Tuesday, July 22, 2008

6 week Jaycie/Riggins pups
















Here are the first stacked pics of the Jaycie/Riggins litter. They are one day shy of 6 weeks. These are the remaining two pups and both TC (boy) and TinkerBell (girl) are doing well. TinkerBell looks a lot like her momma and TC looks just like his daddy. Vanna is a good playmate for them as she likes to lie on the floor and play with them. Paco too is a good "momma" as the pups like to chew on her fur and she allows them to do so.
These pups are doubled up on the beautiful International Champion Paris Panther, and carry the very important bloodline of DC Paris Say You Will with the gorgeous Ch. Surrey Hill Smithereens as their grandmother. These dogs have always been favorites of mine, and I'm happy that I was able to incorporate them into my bloodlines.
TC is very outgoing and playful, and likes to pounce on the fuzzy squirrel while TinkerBell likes to look on from the sidelines. She does pounce once in a while. I'm looking forward to seeing how these guys react to the bunny.

Monday, July 21, 2008

My Sweetest Memories

This thread will probably be updated from time to time as more Sweet Memories are made, so check back often.

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>>February 7, 2001 - The day my son Tyler Clay was born will be THE sweetest memory of all.
>>Tyler catching a big fish (the grin on his face is priceless)
>>Tyler playing soccer and scoring in the wrong goal.
>>Tyler wrestling and winning a match only because the other team had a forfeit at his weight.
>>Tyler playing t-ball and forgetting to run to first base.
>>Tyler running his car in the Pinewood Derby for Scouts.
>>Tyler starting Karate and progressing onto his yellow belt.
>>Watching Tyler shoot his BB gun and hit the targets.
>>Watching Tyler learning to ride his Razor Scooter.

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>>February 14, 2006 - Zoey winning the Breed at the "Garden" and onto a Group 4.
>>Zoey's many Best of Breeds, Group Placements.
>>Zoey's 18 All-Breed Best In Shows.
>>Zoey being named 2003 Canada's Hound of the Year.
>>Zoey being an extremely happy "camper" and living out her life at Camp Whippet like the princess she knows she is and deserves to be.
>>May 31, 2008 - Vanna winning Best of Breed from the Open Bitch class at the Eastern Whippet Regional Specialty and on to a Hound Group 3. Before showing I remember standing at the trophy table and looking over the trophies. I came across the Best of Breed trophy where Zoey's name is engraved from when she won it in 2004. With a tear in my eye, I lightly rubbed my fingers over her name and mumbled, "I love you sweet girl". I know that day the Whippet Gods were looking over me and let the judge find Vanna worthy of being awarded Best of Breed.

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I have been an active competition trapshooter for the past two decades and I've shot live birds here and abroad. Some sweet memories from shooting are:
>>Winning the Ladies 16-Yard Championship in 1987 (198 x 200), 1988 (198 x 200) & 1999 (197 x 200).
>>Winning the Ladies Handicap Championship in 1988.
>>Winning the Ladies Doubles Championship in 1985, 1990 & 1991.
>>Winning the Ladies All-Around Championship in 1991 & 1995.
>>Breaking my first 100 straight in Handicap in August of 1983.
>>Placing in the Top Ten of the Lehigh Valley Trapshooters League in 2006.
>>Placing 3rd in Portugal while shooting live birds in a field of approximately 500+ shooters. >>First and second places were awarded to Joaquim Morato and Bruno Pardini (two of Europes best shooters).
>>Winning the Ladies World Live Bird Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1989.
>>Winning many live bird trophies in the United States, and several PA Ladies Championships.
>>Winning 5 belt buckles in one weekend of live bird shooting in NC.

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I guess that's all for now, but I know there will be more.

How do you get your Whippet in racing condition?


I asked this question on several lists and also in a few Whippet boards and got some great advice. Free running exercise, short sprints, good diet, and keeping your Whippet lean and mean (lighter is faster you know). And I truly appreciate all the great advice and hope to have Vanna, my first Whippet who can actually compete in the race for something other than the TURTLE award, in better race condition for the upcoming CWA National race meet to be held at Nottingham Park in Nottingham, PA the end of August.

