Our Pets Have Their Own Neuroses!

Why the sudden flurry of posts? Especially since I haven't blogged in months? Couldn't get Facebook to load any photos, that's why! So just went ahead and uploaded all significant from camera since the spring.

Have a slew of new online buddies as a result of my enrollment in Career Step! Career Step is an excellent online medical transcription course. I'm enjoying it so very much. Started in June-- work/study a minimum of 6 hours a day and hope to complete the course by January!

Anyway, was chatting with Marie, one of my new CS friends, and she's a huge animal lover and wanted to see a photo of Gabby sucking Olivia's thumb! Here 'tis Marie! I don't let her suck mine anymore. She's over two, time she outgrew this! She'll still "root" for a thumb when she snuggles with me, but I just hook my thumbs into my fist, and she gives up, settles down, and goes to sleep. Olivia still lets her...think she enjoys mothering her that way!

Okay--MUST get to WORK now!!

Rosie's Skunk Run-In!

Back in April, poor Rosie (12-year-old mixed breed mostly Chow) had a run-in with a skunk! We were leaving the windows open at night, and two nights in a row, I was awakened by an overpowering stinch of skunk--just completely filled the entire house! It was awful! Well, the second night just so happened I'd left Rosie outside, and she got sprayed! Not having any tomato juice, I read online that a mixture of peroxide and dish detergent would do the trick. Site said to leave it on for 30 minutes. I thought 30 is good, 60 would be better, right? Wrong! It bleached her fur! Took her to the groomer's for a trim and this is the result!

That's Grant's Chima with Rosie and Olivia. He's a Husky/Pit Bull mix. A very sweet, obedient, albeit mischievous puppy!

Photo of the Day--Gabby

Finally got a good shot of our Gabby with ears at attention! Ain't that just the cutest? So much personality packed in such a small package. There's never a dull moment with Gabby. She is a great source of comfort to Olivia. They're inseparable! She's actually leaving Gabby with us while she, Kristin #1, and Aly go to Boulder next week. Have I mentioned that? Maybe--maybe not--can't remember. Olivia is hoping/intending to go to Boulder in the fall of '09 for three years to earn her degree in Art Therapy. So to check it all out and meet with some folks at the campus she's taking Jug's RV and the three of them are trekking across the country! Wow! They're so brave and adventuresome! I'll have to practice a lot of ....hmmmm....right words here....positive affirmations, refusal to "go there" to not just worry myself crazy while they're gone. They'll be fine! Olivia's already had one RV driving lesson and I'm sure Jug will see to it that she is capable before she leaves. And what a fabulous last hurrah for these young women before they all go their separate ways. They'll never forget it. They will be making those lifetime memories that may fade with time but never be erased! The stories they will have to tell!

Photo of the Day--Olivia and Gabby

This was taken this past Christmas (2007) in the window seat of the dining room. Olivia's canine best friend, Gabby is such a mess! What a personality this little mutt has! As stated earlier (in posts labeled "Pets"), Gabby was acquired from the vets--a litter of four pups they were hoping to find homes for and not have to put down. Gabby appears to be a unique mixture of Welsh Corgi, Jack Russell, Rat Terrier or some such. She's small, 'bout 20 pounds and full of energy! Very smart and trainable. She's Livvie's constant companion. In this photo Olivia's calming overly excited Gabby with a little pacification of her thumb! Can you believe this? Gabby actually sucks on a thumb or finger! She'll get up in your lap and if she's feeling tired and sleepy will root about hunting for your fingers or thumb until she's finds them and then she settles down for a little nap! And if you start to pull your appendage from her grip, she'll not let you! She must have been weaned too young! Sweet, sweet, sweet! Another great dog, canine companion.

Photo of the Day--Bella

Believe I mentioned that I've been immersed and consumed with the "Putting Photos in Albums" project? I seem to have a pattern of going eight years! Last time I was caught up it 2000 and at that time it had been since Grant was a baby about 1992. Scheech! It's very time-consuming. And I got into Creative Memories in the late 90's and trying to embellish every page just makes the entire process way too time-consuming--which is probably why I had procrastinated and not kept up this project. So this time I'm not bothering with all that fussiness and embellishing the pages--just slapping them in there. Still, the task is daunting and is taking a lot of time. Seeing this old photographs that tell the story of our lives the past eight years as been at the least nostalgic and turns me inward. So much has happened in these years! We moved to Finley Park, we loved and lost Max, Grant and Olivia grew from a little boy and a moody middle schooler into a moody teenager and a mature and level-headed young woman respectively. Then we moved from Finley to Mo.Falls and completely changed our lives again. Ah, such is life!

