A Very Special Read of the Week

As I mentioned in my last post, it's Read of the Week time. And the read is right here! The Mom had this pawed to her in an email. The email did not contain the authors name, so we do apologize for not crediting that person, and are copying it here in the spirit it was offered. It's a very special story that touched our hearts:

"Martha's Christmas Miracle
Martha was sitting in her living room watching television this Christmas Eve, alone as she had been for the last five years. All of her children had married and moved to the four corners of the nation, her youngest, a surgery resident at the Vet School across the state had planned on coming home, but had been assigned to work the emergency clinic and couldn't find a replacement. Martha told herself that having Sally working to help the sick and injured animals this Christmas Eve was worth being alone, besides, Sally would be driving over for Christmas dinner the next afternoon.
All the animals had been fed and now were safely in either the kennel building or lazily laying around the house. Martha had to stop to think how many dogs she had at her house this Christmas, she sighed when she realized there were 16. She did rescue and the number of dogs was always changing with some dogs being adopted, and new abandoned dogs coming in. Feeling overwhelmed by the number of dogs she had and all the dogs still left in shelters to die because there was no room for them in rescue, Martha seriously wondered if she should stop working rescue. If she didn't have all these dogs, she could have flown to any of her other children's homes for the holidays to be with family. Besides, the heartbreak of seeing each dog in such need was beginning to really weigh on her.

Tonight she had a new dog, brought home that day. Martha didn't really plan on adding another dog but on her way home from the store she saw a dog lying on the side of the road. Certain the dog was dead, Martha stopped, to pick up the body and take it home for a burial. As she got closer, she recognized the shell of an Alaskan Malamute, the breed she rescued. Covered by cuts and festering wounds, what fur was left was matted and filthy, it was so skinny that laying there you could see each rib and it's hipbones were the widest part of his body.With tears in her eyes, mourning for what once had been a majestic animal now reduced to almost a skeleton she reached down to give the poor dog one last pat on the head. "Oh, you poor boy, what a way to end your life. Well, at least I can name you and give you a decent farewell." As her tears fell on the dog's head, one eye slowly opened and the tail gave a single wag."You're alive! Everything will be OK now, I'll take you home and you will have a soft bed and food tonight." She said, tears streaming down her face, this time from happiness.

The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning the dog's wounds and making sure he was able to eat and drink water. Martha set up the large run in the kennel building for him. A soft blanket and a thick foam pad was to be his bed, fresh water and food beside him. Papers for his 'necessary functions' were placed at the far end of the run. He lay there watching every move she made.Martha left the dog resting on his bed, somewhat surprised at the reaction of the rest of the dogs in the kennel. Pandemonium usually broke out with all the other dogs wooing and barking when a new dog was brought in, tonight all the other dogs just stood and silently watched as Martha cared for the new dog. Thankful the other dogs were not disturbing the new boy, Martha went to the house to finish preparations for tomorrow's dinner.

Later that evening Martha went down to the kennel to check on the new boy and feed the other dogs. As she walked in the door the new boy shakily stood to greet her. As she was straightening up the kennel after feeding and exercising the dogs, she saw her microchip reader. "Well, this will be a waste of time" she thought as she ran the reader over the dog's body.BEEP! The reader had located a chip! Writing the number down, she hurried to the house to call the chip registry and report the found dog. As she suspected on Christmas Eve, all she got was a machine.
Very late that night, the phone rang. Martha answered and a strange voice was on the other end. "Did you find a dog with a microchip?" "Yes, are you the registry needing more information? " Martha asked. "No, the registry called us and told us you found our dog!" and then the man broke down crying. After composing himself, he continued."The dog you found is BISS AM/CAN/INT CH Wasilla's Ice Sculpture, WPD, WTD, WLD, TT, CGC but to us he is our heart, the love of our life, Icy. Three years ago Icy was stolen from his exercise area in our back yard. We did everything we could think of to find him, but lately we had almost given up hope of ever seeing him again. This is a miracle. We are leaving now to come pick him up. We are about 14 hours from you so we will see you and Icy in the morning."Martha was crying, indeed it was a miracle! And the new dog now had a name, his own name and his people were coming for him.

What a wonderful Christmas gift.Martha hurried down to the kennel to let Icy know that his humans had been found and they were on their way to take him home. As Martha walked up to Icy's kennel he stood to greet her, "Icy, yes, I know your name and I have spoken to your people. They're coming to take you home." As she was talking to Icy, she heard the old clock in the building strike midnight.Much to her amazement, Icy said "Thank you."Martha thought, now I am sure I have been around dogs too long, I could swear I heard Icy speak.

