be stretched in between Kona and Sam. Now she makes dad take him. But dad said Kona doesn't do that to him, so mom knows he was just doing it to her on purpose. Just to be annoying. Mom use to joke that old Shula, at 15, was faster than Kona!

I like to pick on Kona, cuz he's afraid of me. heheh. He's always sure to walk way around me, and give me plenty of room. And he won't look right at me either. When he walks by me he actually looks the other direction! He's such a prissy boy!

Well, it's my dinner time. And I think I'll need another nap after that. More on my siblings tomorrow.

Hollybollyboo

(bossy, not prissy)

Beta Blogger is Stupid

Ok, I don't like the new beta blogger. As my friend Tubey would say, It's STUPID.

I can't figure out how to add more links to my link list. The way it was on the old blogger was much easier. I wanted to add some new friends to my links list, and I can't figure out how to do it. I'm not very computer literate, so any help from the pro's out there would be much appreciated.

Therefore, I'm in a mood today. I didn't get any turkey, or dressing, or taters.

I did get some pumpkin (no, not the pie or special cake the Ao4's human gave my human) but the pure, out of the can pumpkin. Which is fine, cuz I do really like it. But, I was really looking forward to some turkey and other goodies. Unfortunately, I'm on a DIET, so I didn't get any yummy, tasty, fattening, human food.

So instead, I spent the day lounging and napping. Trying to figure out this whole new beta blogger thing has really irritated me, so I am just going to give up for now.

Maybe I will tackle it tomorrow when I am more awake, and not so irritable.

Hope all my other blogger doggie friends fared better than I did when it comes to this eating holiday.

One thing I can say, is that I am very thankful for all my new doggie blogger friends, my family, and my happy, fat, lazy life. It's what every doggie out there deserves.

Hollybollyboo

(happy in her loving home)

Meet the Monster

This is Monty, aka The Monster. He's a 5 year old Samoyed and he belongs to dad.

Dad got Monty when he was just a little white furball puppy, from some back yard breeder (give him a break, he didn't know any better) and he's a really bad representative of the breed.

For example.......

He's waaayy to big for a Samoyed. Long body, tall, 80+ pounds, strange krinkly fur, pink (not black) nose. Mom says he's got Albert Einstein hair on his head. It has a tendency to stick up (you can see a little of that above. And his tail doesn't curl over his back like a normal Samoyed. It stands straight up. Like a plume.

I like him though. I like to try and bite him on his legs when I get really excited and playful. He's the only one I will actually try and play with. I don't know why, something about him I guess, makes me want to beat him up a little.

Him and Sam sometimes have "issues." See, they haven't quite figured out who's the alpha between them. Now, I KNOW I'm the alpha, but those two boys just haven't figured out who, between the two of them, is more in charge of the other.

Monty doesn't like it when Samuel plays, so he tries to take Sam's toys away (0k, I do the same thing, but that's different) and then Sam gets upset so they fight. Last time, Sam kicked Monty's furry, leaf sticking, butt. (see my previous post about the outside being inside) So now Monty has a chew spot on his nose and his ear. But, over all, we all get along pretty well most of the time. I have my bossy "issues" too, but as long as everyone does what I say, things will be just fine.

Here's Monty sleeping against the wall and Kona on the rug. Those Samoyeds can't just lie flat on their backs and sleep like me, Samuel and Abby. Guess they aren't as talented. hehehe

Monty and I go for our walks every morning together with dad. He has to take us 2 at a time, and since Monty and I are the most spastic and demanding for our walks, we get to go first!

Well, that's about all I can think of for now.

A HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY WONDERFUL FURRY FRIENDS OUT THERE!!!

Hope you all get plenty of turkey, and dressing, and taters and gravy, and green beans (ok, no green beans) and pie........lots and lots of pie! Remind your humans that pumpkin is really good for you!!!!

Hollybollyboo

(bring on the food!)

OOhhhh I have a new look!

Well, I did it. I switched to beta. I kinda like it. (so far) My page now has a nice new look, with pretty girly colors!

My friend Turbo was mentioning how the humans like to take pictures of us when we are sleeping. Here......are some excellent examples of the humans taking our pictures when we are sleeping.

This is Abby. She's REALLY comfy on her back.

And then there's me......

I seem to like sleeping in the same position.

And then there's Samuel. He prefers hogging the bed. Or, if it's raining/storming he sleeps in the bathtub. Don't ask, he's just weird.

Monty is a "wall" sleeper. He has to prop himself up against the wall to sleep on his back. Obviously not as talented as me and Abby for just "airing it out."

Kona usually sleeps in the doorway, or hall, making it difficult to walk around him. I think he does this on purpose just so the humans have to step AROUND him. He does sleep in mom's room at night, but she sometimes kicks him out cuz he snores so bad. (She says he's almost as bad as dad!)

And then, when dad sleeps on the couch (which Abby, Samuel and I tend to share) we all rally around to support him.