I have Vanna off to a great start with her conditioning. She LOVES to chase her tennis balls, this gives her the short sprints of speed she needs, Tyler forgets to close the door behind him when he goes out, this gives her the free running exercise she needs, she eats her dinner every night, which gives her the good diet, and chasing moths from one end of the house to the other keeps her lean, mean and keen.

Although she has this good start for the race meet, we are heading off to our yearly two week Canada fishing trip, and she is going to stay at my cousins house while we are gone. I'm just hoping she doesn't come back like a little pork ball after two weeks with two young girls (ages 6 & 10 I think). I kind of got things under control here with Tyler not feeding the dogs anything, but who knows what may happen.

Right this moment, Vanna is lying down on her doggie bed, eyeing up the homemade cinnamon bun Tyler is eating, and she also has her eye on a moth that's flying around. I'm hoping she makes a mad dash for the moth, as that is a lot less calories than that delicious cinnamon bun!

Friday, July 18, 2008

Should I shave or wax???

Every once in a while I receive an email I know would be enjoyed by many, so I'll be posting some of these emails as I receive them. This one is a riot.

CAUTION: Be prepared to laugh out loud...I laughed till I almost cried as I could just see this happening, especially to me!!!

All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy, painless removal - The epilady, scissors, razors, Nair And now...the wax.

My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, and play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: "Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet." So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those "cold wax" kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off. No muss, no fuss How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!)

So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ("Cold wax," yeah...right!) I lay the strip across my thigh, hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works! OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire. With my next wax strip I move north.

After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet. Using the same procedure, I apply the one strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my *hoo-hoo* and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (yes, it was a long strip) I inhale deeply and brace myself....RRRRIIIPPP!!!! I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!....OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!! Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip. CRAP!!! Another deep breath and RRIIPP!! Everything is swirly and spotted. I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to normal.

I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip! There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX??? Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair, the hair that should be on the strip I touch. I am touching wax. CRAP! I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember my foot is still propped up on the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down. DANG!!!!!!!! I hear the slamming of a cell door. *Who-Ha*?? sealed shut! Butt?? Sealed shut!

I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself "Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!" What can I do to melt the wax? Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right??? WRONG!!!!!!! I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit. Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax. So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cement-epoxied myself to the porcelain!!

God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!! I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter - "So, my butt and who-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!" There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, "Are we talking cheeks or who-ha?" She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box. YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night.

While we go through various solutions, I resort to scraping the wax off with a razor. Nothing feels better then to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!! By now the brain is not workin g, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event.

My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace.... the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax. What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and OH MY GOD!!!!!!! The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. It's sooo painful, but I really don't care. IT WORKS!! It works!! I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair.... THE HAIR IS STILL THERE.......ALL OF IT!!!!!!!!!! So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point.

Next week I'm going to try hair color......Now that's funny. Notttttttttt!!!!!!!!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Canada Vacation 2006

My Canadian Adventure

For the past 4 years, my hubby, Tyler and I along with my parents, take our annual trip to Ontario, Canada and go Walleye fishing for two weeks on the North Shore of Hay Bay (a fresh water lake) in Nappanee, this year was no exception. Our trip started out on July 29th normal enough, we drove the 6 hours up, got to the cabin and started fishing. There was a beautiful North-easterly breeze all week, the fishing wasn't too bad, and we caught enough fish every day to eat. On Wednesday, hubby, Tyler and I went out about 6 pm to do our evening fishing and the waters were a little wavy, maybe about 1 foot waves (perfect for the walleye to bite).
We were fishing in a little cove off the South Shore about 2 miles SW of our cabin, and it is usually pretty calm in there, but with a storm coming and the waves getting bigger, we knew getting across to our cabin on the North Shore would be a chore. We started for “home” and once out in the open water it was VERY rough, “and our tiny ship was tossed” (Gilligan’s Island theme - sorry, just had to do that), and the waves were now peaking at about 4 foot. We have a pretty sturdy 16’ boat, and we were still taking on some water from the crashing waves. Needless to say, Tyler was hanging on to the front of the boat where we tie the dock lines to, Paco (our new mix breed) was right beside him on the floor, I was aside of them holding on to both Tyler & Paco, Emily (the spoiled princess Whippet) was under the console where hubby was driving the boat.

