Thank you!

After my last entry a few pups went through the effort to send me a paw mail. Thank you Petey, Zoe, Flicka and Milo!

I see that there are a few comments to that entry, Dear Dogster, now. Unfortunately, I cannot access them. Guess I missed that brief window when things were working again. Thanks for the comments!

Hope everypup has a nice day:)

Rainbow wags,
Jamaica

Dear Dogster

First, we love you very much! You have helped many pups and people learn about and reach out to other dog interested folks. You have helped dogs to be able to record and memorialize their lives in pictures and writings. You have done a very good job at these things. We do not mean to be unkind or critical of you, Dogster, in any way.

We are worried about your new owners, however. Do they understand a Dogster with as many big and important responsibilites as you needs lots of time and attention? Are you getting enough food and water? Are you being groomed and walked? Have you been invited in as part of the Say Media family?

See, we believe you have been adopted by some well meaning folks. But seems you went from being a well cared for indoor Dogster to an after thought outdoor dog website. You seem to be stumbling and struggling, dear Dogster. We are so very sad and sorry to watch this happen to you.

Please, Say Media, bring the Dogster in! Give the Dogster the care and attention the Dogster needs to be a healthy, happy Dogster!

K9 Cancer Walk

Tomorrow the humom and Pepper will be walking in the K9 Cancer Walk in Los Gatos, CA. Yes, the city of cats is hosting a dog walk! BOL!

I left the earth at a decent age of 12. But it is suspected that cancer in concert with old age played a part in what might have been a longer quality life.

I always loved my walks. Think I'll come along. Maybe I'll make my presence known in the rustle of the leaves. Will they know it's me?

Fly and Be Free!

Magic happens every day!

From Montereyherald.com

Three foundling great horned owls treated and raised at the SPCA for Monterey County were launched into the wild from Carmel Valley's Holman Ranch Sunday.

The release of the owls on a picture-perfect afternoon, witnessed by more than 300 participants, was the climactic moment for the 18th annual Wild Celebration by the SPCA.

Two of the owls came from the Salinas Valley and the third from Pebble Beach, said Gary Triscornia, SPCA executive director.

The birds had fallen from their nests, and while the best rescue solution is to reunite the chicks with their parents, that wasn't possible in these cases, he said. One of the birds was treated — successfully — for an eye injury suffered in the fall.

Nesting owls usually kick their young out of the nest to fend for themselves in the fall, Triscornia said, and the SPCA "family" did just that.

"You have no concept of the depth of emotions involved in an owl release," he said, "until it happens. It's pretty magical."

The SPCA Wildlife Center is the only wildlife rescue and rehabilitation facility in Monterey County and one of the very few in existence directly connected with an animal shelter.

Jax Retires

Just thought this was a nice story in my family's local paper

From santacruzsentinel.com

SANTA CRUZ -- He took a bite out of crime for eight years -- finding burglary suspects and hunting illegal drugs and weapons -- but Santa Cruz police K-9 Jax retired Tuesday after a long and productive career.

Jax, a German shepherd, was born in 2003 and lived with officer Karina Cecena soon afterward. He helped in searches for missing people and aided officers in finding weapons in several cases.

Officer Cecena said earlier this year that it was "quite a commitment" to live and work with a police dog like Jax, but she thoroughly enjoyed working with him.

Jax was honored at a Santa Cruz City Council meeting Tuesday and received a proclamation declaring "Jax Day" in the City of Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz police spokesman Zach Friend said Jax is expected to enjoy his retirement with long walks on West Cliff Drive -- one of his favorite places.

Search Dog, Amber

Not a happy story, but note worthy on so many levels.

From nbcbayarea.com:

Carrie McGonigle knows what it is like to lose a child. Her daughter Amber DuBois was killed in 2009 and her body wasn't discovered until 2010.

In the wake of that horror, McGonigle formed a rescue organization called "Team Amber Rescue" as a way to cope with her loss and to help other parents who are going through the disappearance of a child. She traveled to the Bay Area to help the Le family search for their daughter Michelle late last week.

One of the members of McGonigle's search team was a yellow lab named, Amber, after her slain daughter.

In a press conference Wednesday, McGonigle said before the search began in Sunol Canyon, the dog darted off. When McGonigle caught up with the animal, she said she was at the site of the remains. It happened just that fast. She said she didn't know what she had found at first. She reported the discovery to the detective who was with the group and continued on to search other areas of the canyon.

McGonigle said that she wasn't planning on attending the search for Le, because she didn't think she was emotionally prepared, however, she eventually decided to go.

McGonigle said she feels as though a higher power led her to Le's body.

She also noted that Amber the dog is not officially certified as a search animal and still needs a year's worth of training.

McGonigle's daughter was murdered by convicted killer John Gardner in 2009. Her body was not found until the killer made a deal with the parents of another child he killed in 2010. He said he would tell prosecutors where Amber's body was, if they did not seek the death penalty against him. Chelsea King's parents agreed, giving Amber's family closure.

Now McGonigle is able to give another family closure.
Le’s remains were found in a remote area of Niles Canyon. The location is the general area where GPS tracking showed the cell phones of both Le and the prime suspect in the case, Giselle Esteban, traveled the night Le disappeared on May 27.

