This is Kate Rodriguez, a beautiful child belonging to a pair of really good people, Justin & Joyce.

I was perusing my Facebook page and came across some recently posted pictures from Justin's page and there was this one. A few others but none as striking as this one. Kate truly is a stunningly beautiful child.

It says it all...Kate will be a heartbreaker someday. Justin & Joyce, you should be proud! :-)

Scout's Flying Raven

Raven, one of the best pups I've ever had the pleasure of sharing my life with. She is amazing, smart, intelligent, funny, serious, hilarious....OH. MY. GAWD.....does she make me every single day!! Srsly....

I was able to adopt this pup from Pacific NW Border Collie Rescue in March of 2008 (Raven's DOB is 01/04/08). Robin, one of my fellow rescuers who lives in Kennewich, WA, along with Prudence, Raven (and her littermates) foster home close to Robin, loved on these puppies & socialized them into well-adjusted MONSTERS!! I laugh every day at the antics of Raven, but at the end of the day, she looks at me with her brown & blue eyes and I melt. I love her unequivocally and with every ounce of me.

Thank you, Robin & Prudence, for entrusting me with this little soul. I hope I make you proud. :-)

Lewis & Fudge

These two boys are Akbash puppies. They are the sweetest creatures on earth. They LOVE LOVE LOVE to be held, snuggle into your lap when you sit on the ground, make the most amazing grunts & whines when they get into the right position next to you and have the most amazing puppy breath! Oh, and did I say how cute they are?!

I named them Fudge & Lewis....I like unusual names. I am NOT a traditional-type name person. I like being unique and I like the things around me to be unique. Who knew that I'd get my hands on Akbash puppies?

They are soft & cuddly & have the most gloriously dark brown eyes that I love to look into. They look at me as if I'm the best thing since puppy food. I am their world right now and I am loving it! :-)

THE SUPREMES!!

I LOVE PUPPIES!!!

These four girls (loving on Ben) are oh-so adorable & I would LOVE to keep one myself. Wouldn't you agree that they are keepers?!Kathy is naming them, but has started with Tiger and I'm hoping she'll stay also with Flo, Mary & Diana....check back for an update on names.They are available for adoption through Pacific NW Border Collie Rescue (http://www.pnwbcrescue.org/show_bio.php?ImageSize=2&DogId=3004). Only the best homes will be considered for them (why settle for anything less, right?).

The notsobrilliantmissingacardinHISdeck former "owner" (I use that term loosely) dumped them at a local shelter, saying that "I just noticed them under my porch just last night." DO YOU THINK I WAS BORN YESTERDAY????

Anyhoo, rescue scooped them up in a heartbeat. Four went to my main WA contact (the great Mr. Bob Lee) and four stayed here with my amazing & supportive foster home, Kathy Dynge....who also happens to be loving her time with puppes & squealing & barking & (the best part!!!) PUPPY BREATH!!!One of the other best parts? I get to play with them anytime I want to.

I am lucky to have Kathy. It was fate that we met just under a year ago, her showing off her gorgeous man-dog "Tug" and I was recuperating from running 3 miles....I will re-run this course next month as well....my brain keeps saying 'you're gonna what?!'...

Check out PNWBCR's site for more updated pictures, as I'm sure Kathy will happily oblige my wishings for more puppy pictures!! :-

Louie King Aslan Von Shipman

02/25/06 - 08/03/09

Rest in Peace, dear boy.

We will miss you forever & always.

Mama Shawna & Mama Jeri

Quaker

Meet Quaker, one helluva boy!

He was dumped with his brother at the Klamath Humane Society. I was then contacted, asking to place them. Quaker showed kennel stress almost right away so I knew he needed out of there before Big Bro.

To the rescue came one of my most amazing-est foster homes. Joanne (mom) and Erika (daughter) have fostered for me for almost a year now. Erika is ONLY 14 years old and she has more patience than Mother Theresa....I swear, this girl can figure out a dog within seconds of meeting it AND she has turned around dogs that some have said "can't be saved."

That said, Erika is now one of my own person dog trainers, working with me on my blind foster, Rocky, getting him through some of his issues AND she will showing my Rottie, Daisy, as a Junior Handler for AKC events.

Back to the original story...

Quakers is available for adoption through Pacific NW Border Collie Rescue. Here's his page: http://www.pnwbcrescue.org/show_bio.php?ImageSize=2&DogId=2991. If you know of anyone, point them in the direction of his page.

Thanks!

