Calvin has just played in the dirt!

Calvin does not like have his picture taken.

Dundy and his friend Roush!

Dundy loves to go over to our son’s and visit his friend Roush.  Being a young dog it gives us a break from entertaining him.  The good news for us is that he comes home tired for a few days.  He is always ready to go see his friend but he is also always ready to come home.

It is always nice to have a friend!

Santa's reindeer is not happy

We had this great idea to put Dundy on our Christmas card.  Our son thought he would look cool in reindeer ears.  I searched high and low to find the perfect reindeer ears.  As you can see by the picture Dundy did not think they were so perfect.  I ended up getting the perfect picture as soon as I took the ears off.

Dundy came from Golden Beginnings in Houston TX

Meet our new family member Dundy. When we lost our Abby I had to tell our son who serving with the Army ove in Iraq by instant messenger. We were all  distraught as it was so unexpected.  Our son recently got out of Iraq as the 4th Infantry based in Fort Hood returned to the states. Tarren gets out of the Army May 1st and did not want to come home to a house without a dog.  He immediately was on-line looking for a dog for us; (isn’t it amazing you can look for a dog from Baghdad). He decided we needed a Golden this time as they have a similar temperament as a Labrador.  We were concerned that if we went with the same breed we would be comparing to Abby.

We ended up getting this guy from the Golden Beginnings Golden Retriever Rescue here in Houston.  He is 10 months old and quite a friendly fellow.  He has a bit of separation anxiety but I expect that will get better as he learns we are not going to leave him.  Dundy is actually his third name.  He came to us with the name Spenser and since he had rabies vaccinations last July our Veterinarian was able to check and he was called Chico back then.  Quite a history for a little guy.  He just didn’t seem like a Spenser.  We have been married 32 years and this is our fourth dog.  We have had Telly, Rusty and Abby so you can see we had a trend going on so Dundy just seemed to fit.

I was amazed at the process that we had to go through to get him.  We had to fill out an application with references.  It

Dundy's homecoming!

took several weeks to get accepted; they even contacted our Veterinarian to check on us. By the time we were accepted there were not any dogs that fit the criteria we wanted.  We had decided we wanted a young male.  This guy appeared the day after we got accepted.  We asked and God answered with this special guy.  We had two weeks to make sure he fit in to our house and then the adoption was final.  It was a process but Golden Beginnings is just ensuring that the dogs go to homes that really want them and will take care of them.  They want it to be a forever home.

He has a sweet temperament but needs to learn some manners; nothing a little obediance training won’t take care of.  I can’t wait for our son go get home so he can help puppy sit.  I had forgot how much energy they have.  Our cats are still not too sure about him but they are getting better every day.  Well actually our male cat Calvin struts around like bring it on.  Dundy is learning to give him a wide space as he has been whacked several times.  Calvin gets tired of being bugged and turns in to Taekwondo kitty. 

Our son and Dundy really hit is off.  We were informed that it is okay for Dundy to get on his bed.  It was so nice to have Dundy here to greet him.  There would have been a void without Abby.

Our dog Abby with her puppy dog eyes!

This is written as a tribute to our dog Abby. We just found out yesterday that she had a massive tumor and we had to put her down today. We brought her home from the vet last night but we could tell she was dying before our eyes. I wish we would have had some signs but by the time we realized something was wrong it was too far gone. She was a wonderful dog and will always be remembered.
We got Abby 9 ½ years ago as a puppy. Our son Tarren had a friend who got a chocolate lab and he decided the he needed one also. My first experience with a Labrador was at the stable where our daughter kept her horse. I just thought that lab was the coolest dog. So when he went on the campaign for a lab I joined in. We finally whittled my husband down and went to check a litter out. As we were walking up we noticed the biggest lab we had ever seen!! This was Daddy!! We went anticipating getting a male but my husband and I were back peddling big time. The owner said “why don’t you buy “Peanut? She’s a female and the runt of the litter.” So we bought Peanut!

