JAYDEN’S FIRST TOUCH OF GOD AND THE ELEMENTS

ON OR ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF MAY 2005 WE WERE GIVEN A LITTLE PIECE OF HEAVEN HE IS OUR JAYDEN WE GOT HIM WHEN HE WAS 7 WEEKS OLD. WE GOT AN INVITATION TO GO CAMPING AT A THOUSAND TRAILS PARK SO WE TOOK WHAT WE THOUGHT WAS A 6 MAN TENT TWO SLEEPING BAGS PILLOWS, AND FOOD AND OF COURSE JAYDEN AND HIS BLANKET NOT THINKING THAT IT MAY RAIN WE WORE SWEATS BECAUSE IT WAS STILL KINDA COLD AT NIGHT AFTER THE SUN WENT DOWN. WHEN WE GOT TO THE PARK IT WAS ALREADY DARK ON A FRIDAY NIGHT WE SET UP THE TENT AND FOUND OUT IT WAS A ONE MAN TENT AND THERE WERE 3 OF US MY HUSBAND AND MYSELF AND JAYDEN SO WE MADE THE BEST OF IT BECAUSE IT WAS TOO FAR TO GO BACK HOME. SO THERE WE ALL WERE TWO SLEEPING BAGS , PILLOWS & JAYDEN , TWO OF US AND WE SLEPT THAT WAY AND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT IT RAINED BUT JAYDEN DIDN’T CARE HE WAS BETWEEN BOTH OF US AND BOTH OF THE SLEEPING BAGS NICE AND WARM . WE WERE WOKE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT BY LIGHTNING AND THUNDER TOO. JAYDEN IS A CHIHUAHUA& PAPILLION AND HE IS VERY MUCHLY LOVED AND ADORED BY HIS MOM AND DAD AND EVERYONE THAT MEETS HIM . WE WORK WITH THE SACRAMENTO COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPT. WHEN WE DO FINGERPRINTING AND IT IS WITH KIDS WE ALWAYS TAKE JAYDEN WITH US AND TELL THE KIDS THAT HE IS OUR MINI K9 DOG AND EVERYONE LOVES HIM. BEV AND GARY H

My Bella

My Bella was born on a hot summer day 7 months ago. She was so tiny that it was a wonder she lived. Because of her size she was loved from the first moment. She had no brothers or sisters but her mother was one of a pack of dogs of 7. As you understand she lived in the country so you could say she is a country girl. That was good because we live in the country as well. We lost our Maltese boy the same summer and I missed him so much. I could not do long without the warmth and the friendship from a dog. Anyway, to come back to my story. Bella who was named Possum at the time, because she looked like one, was nicely spoiled by the time I got her when she was 10 weeks old. She was very good with other dogs though with so many dog friends to raise her. She was also very good at winding people around her little paw. Everybody loved her. When I saw her first I fell in love as well and took her home that same day. Now she is 7 months young and she is growing into a wonderful dog. Whenever we are going for a walk in the park it is pet time. People who walk past always smile at her. They love her because she got a very quiet manner, looks very appealing and it looks as she is smiling al the time. We have met people who think she is an excellent dog for a program called outreach. That is where she goes to sick kids and old people to bring a bit of joy. So I have decided that is what we are going to do. There is only one thing wrong with her at the moment, well actually two. She hates being left alone and she always screams her lungs out when we have to leave her. If it is for an hour or two minutes that doesn’t make any difference. She starts coughing from it so upset she becomes. But when we are home and we call her to come, if it is for dinner or anything really, she doesn’t listen or takes her sweet old time. She looks at us as if she says now you know what it is like to be left. That is my interpretation anyway. Mind you please don’t think we leave her all the time because that is not the case. I am a retired person and I am home most of the time, but I have to go to places sometime she can’t come. For the rest she is already the most intelligent dog I had so far. And I love her very much. But we need to do something about those two things first before we can go into the social world. This is all for now. Greetings from New Zealand Eve H

