ADOPT 09 CONTEST AND STROLL

We are all entring individually, but we wnt to enter our mama too! She is still young, and has been doing over 4 years of volunteer work at the local non kill shelter.

It started when she was about 7. She really wanted to work at the shelter, but you had to be 12. When she was almost 10, she found out that you could go with a parent. So her mum and dad brought her every Saturday for a couple of hours. Mum could've played with the pups, kittens and all, but nope, she wanted to work. She wanted to do something to keep her fit as well. So walking the dogs it was. Her and her dad would walk about 14 on average each time they went to the shelter. It was a good long walk and sometimes a jog. Even the most hyper dogs were worn out by the end of it.
Mum loved it, and the dogs loved it too.

When mama finally turned 12, it was time to go on her own. She worked hard, and sometimes skipped lunch beause she would prefer to be working and doing something. She soon became a hit with the staff members, who appreciated her work so much. She does also get some privledges from all that hard work.

Mama comes home smelling of dogs that aren't us. We get jelous, especially when she talks about her favourite dog. Sometimes she does have a favourite that she wishes she could adopt, even though that is mean on the others...there are just some that she will never forget. Like, Port for example. He was a cattle dog cross kelpie, one-of-a-kind dog according to mum. At the end of the day, she used to sit in the kennel and talk to him. He also walked funny too. She nick-named him "The Dancing Dog" because when he walked, he walked like a hackney horse and it looked like he was dancing. Surprisingly, Port stayed a long time at the shelter, a few months. But mum was delighted when he finally got a home. She say's it's wonderful reading the success stories and letters from the dogs who have been rehomed, and her 6-7 hours a week really pays off. Mama sayed that it's great to see dogs go home who have been at the shelter for ages.

Mama still goes to the shelter, but unfortunately can't go much anymore. But, the good thing is, it's not fellow humans keeping her back. It's OUR PACK. Dog shows for Rusty, agility for Cherry taking up almost every weekend...but mum donates about $20 each month, sends cards, and always goes to visit. She misses it a hell-of-a-lot, but she will be back soon. We can feel it in our bones.

Back From the Vet

Yeah, a few days ago I got back from the vet. Ugh, the operation was awful. Well, all went well but I felt all yucky afterwards. Mama picked me up in the afternoon, and the anesthetic was still with me. My eyes were all drowsy. Mum was surprised at how many stiches I have and how big the shaved patch is, considering the small size of the lump.

The lump has been sent away for tests, as it has a bit of cancer in it, so we're making sure it hasn't spread. Hopefully not, and the vet said probably not so that relaxes mum a little. But she is still very anxious to find out. Because you always have to expect the unexpected.

From a groggy doggy,
Cherry
xxx

A Trip to the Vet

Wow, what a trip!! I was at the vet (not including waiting time) from 4:40 to 5:15. The aircon has been playing with my eyes, so I have eye drops.
I also had to get my lump checked. That's what took the longest. The lady had to make it bleed so she could take a sample. My lump has been "behaving" because it puffs up them deflates. So as I was woofing, after taking blood, the lady looked under her microscope. She said that most of the cells wee fatty stuff, but there were a few that looked dangerous. So before the tumour roots itself, the lump is being removed tomorrow morning, then the lump is being sent down oa specialist to make sure the cancer hasn't spread. I should be alright though. But please keep me in your thoughts!
But after being pocked and tourmented all that tie, mum took me to a place she hasn't been since Lassie's passing. Lassie and I loved it, but mum has just been too sad. But she faced her fears and went today. I think she did a very good job, because although her heart was aching a bit, no tears came. She just remembered the good memories.

Wags and licks
Cherry
xxx

I Don't Know if Santa will Bring me Presents or Not.

Well, mama says I have been good then bad. On and off. She says she likes it best when I'm good.

Well, the other day, mum and I were on our daily 1 hour walk. On the way to the destination, mama jogged to tire me out. Even though it was late afternoon, I was very tired. No one was out, so she let me off the lead and jogged back. She reckons I was really really good, because I never even tried to run off, and I kept close to her. She said Santa will be bringing me presents!! That was...until last night.
The whole little street was having our yearly street party, and mum decided to bring me out to play with the other two dogs, Hudson and Alfie. Hudson had to go home after about 10 minutes, so I played with Alfie. Then Alfie didn't want to play with me anymore. The children had a tarp out for a slide, and I stood in the middle of it. Some slid into me. I got excited. So whenthey stood up I jumped, nipped, and play barked.
Poor kid was pretty scared, and mum hadn't expected this, so she brought me inside and I didn't come back out. Well, I am only a puppy.