It’s now about 8 pm, and maneuvering in the water was tough. We were ½ of the way back to “home” and I spied a boat kind of behind me over my left shoulder. I took a glance because #1, I’m nosy and need to see if it’s anyone I might know, and #2 it looked like too small a boat and motor to be on THAT rough water. As I’m looking over my shoulder, I hear hubby say, “Is there someone on that boat”. I said, “I don’t know, but we’d better go have a look”. We drive over to the boat, with 4 foot waves crashing over the side of our boat, lightning in the sky and a HUGE threat of rain hovering over us. We get there, and there is no one in the boat, AND THE MOTOR IS STILL RUNNING!!!!!! My stomach immediately fell to my feet, knowing someone is overboard. I noticed another boat coming by, so I frantically waved them down and they came over, told them there’s a boat with no one in it, and they said that it’s probably a break-away boat (from a dock), and I told them no, the motor was running.

My hubby said that that boat had been docked at our camp all week, and he’s seen a guy fishing in it (always by himself), so the two guys we flag down start heading to our camp with the stray boat. Hubby and I circle a few times to see if we can find anyone bobbing or waving in the water. After a few minutes of looking and hoping, we made a decision to head for camp so they can call 9-1-1. When we get there, I jump out of the boat onto the dock, run over to the office and tell them the situation. They think they know who owns the boat, he is one of three brothers that are in a cabin two doors down from us. Low and behold, it IS one of the brothers.
The coast guard was called, helicopters, water police and land police. Hubby and I both gave statements around 9:00 pm as to where the location of the boat was found, as we had looked to both shores to see where we were at, just in case. We did what we could do, and thought that was the end of it.

It’s now about 11:00 pm and hubby & Tyler are off to bed, Mom & Dad are off to bed, but I stayed up a little, as I was a bit shaken. Around 11:30 pm the police come knocking on the cabin door, and they want me to go to the docks and tell the water police about where the location of the boat was found. Hubby stayed in bed and I told him the water police wanted to talk to me, so off I went to the dock.

Well it ended up I and a local permanent camper, Jack, who knows where the shoals and low spots are in the lake, got on the police boat and we headed off to see if I could find the spot where we found the boat. Now this lake looks so different in the dark, dark night with rain pelting down on us and the water, but with Jacks help with knowing the terrain and shore lines, the police put a marker down where I thought the spot was.

We then were escorted from the police boat to the Cape Hearn, the Coast Guard ship that was called in. Jack and I both got aboard the Cape Hearn, sat and talked with the Coast Guard Captain for about 20 minutes, then back onto the police boat and back to the docks, but instead of going back into camp, we searched the North Shoreline for about 1-1/2 miles past camp, eventually turning around and getting us back to camp at around 1:00 am. While walking back to my cabin, the two brothers are just sitting at their picnic table looking out at the water, both clutching a bible (one of the brothers was a chaplin).

On Thursday, while heading out to fish in the late morning, hubby states that I marked the spot pretty close. A plane was called in that does search & rescue, called the Hercules, and they were flying up and down the lake for ½ the day. They did drop a smoke bomb at a spot, and upon the police checking they found the mans’ white tee shirt amongst a bunch of ripped loose weeds (this was about a mile SE of the spot I marked). They brought in diving teams and more police, but nothing. They searched all night Thursday, again nothing. Again, all day the brothers just sat around looking out over the water.

Friday morning they brought in two helicopters as they can get closer to the water than the Hercules could. The choppers were equipped with some kind of sonar device that can spot a mass of something under the water. There were several spots marked and the divers started diving at these markers. Fortunately and unfortunately, they found the body of the man about 50 yards SW of the spot I had originally marked. He was tangled up in a weed bed 29’ down from the surface. I say fortunate because the remaining two brothers have some closure, but unfortunate because he was not found alive. To look at the man, you’d see a very fit 42 year old, but he did have a heart condition which runs in the family.