Icy continued "Martha, yes I am talking to you in human language, you see, at the stroke of midnight on Christmas Day, all animals can speak. Let me tell you what happened to me today.""I have been kept in a dark barn for a long time by some very mean people who beat me and often forgot to feed me. Two days ago I found a loose board on the barn and was able to escape. I walked as fast as I could, looking for my people, or at least for some kind person to feed me and give me a warm place to sleep before I died. I was in the middle of a big field when I couldn't walk or even crawl any more, I laid down, knowing I was about to cross to the Rainbow Bridge. As I stepped onto the Bridge, an Angel came towards me.""Icy," the Angel said "If you agree, He has a job for you before cross the Bridge. There is a very kind human who needs you today to restore her spirit.""Of course I agreed to help a human -- that is what Malamutes do. The Angel picked up my body and carried it to the side of a road and laid it down. The next thing I remember is you were scratching my ear and talking to me and your tears were falling on my face. You have cared for me this day."

Martha heard a chorus of voices all about her. To her amazement she was surrounded not only by her dogs, but dogs she had rescued and sent on to forever homes, all voicing stories how Martha had cared for them and restored them to health and loved them, thanking her for her love.The first Malamute Martha had rescued many years ago stepped to the front of the gathering and said, "Martha, you took us in to your home, cared for us, healed us both in body and spirit then, even though it broke your heart, sent us on to our new forever families. This gave us a life we would never have had without you. Others of us here, never were adopted and lived out our lives with you, loved and cared for as if we were your own dogs. In our hearts we are your dogs. Thank you."

Then one small mixed breed puppy stepped forward from the back and said, "Miss Martha, you never held me nor fed me, you see I am speaking for all the shelter dogs and cats gathered here for which you did all you could. We understand that you can't save us all, but you read our shelter stories, knowing we would cross the Bridge without knowing a home of our own, and you cried for us. We thank you for that. You see, we knew you cared and loved us, too. And that love helped us as we crossed. We thank you and all the other Rescuers for that small act of love."Icy looked at Martha and told her, "It is getting late and you will have many people here tomorrow to celebrate Christmas. And you have your rescue work to continue. Our time to be able to talk to you is growing short, but always remember what happened tonight. What you do for the animals is a gift to us and to Him, the Father of us all. Each of us, animals of every species, needs people like you. Please keep on helping. You are doing the work of Angels."At that point all of the dogs in unison said "Thank You," and their voices blended into a joyous howl which echoed from the heavens to the ends of the earth.

Humbly offered as a Christmas Gift to all who love animals."

There are animals all around us that need help. If you have just a little left, and I know that for many humans there just isn't anything left right now, can you remember those pups and kit kats in rescue and shelters? Maybe some extra blankets or towels, or a good leash that you don't use anymore, or just one extra bag of food or puppy biscuits...........

For all of you who are reading today, for everyone who works with animal rescue, for those that are animal lovers, who have a pup or a kitty curled up warm and safe:

Thank you and Happy Holidays from Dakota and The Mom!

Puppy breath!

Hello everypup!

It's been a busy time here, as I imagine it is in everypup's home. It's the holidays! From what I can tell, that means the humans run around like crazy humans buying lots of stuff...... some of it is even for us!

One of the kids got something of interest this year.......

Yup, that's a puppy! My nephew Colby. I'll be getting to see him later this week, the day Santa Paws comes! Bandit and I are quite excited about welcoming the new family member.

My next blog will be a Read of the Week!

Coming of age

Yes, I finally did it. I wooed The Mom in to moving in to this century. Yup, we're wireless and got a brand new laptop to blog with!
Now, a new camera would be a good addition, where did I put that plastic card..............?

Alaska update - well, after much debate, we decided to put it off until next spring. The Mom kept telling me that 'she had to work' and 'you can't drive'. So, I gave it much thought and decided I could go a little longer. I'll need to do a little more research anyway - I hadn't quite figured out what we'd do when we got there.

Someone asked me recently if I'd forgotten all about the 'Read of the Week'. Well, I didn't forget. I just don't have decent help in transcribing these things. Hopefully the new laptop will help - although Vista and dew claws are not compatible. I should have a new 'Read of the Week' for you shortly!

I VOTED!!!!

DID YOU??????

Get out and woo your vote!!!!

Outraged!!!

Being nine has been very busy indeed.
I've had to supervise cleaning the house, because Nana was coming to visit. And, one of the kids had a birthday too. I had to help wrap the gifts. My vision quest to Alaska is still in the planning stage, those people at the map place can be so slow!!! So, I was ready for some rest. Maybe a little vacation. I was so excited last week, because The Mom got a bag together. A special bag, the one she packs when WE are going bye-bye in the car!!
She got up early, really dark, really early.
And she put me outside to do my business.
I came back in, I stood by the place where my harness and leash are................ and she LEFT ME STANDING!!!!!
I wooed.
I sat pretty.
I wooed again.
NOTHING!!!!!
She said "Bye girl. Mom will be home later."
And she left.
But what's worse. What is the absolute worst.

