Boo!

Tonight is Halloween and I have big plans..I am going trick or treating with my nieces, brother, sister-in-law and my dog Chloe. Ah, yes. This is Chloe’s first Halloween dressed up. I am sure she will be thinking that the other 9 Halloweens of no costumes went just fine thank you very much. But this year we are doing something different. My niece Mallory was going to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and Phoebe would be the lion. Chloe was going to be Glinda the Good Witch at Mallory’s request. I bought her a pink tutu and a pink ruffle collar and we were all set. And then Mallory decided that she wanted to be a ballerina. WHAT? So I thought that maybe Chloe did not need to be dressed up after all. But no, Chloe is going as the “Pet Ballerina”. Hopefully I will get some good pictures to post! At least the costume I put together still works!


Reminiscing:
I was a witch for every Halloween until I was about 9 or 10. I had the same costume EVERY YEAR. The hem was let down as I grew and that was that. I never got to be a princess or a ballerina or a bride. Someone made me a witch costume and that was that. And that really was fine. In my opinion I was a bit luckier than my brother, he was a clown for a long time. I don’t like clowns. But the one thing I did love doing was making my trick or treat bag. My mom would get us some Halloween stickers and a brown paper grocery bag and my brother and I would decorate them. We would spend hours on them. I can still remember one year I had black cat stickers from Hallmark to use. I have so many happy memories of Halloween and trick or treating with my brother. I think that is why I love going over to his house and trick or treating with his kids. It kind of reminds me of the “old days”.

A Few of My Favorite Things 2

It is Friday, and that means it is time for a few of my favorite things! Here is today’s list:

My cat Flounder: I love Flounder. He is a typical cat. He wants me when he wants me and when he doesn’t well he just can’t be bothered! He can be terribly sweet and also a complete crab. Flounder lives outside. He is about 7 years old and has only lived outside. I adopted him last year from a family who needed to find him a new home as he liked to hunt birds in the neighbor’s yard. This picture was taken when Flounder was under "house arrest" for the bird incident. He wears a red collar with a bell on it now, thus ending his bird catching days. Flounder has lots of things in the carport to sleep in, sleep on, scratch up, bat around or eat (his food no mice!). Most of the time he can be found laying in his big round fuzzy bed on top of my car. I always put the bed up there when I get home so it is nice and toasty from the engine.

Purses: I love them. I always have, and I have QUITE a collection. Dog ones and cute ones and dress ones and plain ones. Back packs and shoulder bags and hand bags etc. Actually, I like tote bags too. I don’t know what it is about them. Sometimes I change my purse a lot and other times I won’t change it for weeks. It depends on my mood.

New Books/Books: I just love going to the book store to pick out a new book. Whether it is a new chick lit book or one for my children’s book collection, I just love it! I like how they look when I put them in the book case after I read them. Sometimes I will just sit for an hour or two with a few of the books from my collection looking at the pictures, reading them etc. It is so relaxing and calming.

Clean sheets on the bed: There is something so comforting about getting into a bed that has clean sheets and fluffy blankets on it.

Things that…annoy me, drive me nuts or just plain make me mad!

We all have things that annoy us. We would not be human otherwise. Today, here are a few of mine that come to mind:

• People who park so close to my car in the parking lot that I can’t open the door to get in.

• Trucks that throw rocks on my windshield while I am driving on the highway, thus cracking my windshield

• People who throw litter out of their cars and in to my front yard. Have they not ever seen the crying Indian commercial? One day I am going to wait outside for someone to do it and I am going to walk up to them at the stop sign and say “You dropped this in my yard”.

• People who abuse animals, children or the elderly. I can’t think of a punishment horrible enough for these people.

• People who give gifts that show absolutely no thought on their part. This does not include gift cards. I think gift cards are fine. I am talking about something like giving someone with no teeth a toothbrush. Ok that was over simplistic but I think you understand what I am trying to say.

• People who are rude and hurt people’s feelings on purpose.

• When you go to a store to buy (insert anything here, like pants, bras etc) something and pick up five styles all the same size and none of them fit the same or at all…on is too big, one is too small etc.