So as I'm searching for all the pics and perusing them on the 20 or so CD's I have them saved on, I am constantly reminded of our beloved Bella. She's in so very many of the pictures. She was just always there mostly just an observer and constant protector of her family. She loved us so very much. This project provides me with, I guess, the last phase of my grieving process. Remembering her, cherishing her and letting it go. I still yet, even after, what--ten months, sometimes just in the corner of my vision and just for a very brief second or two think I see her. Hmmm....and just maybe it is the spirit of Bella still here with us!

This photo above depicts Bella as she would be most anytime she was not in the house with us. It's the view of our property from the front of the house looking out across the pasture. She would lay like this so often, just the mistress of all she surveyed, guarding, protecting all that was Shumate! Doesn't she just look regal? Both these photos were taken in the fall of '05.

Gabby

GABBY









In June, Olivia says she desperately NEEDS a dog companion while away at school and her Great Dane Bella was way over the weight limit at her apartment. She goes to the shelter and isn't captivated by any and decides to wait on fate. Sure enough, as it aways does, fate had the perfect pet for her. Olivia and I were at the vets with one of our other furry friends and we just mentioned that we were looking for a small dog. They had just received four puppies from the pound that the pound couldn't put down and no one at the vet's had mustered up the necessary gumption to do it either. They brought all four of the pups in and Olivia picked Gabby mostly because I said she seemed the calmest. (Huh! Boy, was I fooled!)






These first two were taken within just a couple of days of acquiring her while we were at the beach (Carova) in June of 2007. Her personality was evident!!





















And this was Gabby at Christmas 07. She is a MESS!!!! She's of unknown for sure lineage but she looks like a mix of some sort of Welsh Corgi, Jack Russell and Rat Terrier. Her ears are huge! And stick straight up. Not in this pic though. Gotta get one of that.
















This was also at Christmas 07. Gabby must have been taken from her mom's teat too young! She sucks on a thump or finger to fall asleep. She's sucking O's finger here. Weird, I know. But it is sweet! It'll calm her right down too. Gabby's very hyper, lots of energy and gets very excited when anyone new comes in.

Also at Christmas. Mama with three babies loving on her.






I keep telling Olivia that she can leave Gabby with us anytime. She always says NO, mama, you can't have my dog! I'd take her in a minute! She's my granddog.

Bryson

BRYSON




After losing Bella in July, 2007, in an attempt to fill the vast void she left in our lives, we contacted the Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue League and after a rather arduous application process and were finally approved, we brought Bryson home for a trial run. We became extremely attached to him--especially Olivia and me.





















He's a beautiful harlequin, very large, he weighed in at 140.





























Intimidating, huh?













Typical evening at the Shumates! That's Bryson, Zoe and Gabby relaxing with Mama.









Much to our disappointment, we were unable to keep Bryson. Did he EVER have issues with strangers! And he was so very, very large that I was actually afraid of him. Grant was too. When someone came knocking on the door, he just went nuts! Ferociously barking and growling and I could not contain him to my satisfaction. We had him over a month and that was certainly long enough to get very attached to him. After Jug was home for Christmas he helped me to see we just couldn't keep him. We couldn't have such a large animal that would could not completely trust. We miss you Bryson!






We actually tried another Great Dane after Bryson that also didn't work out. He was fine with strangers--he just had a problem with the other pets. After he attacked Zoe and the fight required after-afters stitches for poor, very traumatized Zoe, we returned him also.






Then Jug said what I needed to hear: Kim, you have two good dogs, Rosie and Zoe. You're looking for a GREAT dog. A Bella, a Max. When he put it to me like that, I knew I needed to stop trying to replace dogs that can't be replaced. I also realized we were/are financially responsible for six animals (our three and O's three) and that's just enough!

Zoe, Rosie, Bob, Atticus and Callie

Zoe and Rosie

Rosie's (on the right) been with us 11 years this month. She was a stray of unknown breed that my friend Ellen Royal and I found as a very tiny puppy walking one day when we still lived at the lake. She's good and loyal companion. Zoe, acquired from a breeder, started out being Grant's dog but she's very attached to me. We call Zoe Idiot Dog most of the time. She is very strange--all there is to it! Very neurotic. Sneaky, got to watch her ALL the time or she's in the trash or having an accident. She's looking at me sheepishly in this photo. I took it this morning and she knew she was "in the dog house" because the little sh-t peed on the carpet this morning and I had put her out and hadn't yet let her back into my good graces!!