SHE WENT TO HIKE n HOWL!!!!!!!

WITHOUT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I missed the hiking.

I missed the howling.

I missed a campaign speech by Khyra, my Vice Presidential candidate of choice. I hear that she wooed her opinions on global warming and cheese. There was talk of bacon in every bowl as well. (Khyra, I did get to sniff The Mom's shirt. Personally, I think the only volunteering she did was volunteer to LEAVE ME AT HOME!!!!)

I missed my friend Indy! I haven't been able to see him in ages!

I heard that I could have passed a message to Meeshka! Apparently her human woman was there, but the human man stayed at home to make sure Meeshka's every need was met. At least SOMEONE stayed with Meeshka!

And I missed the opportunity to say hi to the Kapp Pack's Mom! I met her last year, what a nice lady! I'LL BET SHE TOOK SKY, CANYON and that cute little SUNSHINE MEADOW with her!!! Maybe they won't notice one more Husky.............

I'm hurt and I'm outraged! I think it's time to rethink this whole The Mom thing.......

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!

Today is my ninth birthday!!!

And guess what you do when you turn nine?

You PAWTY!!!

Maybe a little less icing next year?????????

Preparations - Part 1

Well, preparations for my Vision Quest have not gone as I had planned. I think it's because I asked The Mom to join me........

First. We had to pack. EVERYTHING. Hey, I'm just saying that all I need is a couple of bowls and a leash. But no. We had to pack the camera - which isn't working. And the iPod - which needs to be charged. Oh, and I guess we're going to take the laptop - how else will you follow along with us? And of course, her stuff. Those clothing thingys humans wear. I wear the same collar, day in and day out. And she puts I don't know how much stuff in the car to take. Sigh. Getting her to pack, and unpack, and pack, and unpack and well, you get the idea pups.

So while she was doing all of this, I figured I'd catch up with you all !!! First, we're way, way overdue to acknowledge some awards!

Our good friends The OP Pack bestowed upon us this special blogging friends award!

Thank you to Dakota, Thunder and Phantom! Thanks to your mom too!

Now, we're supposed to pass this award along to five other bloggers. Four of them should be dedicated followers of the blog, and one should be a brand new blogger. So, I'd like to give this to Ari, to the Key West Collies, the Kapp Pack, and the Brat Pack. You guys visit me a lot, and I want each of you to know how much I appreciate you, my blogging buddies! For my new friend, I'd like to give this to Dozer and Cooper. They have been blogging for about a year, and I just want them to know how much I enjoy their escapades!

And, a while back, Khyra and her mom gave this one to all the SMS gang:

You guys are the kind one's for thinking of us! And you can bet we'll be checking your blog out when it's time to load the iPod!!!

I also spent time reading Meeshka's 100 Posts! Maybe just a bit too much time, because I got so fed up with waiting for The Mom to get moving that I might have ranted a wee bit too much...... but, I did win a great DVD. I didn't get to post my huzzy picture - the camera isn't quite working now - but did you see my hunk o' husky Chili? Now, that's a STUDMUFFIN!! Woo! Woo!

Mom, did we pack the portable DVD player????

Vision Quest

There's just times where a girl has to do what a girl has to do.

I'm hearing all about the human kids, going back to work and moving and blah, blah, blah. Well, I'm still here. And there's something missing. Something I feel like I have to do or be. So I pawed around the 'net, checking things out, trying to find answers to that great mystery of Siberian life............ who I am and what I'm supposed to do now that the human kids are gone? There has to be more to it than chasing Bandit off the best part of the sofa.

I've been doing some research on Alaska. You know, checking out the snowfall, looking at pictures, trying to decide if one more Siberian would fit. As part of that research, I read some details on the Inuit people of Canada and Alaska. (I know. Wikipedia. Hey, this is not for little pups, it's for us adult dogs.) Did you know that it's common practice for the Inuit young adult to go on a personal quest to find out who they are and what they are meant to do? So I thought "Hey, I'm on that quest, and maybe I need to do this". So I've decided to go on a vision quest, to determine what I should do next.

Now, I know I should go alone. But, I don't want The Mom to worry about me, so I'm thinking she should go along. Not to mention, I believe that it's a long, long walk from here to Alaska and quite frankly, The Mom has the little card that says she's ok to drive and I do not. So, we're going to be preparing Big Red for the trip and making plans. Stay tuned for details!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Woo is me!

