Rest in Peace Miss Kay.......

This is one of the hardest posts I've had to write for a very long time. We have to say goodbye to one of our favorite girls.....Kay. Kay was a beautiful Akita.....I know we run a husky rescue but when I started volunteering she was there with her son, Kaj. We actually got him adopted and she went to foster. The foster's fell in love with her and were going to adopt her and take her to England with them. That all fell through when the guy lost his job and Kay came back to us.......she was basically the house dog for the last six years. Everyone loved her....on days when volunteers were around they loved to take her for walks or just hang around her. She really was our gentle giant. The last year or two were starting to get hard on her......arthritis in her back legs made it hard for her to walk, but we still tried to get her out as much as possible. The last month or so she has barely been able to get up at all, we would have to literally pick her up to take outside....and then she couldn't stay up. She wasn't eating much and just wasn't Kay. I saw her this morning....brought her some fancy cookies we didn't think she'd eat......she did.....but she just couldn't move. We knew it was coming......she went to sleep peacefully late this afternoon......

We will miss you so much....but at least you can finally romp around at the Rainbow Bridge......

A Tale of Two Doggies......

In September I posted about Rama and Sita getting adopted together. We, of course, couldn't have been happier that these two that came in together got a brand new home together!!! When Rama met Ray he knew he was home, but Sita was a bit more reserved. She had a few days of chewing and marking behavior, but that is gone and she knows she is home. Ray sent a bunch of pics of them so here we go.....

Hanging out in their new backyard......

Dinnertime....

Naptime......

They are doing great!!!!
We miss them , but are sure happy they have a wonderful new home with lots of love!!!
Have a great afternoon!!!!

Nine Years.......

Today it's been nine years since my Mom passed. It, of course , was the only day....out of nine....that I wasn't at the nursing home at least once a day. My son's girlfriend thought I was getting too burned out, I was, and took me out to dinner. When I got home I got the call. For years I felt horrible, but she was no longer conscious, even though I willed her to be. I miss her all the time....think of her every day. I'm including the poem my son wrote on October 13th , 2006. It never fails to make me cry.......

Mom, me , Mom's friend, Dad with Cathy

In honor of my grandmother." VIRGINIA RUTH BAUMGARTNER June 2, 1928 - October 12, 2006 
In honor of your memory I took paper to pen; 
I never knew the real you who you were or where you've been. 
I only knew the woman who'd put a smile on my face; 
I never knew the story behind the wrinkles on your face. 
The many storms you weathered and the calms when you made peace; 
I wish I had been old enough to learn the secrets that you'd keep. 
So, without you we wander on into the rest of our lives; 
Without the wisdom we could've gained when you were alive. 
We wander on... I wrote these words for you for the rest of them to hear; 
It's time for you to move along to eternity without fear. 
And may you now be at peace in a place without love or hate; 
Where everything is perfect beyond life's golden gates. 
The rest of us will strive and struggle and keep you in our hearts; 
I'll always remember this piece of wisdom The whole is the sum of it's parts. 
A time will come when we're all gone we'll see each other again; 
I wish you could have taught me more and I'm sure you will again. 
I won't forget the time we shared I will not forget you; 
It wasn't until your time had come that you taught me what you knew. 
Forgive me as I wander on... R.I.P. Virginia Baumgartner; 
What you couldn't teach me in life I learned only by your death. 
Written by Ian Poole October 13, 2006

Off the grid.....

Wow...I didn't realize that I hadn't posted in two weeks. I do have an excuse for this though, I've been spending the last few weeks sorting, organizing and pricing donations for a garage sale I had last weekend for the rescue. I've never seen so much stuff in my poor garage....couldn't even get my bike out to ride it. We had a perfect day with perfect weather but it was a bit disappointing in sales. At the end of the day we had so much left over we boxed it and will be moving it to my friend Denise's house and try it again on the 17th. Hopefully we make a ton more money for the rescue!!

Yep...that was my driveway and garage on Saturday!!!!
I took my very barky dogs, Tank and Faith, to our directors for the day....really didn't need them going crazy all day. When I came to pick them up they were so happy to see me they both had to ride shotgun on the way home!!!

They did get their nails trimmed....something I hate to do.....so I just told them they had a spa day.....they weren't convinced.

Have a great evening!!!

I will be back soon.....sooner than two weeks I promise!!!

A Scary Weekend.....

