[starbuck8]

Niki is the same as Rex and Alty's dogs too. She follows me everywhere I go! When we go to sleep, she jumps up with me for her nightly belly rub and we have playtime before sleep. She wants her ball thrown usually about two more times, and then she will lay there with me, just until I fall asleep. Then she will jump down, and go to her own pillow, which is right on the floor beside my head.

When I wake up, no matter what time, even if she doesn't want to wake up yet, she will come over to the table where she knows I will sit to have my coffee and check my emails, and go back to sleep. She also loves to sit and lick my feet, not for just a few secs. but she would do it for an hr if I let her. Sounds a little gross, I know, but it's her thing and she loves it. At least my feet are, well, somewhat clean afterwards... lol!

She saved my life from carbon monoxide poisoning one time by jumping on me when I was asleep and licking my face to wake me up, and I probably would have just died in my sleep had it not been for her. So if she wants to lick my feet, and then lick my face, or stick her tongue in my ear because she knows it tickles and makes me laugh, she can do that anytime she wants! :)

[starbuck8]

I will take a look at the pics a little later Linny. People must have been up all night lastnight and thought it would be fun to fill my inbox! LOL! So I have a ton to go through, but I will come back and take a look! :)

[Alty]

Linny, all I can say is AWWWWWWWWWWWW! Ulysses is a cutie and a half, what a sweetie pie. :)

Can't give you a greenie though, it's the member discussion site, no greenies or reddies here. :(

[linnealand]

Oooooh! I love your new avatar, miss. Alty. Smart, gorgeous and mysterious! I meant a rating on YouTube for anyone who feels like checking out the puppy's new photo diary! My personal tolerance for ratings beggars is actually rather low, but after I wrote an unfavorable comment about a mean video some guy did to make fun of fat kids falling, he tried to get his revenge by flooding my happy page with mean and vile comments for three days. He even called my tiny pooch the ugliest dog he's ever seen. I have succeed in blocking him from my page, but he successfully lowered my rating. So I just wanted to say that if anyone decides to pop over there for a little fun, I would love it if his mean plan would crumble before his banned eyes. Lolol. OK, now that's been cleared up. Anymore questions? I would be happy to answer them. Teehee.

[linnealand]

I thought I posted to you earlier, starby, but my computer shut down and it must have taken the message with it. That's an incredible story! You're soooo lucky to have her by your side. She is obviously very perceptive. There is nothing better than a good pet. They keep us happy all day long, and they can even save our lives. I swear I'm going to keep pets with me as long as I live.

I was in an almost fatal carbon monoxide situation in my house, too, just a few years ago. I was in a very deep sleep and dreaming that someone was poisoning me. The smell (that they put in to keep the gases from being completely odorless) was so strong that everyone in my building smelled it. I was slowly awakened by a long series of repeated knocks on the door, and when I eventually stumbled over to open it, I was met by a couple of guys with strange machines and hard-core uniforms who had come to investigate the issue. All of our neighbors were hiding in their apartments because they were sure I was dead. You see? I didn't have a pet to warn me then. By the way, EVERYBODY should invest in a good carbon monoxide detector. It's cheap, and it can be an absolute lifesaver. I don't know how we've run into such similar misfortunes in the past, but I'm glad we can celebrate the good things together! It's always nice to be in great company.

Now, lolol, you don't have to watch my silly little video. I posted it for the cute puppy pictures, but it's only there for people who are exceptionally curious and have a few minutes to fart around with. Go get some real things done, pour a glass of wine, and put your feet up!

[Alty]

Wine no, beer yes. :)

I don't know how to rate on YouTube, heck I'm surprised I know how to move around AMHD as well as I do. ;)

You little man is a treasure, enjoy every minute, the go by so fast.

My oldest dog is now 13 years old, and he came into our lives because the stars lined up to give me my little blessing.

He's one of 8 puppies that were born to a friends two dogs. The Dad was a border collie and the mom was a black lab mix, her story is remarkable as well. Anyway, we noticed that she was pregnant when we went to visit him one time, he had no idea. I told him immediately that we would want one of the puppies.

We got married May 27, 1995, the puppies were born the beginning of June. When we came back from our honeymoon we hightailed it over to his place to see the new pups, they were only around 3 weeks old at that time.

I saw Indy and fell in love with him right away (I've got the video tape to prove it), but he was all black and one of the other males had a white patch on his chest. My hubby liked that white patch because he looked a lot like his daddy the border collie. So, we arm wrestled for it and I lost. When the pups were around 12 weeks old we took the pup we had chosen home for a weekend. We bought him a bright red color, took him for walks, loved him and hugged him, he was such a timid little guy, hated car rides, hated the indoors (they were kept outside at our friends place).

The next weekend we went to pick him up, and he was gone. Someone had broken into the pen and stolen the puppy that was to be ours. We were devastated, and at first we thought that he might just have found a way out. We searched in the woods for hours, but nothing. The entire time I was searching little puppy Indy was right behind me, and every time I stopped to cry he'd come up to comfort me.

When we finally gave up, I looked at hubby and said, ask Strinny (our friend) if this little guy has found a home yet. He asked, and no, no one had spoken for that pup. We took him home and that was that. :)

We did find out later on that someone had found our other pup on the side of the road, alive and well, he's fallen in love with him and decided to keep him. Months later he found out that our friend had had pups just like the one he found, so he went to ask if it was his pup. He had the red collar that was still on the pup when he found him. Strinny told him that as far as he was concerned, the pup was his, and we agreed. :)

Happy ending. :)

[linnealand]

Wow, alty. That's an amazing and heart-wrenching tale with an even more incredible ending. Indy was meant to be with you! I'm really happy the other puppy found the home he was meant to be in, too! Happy endings all around. Perhaps they were producing their own disney movie. I love hearing these kinds of stories because when we look at our pets, we see their stories behind them, too. It helps others to understand just how moving all the steps along the way have been, and all of it goes into the amazing amount of love we have for them. Our pets are also so pure! They are deeply in touch with all kinds of special things in this world, and we're so lucky to have them in our lives. Thank you for sharing such a moving tale!