For many days now, our computer has been, well, all gunked up. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't!
So, today, The Mom came home with a bag.
I wish it was new computer, but it was just some 'memory' for the old one!!! I don't know why it needed memory, but she took it apart - I watched - and put it back together, and now I can at least get on Blogger! I've missed keeping up with everyone.

So, for the moment at least, we're up and wooing!

Christmas in July

The Mom and I decided it would be fun to join in the Christmas in July celebration with some fellow SMS members..... I could tell you about it, but I'd rather show you!

"Hurry Mom! We got a package! From the OP Pack!"

"Hmmmm. Smells like Thunder, Dakota and Phantom. And something else.........."

"I got this one Mom, you open something else!"

"It's a Cuz!! My first GOOD Cuz! I knew I was a good girl!"

"Come on Bandit, there's another one to open!"

"We got a Wubba, we got a wubba!!"

The Mom opened this package! A book about Alaska! Oh I can't wait to curl up and read it!!

We had a really fun time opening all the presents! Then, a couple of days later, another box arrived!!!! The OP Pack sent us some cookies from Maya Marie, Bella and Missy's Mom ! Let me tell you, those cookies were heavenly, just heavenly. I highly recommend the Salmon and Cheddar ones! I wish we had pictures, but we ATE them before The Mom thought to get the camera out!!

Thank you very much OP Pack, and thanks to your Mom too!

"He was heard to exclaim as he mushed out of sight, Merry Christmas to all Huskies and to all Huskies good night!"

Late night post

Well, it's not that late. But later than we usually post. We were just sitting here, reading a few blogs, catching up on things and went to visit our friends Phantom, Dakota and Thunder of the OP Pack.


Imagine our surprise when we saw that they had given us an award! The OP Pack thinks I'm a Cool Cat!

Thank you OP Pack! I think you and your Mom are pretty cool too! I'm not sure yet who I want to pass this along to, but I'll have something soon.

If you haven't done so, make sure you visit the Kapp Pack and Steve, Kat and Wilbur. The Kapp Pack will be blogging for MaPaw Siberian Husky Rescue, and Steve, Kat and Wilbur are blogging for Save our Siberians! Both support Huskies in need, and let me tell you both groups need your money! Please give what you can, and please remember that they would all love to hear from you at 3 o'clock in the morning!

Saturday afternoon snacks on the deck

If you were here with me today, you would have snacked on this delectable little sea creature:

Very tasty! Please note that I was NOT allowed to eat the outside of this sweet little Maryland Blue Crab, I was nibbling off a HUGE chunk of claw meat that The Mom picked especially for me!

Hurry over, there's a few crabs and cold ones left!

Wordless Wednesday

The long delayed Book Meme game!

We won't be honoring Wordless Wednesday this week, I'm still trying to catch up!

OK. About a hundred naps ago, possibly more, the Key West Collies tagged me to play the Book Meme. Essex and Deacon, I apologize for the really long, long, long delay in responding!

Here's the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

So, we picked one of our all time favorites - A Pirate Looks at Fifty by Jimmy Buffett. Now, I know the rules say to pick the nearest book, but I had a whole shelf of books near, and this seemed to be the most fitting. Besides, it's falling apart it's been read so much!

"It has been nearly ten years since I spent the day alone in the cockpit of the beat-up Albatross on Grand Turk, but here I am about to climb aboard my own Albatross. I step back from the nose gear, look up at the giant amphibian, and pat her on the nose like one of my dogs. I am deep into some meaningful thought about yin and yang and things coming full circle when Cameron pops his head out of the window above me and shouts 'Dad, it's time to go.'."

Sigh. Makes you want to just get up and go somewhere, doesn't it? And this is one of the reasons we've read this one LOTS of times. Travel is really big here, The Mom and I really like to explore and have new adventures.

I think everyone has played now, and I'm not going to tag five specific bloggers, I'm going to invite all of you who read to play if you haven't and keep on reading!

I think our next post will be about the new item we purchased for Big Red!!!

Read of the Week!

So, it's been a while. Someday, I may post about why it's been a while, but for now............



It's time for my Read of the Week!



I've got a great one this week. Particularly if you are, like me, a mid-Atlantic dog. Now, that means that you live in this general area. Maryland - like me and Indy. Or Delaware - I don't know that I've ever read a blog from a dog in Delaware! Hey, a new thing to try, where are you Delaware dogs? Or Virginia. Seems to me that I've read about a Virginia dog......... hmmmm...... If I could just remember........ oh well, you get the idea.

This weeks read is for ALL of you pups out there, and your owners! If you are ever in this area, might I suggest that you bring along............



Doggin' Maryland by Doug Gelbert (Illustrations by Andrew Chesworth)



This book is choc full of great places to take your humans! 100, yes 100, places to take your dog in the state of Maryland. It lists TONS of places. Some of them, in fact, the #1 place to hike with your dog, are just a few minutes from me! Catoctin Mountain Park!!! Oh, and I've been there!!! There's short trails, for those times where you just want a bit of a walk. And long trails, for a day long hike. Oh, and so much to sniff and see! Really, you must visit!



