1. They live here. You don’t.
2. If you don’t want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That’s why they call it furniture.
3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
4. To you, they are animals. To me, they are adopted sons & daughters who are short, hairy,walk on all fours and don’t speak clearly.

• When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
• When it’s in your best interest, practice obedience.
• Let others know when they’ve invaded your territory.
• Take naps.
• Stretch before rising.
• Run, romp, and play daily.
• Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
• On hot days, drink lots of water, and lie under a shady tree.
• When you’re happy, dance around, and wag your entire body.
• Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
• Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. Stop when you have had enough.
• Be loyal. Never pretend to be something you’re not.
• When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.

It has been two weeks since we lost our Special, and the house has never felt so empty. So we made the trip down to the Oregon Humane Society and came back with Bodie & Doyle – two of the most adorable three month old kittens you have ever seen.

Whilst these boys look alot alike, they are very different in character. Bodie is the personification of kittenhood – loving, a fearless explorer with no sense of danger, he is chaos in motion. Doyle is much more reserved – born to a feral cat, he arrived at the Humane Society in a sorry state with fleas, worms and bites on his back legs. But a week’s care and he arrives at our house all fixed up with only a few scars and a bad cold to hint at his previous life.

The boys have been in the house for about 24 hours now, and everyone is adjusting well to the new dynamic. Welcome to your new home my boys.

Today, after 17 wonderful years of unconditional love, joy and affection we lost our beloved Special. She will always live on in our hearts and will never be forgotten. Wait for us at Rainbow Bridge, our beloved baby.

She is Gone

You can shed tears that she is gone, Or you can smile because she lived.

You can close your eyes and pray that she will come back,
Or you can open your eyes and see all that she has left.

Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her,
Or you can be full of the love that you shared.

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember her and only that she is gone,
Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back,
Or you can do what she would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

Author – David Harkins

Sometimes I think that Daisy must have Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Now don’t get me wrong, I love my little girl, it’s just that half the time she acts like she can read Dostoyevsky and the other half of the time she doesn’t even know her own name. Given that she is a Lab Collie mix, the theory says that she should be very easy train, but I think the reality is that she gets distracted very easily.

Today, I took her down to a local park and then off to puppy school. I will admit that she is four years old, and yes I have heard the saying that “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, I just don’t believe it. We were working on difficult sit, stay and lie down situations today and she did great and really enjoyed it – all that mental stimulation really wears her out. Lets hope that the lessons stick and we can work on her separation anxiety – we want to train her up to be a service dog, so she has lots more training ahead of her.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwQAokJUG4k

Dove Lewis has given is great comfort and understanding in some of our most difficult times over the last few years, and we wish them all the best. Thanks guys, and Happy Birthday. ]]> http://www.neotextus.org/2008/08/10/happy-birthday-dove-lewis/feed/ 0 http://www.neotextus.org/2008/05/24/poor-becky/ http://www.neotextus.org/2008/05/24/poor-becky/#comments Sat, 24 May 2008 19:41:57 +0000 paul http://www.neotextus.org/?p=416 Becky, our 5 year old labrador retriever, has been going through the wars over the last couple of months. At the end of March, she started limping and Dove Lewis diagnosed soft tissue damage in her paw. Unfortunatly, it didn’t heal on its own, so after a few weeks we took her to see an orthopaedic specialist who diagnosed a torn ACL.

So a month ago, Becky had surgery to repair the left knee, which went well except that a post-op examination of the other knee found ACL damage. This week, Becky had here second knee operation, which seems to have gone very well. However, when Becky was being prepped for the operation, the surgeon found a lump on her leg. The good news is that the surgeon was proactive, the bad news is that it was cancer

Becky is back at home now, and doing well although it will be about three months before she can play off leash. Personally, I’m just praying that bad luck comes in threes, and we don’t get any more nasty surprises (or big vets bills!) this year.