Pogo is our "slow" doggie girl, but extremely sweet and loving. She was found as a stray by a co-worker of Jim's. We wanted to find her another home, but all the others immediately fell in love with her, so we kept her.

 

Jim's the 2-legged guy. Believe it or not, he is as crazy about these babies as I am, and is responsible for bringing in Boots, Pogo, Rosie, and Sofia (and really for Gretchen, too). After 13 years together, on April 1, 2002 he finally made me an honest woman.

 

Brandy was retrieved from the Humane Shelter by a client of mine, but did not work out with the client's other dog. Having already met Brandy, I refused to let the client take her back to the Humane Shelter. She and Daisy then ate most of the seats from our recliner sofa...Brandy has taken a shine to Biggie - we call them boyfriend and girlfriend.

 

Jim found Boots in the middle of the street at 5 AM one morning as he was heading off to fish. Boots was diabetic with liver disease, but took his twice-daily shots like a little trooper. He was also deaf, but very good at reading hand signals and flashing lights when taking him out or bringing him in.  His tough little body finally gave out one Sunday afternoon - we knew it was the end because he wouldn't chase his tennis ball anymore.

 

Gretch came from the Humane Shelter - she was in the paper and since we had a Min Pin previously, we just couldn't let them put her down. She is completely full of life, but she's now become a real Momma's girl (sleeps pinned against me). She can leap almost to my shoulders when it's time for chow. (Correction: when she THINKS it's time for chow.)  She is incredibly intelligent, but chooses to use those brains for mostly nefarious purposes.  She has figured out when the door doesn't quite close to the dog food room (didn't hear that "snap", Mom), how to get into the trash to retrieve a full turkey carcass, and how to leap onto the kitchen table without using a chair.  (Notice that her naughtiness centers around food.)

 

Daisy healed our hearts after our first Min Pin died. We got her as a puppy - she came waddling out of the house she grew up in, I swooped her up in my arms, and that was that! As a Jack Russell, she was a bit of a pistol when she was a puppy, but she ended up as the most obedient (and smartest!) dog we have.  Unfortunately, Daisy was diagnosed with heart problems in October 2009 and passed away at home with Jim and I beside her.  We miss her terribly!

 

I'm the other 2-legged one. When you meet me, you can also recognize me by the dog hair on my clothing.

 

Sybil was Jim's BABY of the babies. Right before Thanksgiving, 2000, she had to have emergency surgery for a tumor in her spleen. Sadly, we then found out that the tumor was cancerous. After sailing through chemo and making it to her second month post-treatment, Sybil lost her battle on May 11, 2001. We all miss her. (Anyone facing canine chemo - dogs do not suffer as much as humans in chemo. If we had thought we were hurting her quality of life, we would have stopped and taken our chances, but with the proper medication, Sybil breezed through it all. We would definitely make the same choice again, now that it's over.)

 

 

Here is the our sweetie pie who joined the family on 12/28/02. Taken to the shelter because her "dad" was getting married and the new wife hated her (match made in heaven, I give them less time than J.Lo and Ben), she was rescued by Halfway Home in Grand Rapids, then spotted on the web by Jim. And here she is, in one of her forlorn poses. She was a biter when she arrived here, but her new mommy has successfully "mushified" her and she is now the biggest cuddle-baby we have. She loves to hunt socks and underwear, so beware if you're ever visiting.

Update 6/23/11 - We had to take our beloved Ginger Pie to the vet for her final time tonight.  Oh my goodness, that was hard.  We will always love you, sweetie.

 

I found Angie while at a Parade of Homes display in June, and brought her home right after we had our family pictures taken, unfortunately. We have no idea what she might be made up of, and. when asked, we call her a Tan Dog, or a Tasmanian Devil Dog when she just wears everyone out, or a Trash Talker when she won't stop yipping!.

Our boy Button (Pug-terrier mix) has decided he doesn't like Angie's non-stop yipping when it's time to go out any more than Jim and I do, and he gets in Angie's face (he doesn't know he's a little guy) and tells her off.  He showed up on our front porch the Sunday after Thanksgiving, looking forlornly at all the dogs inside where it was warm and they were having fun.   He was only afflicted with tapeworm and fleas, and a "thing" for Biggie.  A bit of surgery took care of that last problem, but Button came home ticked at Biggie for quite some time. 