The Le family, along with Marc Klass' Kids Foundation had conducted several searches hoping to find clues to the case. Marc Klass, who also lost a daughter in a horrible crime, said parents like himself and McGonigle know what it is like not to have closure. He told NBC Bay Area on Sunday that getting closure is key to a parent's healing.

McGonigle said she didn't want her role in the story to be announced right away, because she said the Le family had enough to deal with and she didn't want to take away anything from their grieving by having people talk about who found the body. She said she didn't want to be part of the story in respect for them.

Another Black Dog Story - A Sweet Story for Pet Lovers

Just when I thought I was done with black dog entries I received an e-mail earlier this week. It doesn't state in the story that Abbey is a black dog but the sweet picture embedded in the e-mail is of a little girl hugging a black labby looking dog. Anyway, here is the e-mail:

We don't know who replied, but there is a beautiful soul working in the dead letter office of the US Postal Service.

Our 14-year-old dog Abbey died last month. The day after she passed away my 4-year-old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so, and she dictated these words:

Dear God,
Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.
I hope you will play with her. She likes to swim and play with balls. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.
Love, Meredith

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, 'To Meredith' in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies.' Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:

Dear Meredith,
Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help and I recognized her right away.
Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.

Thank you for the beautiful letter. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I'm easy to find. I am wherever there is love".

Love,
God

It's not you. It's me.

Oh woofs! Humom almost had me bark a complaining, whiney entry about how terrible the Dogster performance has been today. But then she tried going to some other sites and figured out it seems her IP was actually having some problems. So apparently it was not Dogster THIS TIME.

September 11 Remembrance

The kid had something important to do today. He dressed in his Boy Scout uniform and went down to the county fairgrounds. Today's duty was to hand out flags. These flags are special. They each have the name of a person who died in the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.

Folks were then asked to take their flag to a memorial display and to place them in there. There is a picture of it on my page today.

Pepper pup

The only earthly dog and the last in this series of black dogs is Pepper. Pepper is our family princess! Come to us at a time when we can pamper, praise and protect.

After Jamaica my husband really wanted a black lab. I was a little leery, thinking this is a high energy breed and wondering if we could really manage a lab puppy.

The litter she came from could not have been more different from Jamaica’s litter. 7 black and 1 yellow bundles of fur swarmed us. Pepper wore a little red collar. She and her yellow brother were the friendliest of the lot. We asked about her yellow brother and he was already spoken for.

We had no preference on male or female so I felt a little bad about taking the only female. But upon observation she was one of the friendliest and less chewy of the pups. So selfish we were and she came home with us that night. She was 11 weeks old.

I insisted on obedience training for this dog. In the time between Jamaica and Pepper I did a lot of reading about dogs. Not sure why it took lack of a dog to get me to do this but it did. It was a time of reflection I needed. I realized the importance of socialization and training. My husband initially scoffed at the idea. So I was prepared to go it alone, just me and Pepper. This was not a negotiable subject. Pepper would get some formal training.

I found a puppy class at PetSmart starting within the next couple of weeks. Pepper was 13 or 14 weeks old when we started. Both my husband and son came along, perhaps out of curiosity, perhaps out of obligation. In any case it was an 8 week starter class and our hour of weekly family bonding had begun. We had a pretty good trainer and soon we all were hooked, especially my husband. Silly skeptic that he was, he has become a vocal champion of training. LOL!

I am not bragging when I say Pepper was the star of her class. Well maybe I am, but I am also telling the truth. If I have any regrets with Pepper so far, it is that I did not start her diary during her training weeks. We came home many nights laughing and reminiscing about that week’s class. They would have made great entries but mostly I wish I had documented them for family memories.

We went on to intermediate and advanced classes as a family. Then Pepper and I took some individual classes in preparation of the Canine Good Citizen test. We failed at our first attempt, messing up on the approaching a person with a dog portion. But a couple of weeks later we were invited back and we passed! This was HUGE for me. I know Pepper doesn’t know or care about her CGC but we are so happy and proud about this accomplishment for her.

After CGC I knew I wanted to keep some sort of dog activity going. I considered flyball, but in our area that seems to be a spring/summer activity. I could find no opportunity to start in the fall. Plus from what I read about it they encouraged waiting until the dog was 18 months to 2 years old because of the jumping portion. Pepper was 15 months old.

As it happens her CGC trainer told us about a Splash Dogs dock diving competition coming up on Halloween weekend. I had never heard of dock diving but thought it wouldn’t hurt to check it out. I wasn’t really sure if Pepper would like it, so I only signed her up for the practice sessions that time. Silly me! She took to it like a lab takes to water. She was a natural and now we are hooked!

She is my first dog to have an extra curricular activity and I had no idea how rewarding it would be for me. We have so much fun doing this together. I have to admit I enjoy bringing home the rosettes and ribbons she wins, too.

Pepper is a friendly, wiggly, funny girl, but can also be cautious and shy. She likes her crate so long as we don’t enclose her in it and she likes going to the vet. She likes water but hates baths (probably my fault). She has a hard time eating bread type foods, like pancakes, but loves watermelon and bananas. She is high energy but so easy to exercise with her obsession of fetch. We love her with all our hearts and look forward to many happy years together.

Sincerely Dogster,
Jamaica & Pepper's humom