New Dogs

I have been enjoying the easiness of a four dog life. It's crazy, get up, feed them all the same thing, no meds....it feels so .....easy. (which I've never been good at really)


Honestly, I can't wait to see who the next dog will be that enters our world. What will be his/her problem? What will we get to do for them? It's so exciting. I really don't want another dog until I get back from MN though. I want it to be an easy time away without the stress of "what if's" while I'm gone. I have an AWESOME dogsitter. He stays at my house with his dog the whole time I'm gone. His dog, Pearl, is beautiful (new dog pic) and she and Akai have become very good friends. The dogsitter and good friend (David) takes Akai out to play frisbee golf with him, which she loves. We are very blessed.

I'm Back......

this is a birthday party for Victoria's neighbor
Her neighbors........

the new puppy, Victoria's, not mine. His name is Attikus
Anya, her kid
Scott, her man, trying to look tough
pouty pants
best buds
a beautiful boy named Rogue
the BEST red shoes....duh

Hello, I am back from my trip out east. I have never been happier to be home. It's so funny how much I have fallen in love with Leadville over the last year. It has taken so long for me to feel like this is home.
My trip went well, I accomplished little. I did expand my wardrobe though, which is priceless. I got the BEST pair of red shoes EVER!



Wolfie passed away while I was gone. I'm so glad he had a great place to live out his days. He got to play with puppy, eat, sleep on down blankets and lay in the sun. Not a bad way to go. I know Naa-yu welcomed him with open paws.


I have some pictures of my trip.....the scowly guy is Victoria's husband Scott, the pouty girl is her daughter Anya. Victoria adopted two dogs while I was there, they are also represented. I did not get any....they weren't needy enough. We went to her neighbors birthday party...the band and the older couple...........
O.K. I think I did the picture thing corectly...I'm trying to figure out how to make it look pretty. I'll get it man, not to worry.

So, I have my 15 year class reunion this summer...first weekend in August in MN at Canterbury Downs Race Track at a bar call "Ubetcha". Is that considered hell? So, in the last few weeks I've gotten back in touch with quite a few old friends. It has been so fun to talk with them all again. I think we have come to the ever so smart decision to skip the reunion and have our own this fall somewhere else. My great friend and love, Eric Harman and myself are going to plan it. It feels so great to have these people back in my life.

Far Away From My Little Loves

I am on vacation right now on the eat coast. I've been in Boston for the last five days; shopping, eating and museuming. Yesterday, I got on a bus and took it to Vermont (not to worry, the bus was going that way). If you are ever traveling between boston and vt. i would suggest taking the "dartmouth coach". Although it only takes you as far as Hanover, nh it is a nice ride.
Last night Victoria and I drove up to our friend Nancy Millers'. It was so nice. We sat around a camp fire drinking wine and catching up. Nancy is married with one kid...Ben. He is a very intense child. Such a nice boy, just extremely intense. It felt so nice to be there with two of my favorite people....and I forgot my camera. I'm trying to get better at taking pictures since I actually have something to do with them now. Note to self: bring camera to the balloon fest today (and use it). I will take pictures of Anya mom, don't worry.
Off the subject: I got the BEST red shoes in boston the other day.....they are SO cute and SO perfect. I will post them later with the other pictures.

The B Team

this is Wolfie. he is sweet. doesn't seem to notice the small dogs. as you can see, he is a big guy.

Wolfie............................

My friend Steph just called. There was a stray BIG black elderly wolfy mix brought in to the shelter that needs a place to go to live out his days. Guess where he is going?? I'm very excited. They should be here in about a half hour!! We are going to try him out at my house first and see if it works out, if not Steph will give him a shot. I love Steph, she is a great person and a true animal lover.
I met Wolfie, Steph named him that, the day we put down Gum. I told Steph I would take him if his owners didn't return for him. He is basically deemed unadoptable because of his age. It's just harder to place the old ones. Everyone wants puppies. Silly people. I will take a picture of him and post it. He is cute. Gotta go, must clean the house a bit.

Petfinder.com

....Oh how I love petfinder.com. Dogs as far as the eye can see. I have adopted quite a few dogs off of this web site. Now that I have 2 spots open on the "B Team" I have been actively searching. I will be on the east coast next week so that adds to the available dogs. Not to say that it would actually stop me from getting a dog back east if I wasn't already going out there.
There are two in N.Y. and about 4 in MA so far. This is the fun part, who makes the cut???