This is a trip I will NEVER forget, both fun and sad. Fun because of the experience I had on the Police Boat and the Coast Guard Boat (something I really hope I never have to do again, unless it's just for fun), and sad because of the outcome.

We have since gone up to Canada, and will be leaving again in 2 weeks from today, and we always talk about that day. It is something I will remember for a long time to come.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Disney World 2007






Last year we took a trip to Florida's Disney World. We decided to go over the Christmas vacation that way hubby and I would be off work and we didn't need to take Tyler out of school. It was a nice drive down, although a bit long, but I'd rather drive than fly anyway. That way I have all the things I need with me all the time.


Tyler was really looking forward to it and saved up his money (he got a dollar for every 100% he brought home from school, it ended up being somewhere around $60.00). He had more than enough money as he's been saving for a long time. As the time grew nearer, Tyler became more and more excited, but one day said to me, "Mommy, I don't think I want to go to Florida." I was shocked and asked why. He said he really wants to go, but he really wants to stay home to get his presents from Santa. It nearly broke my heart. I did tell him that there are children all over the world, and every one of them gets presents on Christmas and I really do think Santa goes to Florida too.

In the mean time, an aquaintance of mine from a Whippet board I am on was going to Disney with her hubby, and she asked if she could send Tyler a postcard from Disney. I said sure, knowing Tyler would love that. When the postcard arrived, it was addressed to Tyler and it said something like, 'Hi Tyler, I was just down visiting with Mickey before my big day, and he told me you were coming down to see him. I'll make sure to bring your presents to Florida for you. Love, Santa.' Well, Tyler's eyes lit up, and he had the biggest grin and wanted to know when we were leaving.

We arrived in Disney on the 23rd at around 4 pm. We got all checked in and decided to head out to the park. Tyler wanted to do the Magic Kingdom, so off we went. We had no problem getting to the park, and took the ferry over to the Magic Kingdom. I know why they call it the Magic Kingdom, as it really does have a magical feel about it when you step foot inside. We did a few rides, and saw the gorgeous light parade and the fantabulous fireworks display. There are no other fireworks like it anywhere. We headed back to the hotel and we got lost leaving the parking lot of Disney...lol, but we eventually found the way. Upon arriving back at the hotel, hubby took Tyler to the pool next door, as they had a big pool, a whirlpool and a sliding board into the pool. Tyler was so excited about the slide into the pool, he went right up and came down into the water without even taking off his shoes...lol.

Monday was Christmas eve, and we drove to the west side of Florida to visit some old friends of mine that I used to shoot live birds with, Doc & Ruth Coniglio. After getting lost a few times, we arrived at their beautiful house and sat, drank and talked about old times. It was wonderful meeting up with Doc & Ruth again, as I may never see them again. Ruthie went overboard and had gifts for everyone, hubby, Tyler and myself. We had a great time, but eventually had to say goodbye and head back to the hotel.

That night when Tyler fell asleep, I snuck downstairs and brought up the big box of presents I brought along for him. We had a small suite and I put them in the living room on and around the coffee table. Of course the only day Tyler gets up before us is Christmas Day, and this year was no exception. He yelled for us to get up cause Santa left presents in the living room. He was so excited. Tyler opened his presents but couldn't figure out how Santa got into the hotel room, as the window wasn't broken and the door was locked from the inside. To this day he can't figure that out.

We headed off to Animal Kingdom on Christmas Day but we didn't see very much of it as it was soooooo full, it was like being packed in a sardine can with no where to go. Other days we went to MGM Studios, Epcot and Sea World. Tyler decided he wants to be a whale trainer when he grows up. He liked all the wild rides he went on, and we even went back to the Magic Kingdom a second time as that's where Tyler wanted to go, he loved the Magic Kingdom. On the Sunday before we were due to go home, we took Tyler to the beach, where we eventually met up with Jonathan and Zoey. You'll find that story under one of the Life & Times of Zoey stories.