Until next time,
Rusty
xxx

On the Brink of Death

2 dogs in one hour, almost gone...just like that.

This is told by me, Cherry and Rusty's mum.

At about 8pm last night, it was nice and cool, so I brought Rusty out on our quite little street. Then we met the neighbours dog, a black unfixed male labradoodle. They used to be scared of each other, and when I saw the dog I though "Uh oh. This is night time, a perfect cool time for a fight!" But then they started playing! They played and played for a long time....then they were just eghsausted. I was very pleased. I tired Rusty is a god Rusty....sometimes. He's very, uh, what would I call it? Dumb, clumsy? Well, something like that when he's tired. Now, we would walking back home, and Rusty ran across the road onto the grass at the corner. I couldn't see any oncoming cars, since Rusty was just on the corner. But then I saw lights. Crap. Rusty was stunned like a kangaroo, he just stood there. My heart was beating, in hope for him to stay where he was, and not step of the grass. I feared that if I said anything he would move. So I kept quiet. I hand my cousin next to me, and I was just saying under my breathe, "please stay Rusty, pleeease stay". Thank God the car was going slowly I thought. But then, silly dog stepped in front of the car. Just like. Like there was nothing there. The guy in the car was looking at me, so he didn't see Rusty. He kept going. I screamed at the top of my lungs. The guy looked forward and slammed on the brakes. Rusty kept going, although I bet the tip of his fur had just touched the front of the car, that's how close Rusty was. Thank God I still have my wonderful baby boy sitting here next to me.


Now, just minutes after that, I went for a swim with the kids. Then, all of a sudden, Cherry did her snake bark. Yes, SNAKE bark. She has one particular bark when snakes decide to visit. I don't mind snakes at all, but Cherry likes to fling them. She has the chance of getting bitten, AND killing the poor snake. We all raced down. Mum grabbed Rusty and I grabbed Cherry. We shoved them inside. Quickly, I grabbed a torch to see what type of snake it was. Normally we get the tree snakes, although we have had a Taipan. Anyway, this snake was a DEATH ADDER. DEATH I assume because it causes death even to humans. We all kept our distance, and got the little ones to look at the snake, so they know to NEVER go near one...especially this one. The poor thing looked terrified, so I got everyone away from it.
I realised, that since the snake seemed egsauhsted, maybe Cherry was at it. What if she had been bitten? We know several friends whose dogs have been killed by Death Adders. Cherry seemed fine. We hadn't heard her yelping. Thank God though, this morning she was still here to rest her little paw on my shoulder.
But my next fear, the people behind us have a lab puppy, plus the perfect habitat for a Death Adder. Now, Death Adders are only about 20cm maximum. But it's their venom that is fatal. I am so worried for the darling puppy, I might go over soon to warn the neighbours. But God, I hope they don't kill the poor snake. As dangerous as snakes are, I feel so priveledged that these graceful creatures come to visit me. I don't want one less so soon.

I MADE IT TO THE FINALS!!

I AM A FINALIST IN THE WORLDS COOLEST!! I am so excited, mama and I were jumping for joy! Who knew, I made it into costumes and shades! I suppose getting into that stupid costume did pay off after all, BOL! Thank you so much to all who voted for me, I am so happy! Thank you Dogster for running thiswonderful contest.
If you could vote for for best in show, that would be very much appreciated....but I know there are much better entries than mine, BOL! Good luck to all the other contestants.

Cherry
xxx

I've been naughty!!

Hi there pups! Mum is p***ed off with me...I assume that's a good thing for the naughty dog wanna be's.
Well, here's what happened. A few nights ago, I was sleeping in mums room (Cherry and I are spoilt, BOL), and then she could hear this ripping and tearing noise, teehee. She turned her light on, to see that this was 1:00 AM and I was throwing the base of my little bed around. This bed is Cherry's favourite, well, just after mums bed. It had a few holes in it. So mum put it in the cupboard then wishes us good night again.
The next morning, when mum opened the door I scurried out. Mum looked around the room, knowing I had done something. Then, on the end of her bed were a couple of lovely chew marks...a work of art! But mum didn't see it that way! She said I could never sleep with her again. But I slept with her that night, with the aircon, and slept like a..a....well rested Rusty! It pays to have a cute face.
Oh yes, and this morning, what really got mum cranky, is that I wouldn't come back. She was trying to train me to get the paper (she trained Lassie to be the best at it!!0. I decided I didn't want to be trained, so I ran off. I saw another dog, and went over to her. Scooby (the other dog) went into her house and I followed. Luckily, Scooby is mum's friends dog. I was still in big trouble though.