We're such good kids.

Mom and dad have the next 6 days off from work because of the big eating holiday. We're really hoping to reap a few benefits of this eating holiday and get some good eats for ourselves! Mom's pretty against the whole "people food" thing. But I've been practicing my "sad and pathetic" look, and Sam is the master at it, and since mom is "fair" with us, if one of us gets "people" food, she is nice enough to be sure we all get some. So, I think Sam and I will try to gang up on her to see what happens. Wish us luck.

I have decided to post on each of the next few days on my siblings. That way I can share with everydog all about my wonderful family, including those other furballs taking up space in my house. Yeah, yeah, they were here first, but now that I'm in charge, its MY house. (for further clarification, see the title of my blog!)

Hollybollyboo

(all this talk about sleep has made be tired)

How to get treats - the hard way

We had a nice relaxing weekend and didn't do too much. I did work on my "sad and pathetic" look.

I think you can see here I'm doing a little better.

I'm still trying to eat my bowl, however.

I'm trying to clean it so it can go back in the cabinet and not the dishwasher.

Dad took it away from me shortly after this, cuz I was starting to eat the plastic, as usual.

Mom worked on her Christmas cards for the DWB's exchange, and her Secret Santa gift for her Sibernet gift exchange. We chilled out in the nice cool sunny weather outside.

Dad sucked up most of the leaves in the back yard yesterday with the big grass sucking machine. Then today Mom and dad did some house cleaning. Ok, DAD did most of the cleaning. He cleaned off the built in shelves by the fireplace, where he had all kinds of junk stacked up, that mom just refused to mess with since it was his. Then dad got out that evil Dyson, and was sucking up all our fur, along with Monty's leaves. Check out the Master of Pathetic. He actually let dad use the Dyson ON HIM!

Bad Husky.....VERY BAD husky!! How dare he let that happen. Sam was laying in the kitchen while mom was making lunch, (he was trying to get treats by just hanging out), and here comes dad with the vacuum, and Sam just LETS HIM use that thing on him to suck up his fur. The big baby didn't bark, or growl, or claw at him, he just sat there and took it! I have now lost all respect for the Master. Mom was so surprised he actually let dad vacuum his fur, that she GAVE HIM A TREAT!

Ok, so maybe he's not so stupid after all. Maybe if I let them vacuum me, I'LL get treats......hhhmmmmm something to think about. Sam was the only one who stuck around in the house while the Dyson was running. He was following mom around, so I guess he's smart enough to figure out how to get treats, while WE were all outside!

He's such a suckup.

Hollybollyboo

(going to have to do more studying of the Master - he's multi-talented it seems)

A very unhappy anniversary

One year ago, on November 17th 2005, my mom had a very, very bad day.

This is Shula. Mom rescued sweet Shula Mae from some people who, at the very senior age of 13 1/2, decided they did not want to build a fence at their new house. So they decided to "get rid" of her.

Luckily, my mom was there to say "I'll take her" when she got a message on her Sibernet list that Shula needed a new home.

Shula was a tiny little girl. She didn't know how to play with toys, and she was rather shy around her new mom and new siblings, Abby and Samuel. She grew to really love Samuel, and followed him everywhere. Mom use to call her Sam's "mini me" because she was like Sam's shadow, only a much smaller version.


Shula's favorite spot to nap was in front of the little floor fan.


She especially liked it in the summer when the nice cool air from the air conditioning vent was also blowing on her.



Mom knew when she took this little girl into her home, that she most likely wouldn't be around long. But she knew that she would make the time she had left the happiest, most loving time Shula had ever experienced.

Even at 14 and 15 years old, she loved to go for walks. She would run on her 26 foot retractable leash in circles, cuz she just loved to run. She had some arthritis in her back legs so sometimes she looked like a bunny hopping along. She really looked forward to her daily walks and runs.

She also liked to boss Sam around. She had a funny little bark that sounded more like a pirate saying "aaarrrrr" than a bark. She acted like Sam's mom, and yelled at him when he was misbehaving.

When she came to live with mom (before she was married to dad) she was told by Shula's former owners that Shula didn't like to be inside. What mom found out, was that they just didn't let her in the house, cuz at mom's house she loved being inside, and would only go outside long enough to potty, and then wanted to come right back in. She had her "spot" on the floor in the bedroom, on her special blankie, where she slept every night. When mom and dad got married, Shula got a new house, with a doggie door, and a ramp to help with her arthritis so she wouldn't have to use stairs. She also got her blankie in the new bedroom, and once again, had her sleeping spot at the end of the bed.

As her 16th birthday neared in October 2005, she became very picky with her food. I guess mom had to feed her warmed up hot dogs, chicken nuggets, baby food, and even baked chicken and rice (just for her) so she would eat. She would eat her canned dog food, but only right out of the can if mom fed it to her on a fork. Wow, talk about training your human!