• When stores hike up the regular price of something so they can sell it on sale for what the normal price would be. There was a store here called Upton ’s who used to do that all the time.

• When I am driving on the highway and someone cuts in to my lane, causing me to hit the brakes hard, which then causes my purse to fly off the seat and everything to fall out.

• People who buy $150 of groceries in the self-serve line. YES this HAS happened to me, and I almost blew a gasket. The store was super crowded and I only had 2 things. It took 15 minutes just for them to scan their stuff the first time. and then they had to bag stuff because the belt was too full and then they had to start all over again with the scanning and the bagging. I finally got in to another lane. but the guy behind me was about to lose when a grocery store clerk came over to help and I heard them say to the lady "you know this line is probably better for people who have small purchases to make". I appluaded them for saying something, unfortunately it was lost on the lady hogging the self serve.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

Well, ok not really. It still looks like Halloween as my Halloween flag is hanging outside my house. But I started working on my Christmas cards today. I know what you are thinking....starting a little early aren't we? Well, yes, actually I am. I have over 100 to send or deliver this year and I wanted to get a head start. That way, I am not madly scribbling my name on a card and throwing it in the mailbox on December 23rd. I like to add a handwritten note in each one and that takes time. So, I thought if I did 3 a night for the next 30 days or so, they would all be ready to go out the first week of December!

I love Christmas cards, I love getting them and I love sending them. They can tell you so much about a person. So, there is no time like the present! Start writing those holiday wishes!

"Little Bunnie Foo Foo"...

For the last week of adopt a shelter dog month, I thought I would tell you about Bunnie and how she came to be part of Kemple Dog Tribe.

Someone dumped her on the side of the road in front of my neighbor's house. It was that simple and that sad. Bunnie is an amazing dog and they missed out. However, if they had not left her, she would not be in my family, so for that I am grateful.

It was a very hot August evening when I arrived home from work. As I went in to the house I noticed a cute white puppy hiding under my next door neighbor's car. I went in the house, did my usual thing and was leaving the house to go out to dinner when I saw the puppy again. She looked hot, and thirsty and hungry. My neighbor was out so I went over to ask about the new puppy. I have to throw in here that my neighbor at the time (not the same neighbor that I have now) had a dog that he did not take great care of. I was always going over and playing with Rex, making sure he had clean water (he never did) and also making sure that he was warm enough in the winter because they left him outside even in the snow. Oh and the guy would let him run out of food. FOR DAYS. Not a good dog owner. We will leave it at that. But I digress. I asked my neighbor if he had gotten a new puppy. He said no and gestured underneath the car and said "I have been trying to get rid of the damn thing all day". After holding myself back from knocking his lights out, I asked if he had given her water and he said no. It was at least 100 degrees that day. So, I went home, got some water and coaxed her out from under the car. She had a skin condition and was covered in fleas and ticks. She seemed friendly but extremely shy. After assuring my neighbor that I would take care of her and make sure that she did not end up in his yard, I took her home with me and fixed her up in the car port. I could not bring her around my other 2 dogs because I wasn't sure what she had and I did my best to get the ticks off. That is when I named her Bunnie. The next morning I had gotten her a vet appointment and worked on the fleas. The vet said she had worms, fleas and demodex mange but other than that, was fine. So I took her home fully intending to just foster her until I could adopt her out. She would not stay in the house so I had to let her live in the backyard. We borrowed a dog house and set it up on the deck and got an umbrella for our large out door table so that so she had shade during the day. She was so happy out there. I would go outside every night and sit with her for an hour or two. Sam and Chloe loved her and she seemed to like them too.
Then one day I came home from work in a huge panic because we were having huge thunderstorm and I was worried about her. When I opened the door to the deck, there was Bunnie, curled up and sleeping ON TOP OF THE TABLE, under the umbrella dry and snug as a bug. It was at that moment that I knew Bunnie would never leave. 2 weeks after that, Bunnie finally came inside, and has been sleeping on my bed or my couch ever since!

