AUTUMN IS HERE

This is the Autumn the week we brought her home.

This is her and Elliott the cat during a time out

This is my little "EWOK"

Now this can be taken two ways. One the season Autumn has arrived with a bang. We actually hit 32 degrees (celcius) that is for the first time this year. The weather has been unbelievable this month. The colours are stunning. Went out in the boat the other night and the setting sun reflecting off the golden trees was breathtaking. I always enjoy keeping the boat in that extra month to enjoy the colours and peacefulness of the lake. Two, my little Autumn is now almost 9 weks old. I weighed her this morning and my scale must be wrong as it said the difference between holding her and not holding her on the scale was 16 lbs. She cannot possibly weigh that much. She is growing fast and her potty training is going well. Sleeps about 6 hours at night now and when she does wake up, she wakes us up to go out. The only time she has an accident is when she is so busy rough housing with the cat that she forgets. She knows she's done bad cause if you say her name and ask what have you done, she sulks and slinks off. We started walking on a leash this past week. We are now going around the block, although she'd rather go without but she is getting to fast for me to catch her now and in the city don't want to take a chance of her running onto the road. At the lake, she can run free. She loves to sleep on her back and her ears flip back and she looks like an EWOK from Starwars fame. I could go on and on about her. All I'll say is that is sure is nice having her around and having another dog in my life. "OUR WHOLE LIFE DOES NOT REVOLVE AROUND DOGS, BUT HAVING AND LOVING DOGS MAKES OUR LIFE WHOLE" Truer words cannot be said

MY SWEET GIRL IS HERE

Boy, what a birthday present! Picked up our sweet pup "OAKLEY'S AUTUMN" on Friday. We weren't home 5 minutes and she and the cat were wrestling and tearing around the house. Don't know how many laps they did. We've never really been into crate training, so potty training consists of watching the pup and trying to guess when she needs to go outside. The first night, everytime she moved, I got up thinking she needed to go outside. We took her to the cottage on Saturday. She loved it out there. She even got to go for a boat ride. Quite soemthing considering the other two were never allowed even when they were adult dogs. Another sign of this one being spoiled is I brought her into bed this morning. Mistake! Her morning nap happened cuddled up between the pillows. Don't have my camera here as I left it in the car when we went to pick her up or I would've posted a picture of this. So this morning there were four of us in the bed, me, hubby, Autumn and the cat Elliot. I have forgotten after 13 years, how much work puppies are but I'm sure when she's six months old and not the cute little fur ball she is now I will be wishing she was a puppy again. They grow so fast. Luckily the breeder sent home a CD of pictures of her as she grew for the first seven weeks. I don't have too many of my own yet. I will definitely have to get some of her in the fallen leaves. Won't be able to find her.

I'M BACK SORT OF

It has been over a year since I last posted. Wasn't sure if I would ever again but things have a way of working themselves out. I won't bore you with the past year's events but certain ones from this year I need to express. First of all in March, we lost our dear golden retreiver Rosey rather unexpectedly. She suffered a severe seizure from what drs say was a ruptured stomach tumour. She was only 11. just over 2 mths short of her 12th birthday. I was devastated by her quick passing, but I knew having her humanley euthanised was the best for her. I couldn't see her suffer. Good news is we are bringing home our new puppy on the 17th of September. She will never replace Rose, just as Rose never replaced Holly, but there is room in our hearts for another. She is another golden retreiver. We will be setting Rosey's ashes next to Holly's under the willow tree at the lake very soon. Just this past Sunday, I said goodbye to my beloved gelding "BLUE". He suffered for years with unknown lameness issues. He saw chiropractors, equine massage specialists and many others until last June (2010), he was officially diagnosed with navicular disease by my daughter, Angela, DVM 2012 and a partner from a clinic she was working at. We tried a number of treatments, the best being corrective shoeing and arthritis meds. This kept him comfortable and fairly sound for a year and then this year, nothing seemed to help. He was having difficulty walking, getting up and was in alot of pain. He went very peacefully and thanks to Dr. Dave for making it so. Special thanks to my dear friend Sherry for helping me through this. She has been through this and truly knows how it feels. You need to know what the right thing to do is and when to do it even though it tears at your heart.
Blue was born at Fern Valley Farms on August 19, 1994. He was perfect. He lived his whole live there and became very special to everyone who knew him. He was a kids horse right from day one. I don't know how many pictures we have of him with 4 or 5 kids drapped all over him. He became mr reliable, mr safe for all who rode him. He looked after everyone and never complained. I lost Schiroc, Blue's dam in 2006 and now him in 2011. Someone once siad to me, We do not ask horses to be part of our lives, we ask to be part of theirs. I would like to quote Iian Shamir, the author of Advice from Nature series,
ADVICE FROM A HORSE
Take life's hurles in stride
Loosen the reins
Be free spirited
Keep the burrs from under your saddle
Carry your friends when they need it
Keep stable
Gallop to greatnesss
I learned alot of this from my horses and will continue to enjoy my mare Peps and my daughters horse Digger.
I will introduce you to the newest member of our family after the 17th.
Thanks for listening.