Throwback Thursday #1

 

 

December 2001

Wordless Wednesday #1

 

 

 

 

"Meet Me Monday": Penny's Story

Penny owns her mummy, Linda, (@lindamjis) a twitter pal from Vancouver, Canada. Penny is a 17-year-old, female, domestic short hair cat. Penny weighs about nine pounds, and her coat color is brown/black tiger-stripe with white. Penny and Linda were nice enough to share their story of love and friendship, and my favorite part is that an older kitty got a second chance!

Linda went into the S.P.C.A. on February 3, 2006, to look at the cats, and according to Penny, this is “the day I adopted mummy.” Penny continues the story of their first encounter.           

If humans wash their hands, they are allowed to reach into the cages to touch the cats. When mummy reached into my cage, I reached out my face for her to stroke it, and all I could think of was, “Gee, that felt nice for both of us!” Mummy then went on to look at the other cats, but she didn’t reach into any of their cages. Only one cat seemed to just look at mummy curiously, probably wondering who she was. The other cats didn’t pay any attention to mummy at all. I watched mummy the whole time wondering why she was not near me where I was, and I think mummy knew I was watching her because she looked at me again before leaving. Mummy had wanted a kitten, but didn’t find one that day, so she left. I was a ten year old cat just sitting there hoping for a forever home, and I must have left a good impression on mummy because she thought about me for the next four days. On February 7, 2006, mummy came back to the S.P.C.A. and adopted me, and we’ve been happy together ever since!

 

Linda describes what happened when she first brought Penny home.

 

When Penny first arrived in her and my place, she began to inspect the place, top to bottom! So cute! When she was done, that’s when I told her she was beautiful, and she came right over to me! She and I have been happy together ever since!

 

 

Penny loves catnip, like most kitties. Penny’s eyes get wide when Linda pulls the baggie of nip out, and Penny gets all excited and eats the nip up off of the scratching board. Penny still gets scared when someone knocks at the door and will go run and hide under the bed. Linda says that Penny has always been a very gentle girl. Sometimes when Penny is laying down and Linda is stroking her, Penny will gently hold on to Linda’s hand so the petting doesn’t stop. Linda says Penny is a happy and healthy kitty, and “I am so glad, and lucky, that I adopted Penny, she is a really great friend. I love her so much.”

 

  

Many thanks to Penny and Linda for being a feature “Meet Me Monday” on my blog. Please leave a comment for Penny and Linda below. If you would like to share your story, please email me at abbydawgblog@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

 

"Meet Me Monday": Cook's Story

 

Cook (@CookTheDog) is my twitter pal from Holland. Cook is a 19-pound, male, mixed breed, believed to be primarily a Lhasa terrier mix, and approximately six years old. Cook’s mom and Cook himself were nice enough to share their amazing story on how they became a family. I am pretty sure you will love it as much as I do!

 

In 2011 Cook’s future mom and dad decided to settle in one place and adopt a dog. Mom read in a local newspaper about an animal shelter in La Linea, Spain called “Animal in Need” that is owned by a Dutchman. Hundreds of dogs were transported from the shelter via land and air from Spain to Holland to be fostered until adoption.

 

Mom found on the Internet that a woman was fostering an underweight, beige and white dog from the Spanish shelter in Holland. When his future mom and dad went to visit, mom says, “It was love at first sight” when she saw the dog, later named, Cook. Within ten minutes of riding in the car, Cook was fast asleep with his head on dad’s knee, while mom drove their new family home.

 

 

Cook’s mom says, “He was very timid but he obviously had had a home at some time since he knew a couple of tricks.” Cook needed to be housebroken, which took about a week, and he loved walking outside. In the beginning, he would howl when left alone, and it took a little bit of time for him to realize mom and dad would always return. Cook also had allergies and was itching all the time. It turns out he is allergic to wheat, so he eats a “Barf” (bone and raw food) diet, no dry food. Mom says within two weeks of the new diet, the allergies had cleared up.

 

Today, mom says Cook is “a cocky little thing full of self-confidence.” He also walks with a pack (other dog pals) three times a week, and he is now completely socialized. One of his friends from the pack, Boy, taught Cook not to be afraid to go in the water. Mom continues, “He definitely is a very happy little dog, very affectionate, good with the cats (also from a shelter getting a second chance) and good with children.”

 

 

Cook loves to steal clothes and slippers and hide them in his basket, so mom and dad cannot leave any clothes hanging around or they will become Cook’s. He also loves car rides and goes most places with mom when he is allowed to actually go with her. Mom does not like to leave Cook in the car or tied outside of a store. Cook likes bones more than anything else, and he buries them everywhere, preferably in dad’s bed.

 

According to the vet Cook never learned to play. Cook says, “I have a ball, but I have no clue what to do with it.” Cook has toys that he sleeps with in his basket. Cook says, “Pulling on a towel is fun. When I am wet mom dries me off and we pull on the towel.” Cook also says he used to hide undies and eat poop, just like me! And, like many of us doggies, Cook is afraid of fireworks and the vacuum cleaner.

 

So, as you can see, it’s pretty amazing that Cook travelled all the way from Spain to Holland to find his forever home. Cook is a great dog that is “loved to bits” by his mom and dad, and in turn, Cook “loves mommy and daddy to bits.”

 

 

Many thanks to Cook and his mom, Hansje Kalff, for being a feature “Meet Me Monday” on my blog. Please leave a comment for Cook and his mom and dad below. If you would like to share your story, please email me at abbydawgblog@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

News and Updates

Dear Friends!