Bunnie is an amazing dog. She is so smart and athletic. We did agility for several years and she was very good. Unfortunately, Bunnie's mom was not as good! She has been my demo dog when I went to talk to students about responsible dog ownership and also about volunteering. She has been the "friendly dog" for Canine Good Citizen Testing and the comforter to me when I needed it. Bunnie is an amazing hunter. This has not always been a good thing for me as I have to "clean up" the presents that she leaves but it is incredible to watch her. Bunnie is so strong. She has had two surgeries, one on each knee, and each time she has completely blown me away with how hard she has worked to be able to walk again. She has these huge "moo cow" eyes that just melt my heart. When Sampson moved, Bunnie came the alpha of the dogs and she rules with an iron paw. I watch her take charge when she thinks I am not looking and she is a force to be reckoned with. She also has this amazing sweet side and will lick Chloe's ears when she knows they itch and lets Chloe lick her face back.

As I sit here now and see all 3 of them curled up and sleeping I think how luck I am to have them. They are a lot of work, and sometimes a lot of worry but they are everything to me.

Thought for today: “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” Gandhi

"How Much is That Doggie in the Window"

October is the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) Adopt a Shelter Dog Month. Adopting a dog (or a cat for that matter) is a very rewarding experience, but also a huge responsibility. My three dogs all came from rescue situations. I have told you about Chloe’s adoption in a previous post so today I am choosing to tell you about Otto’s rescue.

Otto came into this world under dubious circumstances. He was born to an Australian Shepherd mother and obviously a Labrador Retriever father who had been abandoned by their owner along with 20 other of his dogs, 2 horses and a pig. He was a breeder at a flea market in Raleigh and he decided to move out of state and just leave all the animals. Gee, somehow I don't think he deserves any "good human being awards". I was volunteering with Aussie Rescue at the time as a foster mom and we had gotten the word about this situation. Aussie rescue went in and rescued Otto’s mom, his 2 older siblings and this 2 day old litter of puppies, of which Otto was one. So when Otto was several days old he was brought to Aussie Rescue. There he grew up to a nice old age of 6 weeks and Otto (his name was Zen at the time) was given to me to raise until a new home was found for him. I think I found he found the best home...me!

Otto was 6 pounds when he came to live with us and was the sweetest puppy. We bonded immediately and he followed me everywhere. It got to the point where I had to actually carry him with me all the time because the other dogs were so much bigger than he was. Otto grew up and grew strong and at around 12 weeks of age, started having odd “moments”. Later on we learned that Otto was suffering from seizures due to idiopathic epilepsy. We waited as long as we possibly could until we had to put him on medicine. His seizures were terrifying for me and for him. After his first large cluster seizure (cluster seizures are when the dog has one seizure after another) I noticed his demeanor changed. He was shy and withdrawn and followed me more than usual. With each seizure, Otto became more and more afraid of everything and everyone except me, my ex and dad.

Lots of people who have met Otto don’t like him, which breaks my heart because I know how sweet he can be. He is different than any of my other dogs. Bunnie and Chloe are friendly, crave attention from me or anyone else for that matter. Otto is completely different. He wants me and only me. He is fine with my dad but shies away from anyone else. He is my little buttons and I love him so much. He is a good boy and very smart. He is so smart that he learned that if he went outside he got a cookie, so if he “pretended to go out and stop just at the door well that merited a cookie right"? He sleeps on my bed every night right next to me. Sometimes he puts his head on my back (I am a stomach sleeper) and sighs so contented. He can give the most heart melting looks that I have ever seen and he can be such a silly boy. He loves his “babies” and will carry them around where ever he goes. He also has some terrible habits like jumping on me and mouthing my arm because he can hardly contain himself he is so happy to see me. He likes to bark just to hear himself. He has cost me thousands of dollars in medicine, emergency vet trips, and training. But I would honestly not take a million dollars for Otto or any of my dogs. Yes, I know it is easy to say when no one is offering you a million dollars but I know in my heart I just couldn’t do it. There have been many people that have told me I should get rid of Otto by whatever means necessary. But my life would be so empty without him. He can give these sweet little kisses that are so special because he does not do it very often. If you get a kiss from Otto, you should consider yourself VERY special. I could go on and on (and probably have) about Otto and my other fuzzies but I think you get my point.