Currier Guard Station

This is where my partner and I stayed over the July 4th weekend. It is HEAVEN!!

Located in eastern Oregon by a small town called Paisley, it has been and can be used as a fire overnight for any fire protectors, aka Hot Shot crews, etc. That said, had the BEAUTIFUL thunderstorms resulted in a forest fire, they would have kicked us out (and we would have gladly left, too!) so they could use the facilities (said tongue-in-cheek of course considering there really are NOT any "facilities" aside from an outhouse...).


Anyhoo, here are some spectacular pics of the place that we called our little piece of heaven if only for 4 days and 3 nights.

This is Teaks, one of our kitties, who so happened to love us so much that she got to come along on the camping trip! She LOVED having the cabin to herself, as she also loves to show off by balancing on the post of the cabin bed. She is a sweetheart of a girl, and an acrobat in a past life! ;-)

This is looking down the road which leads to the cabin we stayed at. We went hiking for a bit one of the days we were there, and the dogs loved it. I'm sure they knew that they be able to get some swim time in, as the pond was cool & beckoning. So from left to right, front first: Raven, Rocky and Zoe, Daisy, Jorja, Milo and Louie. Somewhere around there is Sassy (she has the WORST recall EVER of any dog I've ever known....she pisses me off to no end but my GAWD I adore her!) and Smeagol is probably at my feet, waiting to run around in circles as "it's a pretty fun thing to do which makes Mama laugh"...!

This is the pond that the cabin overlooks. It truly took our breath away when we looked out the window and saw it We both wondered what we did to deserve such loveliness....

This is Jorja, my beloved Lab. She has the darkest most amazing eyes I have EVER seen on ANY dog. I lose myself in them when we have our morning chat. This girl was sent to me by Reo & Rusty. I thank them every day for her. (Sharing the photo is Zoe and one of Jeri's and Louie's legs.)

Teaks decided she needed a tan. Found a spot of sun and enjoyed it as only a feline can do...

How could I go without showing one picture of Raven and Smeagol in the background???

I think Zoe found a gopher hole....or something only she knows what it is.

Raven won. I knew she would. Zoe is a wuss....

And last but not least....me & Jeri. Life would be so empty without her.

Life is good!

Bella & Jeri:

This little girl was saved from certain doom when she & her 2 siblings were dumped off at the local shelter. They were less than 12 days old. I had a mama cat nursing her kittens and getting tired of their sharp teeth, so I pulled those kittens and put these 3 gray babies in with that mama. Two of them started nursing right away, Bella did not. We are now bottle-feeding her, which meant that she needed to come along on our mini-vacation...I didn't want to burden someone with the task of feeding her every 4 hours. Besides she is so frickin' adorable, I didn't want to be away from her. She is now Jeri's buddy, spending most days with Jeri at work. She has doubled in size. She is a pistol. She has attitude. But when she looks at you after filling her belly with love & affection and then puts her paws on each side of your face, we can't imagine NOT having her with us. We love her to bits! :-)

This was one of her favorite spots to be, once she finished her bottle. She tucked herself into Jeri's jacket hood and proceeded to clean herself.

Even at less than 2 weeks old, she already knew how to use a litter box and how to clean herself. What a charmer she is!

Sir Duncan Campbell...

...was a part of the noble society in Scotland (http://www.amazon.com/phrase/Duncan-Campbell-of-Glenorchy). This boy came from a desperate situation 8 years ago and I love him all the more because of it. He was starving, walking through a local park, and no one seemed to notice this gorgeous dog with this unforgettable eyes wandering aimlessly without a place to go. Did I already say that he was starving?

At approximately 6 months of age, he weighed only 21 pounds!! I took him in, starting him on a diet of cottage cheese & kibble and within a week, started showing me some spunk & attitude.

He is my shadow, my dog who knows probably everything about me, and still loves me. He passes no judgment, doesn't treat me badly, doesn't talk down to me, doesn't try to hurt me because he is hurting. He is the reason I am involved in rescue. He keeps me going and tells me in his own silly way that it's all going to be okay. I love this dog with all of my heart.

Esme the Pixie Cat...

This is Esme (think Twilight...). She is the latest addition to my family. She is a Scottish Fold (no, she is not mad...sheesh!) and she is one of the most vocal and personable cats. She takes no prisoners, she fights like mad if one of the dogs gets "personal" with her, she backs down from NO ONE! She is one of the sweetest kitties, and she is ALL mine. She is also polydactyl, which makes her even more endearing! This girl's a keeper! :-)