So like a good dog mama, I took Faith to the vet on Friday to get her rabies and DHLP. We waited a long time and finally got the shots about 5:30 that evening. By the time we got home it was about 6 or later and the others were pissed cause I was so late with dinner!!! All of them got fed and were running around in the yard before 7. I noticed Faith wasn't acting like herself....when she was inside she couldn't settle down and acted like she needed to throw up. I took her out for a quick walk to see if she was going to get sick....but nothing. When we got back to the house she was gasping for breath. It was 7:30 and my vet was closed...but she couldn't breathe so it was off the e-vet . I called my friend Denise to meet me there, I was a bit shaken, and off Faith and I went. It's only about 6 miles to the clinic but the longest drive ever. I actually thought she would stop breathing on the way. About a half mile before we got there I felt something warm on my leg, she finally vomited, but we were there and inside as fast as we could go. Luckily, it wasn't too busy and they took her in right away. When Denise got there about 10 minutes later the place was packed....so my timing was good. When they talked to us they said she had an allergic reaction.......I know dogs can have reactions to vaccines so I figured that could be the only thing , since nothing else had changed. We got to see her and she still sounded terrible ( she also developed hives in this time) so I opted to keep her there with 24 hour monitoring. They called at 5 AM and she had respiratory distress and hives again....so I needed to pick her up in the afternoon. We finally got home about noon and she seemed ok......but 15 minutes later this happened..........

I know it's hard to see on the top of her head...but her whole body was covered again in hives and her poor eyes were swollen shut. Called the clinic, gave her pred and benadryl...she finally calmed down and slept. Hives went away and today she is doing well....but super tired.

I guess this is a cautionary tale.....dogs can get allergic reactions to their vaccines at any time....and it's hard and fast and can kill them. They have to have them....but always keep an eye to check the reaction. Never had this happen to my dogs before....any of you??
So poor Faith made this a very scary weekend for us both.....

Miss Lizzy....

I wanted to do an update for my girl. She has been doing really well so we decided to video her walk the other day (hope it works!!) and show you a pic of her and Faith hanging out in the sun. I can't believe it's been 14 months since diagnosis.

Have a great Friday.....will be back over the weekend!!!

Happy Labor Day......

All of us wish all of you a very happy holiday. Please be safe tonight....I guess summer is officially over....but as usual in Houston you'd never know it!!!

Lizzy enjoying the heat!!!!

Have a wonderful evening......
See you very soon.......

Rama and Sita.....

I was hinting at a big adoption in an earlier post.....and that happened yesterday!! We have had Rama and Sita since the beginning of the year. They were found together at a vet's office and they are the best of friends. We took care of them and always wanted them to go together, but that looked like it wasn't going to happen. We got applications for them....usually people with cats...and neither one of them likes cats....so there we were....until last week. An application came in from Garland Texas (around Dallas) for both the kids. When someone put on their app....I need two dogs, together we are a pack....we had to check it out. Luckily he had had two Huskies before so he knew what he was getting into. I called our director and said we had to talk to the guy , she had already contacted him!! He sent a video of his yard.....definitely Husky proof. He and his friend drove down yesterday and I've never seen someone so excited....he didn't look at any other dogs....just his. Our director let them out of the kennels and I was standing halfway between them...they ignored me and went right to him like they knew they were going home!!! Have to say that brought a few tears to my eyes....still does now. They packed them in the car and off they went......so happy to see them stay together. I know that Ray will be a wonderful dad for those two!!!

Some kisses for dad!!!

Getting ready to go!!!

Chilling in their new home last night!!!

Thanks Ray for giving our babies a wonderful home.....
Have a great evening everyone......
See you soon!

Our Dogs at the Dog Show......

I had been meaning to post our puppies at the Dog Show a few weeks ago.....but a few things got more attention. We had quite a few dogs show up, which was great for us......we got a ton of people coming by!!! This will be mostly pics......so here we go....

Seth and Sundance.

Sundance and Seth....Seth is a tripod and gets around just great.

Pretty Miss Lisel!!

Spock looking for a treat!!

Sita ignoring everyone....

Rama doing the same!!!

Miss Onyx looking for attention......

We had a good show this year, last year I had to miss most of it because that's when Lizzy got sick. The dogs were on their best behavior and got lots of pets and treats!!!
I have a great adoption coming up this weekend.....will post with pics....
Have a wonderful evening....
See you soon....

Finally...........