Dog story about Finlay

My dog is Finlay and he is a red american cocker. I have a daycare in my home and he loves, loves, loves the children. He actually howls and cry’s when they cry. Im not sure how to deal with this problem as he gets louder than they do. When a child crys on tv he does the same thing and we have to lower the volumn until he stops. He will even do it in his sleep if he is sleeping on the floor and a child crys on tv, he starts wimpering. Anyway, Finlay is a very good dog and we love and appreciate him very much. But, I haven’t been able to become the master here and I’m sure it comes from lack of knowledge. When the door bell rings or someone knocks on the door, Finlay barks. This is a problem and having a business in my home, my door is busy alot of the time. Can you suggest how I can handle this situation. Thanks for your imput Shirley C

‘Hero Dog’

OK, here’s my story of Faelan, my ShiTzu who saved my grand mom, maybe. We were down the shore in south Jersey for the weekend and my grand mom was visiting from Florida. Everyone had gone down to the beach except for my grand mom who stayed home to read a book in the cool house. At some point she tried to walk outside onto the deck. Well, the sliding doors we had never worked real well in the salt air, so when she attempted to open it, it fell off the track and onto her. She did not fall over, but was stuck trying to hold the door up while getting it back onto the track. Meanwhile, no one was around to help. A short while later my dad came back from the beach to check on his mom, my grand mother. As he was walking up to the house he could hear Faelan barking like crazy. At first he didn’t think anything of it. This is his usual greeting when someone he knows comes home. Then when my dad tried to let Faelan outside he wouldn’t go. This was extremely unusual, as Faelan loves to be outside. My dad then leaned over and tried to pick Faelan up, no luck. He just backed up and kept on barking. As my dad got closer to Faelan, he would keep backing up. Finally Faelan ran up the stairs and kept barking at the top of the stairwell. My dad finally realized Faelan was trying to show him something and when my dad got up the stairs, Faelan ran right over to my grand mom and still continued his barking. My dad ran over and lifted the door off of my grandmother who ended up being fine, thankfully. My dad was so amazed as to how smart the dog was to know that my grand mom was in trouble. I am still very amazed at this story, knowing that my dog is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Faelan may not have saved my grand moms life, but for all we know, he may have. That is the story of my ‘Hero Dog’. It is funny to hear my dad tell this story because he is so proud of the little fuzz ball, and so is my entire family. Not to mention how in love with him my grand mom now is. Thanks for all you do Ray, -Brian J

Pound friend

I visited the local pound because i was looking for a new best friend. I fell in love with this Black and White Siberian. I told the lady that was working there to hold her. So she wrote the paperwork to hold her. The very next day, i came back to pay for her and take her home with me, but the dog wasn’t there! I asked the man that was working there that day where Shannon was. He had this weird expression on his face and asked “The Husky?” I said “Yes the husky that is held for me.” Then he quickly looked at the files and ran into a room marked for uthenasia. A vet came out with a shocked expression and so did the man that was working there. I said “Where is she?” And the man explained that they were just going to put her down. And it was a mistake that the lady there yesterday forgot to mention i wanted her. Shannon was allright and i took her home mad. But now she is my best friend ever. And it makes me feel great that i saved her life. If i would have came there a second later, my best friend would not be here no longer. Shannon must know i saved her for she is very greatfull till this day 2 1/2 years later. And i am greatfull that i found her. And that is the story of how i found my husky.