We had a fantastic trip and I'd go again in a heartbeat. It was so beautiful there, and Tyler had such a great time. Till next time.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Trials and Tribulations of Raising a Litter

As previously posted, the long awaited Jaycie/Riggins puppies arrived on June 11, 2008. Jaycie delivered her pups 4 days early due to a uterine infection she had, and got off to a bad start with 3 dead pups. She finally had her first live pup, and after a few hours, ended with 4 pups. A trip to the vet 2 days later confirmed that the pups were doing well and all were good and healthy. I decided to go to the Canadian National the end of June so mom and the 2-1/2 week old pups went to stay with my niece while I was gone. Melissa called me a few days into my trip to say the one pup, Ty, wasn't doing well and was kind of pale and lethargic, so she took him to the vet where she works, they gave him a dose of wormer and she brought him home. She was supplementing them with Esbilac cause Jaycie didn't have a lot of milk. In the morning when she went in to check on the pups, Ty was gone. I chalked it up to a bad luck, as all the other pups were doing good. The pups came home on Sunday, and all were active and nursing although I was supplementing everyone with Esbilac. A week later, one of the other pups, Taylor, got very pale looking and lethargic, and through the night he passed away also.

This has been the litter from hell, as I've never lost puppies at 2-1/2 and 3-1/2 weeks of age before. It's hard enough when they are born dead or die shortly after birth, but it is extremely hard to see them fail at that late stage. A few days later the little girl, TinkerBell, was looking kind of pale and was just a tad lethargic. I started with a stricter regimen of wormer, Esbilac and gave her a supplement called Nutri-Stat. When I started the Nutri-Stat, her front feet pinked up some, and with my constant nursing her, holding her, snuggling her, and telling her she wasn't going to die, she got better. She is now an active little girl who plays with her brother TC who is twice her size. TinkerBell was only 5 oz. at birth and her brother was about 10 oz., so she is still playing catch-up. She may not be a big bitch as her mother and grandmother are not big, and neither is dad Riggins.

I think we are on the right track, TC and TinkerBell have started drinking water from a bowl and they are trying to chew up some kibble, but they still like their puppy slop (Esbilac, Baby Cereal and Goats Milk mixed with some warm water).
Thanks Karen for being there when I needed someone to talk to about these pups and their situation. Even though there was nothing to be done for these pups, it was nice to know someone was lending an ear.

I'll post updated puppy pics soon.

A Day In The Park

On Tuesday Tyler's Karate school took a day off and everyone went to Knoebels Amusement Park. Tyler's friend Shawn and his mom followed us there. We arrived at 11:00 am when the park opened and got an all day ride pass for the boys. Tyler is quite the daredevil and he LOVES all the crazy rides, and he went on the Phoenix twice and Twister once. Both are wooden roller coasters that go about 100 mph (or so it seems to this 40+ year old mom).

The Fandango is another of Tyler's favorites. It is a big thing that hangs from the middle and seats people all around the outside, and they strap you in electronically, cause when this thing starts to swing back and forth and twist you won't fall out, it fits very tight against you. It swings actually about 100 degrees and when you are up in the air, you actually feel like you are going to fall backwards upsidown. Needless to say, mom didn't go on this one, neither did Tyler's friend Shawn.

The haunted house is another of Tyler's favorites, and we did that twice also. He's been in the HH about 6 times now, and I think these last two times he actually kept his eyes opened...lol. We also went on the Flume ride and the Skloosh where you get 120% soaked and when you get off the boat and stand on the observation deck you get hit with a wall of water that if you didn't get wet enough on the ride, you're done for here...lol.

It was a great day at the park, one in which I've been going to for about 40 years. The park is very shady with trees all around, it's free to get in just to walk around, unlike many other amusement parks these days, and you can even take your dog along in the park. We are looking forward to the next time.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

The Life & Times of Zoey - Part 7




Upon
arriving home from Florida with good memories of Zoey and the home she's in, I purchased a pile
of stuffies for Zoey, boxed them up, and proceeded to mail them down to Camp Whippet, just for Zoey's destuffing pleasure. (You need to read the other post about Zoey...the Serial Toy Killer, and you'll know all about it.) She proceeded to destuff the toys in record time. Since then, there have been several people on the lookout for super tough toys that are Zoey proof. So far, there hasn't been a stuffed toy that Zoey can't destuff in under 15-20 seconds.