It's been a long few weeks. I told you my Dad was having some health trouble.....and he decided after a couple of doc appointments that he won't have surgery. I get it , he's 89 and doesn't want to go through that. We were left with the problem of his dizziness and vertigo and finally convinced him to move to the first story of the house instead of negotiating  the stairs daily. That has been a real hassle, but this next weekend we will be finished. My brother and I did a lot of clean up along the way......so much stuff. Just glad it's done so we can move on to other things. I think Dad is happy too!!!
This was our project Thursday......it was raining anyway....so why not.....

We put together a new desk for him.....his one upstairs weighs about a ton.....it will get dismantled and recycled.
My dogs are doing great.....Lizzy kind of freaks me out.....I know she is really sick.....but I don't know.
Have a great Sunday evening.....be back soon!!!!!

Well....

I was gonna post about the dog show....till this happened last night. There are many types of dog abuse. Sometimes not that obvious. We took two dogs back from an adopter a month ago. Here is what I wrote yesterday morning.....

Miss Tamara
Tamara had been adopted a few years ago and came back to Husky Haven a couple of weeks ago. I'm not going into any specifics about her time away.....it's irrelevant for this. When she came back she weighed 66 pounds....for her size that would be considered obese....she is small and should weight about 40 pounds. Her toenails were also about 2 inches long. Both of these things were fixable. More troubling was the fact she had to squat and try and pee every five minutes. We saw blood in her pee and started antibiotics. The blood went away but her squatting didn't. We took her to the vet a week and a half ago....ran many tests and x-rays showed more than 30 bladder stones....some the size of a ping pong ball. The ones you see in my hand are the smallest ones.Can you imagine how much pain she was in and so long. She had surgery on Wednesday and right now is doing poorly. We are very worried about her...she won't eat and barely moves....probably another trip to the vet tomorrow. We are asking for your help.....so far the bills are about $1500.00....but will probably be more. If you can donate we would really be grateful. If you need to send a check please PM me, Beth Poole, and I will send info. If you can go to www.huskyhaven.org and donate to our Paypal that would be appreciated. She needs good thoughts and I will update her progress. Any help would be appreciated....Thanks, Beth

Tamara stroked out yesterday before we could get to the vet. She was a great girl and her previous foster mom is so upset.....when we got her back she was obese.....yesterday I knew she wouldn't make it as she was shaking and freaking out. She died for no other reason than neglect. In our contract we ask adopters to bring the dogs back if you can not deal. We will always help......how could it get to this???? 

And So It Goes........

Right after the dog show I had plans for a couple of posts......but sometimes life just gets in the way. The Monday after my dad took a tumble.....didn't tell me till the next day. It was worse than the many other falls he has had....so off to the ER we go. I thought he had a stroke.....but after a few tests that didn't seem to be the reason. He was admitted, much to his chagrin, so they could run further tests and try to get his blood pressure under control. After days of tests, and my dad being in a bad mood, they finally figured out he has calcium deposits in the arteries in his neck. This causes the vertigo and equilibrium problems. I wanted him to have surgery while he was there, but no go. Now that he's home he doesn't want to have the surgery.....so we'll see how that pans out.
While all this was going on  my son let me know his move to Michigan was changing to August 1st instead of October 1st. So we also had to get rid of a bunch of stuff, eBay...etc., and packing. So my blog wasn't a priority the last couple of weeks. In reality my son set off for Michigan this morning. I don't know how that is settling with me right now.....time will tell. But I love him and wish him all happiness in his new endeavors.

One last cig at the old homestead....

Finishing packing....

Poor Caddy.....

See you later kid!!!!!

Pretty dog pics this weekend......hopefully the whirlwind around me has subsided for a bit.....
Have a wonderful evening.......

One Year Ago.......

One year ago today I woke up to the most horrible thing ever.......my poor Lizzy so sick she couldn't stop vomiting. It was too early for my vet to be open so I took her to the e-vet. I was supposed to be on my way to my friend Cyndii's to set up for the dog show......but that clearly wasn't going to happen. After a full day at the vet's I found out she had a huge tumor in her gut. A few weeks later I had the tumor removed just to find out she had terminal pancreatic cancer......and three to six months to live. So far she has defied the odds.....one year and still doing well. The combination of the cancer and arthritis has slowed her down......but she's still here!!!! Really didn't think I'd be saying that today.........

Miss Lizzy in a bit healthier times........

Miss Lizzy now.......

So yesterday we set up for the show......I will have many pics later this weekend.......

Our booth...ready to go....

Contents of our door prize!!!!

I'm so glad Lizzy is still here with me......I never thought that would happen. 

Have a wonderful day......

Many pics this weekend......