[Alty]

Every one of my pets has a story, you're right, we look at them and see the stories behind them. Each of my fur babies holds a special place in my heart, I love them all so much, in different ways, for different reasons. :)

Our Indy is now an old man, he's almost completely deaf and almost completely blind, but he's still a lovey and still a happy dog. I know that we don't have much longer with him, maybe a few years if we're lucky. I cherish every minute, always have, but now it's getting near the end of a wonderful life that has had such an impact on me.

Indy was my first baby, my first pet that was mine all mine, not my parents buying it, taking care of it etc. Indy was our one and only for a long time. He was here first, was here for the birth of both kids, the arrival of a second dog, birds, fish, bunnies, and he took it all in stride.

Indy was the one that cuddled with me when I was sad. He was the one that got our border collie Jasper out of his shell. Jasper was a beaten pup, and when we adopted him he wanted nothing to do with us. Indy is the one that brought him around, he's the one that took care of our little Jasper.

The kids both learned to walk holding on the Indy's back. Even though they pulled on his hair, he never flinched, never growled, just accepted his new bald babies into his pack.

They are all such a blessing to us, they have such an impact on our lives, it's a pity that their lives are so short compared to ours.

Life is a series of dogs, of wagging tails, puppy breath, old age, death, heart ache and then once again, joy. A house without a pet isn't a home.

[starbuck8]

Darn you Alty girl... you made me cry! Now I have to tell how Niki came about, to be my little shining light.

I had my two other joys, Pepsi and Kirby. They were the best dogs in the world! Kirby was a shepherd, heeler mix, and Pepsi was a shepherd and probably a million other things. I had the fortune of meeting them, when I met my ex, and they loved on me from the first moment. They were both such gentle, loving dogs.

Kirby was my big boy. He stayed by my side and protected me from day one, and through the yrs. If anyone made an aggressive move towards me, he was right there watching to make sure I was safe. My ex was surprised, and actually a little jealous, because Kirby would sleep close to me, as he never bothered with his ex wife.

Pepsi was my big girl. We used to call her "fat dog"... in a endearing way. (We also called Kirby "dumb dog"... FAR from it) She stood back in the shadows, and just watched very carefully. Since my ex often worked out of town, and our bedroom was upstairs, and my stepsons room was downstairs, Kirby would keep a watchful eye on me, and Pepsi protected Ben. Pepsi and Kirby would wake us up in the morning, and then the two of them would greet each other like a husband and wife. They would lick each others faces off, and then out they would go to play like a couple of kids.

Long story slighty short, my ex and I split. We lost our home because of his misbehaviour. I still had my own home, where I sometimes had a renter. Since there was no place for my ex to take the dogs, I got custody of them. For months, my ex did not even inquire about them. We were happy here, and that's all that mattered to me. Then one night at C'mas time, my ex showed up in a drugged out, drunken state, and forced his way into my home, assaulted me, and while I was laying on the floor with broken bones, he took my babies from me. I'll never forget the look in their eyes, when he was trying to remove them from my home. :( I've never seen them since that night, and it breaks my heart.

So fast forward about 4 months. My sis that lives 3000 mls away, and I only see once every 2 or 3 yrs came to visit. My birthday was coming up. She and my parents are out shopping, and Danielle sees a advert on a bus, for the local SPCA. Danielle has an idea for a B'day gift, so they drive to the shelter. They look at all the pups. Danielle calls me and out of the blue says... 'what do you think about Labs?'... I was confused, and laughed and said... uhmmm, they are a place where I don't want to go because I hate needles? She then said... well what do you think about American Eskimo's? I asked her if she's been drinking, and said... well I think they're probably cold? I was laughing at her, because I had absolutely no idea where she was going with this.

Danielle told me to jump in my van, and to meet her at an address she gave me. So, yeah okay, I'll bite! So of course I end up at the SPCA. I walked in, and the receptionist said... you must be Starby, we've been expecting you! She led me into the back, and this cute little ball of fur comes barrelling up to me. I bent down and she was just licking me to pieces! Danielle and my parents come out, and say surprise! Say hello to your new pup!. it's up to you, but we know how much you miss Kirby and Pepsi, and we think you'll love Niki. They were going to put her down in a day or two if no one took her!

Well, needless to say, it was love at first sight, and she is the best dog in the whole world to me! With that said, while we were having our nightly playtime before bed, Niki was being a little rambunkcious (sp) and she was licking my ear to make me laugh as usual, and she came charging a little too fast. She split my lower lip, that bled all over the place, Now I've not only got a big swollen lip, but a nice bruised chin and a big lump! That little brat! LOL!

[Alty]

Starby, now I'm crying, even though I knew the story, it's still sad to hear, but also happy.

Niki is right where she belongs, and she's a lucky pup to have such a wonderful Mom. You're both blessed to have each other, I think that you've both saved each other, and that's a wonderful thing. :)

Big puppy hug for Niki and big wet kiss for Mom (from Indy and Jasper of course). :)

[starbuck8]

Tissues for everyone! :D

EDIT: Big wet furrry hugs and wet kisses back, from cousin Niki. Careful Alty... she just may lub Auntie soooo much she will make you bleed! LOL!