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Current blog look inspired by and dedicated to Chance, Blaze, Fiona and Zappa who all kicked ass against cancer and liver disease.

Brut Quote

Brut Quote

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

This is Jack-Pup #5

Thought I'd shake things up a bit with pictures of one of Brut and Silver's pups named Jack that we were so honored to be able to visit.



All Jack wanted from us were belly rubs.  Here's hubby Mark scratching away at Jack's belly.


You can see the white "T" on his chest for which I named him T-bone when he was with us.  Now he's known as Jack.  


It was so great to see Jack and see how well he is doing.  Happy and healthy and going strong! ☺
Isn't he a handsome boy!

Monday, October 27, 2014

Brut Self-Love




I've needed dogs all my life, they were my mentors on love, but I never needed I dog as badly as I needed Brut.  He's been teaching me the hardest lesson I've ever had to learn and one that only he could teach.  Self-love.

I've been in a downward spiral of self hate for most of my life and living thru the memories of my childhood abuse (PTSD) only made things worse.

I think it is why I related with and loathe Brut's aggression.  It made me face myself and that was the last thing I knew how to do.

There was a part of me that loved his freedom and power to express himself.  Nobody walks all over Brut.  I struggled to reclaim that power in my own life.  To have the confidence and strength that would stop myself from my own self beatings.

And I hated Brut too for his aggression and the violence and cruelty it portrayed.  It became a cycle that I couldn't see.

I fought hard for my heart dog.  Even before I knew a word that described him.  Little did I know that every time I faced Brut, I faced myself.

Brut's aggression would go from 0 to 60 and back in a matter of breaths.  I took a little longer on my end of forgiveness.  

No matter if it was my fault or his for a fight, eventually I came around to forgiving him and most
important, I continued to love him.  And every time I loved him, a little piece of me was loved.

This awful, horrible being I grew up thinking I am, was chipping away when I was confronted with Brut and his aggression.  For I already knew the beautiful being Brut was. I was shocked to discover much later he was thinking the same thing about me.

It has taken many years of dog's unconditional love that kept me believing in love at all. It was Brut that started breaking down that self prison with every growl, snarl, and gnashing of his teeth to wake this girl up and set her free.

   

Friday, October 17, 2014

A girl, a dog and a bike. A short story



Girl hooks dog up to bike.

They take off down driveway

They land in ditch across the street

Girl and dog laugh like crazy

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

In the Moment

You'll have to forgive me for my love affair with my dogs and the lessons they teach me about how to live.

See I've never had anything of a future before and have just learned to survive moment to moment, so I've never had the essence to capture life and hold on to it.

And this is where you'll have to forgive my special and private life with the dogs whom I capture in my heart and mind instead of on camera.

My husband, Mark is the one who wants to record everything, minute by minute, while I tend to just savor the intimate moments the dogs and I share.

It feels like a disruption stopping the world for that moment.  Life is already too fast and fleeting and when I'm in the moment the last thing I want to do is stop it.

And so I do the next best thing and write about these moments.  Pen and paper are my recorder.

Where I envelop the moment all over again and bring it to you the only way I know how.  With words.  Strung together for your pleasure to see and feel what I do in those moments.

Those precious moments with the 24 Paws of Love.
  

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

How do I describe this moment?

Silver looked at me then looked away listening to Daddy singing his lullabies in the bedroom to Zappa and Fiona.  Our bedtime treat routine interrupted as she listened intently from the living room, lying on the couch next to me as if the song was for her and her alone.

I could feel the tears welling up immediately.  "Silver, I'm so sorry," I said as I gazed at midnight face.

If there was a dog I took for granted it was Silver.  She was so different from all the other dogs and it was hard to fit her in sometimes.  She tended to get lost in the shuffle.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

The Versatility of the "Find It" Game

If you have food driven dogs, then this game is for you.  We call it "Find It."  I hide small treats around the house and tell the dogs to "Find It."  They can be placed just about anywhere, in, on, and under things to be found.  It is a great nose work game.

What you may not realize and that I just discovered this past summer is what a powerful ally the game "Find It" really is.

All it took was another night of fixing dinner with Chance clinging to me and Blaze right under my feet when I took a handful of treats and tossed them all over the floor.  "Find It!"  And as they scurried all over gobbling up treats, I finally had my work area clear.  And I did it again and again.  When their noses were "turned on" I started making the treats more difficult to find.  When they ran to the tossed treats, I would hide more in the other direction.  It worked out great!  I got my kitchen back and they got fun treats by using their noses.

My second discovery for using the "Find It" game was with Chance and Blaze again.  Both being keepers of the front yard they charge the fence and bark intensely at people and dogs that passed by.  This discovery was a happy accident as we were playing "Find It" out in the yard and both dogs took less interest in the walkers and their dogs.  It didn't stop their barking, but it did curb the intensity and length of it while also paying less attention to the passersby which meant they didn't charged the fence.  HUGE improvement for Chance and Blaze.  JUMBO!

My third discovery for playing "Find It" is to get stubborn Brut in the house when he knows I am leaving.  I have tried everything to get him in the house.  I have to bribe him with a milkbone.  So I tried the game on him, leaving the door open and dropping treats all over the room.  I had Brut at hello the first drop.  :)  At it is still working like a charm.

I have a few ideas about using the "Find It" game when I'm walking the dogs and we run into others and their dogs.  I'll let you know if it works.  Or maybe I could use it on our socializing walks with Callie and my friend, L.  The uses are endless.

What I love about it is all it takes is a handful of small yummy treats (we use a cheap, off brand dog kibble that is tiny bits and the dogs love) and some imagination.  Nothing else.  And we all have a little of that!  You can make it as easy or difficult as your dog can handle for the situation.  Doesn't take a lot for your dog to learn and is as simple of finding a fallen treat.  You can do it inside and outside and their is no end to the fun.

Do you play the "Find It" game?  What are the ways you have used it?