Not all dogs are perfect. Owning a dog with “issues” can be very challenging. But in the end, I honestly can not think of a better way to spend my time or my money. The unconditional love that they give you is completely amazing. So if you are in the market for a dog PLEASE go to your local animal shelter. Shelters can be sad, scary places, but they can also lead to one of the most rewarding experiences of your life.

Thought for the day: For a list of dogs and cats available in your area, visit http://www.petfinder.org/
They have different search options available and the website is easy to navigate.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Each Friday I am going to tell you about a few of my favorite things. Maybe some of these are similar or the same as your favorites!


I love Fridays. It is a toss up between Friday and Saturday as my favorite day of the week. The cool thing about Fridays is after you get home from work you have the whole entire weekend ahead of you. Two whole days of doing anything you want. Stay up late, take as long of a lunch as you want, never get out of your pajamas, and no getting up at 6:00 a.m. to get ready for work. Well actually if I am honest, I do have to get up every day at 6:00 a.m. no matter what day it is to give my dog Otto his medicine. He has epilepsy and requires medicine twice daily. But that sure does not stop me from going back to bed at 6:10 a.m.!

Which leads me to:

I love my dogs. Yes, I guess this is a bit obvious considering my blog title is Adventures of a K9 mom. But honestly, my dogs are always there for me. No matter what I look like or how I feel. They love me, they need me, they want me around. They never judge me or tell me I am an idiot or get angry with me because I did not do something for them. They just love me. Period. They don’t care if I have the nicest clothes, or the latest styles. In fact, they like me in sweats and t-shirts because they can be all over me and I won’t care. It doesn’t matter if I have paw prints on my ancient Wrightsville Beach t-shirt with holes and frays.

I love Life is Good stuff. You know, the t-shirts, bags, sweatshirts etc that feature a stick figure guy named Jake and his dog Rocket with cute sayings on them. I will admit my first hook was Rocket. He is a cute yellow dog with prick ears and he is usually doing something fun with Jake. For instance, there is a picture of a jeep and you can see Rocket’s little head sticking out of one window and underneath this picture are the words Dog Gone. How cute is that! Yep, I just love Life is Good stuff.


I love stationery. Note cards, note paper, note pads, writing paper, envelopes, Christmas Cards, all of that stuff. I have boxes of it, all neatly labeled as to what is in each one. Thank you notes in one, blank ones in another, Christmas in one, all other holidays in another…you get the picture. And it doesn’t matter how many sets or boxes that I have. If I find some I like, I have to buy them. Now this could get way out of hand EXCEPT for the fact that I use it all. In this day and age of email, blogs and the like, I still enjoy sitting down and writing a letter or writing in my journal. The electronic stuff is fast and I am quickly becoming addicted to “blogging” but I still find delight in using a pen and writing. I write notes to friends that I don’t see often or some that I see every day! I send coupons to my sister-in-law for the fun of it (this is something that I got from my grandma who is now in a nursing home with Alzheimer’s. I thought it was sweet that she would think of me and do that and so I carry it on). I am sure Krista finds it odd but she is kind enough not to say so. I send cards to my nieces that contain pictures I have colored for them, or a dollar or some other small trinket just so they can get mail. It is great to get something in the mail that is not a bill or junk mail! Stationery is fun, so go out to your local shop and get some today!

I love Cookie Monster. He is “fuzzy and blue, from head to bottom of shoe.” And that is only one of the many reasons I love him. He is furry and big, his googley eyes crack me up and he just makes me smile. Me love you Cookie!



I love doing “projects” with my niece Mallory. I love my nieces Mallory and Phoebe as if they were my own. One of my favorite things to do is bring a “project” over to my brother’s house for Mallory and I to do. Sometimes we color, sometimes we bake cookies and sometimes I will bring a craft kit over. Last night we made a wreath out of foam pieces. They were flowers and you glued google eyes on them and then to the foam wreath. The project turned out so cute and Mallory had a good time. (And, maybe Krista got 5 minutes of peace and quiet with Phoebe.) I can’t wait for Phoebe to become a little older and she can do projects with us!