OUR FRIEND

I have an American Eskimo. His name is NEMO. He is 2 years old. Nemo came into our life a year ago after the people who had him didn’t want him anymore because they said he was digger. Well, he is a digger, but I say that’s not a good enough reason to get rid of him. My husband went to talk to them and he told them we would take him and they agreed..And the rest is History. Nemo is a beautiful dog. We have had so many comments on him. He is really a special pet to us..I had lost my best friend on 10/24/04. Her name was PEANUT and she was 16 years old (a Doxie) and I said I didn’t want another pet after Peanut. You know that when you buy a pet, you buy heartache and I wasn’t ready for that again. Well back to Nemo..He is a standard Eski and is all white. He knows many tricks and is well trained he gives you 5 and knows how to sit and get down. he understands “leave it” and gives you hugs and likes to box. My biggest problem with Nemo is he is very protective of me and when one my daughters dog comes into my yard even when he knows them he will bite them and get really aggressive with them. He does that to meter readers too except he doesn’t bite them he just runs back and forth barking at them and I can’t get him to listen to me at all. When I go into the house he calms downs and lets them come in and read the meters..”TOO FUNNY” I am attaching a picture of him. WE LOVE OUR FRIEND SO MUCH. He is our baby!!!!! Connie and Cliff L Victorville, CA.

Smokey and Me

Smokey is my 10 month old husky mix. However, he definitley has the temerpment of a full blooded husky, but that also means he also has the most incredible emotional cuddley side to him as well. Smokey was born in a hole his mum dug on a cold October morning. Mum had been brought to the dog catcher’s house the night before, Jo (our dogmother) is the local dog catcher who has 50+ huskies herself! Smokey got off to a slow start and had to be weaned early due to mum’s loss of hair, she had a set of 9 puppies she graced the world with, 4 hungry girls and 5 very hungry boys. Much to our delight we brought Smokey home and fell in love. While Marlie, the princess kitty of all the land, wasn’t impressed with the wiggly furry ball, she’s now tolerable of him. He still is a bit too interested in her than what she’d prefer. Smokey has become my best friend, running partner (lost 15 pounds!) and swimming buddy. We live near a very popular lake that has one dog friendly beach. Smokey and I go swimming each day, he loves the water. He creates a huge spectacle though because no one expects a Husky to go in the water. Smokey is such a good boy and deserves his own swimming hole so he got a ‘puppy pool’ to lounge in this summer. Our guests always remark “He won’t go in there” and to their surprise, and delight, he always does. Many a hot day I’ve spent lounging in the pool beside him. Smokey does everything I do, which can be annoying when I’m trying to shower. Again, his love of the water comes into play. He eats my apple cores, the stems of my mushrooms and loves bacon! I can never repay him for the love and assistance he gives me. Where else could you get an alarm clock, exercise machine and a swimming partner all in one? He’s also inducted me into this wonderful husky family. Where we live everyone takes their dogs for rides so the wimpering you hear in the next car might be ’someone’ singing to Smokey. When one husky owner meets another wonderful stories and comraderie is achieved. I’ve seen an alibino husky, a blind husky, and one who assists a little girl with a seizure disorder. Hope this helps! Jamie

MY NEW DOGGY

Dear Ray and all fellow dog lovers. I just got me a new dog. I have been recieving all the tips for dog training cos I was planning ready for any eventuality when I finally got me a dog. One Tuesday morning on my way home from church, I was praying about whether the time was right and how to go about getting a dog. I n the end I just said to God, ” Ok Lord, I ‘m just going to leave this in Your hands and if it be Your will, I pray You will bring it about.” Later that afternoon I was approuched by one of my residents who asked me if Iknew anyone who wanted a dog as her daughter was emigrating and they were looking for a good home for their Gizmo. Well you can imagine how excited I was, I told her about my prayer that morning and here was anser. I took little Gizmo into my home. He is a pekanese ( sorry about spelling). He’s not a yapper. His behaviour is excellant, he’s already trained, and best of all, even though he is nine years old, he has a youthful playfulness about him. I took him in three weeks ago. He settled incredably well, we have just so geled, I tell him all the time he is my gift from God. He’s been great company and loves his walks. Only one snag, he sees a dog bigger than him and he goes nutty. We manage this by distracting and if that doesnt work we stay put until he calms. But he’s my baby and I love him dearly. I hope you like my story about my little Gizmo. Bye fro now. Jeanette.