I guess I should explain the "B Team" thing since my sister has already explained it on her blog. O.K. ....the "A Team": young, active, healthy. The "B Team": No so much....They usually have health problems, sometimes medicated, blind, deaf, not so active...just looking for a place to live out their days.
So here the "A Team" roster and each of their stories..........
AKAI: Smaller Akita res. mix. I call her Puppy, unless she is in trouble. Puppy came from Ignacio, CO, off of the Ute Indian Reservation. The Animal Control found her running about when she was 5wks old. She would sift through gravel with her teeth looking for food. I saw her on petfinder.com at about 3:30pm and called down there RIGHT AWAY. I called every few seconds for the next half hour. They finally answered and said that someone else was very interested in her and that she would probably get adopted. I told them that I didn't care and that she would be mine. I got in my car and drove 3 hours to Wolf Creek Pass. I was 5 min too late to get thru, they had closed the Pass for the night for road construction. F@%#*!!! So, I called the AC officer and told them I would be there first thing in the am when the pass opened. I could barely sleep at all that night. Finally at like 5:30 the pass opened and I drove the next hour and a half there. Her name was Wanda and she was truly disgusting. She had rolled in some sort of nasty dead animal and was then sprayed with cinnamon potpourri. I quickly named her Cinnamon Death. She had the worst case of worms I had ever seen. I instantly fell head over heals for her. Puppy was SO afraid of people, so I would have her come to work with me and she slowly started to come out and sniff people. You wouldn't know it now. She is SO social. She is going to be 2 in July and is still such a puppy. She is such a goof.
RUBY GUP: Pug. Ruby is the first small dog I got. She is who opened the doors for the rest and she knows it. I had always wanted a pug and always knew what her name would be. My friend Steph used to run our local animal shelter. An elderly lady called one day from Red Cliff saying that she had a female fawn colored pug to bring to the shelter because she and her husband were too old to care for her anymore. Steph told her not to worry that I would be right there to get her. WOW! Her name was Jordan (after Michael Jordan). She was HUGE! She weighed 45 lbs. when I got her. I bought her a very pretty "skinny jeans" collar to help her motivation and it must have worked because she now weighs 17 lbs and loves to run around and play. She was 3 when I got her and will be 5 in two months.
DURKA -DURKA: Miniature Pincsher/ Chihuahua mix. I call her Turkey. This sweet little girl was found on the front steps of our animal shelter in a card board box all duct taped up (the box was). She had just had a litter, but there weren't any puppies with her. I brought her home as a foster dog. I don't think she had ever been around people much and knew nothing of going out side to go potty. Also very afraid of people, she became my shadow and Ruby Gups bitch. She is a funny dog. All she wants is love, always. She is a cling-on and we love her.

Queen Ruby Jean Gumdrop Guadalupe Gucci

Yesterday was a hard one. I made the decision to "put down" my favorite little growler, Lil" Gum. Playing God is the only terrible part of rescuing the old guys. It can really break your heart.
To know Lil' Gum was to love her...or sometimes to love to hate her. She was , BY FAR, the most high maintenance dog I have ever adopted (Mele doesn't count, she was a foster dog). Lil' Gum would wake up about every other night in the middle of the night and sing, scream or catterwall (sp.) until I would yell her name loud enough for her to hear. If any other dog came near her she would growl...there were five others. She bit me on a daily basis. She had to eat in the bath tub so the other dogs wouldn't get her food and she would growl at me every time I put her in, or took her out of the tub. She wouldn't eat her food unless the curtain was closed. She had a favorite stuffed toy that she would get nasty with...when I figure out me computer more I will add some video. She loved to cuddle up in my stomach to sleep. She would kiss me forever. She had the nastiest, most wonderfully gross old dog breath and I loved it. My friend Steph and I called her "old and crusty".
I found Lil" Gum on petfinder.com a few years back. Her picture was so cute. She looked like a min, malamute with a smirk. They had pulled all of her teeth but one, in the front so her mouth kind of caved in a bit. I called her foster mom in New Mexico. Next thing, I got in my 83 VW Rabbit and drove off to get this cute Chi. I had my own business at the time and was broke as heck. I had no idea how I was going to pay for this dog or the trip down there. Luckily I still had good credit. I got to El Rancho and it hit me. The animal rescue only had foster care. They were in the process of building an actual shelter. I called Gums' foster mom, I fibbed and said that I had a Home Depot gift card for $175..the same amount as Gums' adoption fee..I asked if she would trade Lil' Gum for the gift card, since they were building a place and might need supplies. She talked it over with her boss and came back with a yes for me. So, I pulled over and looked at a phone book for the nearest Home Depot. Found it, went in a bought a $175 gift card with my Home Depot credit card, which has since been cut up into small pieces and tossed. Creative Financing, always a plus.
I got to Gums' place. Wow, this woman had 15 dogs and 5 birds in a two bedroom modular. Lil' Gum had her own space. She was separated by a baby gate. Right away she growled at me and I laughed. She rode on my lap the entire way home and growled at me every time I touched her. I learned real quick how to grab her. VERY fast.
When I got her I still had my old dog Naa-yu and my pug Ruby Gup. I would walk the three together which was quite a sight. Naa-yu was a large Akita, Shepherd, wolfy mix. Ruby was, at that point a 45 lb. pug and then Lil Gum. 5 lbs, a limp and a bad attitude.


She was a special girl who will be very missed by me.


This was her rainbow yest...........

Free running dogs

Yard of Dogs

I have today off of work. YIPPIE!!!! I have worked way too much in the last four days...all doubles. It is BEAUTIFUL out today and the dogs couldn't be more happy. Puppy and I just got done playing ball in the street, such a great place.

Top left: Ruby Gup and Durka Durka enjoying the sun, Akai (puupy) coming at me, Another shot of puppy, BoBo trying to find a good spot to catch some rays. I think I will take the dogs up into the mining district to play today. They love it up there. Running and playing, running and playing. They need to get out of the yard today for sure....

Lil Gum staggers on

I feel kind of strange starting my story here, but I just got my computer hooked up...........Yest. I went to the vet to get my poor old miserably wonderful crusty old chihuahua "put down". First, let me say that I love my vet. I have been taking my creatures to him for 12+ years. He has just one fault, as far as I can see, and that is that he would rather extend an animals life with medicine rather then letting them go. I know what I believe, but for some reason every time I bring an animal in to him to end their lives I allow him to talk me out of it. (Note to self: work on having a stronger mental foundation).......
O.K. so I still have my Lil Gum. She is still miserable and unable to walk well and is now on some terrible chemical crap to extend her painful little life and I am in limbo over the whole thing. This is not why I rescue animals.