Zoey has since had her ups and downs, but for the most part is doing great. This brings us to the present. Jonathan is a teacher, and has the good fortune of having the summers off. So he packs up whatever dogs he may have in Camp at the time, and heads NW to the beautiful state of Montana. He has made lots of stops on the way seeing some of his rescue placements, and they always remember him. Zoey has made lots of new friends along the way as well. Some of these people only knew of Zoey from her show wins, but have since gotten to know her wonderful spirit first hand. Zoey even went for her first boat ride this past week, it did take her a while to figure out how she was floating above the water and not actually in it.
Right now, Zoey is taking in the cool mountain breezes of Montana and living the good life of a spoiled princess that she knows she is.


May the story continue...

The Life & Times of Zoey - Part 6


Zoey settled in quite well in Florida under the doting care of Jonathan. I had told Jonathan all about her and about her slight incontinence problem, so he went out and purchased a sterilite container (about 27" wide x 36" long x 8" high), put tons of fluffy blankets in it, placed it on his bed and put Zoey in it, just so she could sleep in bed with him. Zoey took to this right away and has since become quite the princess at what lots of people call CampWhippet. Camp Whippet came about because Jonathan does a lot of Whippet & Greyhound rescue and there are anywhere from 4 to 10 dogs in his house at any given time. He truly is a godsend to rescues, and especially to Zoey and myself.

I get monthly updates on Zoey's progress and because of the warm, sunny, sandy beach treks, nice sun bathing area in Jonathan's back yard, and care given by him, Zoey had been steadily improving, so much so that all the medications she was on, she was weaned off of. She even came into season for the 1st time since this dilemna all started. Although this was good news, the heat cycle took it's toll on Zoey and she started in a downhill slide. She is back on some of the meds, but not all, and is now holding her own once again. Her spirit, love of life and will to live is just amazing.

I did call Jonathan in tears one day in November, just cause I was upset that I would probably never see my girl again. I knew I would never see my Zoe-Zoe again, but knowing she is in the right place made everything okay. That was a relapse on my part, and I think I made Jonathan feel bad, but all is better now.

In December over the Christmas vacation, hubby, Tyler and I traveled to Florida to Disney World (that'll be another story), all the while wondering how I was gonna get to Fort Pierce to see Zoey. I called Jonathan one day while we were waiting to get on the bus to go to one of the Disney Parks (it may have been Christmas Day), and I asked Jonathan how things were going, he said, "not good", he had lost a dog and he was driving around right now trying to find her. My heart ended up in my throat as I asked what dog, he said Zoey. Tears came to my eyes, as he explained that she politely let herself out the front door. He said she was contained on the island, and thought she would probably run north on the beach, as that is where they always went, and Zoey does LOVE her beach.

Fort Pierce is a small island and there is only one access road off of it to the main land. He said he'd call me back, and hung up. He called a few minutes later stating that Animal Control just called him and said they had her and he should come get her. Zoey in her "sad condition" had traveled about a mile north on the beach before she was spotted and taken into "custody". Jonathan called me about an hour later to say he had sprung her from the joint, and was on their way home, and that Zoey was just fine, but tired. I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

We did our Disney trips, and on the 30th of December we decided to take Tyler to the beach. We headed east to Cocoa Beach, but did head farther south cause there were dead fish all over the beach there due to a rare Red Tide that came in. I called Jonathan and he said he would meet me at the beach with Zoey. This wonderful man drove Zoey about 2 hours north of his home, just so I could see my baby girl again. It was a joyous reunion as I hugged my girl. To my delight she looked really good. Melbourne Beach is a non-doggy beach and where we were, you couldn't see it, but Zoey stood at the very edge of the tall grass, and with nose in the air was taking in all that glorious sand and salt water she so desparately wanted to get down to. I now know in my heart as I've seen it with my own eyes, Zoey is where SHE needs to be.


To Be Continued...