Katy Bug

A few new photos of my Katy.

Katy

My dog, Katy gives me so much joy. She is the best dog in the world, and I couldn't have picked a better one for our family. I feel very blessed to share her life.

Here she is getting her teeth brushed which she actually likes, and it really works for the tartar and bad breath.

She and I enjoy hanging out on the couch after work and on my days off.

What a great dog!

Life with a Golden Retriever

This is the amount of fur that I just combed off of my dog, Katy. Enough to make another small dog. (and this is just from today) Golden's are well known and praised for their beautiful golden fur. In the sunlight there are hairs that glow like a thread of spun gold, hence the name. It is quite amazingly beautiful and one of the reasons I chose a golden, however, what you may not realize when you get that adorable golden baby, is the sheer amount of the golden stuff that they shed, and/or do not shed, as the case may be. When a golden or any long haired/under coated dog, has more hair than is needed for the climate, and no one is around to comb it for them, they use whatever nature or humans provide to get it off of themselves. Such things might include, but are not limited to, the side of the couch that your quests can see, the tree in the yard,(bark is a fave of dogs), the stairs, and of course your black pants that you just put on to go out. They also use their feet and mouth, so you have bits and tufts of golden, fluffy fur flying and sticking all over your house. And a dog with fur between its toes and teeth. Goldens are THE most beautiful of all dogs, but they can be a tremendous amount of work, in the summer more so. But I for one, would not trade my golden girl, Katy for all the short haired, nearly shedless dogs in the world. Any one want to stuff a pillow?

Katy the lap dog

Here is our girl, Katy. She really is a cuddle puppy. She fancies herself a lap dog as you can see here there is no lack of those who will cuddle with her.

Animals~All Our Relations

We love our animals. We have three cats and one dog and a rat! David has had Goober since before I met him, in fact when we were only friends, I came to his house and fed Goober while David was on a trip.

Sabrina was a shelter rescue. She was barely six weeks old when we got her, just a month after moving in together.

Cleopatra (Cleo) was another rescue who had bee abandoned at the vet that I worked at because her owner's didn't want to deal with a continuing eye infection. (It was all cleared up by the time we got her at 12 weeks.)

And of course, you all know Katy's story.

We have also fostered a couple of dogs temporarily and raised a raccoon kit until he was old enough to be rehabilitated into the wild. One of the things that we have always enjoyed together was helping animals.

Karni was a pet store purchase when my son wanted a rat.

April is National Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month. In light of that, I want to share some tips.

What You Can Do to Help Animals in your community

*Be their voice! Speak for the animals who can't speak for themselves.

*Know who to call to report animal cruelty. Call the humane society to find out in your area.

*Provide as much information as possible when reporting animal cruelty (the type of cruelty you witnessed, who was involved, the date & place of the incident)

*Set a good example for others. If you have pets, be sure to always show them the love and good care that they deserve.

*Talk to your kids about how to treat animals with kindness and respect.

Signs Of Animal Cruelty or Neglect

-Wounds on the body

-Large patches of missing hair

-Extremely thin, starving animals

-Limping

-Someone striking or physically abusing an animal

-Animals repeatedly left alone without food and water

Our Lap Dog

Our fifty pound! lap dog that is. lol Even though she knows she is not allowed on the furniture, Katy found a way to get her entire body on Emily's lap, therefore, she was not on the furniture. LOl what a dog, what a blessing.

I'm Still here.....

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. I have been terribly busy with work and trying to keep things going during this hard economic time. I hope that everyone is doing well.

The weather is promising that spring will soon arrive. Well in about six to eight weeks. LOL But I am dreaming and planning our gardens now. Seed Savers Exchange has an absolutely gorgeous catalog this year, and I can't wait to get my seeds. Sophie and I have many plans for what we want to grow this year.

We have been enjoying the cold winter days and nights as a family. Watching movies and reading and sharing books and having many lovely conversations about everything from politics to the economy to what we want to do this summer. Our family has gotten much closer through all the tough times we had since last fall. What a blessing that has been. There is always something good that comes from every bad thing.

Katy is doing well, as this photo shows. She loves running in the yard. She has learned a great deal already and her training is going well.

Brrrrr!!!!!!

I am dreaming of summer. It is so cold!!! Brrrr!!! I really am not enjoying it much. Besides the fact that we NEVER have snow in east Tennessee. I just can't do most of the things that I enjoy most in the winter. I try, really, I do. But I find very little to make me happy about winter. I know that Mother Nature uses the winter months to rest and rejuvenate before the hard work of the spring and summer. And I appreciate that, its just.....well...I guess it comes down to how spoiled we humans are when it comes to climate control. Geez. I am going to work on that.

On the bright side, having to walk Katy in all kinds of weather has brought my attention to some beautiful things that I otherwise would have missed. Wild animals in the early morning, the gorgeous full moon setting in the early morning sky, along with Venus brightly shining.

I have also continued with my yoga routine. Yeah! I am so excited. I feel so much better and more flexible and strong. David is happy that I have begun again too. :)

Doggie Love

Katy has adjusted well to her new home. Sophie is enjoying bonding with her. This was her first bath at our house. As you can see she was resigned but less than thrilled.













This is a rare moment of watching tv together. They are becoming quite the pair.

Katy Settles In

Katy seems to be settling in to our household just fine. As you can see from her comfort level in the photos. LOL She is a great dog, we are very pleased, she is very gentle and tolerant of Sophie, she picks up on the rules and such very quickly. She seems to have had some training, but we begin formal obedience training tomorrow. Should be interesting. I am looking forward to it. In only the two days we've had her, she is already deferring to me as her alpha. She learned heel, to an extent in one walk around the block. Thankfully, at her age, 1.5 year, she is totally house trained. We have yet to hear her bark, the most we've heard is an excited whine when she sees or hears another dog.

Our Christmas Dog

This is Sophie and I with our Christmas dog, Katy. She was rescued from the side of the interstate a month ago. And we were able to adopt her today! She's a Golden Retriever, with a bit of Chow? thrown in, as you can see by the tongue. :) She's very sweet and very intelligent. She is learning the ropes around the cats tonight. Sophie is beside herself with joy over having "my own dog".