Naughty licks and cheeky barks,
Rusty
xxx

New Agility Equipment!

The day after Shandi's party, I got some pawsome new agility equipment! I know, I'm a bit late for writing now, BOL! Anyhoo, a friend from the agility club had some jumps, and a hoop! You can see me jumping through the hoop on my page (Cherry). I'm lovin' all the stuff! Now I have 5 jumps, a hoop, and a set of 8 weaves! WOOHOO! They say practice makes perfect....so I'm gonna be perfect and this stuff in no time ;)

Cherry
xxx

Shandi's Pawty

Wow, we had a BLAST!! Yesterday was Shandi's birthday pawty.
We got Shandi a rope toy, which Rusty really wanted, BOL. We also got her some doggy chocolate treats.
When we arrived, Andre wasn't there yet, so we just played for 20 minutes. Andre was running a bit late, so we started the games.
First up was the race. Rusty won! He was so fast, and had Shandi hot on his tail....Shandi was trying to play, and Rusty wanted to get to mum. Although I ran as fast as I could, I managed to lose, BOL.
I forget the order of the rest of the games, so I will just say them randomly. We played the boen on string game, which Shandi one. I had difficulty reaching my bone, so mum gave me a little help.
Another pawsome game was one where we had to get as many cards as we could in 1 minute, and perform what was written on them. I got 10 of 12 cards, and Rusty beat me, getting 12 of 12. He only beat me because I wouldn't sit and drop properly - I assume, BOL.
Another great game (Rusty's favourite), was bobbing for cheerios. It combined Rusty's 2 favourite things - food and water. And he ended up winning, getting the quickest time. As for me however, I wouldn't set foot in the water!
We then played the frisbee catching game, and the aim was to catch as many frisbees as we could in 2 minutes. I won, catching 4. It was great fun! Rusty caught 1, BOL.
Then I scored another win in the temptation game, which was where we had a bowl with a biscuit put right in front of us and stay fro as long as we could. Andre ate first. Then after a while, Shandi decided to eat. Then it was between the 2 siblings. We stared at mum, waiting for the release signal, but Rusty couldn't take it any longer. H ate. But I still stayed, then mum said the release word!

After that, it was timefor cake! Oh my, Shandi;s mum is a good cook. The cake was DELICIOUS! After that, we all had a play until the party was over.
Thank you to Shandi's mum for taking most of our photos, and thank you Shandi and Shandi's mum for holding such an excellent pawty!!

Until next time,
Cherry
xxx

A Howl-i-day at a Lake!!

Hi everypup, it's Rusty!! We just got back from one of mums favourite places...it's a lake!! I'm not going to say the name...mum told me not to, she's just over protective.

Anyway, I had a blast!! Mum was thinking of taking Lassie's ashes with us to scatter, but it doesn't seem right. She'll know when and where it's right sometime.
We went with our friends, Alfie's family!! Alfie and I were playing almost non stop. But Cherry used up a lot of her time chasing lizards.

On day one at the lake, I got my first ever ride on the boat (well, I should really call it the tinny, BOL!), and I loved it!! But much to Cherry's disapointment, I stole her spot up the front. We didn't do all that much, as we arrived in the afternoon. But I did go on the boat while mum went tubing!!

Day two was really exciting!! Cherry and I got a slow ride on the tube with mum!! Mum being mum, she doesn't like to put her face on the internet, so there are no photos of me on the tube. Although, there is one of Cherry. I loved it in the tube, it was really just like a car ride...plus, anywhere I can be with mum is great!! But when it was Cherry's go, she jumped out. She just wanted to be on the boat.
Later on, we used our friends wind surfer board, and I went on it. Not behind the boat, but just for a swim. In case you haven't seen a wind surfer, without the sail, it can fit two people. I loved being on it with mum. But Cherry didn't really enjoy it, BOL. Mum never got a picture of me on it on my own, so no pictures of me on it on mypage :( But she promised me that next time we go up, she will get a picture of me on it by my self. She did get one of Cherry by herself on it, but the lighting wasn't very good.

Day 3 was the last day. It wasn't the best of days, but it was fun!! Mum put 6 yabby pots out, and we caught 9 yabbies!! There was one HUGE one, 5 medium ones, and 3 smalls ones. Mum and her friend made the yabbies race!! Mum also held one for me to see, and I tried eating it. Mum wasn't too happy....I can't firgure out why.
If you'd like to see a picture of a yabby, please p-mail us and we'll upload a few onto photobucket and give you the link!!

Cherry, mum and I had the most fantastic time!! I can't wait to go again!!

Until next time,
Rusty
xxx