My Dog

hello Ray about 18 months ago we were asked if we would like a little Chihuahua. She was 3 years old and a delightful little lady. She had a beautiful nature and was so friendly and loving. Unfortunately she had a few defects which did not effect her day to day living at all. One of them,as you can see her little tongue stuck out. She weighed 1.6 kilos. She just loved walking on the beach so we took her there whenever we could. Unfortunately just before Christmas she started having seizures, which at first were not too bad and she was fine after a sleep. Our vet keep a very good eye on her for us. But they did get worse and in the end our vet said the time had come to ‘help’ her and reluctantly she was put to sleep last month. In March the same people (who are breeders) asked if we would like a 5 month puppy to keep Muffy company and be a comfort to her and to us. Muffy and Pepe got a long just fine and spent lots of time sleeping together and enjoying the sun Pepe missed her so much but is settling down now and enjoying all the attention! Regards Joan M New Zealand

Mike and Shirley

This is not really a story, more like something odd that has happened to our dogs. We got Shirley about three years ago. My elderly Mother, who was living with us, was very ill with Alzheimer’s and we thought a pet would be good for her. Shirley was about a year old and we got her from an Animal Rescue place called PAWS in Muskogee, Oklahoma. She is a Terrier/Poodle mix and was evidentially a stray and someone picked her up and brought her to PAWS. She was the sweetest little dog, about 15 pounds with a lot of hair. My Mother rejected her so she became a family dog. We brought her home and introduced her to our 2 year old German Shepherd Dog, Fred, who immediately tried to kill her. Very soon, they became best friends and were never apart. It was very obvious that Fred was the boss and he had no problem telling her when she was bothering him. About two and a half years later, Fred died and Shirley was alone. She was very sad and my husband spoiled her rotten, almost constantly holding her in his lap. So, we decided to get another German Shepherd Dog. We got Mike when he was 8 weeks old. Shirley loved him immediately and they are constant companions. However, Shirley is very bossy and pushy with Mike. He is now almost 7 months old and can’t seem to do anything unless he has permission from Shirley. Shirley has taught him everything she learned from Fred. It is really funny to watch her teach him. She taught him to go in the water at the lake and chase a stick and bring it back, she taught him to walk the perimeter of the yard and check for anything that might be wrong there and if he doesn’t do exactly what she wants, she really nags him by her barking. She is very stubborn and although we have trained her to sit, down and stay, most of the time she will not do it unless we make her. It is difficult to work with Mike because he is always looking at Shirley for direction whether he should do it or not. If we separate them while training Mike, he is still looking around for her like he just can’t do anything unless she tells him it is okay. Mike has a wonderful temperament and although Shirley gets on to him all the time, he doesn’t mind and has never even growled at her. Shirley is growling and getting onto Mike constantly and he just shrugs it off. Mike is 65 pounds and Shirley is still 15 pounds. We do have play days when my grandson’s bring their Lab puppy and Great Dane mix puppy to our house to play. Shirley also tries to boss them but they don’t pay much attention to her. Mike loves those days when he can play with the other puppies. We were walking both Mike and Shirley and the other puppies every day this Spring but with the advent of constant 100 degree temperatures and up every day and high humidity, we haven’t been able to walk them at all. I know that is needed but right now is impossible to do. We love Mike and Shirley very much and this is a work in progress. We are determined to make Mike realize that we are the boss and not Shirley. We just haven’t quite figured out how to do it yet. Maybe when Mike gets a little older he will realize that he can think on his own. We have always had dogs and Shirley is the first dog we have had that was not a German Shepherd Dog, so this is a real challenge to us. Also, in all these years, we have only had one female dog. I never saw one of our dogs take complete control of the other dogs like Shirley does. We will get this done. It is a challenge, but we will win this battle. Leona M Checotah, Oklahoma