Shula became very ill, very quickly. Mom took her in to the vet on a Monday November 14th after Shula had an episode that mom thought might have been a seizure, and they did some tests and found out that her red blood count was so low, she was only 2 points away from needing a transfusion. What mom thought was a seizure, was actually her body reacting to a lack of oxygen in her blood. So they put her on iron pills to see if that would help. She was extremely weak, and had a very hard time walking, and even standing up. Mom would carry her outside to potty, and then carry her back inside. I guess it was a good thing she only weighed about 43 pounds. Mom didn't get hardly any sleep that week because she was always up checking on Shula to be sure she was doing ok. But Shula got weaker, and by Thursday the 17th, when mom got up that morning, Shula didn't even have enough strength to lift her head to eat. So mom knew it was time to make that terribly difficult decision all pet parents hate to make.

She waited for dad to get home from work at 7 a.m., and then they called the vets office and wrapped Shula in her favorite blankie and took her in. Mom had them test her blood one more time, just in case there was something that could be done to help her. But there wasn't. Shula's red blood count had fallen below the line for needing a transfusion. The medication wasn't working, and the red blood cells weren't re-generating. The vet thought it was some form of leukemia and the bone marrow just wasn't working any longer. So mom made that super hard decision, and let her sweet "MaeMae" go over the bridge to play with all the other doggies and kitties who were there waiting to welcome her.

Mom was extremely upset. She was so grief stricken that she couldn't go to work for 2 whole days. Even though she knew she had done everything she could for Shula to have a wonderful, full life, it was still extremely hard on her to let her little MaeMae go. She knows she gave her MaeMae everything she could, and the fact that she lived to be 16 years old, just shows how well mom took care of her. She got way more time than she probably would have at her other house. Shula sure was a tough little girl.

The beautiful cedar box with her ashes sits on the fireplace ledge along with her picture. Mom wants to keep her sweet little girl close so she can always remember the life she saved, and how precious their time spent together truly was.

I guess it was a good thing she spotted me in that corn field just a month later on Christmas Eve, cuz it really helped take her mind off losing Shula. I'm really glad I could help cheer mom up, and remind her that rescuing a life in need is very important. She gave Shula a chance to live a longer, happier life, with tons and tons of love and attention.

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get the same treatment for the rest of my life too.

Hollybollyboo
(helping mom keep the tears away)

How to Look Sad and Pathetic by "The Master"

This is my step-brother Samuel. He is "The Master" of the Sad and Pathetic Look.

Here, is an excellent example.





Here, another perfect example.

Just look at the Sad and Pathetic look he is giving here....
Mom was sitting on the couch, and Sam wanted "his" spot. She was there first, and then he moved in behind her. How much more pathetic can it get?

Ok, pretty pathetic, that's for sure.

I'm going to study "The Master" and learn to perfect my Sad and Pathetic Look so that I can be as good at it as Sam is. You see, it's aalllll in the eyes. And he has the "Look" down PERFECTLY!

Maybe, if I can get this good....

I can start using these sort of looks to get more food!!! Wish me luck!

Hollybollyboo

(I will be studying VERY hard)

I'm being starved

Ok, maybe not starved, but, this whole diet thing, is really starting to annoy me.

I love food. I should be allowed to eat as much food as I want. But noooooo, not since I gained 5 more pounds!


Here is my empty bowl. I'm so hungry, I was contemplating eating my bowl, that's why my foot is holding it down. The humans don't like it when we chew on our bowls. Especially when they end up outside all chewed up, and then they have to buy more.

They tried the metal ones, but I don't like those. I like the plastic ones, cuz I like to pick up my bowl and carry it where I want to lay down and eat, not where they decide to put it. It's really hard to pick up and carry those metal ones.

Mom has reduced my food by 1/2 a can of moist, and I'm down to 2 1/2 cups dry and 1 can green beans. Oh sure, they reduce the good stuff, but keep giving me the whole can of green beans! Helllloooo! I'm a carnivore! I don't think I'm suppose to be eating that many veggies. Maybe my vegetarian mom is trying to turn me into a vegetarian! If I see the lettuce and carrots come out, I'm going to go on a hunger strike!

Wait a minute. That would be counter-productive to my wanting to eat MORE, not LESS! Ok, scratch that. If I see more veggies come out I'll just claw the human woman and eat the couch, or her shoes. That should do a better job of getting the point across! (and not make ME suffer any)


I guess I'll just have to lay here and look sad and pathetic like Sam always does. This look seems to work for him. I'll just sit and wait for my dinner and hope mom decides to be nice and give me enough to eat. Apparently she has forgotten that when she found me I was practically STARVING! (sigh)

Wonder if Meeshka can give me any pointers on how to get more food when I'm on a forced diet? I'm certainly going to go out of my way to be more annoying to see if that works.


Hollybollyboo
(feeling weak from hunger already)