Also in the top 10 is one of The Mom's very favorite places in the world, Swallow Falls State Park! I've never been there, although I should have tagged along the last time that The Mom and Momma B went. They did take this great picture though - check it out!



This book ranks the best parks in the state. It tells you all about beach regulations for humans. It tells you how to outfit your human for hikes, and even gives you some beginner hikes. You know, those for smaller pups or humans who haven't hiked in a while.

And, this guy wrote a few more books about the best places to hike with your dog too! You must check out Amazon. com and see if there's a place close to you!

You know what? I'm so excited about this book that we're packing it up and going to go hiking!
Come on!!!

Wordless Wednesday

I'm baaaacccckkkkk................

And ready to do a Read of the Week! School's done for now, and that work stuff got settled and The Mom and I did what we do best and have been curling up with some cool books.
For now though, I'll put my thoughts on those books aside.

It's an important weekend. It's the first weekend of summer! Memorial Day weekend. Cook out weekend! (We dined on grilled Haddock here!) But more importantly, tomorrow is Memorial Day. It's the day to honor our men and women who have served our United States military groups. You know, those people who keep us safe and who make sure that our right to have fish is protected. So I got to thinking, and I thought:

Who better to honor as the Read of the Week then our very own 'Army'? I'm a trooper, and I'll bet you are a trooper too! I wait for the Supreme Commander to bark out orders! I listen when the Drill Sgt woos! And I fall in line when the other two members of this pack share their worldly wisdom! Yup, you guessed it, this weeks Read of the Week is a blog by these four Siberian Huskies, the leaders in our Siberian support of the troops! This weeks Read of the Week is:

Army of Four Digest - Stormy, Amber, Zim and Dave!

The Mom and I were particularly touched when we read today's blog entry by the Army of Four. Their Sunday Salute honored all of the military persons in the United States. It's important for us all to remember how much these people give so we can have fish! Go on over, and give them a read! If you are one of their many regular readers, stop by and comment to let them know that you support our troops (both biped and Husky!).

Happy Mother's Day

To all The Moms everywhere, an open wish from Dakota:

May all of The Moms enjoy this special centennial celebration of Mother's Day. There is nothing more special in the world than a Mom, and nothing better than giving kisses to the person that you know as Mom!

To my Chili's Mom, I'm sending you some special Husky hugs and kisses! Can you share them with my red hot hunk o' Husky?

To all of the SMS Moms and the Moms from Dogs With Blogs - a very special Husky hug from me and Lab lick from Bandit!

WE LOVE OUR MOMS!!!!

The working dog

Boy, oh boy! Who knew nursing would be this hard? You gotta help with fixing meals, you gotta help with making the bed. You have to stay out of the way, that walker thing HURTS! (I should know, my fluffy tail is a bit less fluffy...), pick up your toys. But.......
Momma B is better! She's walking now, less with the walker and more with a cane. Um, the cane thing isn't much better than the walker in terms of getting out of it's way, but it is much nicer than the walker. It's purple and black!
To all the pups that suggested livergreat would be good for Momma B - you were right! She had to have something called iron pills, and it turns out that livergreat is a good source of that iron stuff. I shared as much of mine as I could.
Things will be busy for a few more weeks, while The Mom finishes her classes for this semester. And she is trying to get a new job so she can buy us more yummies! At least I would think that's the motivation for the new job.
So, we haven't been reading much........... which I don't like, because I feel like I am way behind on my Read of the Week. Stay tuned, I promise we will have one out to you soon!

A quick post

To let everyone know that the new knee has been attached to Momma Bev. She is at some special vets that doesn't allow DOGS!!!!!!!!! I'm not sure about this, but The Mom says everything is fine, and she is doing well.
Bandit is sad his momma isn't here, but he ate livergreat this morning, and was better after that.

Do you think livergreat would make Momma Bev feel better?

I will post more, pics as promised and answer some questions as soon as I can.

A very late Read of the Week

Hello everypuppy!
I'm sorry we haven't been around much the past few weeks. The Mom could explain it better, but it has to do with work and school and Momma Bev getting a new knee. They keep running around here moving stuff, and then leaving us and coming home smelling all clean and funky. Ugh. They told us this morning that Momma Bev would be gone for a few days, then she would come back and we had to be really, really careful around her. No ball, no stuffies, no nothing!!!! I don't know what this new knee stuff is, but I can tell you that I don't like it one bit.