Well, those are just a few of my favorite things. Stay tuned for more next Friday.

“How cute is that” for today: I went over to my brother and sister-in-law's last night at Mallory’s request and we did the art project mentioned above. At one point she leaned over to me and said “Mimi, I am really glad you came over to my house”. I said that I was really glad too and then she asked me if I was having a good time. I said that I was and she patted my hand and said “Me too”. I got a little misty.

"Something to Howl About"

I guess you could say that I am an animal lover. Anyone who has ever met me would probably say that and they would be absolutely spot on! My house is decorated with dog stuff, wolf stuff, moose stuff, polar bear stuff and lots of other wildlife stuff.

This week (October 15 - October 21, 2006) is Wolf Awareness Week and this started me thinking about wildlife and endangered species etc. It sounds strange to some but I do think about this subject frequently. Maybe because I donate to several wildlife charities so I receive emails and letters from them frequently. Which as sad as they sometimes are, I enjoy learning about wildlife issues. The wolf is my favorite animal (besides the dog!) Actually it is probably difficult for me to say that I have just one favorite animal. Truthfully I love them all. Well, that is a bit of stretch. I DON'T love Camel-Back Cave Crickets or roaches (absolutely disgusting) and I am not a huge spider fan, but I understand their importance in the larger world. Well ok not Camel-Back Cave Crickets or roaches. Really, I think we could completely do without them. They freak me out and every time I venture in to my carport at night I have to scan for the "hoppers" because I would just lose it if one jumped on me. But thinking about all of the species that are becoming extinct makes me sad. I worry that by the time my nieces grow up (they are 15 months and 4 1/2 years old) you will have to pull out a book (old school) or go to an internet site to see what a wolf looks like! We (humans) destroy things in the name of progress. Personally, I could do without another strip mall containing a Subway sandwich restaurant, Nail Salon, and the like. Give me the trees, the grass, the wide open spaces, the animals. We destroy habitat and then complain that we have (insert any wildlife species here) the "varmints" eating our shrubs, going through our trash, hitting our cars etc. Of course we do because we moved in to their homes and pushed them out! The problem is there is no where for them to go. What disturbs me the most is we as humans think we have the right to take what ever we want, damn the consequences. Who cares if wildlife suffers, I really need that 3rd McDonalds restaurant in a 4 miles radius of my home so I can just stick my hand out of my kitchen window and get a Big Mac. Before someone gets all up in arms, let me say that I do not advocate saving animals while proposing the demise of humans. I think there is a way that we (humans) can all live in harmony with wildlife, including flora and fauna. At least I hope there is. My dream is go to Yellowstone and see (or hear) a wolf in the wild, and I am not ready to give up that dream yet.

Suggestion for the day: If you are interested in wolves, Watch Wolves at our Door with Jim and Jamie Dutcher. An amazing story about a couple you lived in woods with the wolves.

"Wag More, Bark Less"