 

 

Biggie Boy was dumped from a sports car near a lake in a neighboring town, and happened to be dumped across from a friend of Jim's. Knowing our "dogginess", he called us, and while we tried to find a home for Biggie for a while, we soon grew to love him so much we kept him. He is a Rottie, with a slightly oversized forehead which gives him a perpetual puppy look. He likes to lean, which our pet sitter says is a doggy hug. He's a little scared of the dark and thunder, and he's so incredibly laid back that everyone else picks on him unmercifully.

 

Sofia came from the Shelter after we lost Sybil - and looks a bit like a gorgeous coyote. She is mostly black and tan, but has a front leg that is almost all white, which looks like she is in a cast from a distance. She thinks Pogo is her mom, which drives Pogo nuts. She is our best at getting her toenails clipped, but she will always be a little fearful and loves her kennel.  It's only taken her 4 years to learn to sit quietly on Jim's lap and enjoy some loving.  You really have to wonder what people DO to these babies that warps them so badly.

 

 

Rosie Posey was found by Jim on his way to physical therapy - obviously used for puppies and minus most of her fur! We took her to the vet and found she also had hookworm, pinworm, and heartworm (which involves arsenic as the cure). She had to spend almost 2 months by herself out in our pole barn, since her "regular" worms were contagious and her heartworm treatment required her to be very quiet, since the dying heartworms can clog veins if they break up too quickly! From such a rocky start, Rosie the Pink Pit Bull has become a Daddy's girl - sleeping by Jim's side every night. (Don't even ask how many total are in our bed.) She has also recovered her fur quite nicely, and if she would just learn to listen a bit more... *sigh*  Ask me about the "Let sleeping dogs lie" incident sometime - I don't think there's a scar left.

 

Since we lost Daisy, Rosie has had to step into the Alpha role, and she's not the best Alpha.  She is getting more fearful of storms, fireworks, and shots as she gets older and we have to stone, er, MEDICATE her when storms are predicted.

 

 

NEW FAMILY PICTURE:Naw, they wouldn't sit still for this.  The photographer digitally put them all together after we had our pictures taken separately.  Gretchen is a bit out-sized - she should be more like Ginger's size.  And Angie should be more like Gretchen's size.  But hey, we're all together!  The scarves are from the Salty Dog on Hilton Head island.

 

 

Latest Additions:

 

 

Yes, I thought 10 was enough.  But a co-worker of Jim’s was moving and going to take this sweetie to the Humane Shelter and let them put him to sleep if they couldn’t find a home for him.  (Don’t EVEN get me started.)  His name was Bandit and he immediately fit in – although how he handled 10 other dogs when he was an only dog for 8 years, I’ll never know!  Sadly, we lost Bandit on Jan 24, 2011 - he quite firmly told us it was time, so we sadly let our sweet boy go.  We miss your BORPS, buddy!

 

 

 

 

So, Jim sees a sign at the local gas station saying someone had found this little cutie a few weeks earlier.  I was determined to find a home for her, but that was before I spent Labor Day weekend cuddling her.  Then the NRA motto kicked in – the only way you were getting ChiChi out of my arms was to pry her from my cold, dead hands…  We have a few “issues” to work out yet, but she’s here to stay.  UPDATE:  2 years later and we haven't made much progress on those issues, but I do love the little monster...

 

NEW PUPPY ALERT!

The vet called on March 16th and said they had another MinPIn with a broken leg whose owners couldn't afford the surgery and were going to have him put to sleep.  Like HELL!  I flew around a lot that day, from Goshen, where I was at a client's, to home to let everyone else out, to the vet to pick him up before they closed early, to the other vet where his surgery would be done...  So here he is, weighing in at a whopping 4 pounds, and sweet as all get out.  But as a puppy - a LOT of work!  (Chewing my fingers as I try to type...)

 

Update - Sammy is out of the cast, but the leg did not heal well and he'll always be gimpy.  Doesn't stop him from getting around at all, though.  Weighs maybe 8 pounds now and that's probably about what he'll top out at.  Still has the best personality EVER!