So, with all this going on, The Mom has been S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D. I thought I'd pick out a funny book for us to read this week, and sure enough, we laughed and we licked our chops when we read some of the recipes. Magdalina Yoder is the proprietress of the Penn Dutch Inn, an Amish Bed and Breakfast in fictional Hernia, Pennsylvania (by woo Khyra!!!). Magdalina is quite different, she's Amish at heart, but a totally now lady everywhere else. Now, I didn't really break my rules here......... there is a dog in the story line, but, well, the dog has an unusual home....... he lives in his Mom's, well, lets see, overtheshoulderboulderholder. Must be one small dog! They don't ever give his name!!! The poor thing gets wrapped in yards and yards of fabric - probably NOT picked out by Dave, Guide Dog For The Color Blind, and barks every now and then to let them know he's there. Not much dog in this book, but some good sounding recipes - all appeared to be possibly dog safe, thank Dogness! - and lots of laughs.
If you like cozy mysteries, food, and a funny mystery to solve, try:

Custard's Last Stand - by Tamar Myers

Our read of the week!

Now they are filling out forms in the kitchen. Sigh. I sure wish they were cooking in the kitchen. I'm going to go curl up with a warm dinner and a good book!

PS - Bandit got CAKE on his birthday! And we got a package from the Ao4 ! Next post, pictures, I promise!

Proposal

I don't know what the humans do at 'work', but I don't like it. I've barely seen The Mom for two weeks. She had the laptop off and the door closed!!! How am I supposed to blog? How am I supposed to keep up with my friends?!
And more important, how am I supposed to know if he said YES??????

See, I've been single a long time. Oh, it's not a bad life, travel, playing with The Mom, foot loose and fancy free. And I do have a big brother, Bandit, so it's not like I lack canine company. But I wanted more. You know, someone special to share those tropical nights with, walking paw in paw on the sand under the stars. So I answered a personal ad. And I waited. Just when I thought that I'd be single forever, spending my days walking on the beach looking for delectable delights on my own..........

Chili offered his paw in puppy love!!!!!

I had barely dared to hope! So handsome! So cuddly! And did you see that picture? He's already in the sand waiting for me! My very own red hot hunk of Husky!

Chili, my honey, let me just say this.............

YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I accept your paw in puppy love! Don't you worry in the least about that diet thing. I think you are fabulous the way you are! We can take those long walks together, and I can live without Pina Coladas. We'll just switch to Cruzan and diet! You are OK with walking in the rain though, right?

Read of the Week

Well, I apologize for being late. Between being Bandit's nursemaid, and keeping The Mom from having a nervous breakdown about work, I couldn't get to the computer!
Which is a shame, because the Iditarod started!!!!!

Yup, you guessed it. This week's Read of the Week is THREE websites we go to to see and hear things about the Iditarod. I'm not going to go in to the history of 'The Last Great Race', I'm going to jump right in and show you how we're following.

Of course, the best coverage is the official website, Iditarod.com. This covers the Mushers. The dogs. Hey, I think I even saw that a HUSKY has his own official blog on this site!

We also like to visit the site for North Wapiti Kennels. Did you know that these folks run an ALL Siberian Husky team at the Iditarod? Yup! It's the home of 'Pretty Sled Dogs'. Nothing but Huskies! The Musher, Karen Ramstead, is a veteran of many Iditarod races and is a very nice lady. The Mom got to hear her speak a few months ago - she was funny and honest about the race and some of the challenges she faced in the past.

For the past few years, we've also followed a blog, Zoya's Kennel Journal. These folks rescue dogs, and have a kennel (and a sled dog team!) that features rescued dogs! 2008 is Zoya's rookie year, and we've been following her thoughts and challenges.

Race on over to these web sites for the Read(s) of the Week!

Iditarod.com, the Official website of The Last Great Race

North Wapiti Kennels - Home of the 'Pretty Sled Dogs'

Zoya's Kennel Journal

There's one other site this week, one we've been reading for just a little bit. It's not really a 'Read of the Week', but it's sort of cool.................. these guys aren't Sibes, and well, they just aren't what you expect, mon!

To those pups everywhere who are racing........ stay safe and I'm sending Sibe Vibes to you for good luck!

Now, I'm going to go turn on Jimmy Buffett and curl up with a good book!

Husky Home Decor

Apparently, somepuppy got 'muddy paw prints' on the usual ugly green thing on the bed. Now, nopuppy in particular was blamed for said infraction - it's not like CSI came in or anything like that, and hey, it could have been the cat. I'm just sayin'.

So, while The Mom's back was turned, I thought I'd redecorate. What do you think?

Unfinished business - part deux

So, I've done some surfing. In the spirit of 'funky', I nominate the following blogs for the 'Funky Blog' award!