I was going to write about something completely different today. That was until I arrived home from work to find a box on my door step. I had ordered some things from a great company called Cloudstar (www.cloudstar.com) for the dog tribe. But what got me thinking was what was written on the box. In big letters it said WAG MORE BARK LESS. As I was carrying the box in I thought, how cute is that! But then I started to think as I was running around letting dogs out, giving dogs treats, trying to change clothes with 3 dog noses attached to one leg or the other and finally sitting down to my laptop. I thought "Wow...Wag more Bark Less" what a brilliant concept. Of course if you own a dog or know a dog you know that a wag means hi, glad to see you, I am happy etc. Barking of course can mean the same thing however, in our house it USUALLY means, stop that, you are annoying me, I am trying to get your attention by being annoying, I am being grouchy, I am talking back...I think you get my point. And then I thought, you know if people "wagged" more and "barked" less the world would be a happier place. A few years ago there was this big thing called Random Acts of Kindness, I see wag more bark less in this same vein. For instance one day on my lunch hour I was rushing all over the place on a very windy day and as I was walking past a craft store that had an outdoor display a big gust of wind came and all of these silk plants blew over and some rolled in the street. Now I had a big shopping bag and several smaller ones when I see all these plants rolling all over. Now I could have just walked by and let someone else pick them up. I mean it wasn't my problem really and I was in a hurry. But I stopped, set all my bags down and rescued the plants in the road first and then picked up the others. As I was doing this an older genleman walked by and said "Young Lady". So I said "yes, sir" and he said this to me, I will never forget it "That was a very nice thing that you just did. Thank you for being such a nice person, you don't see that very often any more". " Your mom should be proud of you." " I thanked him and he went on in to antoher store down the way, but I was smiling and i felt good. Not crabby and harried like i was just seconds before. Now I did not know this guy, and it wasn't like I performed a heroic act but the fact that he took the time to say that really touched me. Of course I did not do it so that someone would say hey good job but I think you get my point. I was in a good mood the rest of the day and hopefully I spread that feeling as the day went on. If we all did one nice thing every day, think of what a difference you might make in someone's life. You never know. So give it a try. Wag more and barkless. I am going to try it!

Thought for today: "We can't all do great things, but we can do small things with great love". Mother Teresa

"Shave and a Hair Cut, 2 Bits!"

Chloe went to be groomed today for the winter. A nice bath, nail trim and hair cut. I was concerned about her fur being too short for the cooler weather but she is much happier with short fur. I told Chloe that if she got too cold I would buy her a sweater. She was not too thrilled about that one! The groomers that I take her to are part of my veterinarian’s practice and absolutely fabulous. As far I have seen they are wonderful with the dogs! They seem gentle and kind with them and that is so important. My hat goes off to them because grooming a four legged creature that likes to be dirty and wiggles uncontrollably to get off the grooming table and constantly pulling their paws away as they are trying to trim their nails is no easy task. It is expensive for my “single person” budget ($70 each time for a dog the size of Chloe) but completely worth it to me. Plus, I don’t have to be the bad guy trimming the nails! Also very important!

A background note on Chloe: I adopted Chloe when she was about 9 weeks old. Chloe and her 3 litter mates (all boys) had been tossed into a dumpster at a convenience store in Raleigh . Apparently their owner was unaware that the local animal shelter is only about 3 miles from this particular dumpster. Luckily, a good person heard them crying, climbed up and retrieved them from the dumpster. When Scott (my ex) and I went to see her she was the only puppy of the litter left and she was hiding under the deck. She was the cutest puppy I had ever seen and turned out to be the best dog imaginable. She has done therapy work at nursing homes and elementary schools, been on TV for Bring Your Dog to Work Day, has been one of my 4 year old niece’s favorite playmates and one of the happiest parts of my life. She is always there for me with a loveable nudge of her nose under my hand to be pet or a warm snuggle at night. She is a good dog, a great listener and the most loveable friend!

Today’s comment: Adopt a homeless animal. Save a life!

Welcome to my adventures with my canine crew!

I thought I would give a bit of background on them.

They are known as Kemple Dog Tribe and they consist of Chloe, Bunnie and Otto! Chloe is a Golden Retriever/Australian Shepherd mix, Bunnie is a Canaan Dog (at least the AKC said she looked enough like one to get an ILP!) and Otto is Labrador Retriever/Australian Shepherd mix. All three of them were rescued in some form or fashion. They are great dogs and the lights of my life. I also have two nieces that fall into the "lights of my life" category but more on that later!

I got "started" in dogs in right after I married my ex-husband in 1995. We adopted an Australian Shepherd Puppy Sampson (who now lives with the ex) and from that moment on, it was complete love for me! Chloe followed a year later, with Bunnie 2 years after that and finally Otto a year after that!

They all have their own special talents, quirks and bad habits.

Oh, and their is a honorary member of the Tribe, Flounder the cat.

Come back later and hear of their antics.