As you can see our Abby did not remain a Peanut. At one point she weighed 105 pounds but we found out she had a thyroid condition and by being on her thyroid medicine she maintained about 85 pounds. Our daughter said if

Sgt. Tarren Peterson and Abby on his R & R from Iraq

she was a person she would be a plus size; she was just a big girl.

She was supposed to be our son’s dog but someone forgot to tell her that. My husband started taking her for walks and she was hooked. She loved our son also but she was really my husband’s dog. She was his constant shadow. Our son was probably number 2 in her book (although she loved everyone). The picture to the right is from our son’s first tour of Iraq. He had just got home from his R & R and she was so excited. I was going to use this picture in a couple of months when he gets out of Iraq again but I’m sure I won’t be doing that now.

It was so hard today having to tell our young adult children as it all transpired so fast. Our daughter is a flight attendant; working for a charter airline that moves our troops. She just got back from a Germany/Kuwait trip yesterday so I called her this morning. Our son is presently in Baghdad serving in his second tour and I had to email him. I really don’t know if either way was good; they neither are going to feel a

Abby loved to swim

sense of closure.

I keep a daily scripture on my desk and the scripture for today was from Ecclesiastics 3:7-8 “A time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. “ The last few days the scripture has been going through the verses from “A time for everything” but how interesting that this was the verse for today. I have been crying all day. We lost a good friend today and I guess it will just take some time to mend.

We had thought this would be our last dog but our house feels such a loss. We have both always had a dog. I don’t expect we will do anything right away but we are not going to shut the door entirely. We will just have to see how it goes from here.

I read the book Marley and me when it first came out a few years ago. I must say a lot of Marley’s antics reminded us of Abby as a puppy. I had thought about going to see the movie but after this I think it will be a few years before I’m up to that.

Queen Elle surveying her domain!

This is the Queen of our house.  As you can tell she loves to survey her domain. 

Our life is meant to revolve around the Queen.  She allows us to watch her eat and insist that we remain as she finishes her meal.  She also allows her subjects to sit with her on their lap.

She is a Queen with an attitude.  Life is all about Elle!! 

Calvin gets an invisible fence

It has been sometime since I posted about Calvin but since that time we did decide to get an invisible fence.  Our neighbors looked at us like we were NUTS but like I said in a previous post I did not want to lose Calvin to coyotes or hawks. 

There is a process that you go through with an invisible  fence.  First a practice fence with white flags is put in your house in a designated area.  Calvin was fitted with a collar and we would let him see the flags an then he would basically get a shock and run off.  This went on for a week.  After that the fence was actually put in the back yard. 

Calvin and his invisible fence collar!

About a week later a trainer came and worked with me with Calvin.  It was a bit of a traumatic experience for him but he learned what the white flags were for.  They told me to put Calvin on a harness with a leash but that did not go over well at all.  I finally gave that up and just stayed out with him.  We have white flags atthe perimeter of our fences and he knows what those white flags mean.

For quite some time he would not leave our patio; which is actually where we wanted him to stay.  He has learned that he can go in to the bushes at the back of our house also.  It is really strange but he also seems to be more settled.  He doesn’t cry to get out in the middle of the night.  He is content to stay in the house more and when he does go out he doesn’t try to stray.  We are PLEASED!!

This sun-room has become quite the kitty theatre.  As you can tell by the pictures it is a great source of cat entertainment.  This is Sarah looking at her squirrel television.  Obviously the squirrel isn’t too concerned about Sarah.  They have named their squirrels also.  They are Alvin, Theodore and Simon.  Alvin is of course the one who likes to cause the most problems.  The squirrels really are cute to watch.  We all ended up sitting out there watching the squirrel theatre so I guess it isn’t just kitty entertainment.  It is fun to be that close to a squirrel and it doesn’t bother them in the least.