A Siberian View of the 'verse - we love the funky new redesign! Aren't Lee Lee, Thor, Smokey and Bandit cute?

Beware the Bamonster - we love the funky 'Husky Dog' song! Have fun with Chili, Cracker, Mikki and Bama

Got Chocolate? - Frankie and Maddie, those funky girls from SoCal!


You guys are all funky! And you make me smile! Enjoy! And don't forget to spread the smiles..........

Unfinished business

In our haste this week, we almost missed a comment left by our friends, Essex and Deacon, the Key West Collies. They think we are funky!

We think the collies are funky too! I've got a few blogs in mind that I want to tag with this award, and I'll be visiting them soon!

Read of the Week!

It's been a very busy week here. The Mom has been doing school work and doing something called 'working from home'. I can't say that I much care for either of these activities - the school books are, well, B-O-R-I-N-G and that stuff from work? Eeewwwww. The only really good thing there was I got to lay all over her papers........tee hee hee.

This type of a week has us thinking of 'short' reads. You know, reads that don't take that long or don't interfere with walkies or dinner or other important and necessary things. For us, that means.......... blogs!

We LOVE blogs. We love learning about other places and keeping up with our cyber (and our siber) friends. In our 'Favorites', there's a long, long list of blogs we stop by to catch up. Some of them, we only visit every now and then. We read, and sometimes say 'Hi'. But, some of them, we check every time we log on to make sure that everything is ok and to share the latest with them. Today's Read of the Week is one of those blogs, one that we check all the time (perhaps it's time to have Google Reader installed?), and one that I know is a favorite in the blogging community.

If you haven't met Tucker, Dot, Samantha and Bear or their human assistant Maryann - you are missing out on one of the best blogs on the web and one of our favorites. Our Read of the Week this week is...........

Tucker, Dot, Samantha and (the handsome) Bear - The Brat Pack!

Head on over and be prepared to smile, laugh, cry and be totally enthralled! Oh, and did I mention great pictures? They need to send their photographer over here!

I'm going to go have a long talk with The Mom about the widget thing...... honestly, she's no further now than she was a few weeks ago........ and after that........

We're going to curl up with a good (not a crappy school) book!

Read of the Week!

This week's Read of the Week is a work of fiction by one of our favorite authors.

We are huge mystery fans, and when we find a book or a series that features dogs, we get very excited. But when we found this series, one that features a musher and sled dogs, well, we were totally enthralled!

We're tickled with the choice this week - we're enjoying the 25th running of the Yukon Quest . One thousand miles between Fairbanks, Alaska and Whitehorse in Canada's Yukon Territory. (Have you seen the Yukon Territory flag? Check it out if you are a Husky lover!) So, we thought what better time to feature one of our favorite books from author Sue Henry........... This week's Read of the Week is:

'MURDER ON THE YUKON QUEST' BY SUE HENRY

For you young pups, the title might be very scary. If so, remember to make sure your humans or your parents approve of you reading this book The story follows heroine Jessie Arnold and her team of dogs as they face danger while they run the Quest. A young musher is kidnapped and Jessie does what she does best to help try to solve the crime and return the young musher safely. Will she be successful? Well, we're not going to spoil the ending!

Here's one of our favorite parts of the book, which helps us to picture Jessie's run in to Dawson City, hot on the trail of the kidnappers!:

"The area they crossed seemed an unending series of mines, hills, mountains, valleys, and creeks - of going up one ridge only to come down the other side and start up again, ceaselessly, for hours."

Doesn't that just take you there!! Tank in the lead!!!! Oh, I just love Tank!!!

I hope you enjoy this book and the rest of the Jessie Arnold books from Ms. Henry.

We're going to go curl up with a good book!

Snow pictures

A very busy week for us, but we did take some time to play in the snow.........

Announcement

As discussed yesterday, The Mom and I love to read. We read lots of stuff! Here's a picture of a very small part of the wall of books in my (yup, that's MY) room:

We read text books:

And we read blogs. Lots and lots of blogs. And that got me thinking. We like to read so much, and I guess that you all like to read too (you're here, aren't you?), that we probably like to read many of the same things and that we should be somehow sharing those things with you. So, without further delay, I am announcing today................. my

READ OF THE WEEK AWARD!

Starting today, I'm going to share what we're reading with you. I'm going to select blogs, books, magazines, something that we're reading and think you would enjoy. Here's the rules that I'm going to use to select my Read of the Week award:

• My Read of the Week will be dog related.
• It may be a blog, or a book, or a magazine article or a web article. Really, anything that we read is fair game.
• I'll try to keep it 'G' rated, but every now and then it might be 'PG' related. Reader beware!