 

I am sorry for being away from the blog for a while. Mamma did not feel like typing for me after all the terror, tragedy, and chaos in Boston that began on Marathon Monday. It was a very scary time for many of us. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected.

 

We thank you for the outpouring of concern from all of our online pals for us during that time. We were safe from all of it because we live about 20 miles away from where everything happened. Mamma is pretty sure I felt or heard something going on with the blasts that afternoon because despite the beautiful weather, I was anxious and acting as if a thunderstorm was approaching, and then the “Breaking News” came on the TV….just horrible!

 

So, we are still looking for pals that have a blog and would like to be listed with a link and photo on our “Blog” page. If you take a look, you will see our pals, Lulu (@Monde_de_Lulu) http://www.les-aventures-de-lulu.blogspot.com/ and Molly and Winnie (@labsontheloose) http://labsontheloose.com/ are already listed. Wouldn’t you like to join them?

 

Finally, mamma and I are starting something new! Lots of you have amazing stories about how you and your human saved each other, and we want to share your story right here on our blog! If you are shy, don’t worry, we will help you get your story written. Send us an email: abbydawgblog@gmail.com, and we can chat about it! We look forward to hearing from you! Oh, and check back here soon because our very first feature will appear very soon, and we know you will love our pal’s story.

Confessions: Undies, Poop, and Mints

Hello Friends!

Just a reminder, when mamma rescued me no one was sure of my past history or my exact age. Guesses are that I was between six and nine months of age, ready to be spayed, and in desperate need of training. I was pretty much a crazy, hormonal adolescent, so it was a good thing the shelter made the spaying and training conditions of my adoption!

So, believe it or not, I was not always a good dog. I know, I know, it’s very hard to believe, bol! I did a lot of weird things as a pup, didn’t we all? Some of them were what mamma calls “gross”, but I say it was just “normal” doggie behavior. And, of course, it was my job to teach mamma the virtue of patience!

I loved mamma so much and missed her terribly when she left for work and college that I raided the laundry. Yep, you guessed it, I loved mamma’s underwear! I didn’t touch daddy’s underwear, or my human sisters’ underwear, nope, just mamma’s. I thought I was very clever stashing her undies all over the house, but mamma and other humans were not amused. I guess I outgrew that fun trick after a bit.

I soon discovered poop! It was winter when I was adopted, and I had a lovely back yard in a wooded area all to myself, so I discovered rabbit poops. Nommy! That wasn’t enough though, and this is where, in mamma’s words, I became “gross” because I started eating my own poop. Frozen treats, I say! In case you are wondering, yes, when spring came and everything thawed, I stopped eating all poop, the rabbits’ and my own.

Finally, and I do not recommend doing this, so please, learn from my mistake, ok? One day when mamma was in the shower, I raided her book bag. Ooooh, I got a yummy, movie-sized box of Junior Mints^®. I ate the whole thing of chocolaty and minty goodness, including the box. I guess I was lucky that the chocolate was not enough to kill me or make me too sickly, but I got a terrible tummy ache.

We, as dogs, have an insatiable curiosity that needs to be indulged and channeled to go along with our incredible sense of smell. We need help learning what is ok to sniff and taste because we are willing to smell and eat almost anything and everything, which sometimes just is not that good for us. I outgrew my affinity for undies and poop, and mamma makes sure I don’t get near any chocolate, so it’s all good!

Doggie Discrimination

Hello Friends!

 

I am a very lucky dog. Mamma walks me at least two times a day, every day, no matter what the weather brings. Now that the weather is getting warmer, the walks will increase in length and quantity, until it gets too hot, then it may change again. I love to walk! I love to sniff, after all, I am a dog gifted with a pretty good nose for sniffing. We have our usual routes we walk, and I have my favorite potty spots, and even if Mamma changes our walk direction, I still find my favorite spots.

 

I admit, I’m not always the best walker and I test Mamma’s patience sometimes. She has tried lots of different training techniques, but I’m still “bad”. I am good until I smell something, of course, Mamma doesn’t always see what I smell, but I dig in and collapse low to the ground, so no one can move me until I’m good and ready. Or I see something, and then I pull and pull some more, choking myself until I get to where I want to go. Oh, and if there is another dog, forget it, I lose my mind barking with excitement, and pull like a crazy dog, and this just totally freaks the other dog out, so it becomes a very stressful situation for all. Mamma says it’s in my nature to be stubborn and protective because of the German Shepherd in me, but she also concedes it’s her fault for not training me better.

 

Well, today, Mamma took the neighbor’s 7 month, 50 pound, female, Golden Retriever puppy for a walk, and I was not invited to go! Mamma says it was a totally different walking experience, mainly because the puppy never gets to go on walks, so it was new, and because the puppy is just that, a cute puppy. Mamma says the puppy was very good, no pulling and no barking at other dogs, unlike what happens with me (uh-oh)! The biggest thing Mamma observed, and found a bit upsetting, was that puppy got lots of attention, oohs and aahs and requests from humans to pet puppy. That doesn’t happen with me. People fear me and turn the other way or cross the street to avoid me. I love to be petted too, you know! So, without any scientific data, Mamma believes this was just another case of doggie age and breed discrimination, plain and simple. Mamma says it’s ok, though, because she would never trade my mature and protective nature for anything in the world, not even a cute puppy.