So, I thought a lot about my very first Read of the Week Award. I wanted to feature something very special to me, something that really got me started with reading blogs and encouraging me to start my own blog. The Mom and I were surfing the 'net one afternoon about two years ago, and we did a random search on 'Siberian Husky'. We got a lot of the usual stuff, you know, breed standard, famous Huskies and so on. We also got a link to the VERY FIRST blog that we read. And we were hooked ! That first blog belongs to a Siberian Husky who lives with five other canines and one human. We've enjoyed reading all sorts of cool stuff about logos, and the 'stupid' Dyson, and now we're enjoying reading about his candidacy for President of Dogcountry!

To thank him for showing me this wonderful world of blogging and in honor of his stupendous wins last week on 'Super Tubesday' and his expected win of the Pawmary Election being held this week in my own state of Maryland, my first Read of the Week award goes to:

Tubey and his blog - World of Turbo

I'm going right over to his blog to tell him, while The Mom tries to think of some cool widget thing we can use to award our deserving winners. Then, we're going to curl up with a good book!

Tag, I'm it!

We stopped by Ari's blog, and found out that we'd been tagged to reveal seven quirky and unusual things about us. I sort of thought that I'd invite Bandit and maybe The Mom to give some input on this one, so:

1. Bandit looks much like the breed standard for a Labrador Retreiver, but is not a pure bred. His mother is an AKC registered Yellow Lab. His father.......... well, they aren't sure.

2. One of my favorite things is to sit or lay next to The Mom while she is reading something. She will read out loud to me if it's something we both enjoy. I'll be posting more on this tomorrow...... something new that I'm going to do.

3. The Mom is a college student. Probably the oldest one on the campus too.........

4. Bandit is afraid of water!!!!

5. I like to lay on top of the chest that The Mom's The Dad made and watch everything that goes on out in front of my house.

6. I have two human siblings. Two older sisters, who were here when I got here. One of them is a teacher, the other one is a social worker. I am constantly amazed that The Mom raised two really good kids................. and then there's me!!

7. I have a very unHusky like past time that I dearly love..................... I will fetch a ball, stick, frisbee and return it. I am so enamoured of the idea of 'playing ball', that The Mom has considered this as something that we could do for fun and exercise.

OK, so now I'm supposed to tag seven friends. Well, picking seven of you is too difficult to do! I want everyone to reveal something new! So we're tagging all of our readers. If you decide to play, and we hope you do, just follow these simple rules:
1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Post 7 random or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

OK - lets play. Tag, YOU are it!!

Sportin' our new duds.....

Literally.

I'm a bit worried about what's going on here. Let me lay it all out for you, show you the evidence and see what you think.

There's way, way too much of this music being played.

The Mom has spent HOURS looking on the internet for fabric for curtains. For OUR bedroom. And I am not being consulted AT ALL about this choice.

She's trying to buy this book to read.

And here are our new collars:

Bandit's is called 'Turtle Reef'. Mine is the 'Wave Hound'. Yes, I know they are sharp and sexy and all, but..............

I THINK THE CRAZY OLD BROAD IS THINKING ABOUT MOVING SOMEPLACE TROPICAL!!!! Hot. Humid. Not Husky friendly. I need cold! I need snow!

Winter bliss

It's snowing here and The Mom is home. It's a happy day for me.

I know I promised a post about our new collars, and I'll get one done soon, but I figured that I'd sneak on and check out some blogs and do a quick post to make sure everyone knows about the snow.

Not that I'm rubbing it in or anything.

No pics, mostly because instead of taking fabulous pictures of us frolicking in the snow, The Mom was fooling with some big, loud thing that throws snow everywhere. Quite funny to see it throw The Mom on her butt! OK, she slipped, I saw her, but still it sort of looked like it threw her too.

Big business woos

It's not bad enough that The Mom hogs the laptop. The darn Internet provider has to get in on the action and make sure I can't get access to anything!


The big business company recently added about 52,000 new channels for the people to sit and stare at. According to The Mom, it's mostly crappy sports channels and music channels. Then, she figured out that big business took away some of her favorite channels. So she called them. To ask why. And not long after that, pow, there goes the Internet. We went DAYS without being able to update the blog, or read about our friends. Sigh. So, in that 52,002 channels, we can now watch BBC America and Discovery Home. I'm not sure why. It's not like The Mom and I will be traveling to Europe. And you should see her attempts at home improvement. Honestly, if she doesn't rake up the leaves in the back yard soon, I'm going to have to dig myself a hole to, well, you know. And we finally, finally got Internet access back! Unless you are Momma Bev. They hosed up her email account.


So, since I couldn't post them on Christmas, here's our official Holiday portraits.

BANDIT WILSON CHRISTMAS 2007

DAKOTA MOON CHRISTMAS 2007

I hope your New Year is going well. Next post - our new collars. Or why The Mom is nutso.