Olivia's Atticus

Jug calls him Henry. She named him after To Kill a Mockingbird's Atticus--she loves that book. A very good cat. He's who exposed Jug and me to feline friends. We'd never been cat people until Atticus. We're now a member of the People Who Love Cats Club!!

Our Bob

My friend Lisa Factor calls me up one day about two years ago and says--now, Kim, you know you can say no to me, right? Yep, I can. Well, you're not looking for a cat pet, are you? And sure enough, I was! After Jug and I saw how wonderful a cat can be --having Atticus here when O was home from school, I was actually looking for a good cat. Olivia and I had been to the shelter in Asheville twice and I had left empty handed because I was waiting for the perfect one! Lisa and her family had just acquired a new puppy, a Maltese, I think, and as a puppy, she was extremely tiny--like a good sized mouse and their cat, my Bob, their Shadow, thought she was prey! Lisa said she couldn't relax for fear Bob would eat their new baby!! I said, yeah, bring him over. Best cat that EVER was! He is absolutely perfect! He's indoor/outdoor which I love because he rarely uses the litter box. He's very affectionate, climbing up onto mine or Jug's lap daily to snooze. He's vocal too. Talks to us all the time. A truly great cat!! And no, Lisa, you can't have him back!!

Isn't Bob just regal?

This is Callie. Another of Olivia's cats. She was also a pound kitty. She's a Siamese mix. Olivia acquired her because she thought Atticus needed a companion. Callie had been completely de-clawed which I think is the most cruel thing you can do to a cat! She's completely defenseless and can never go outside. Recently, Olivia's friend, Aly has taken Callie on. We are just about pet poor and Olivia had begun to feel a bit crowded in her one-bedroom since she got Gabby. How it continues to work out for Callie and Aly!!

Max

MAX

Another pet that touched our lives leaving a lasting impression. Max was a stray that just showed up at the back door one day while we lived in Finley Park. Grant and he bonded right away. It was about 1999 or 2000? If I'm remember correctly Grant was still sneaking into bed with us occasionally and he was 8 or 9. That stopped entirely when Max came along and Grant had a sleeping buddy! Max was of unknown breed but looked Pit Bull with some boxer maybe. I, like most folks, was very cautious and intimidated by Pit Bulls. But Max was so very, very smart, loving, and his personality was evident! We loved him so very much.

Max had issues with strangers. Typical of the breed, he was protective to the extreme. So unfortunate. He was such a good dog otherwise. But he bit a neighbor, not badly, but certainly bad enough. She was scared of him and ran from him--worse thing you can do, and he got her on her foot. I was devastated. I KNEW we could not keep a dog that I couldn't trust. In desperation, I searched and found a trainer up in West Jefferson to take him for an extended training session. She was sure she could "fix" him. She called me after three days. She related that she'd not even started training him yet, just had him out in the yard walking with him, getting to know him and unprovoked, without warning, he bit her on the hand. I was completely devastated now. KNEW what had to be done and it was by far THE hardest thing I have ever done. I cry absolutely every time I think about it. Don't think about it much. We put him down. We'll never forget him. Grant still searches for a "Max" replacement.

Can't get this second paragraph to accept any other formatting!!! Scheech!!

Bella, A Tribute

Bella February 2002-July 28, 2007

It's a testament to the human psyche how very attached we become to our canine and feline family members. And attached we were to Miss Bella. This is going to be harder than I thought to do--write about Bella. It still hurts so very much. But here goes.

We got Bella as a 12 week old puppy for Olivia in May of 2002. Grant got Zoe, our weimaranier just before or just after we got Bella--can't remember exactly how that went now. Bella, like Max, was an exceptional pet. Just lots of character and personality. She slept with Olivia every night of her life that Olivia was home. They adored each other. When we moved out here to Moravian Falls in 2005, Bella and the other pets blossomed and thrived with all the freedom and space they had to adventure in! We have an invisible fence and they are all indoor/outdoor animals, coming and going as they please and always sleeping inside.

On July 28th, 2007, we spent the day in West Virginia at a Higgins family reunion. We arrived home, Grant, Olivia, Jim and I (Jug was out of town) to find poor Bella. We don't yet know what happened. The not knowing haunts me still. She was lying (laying??) in the pasture on the outside of the invisible fence line and essentially unmarked. Closer examination revealed two very small cuts. We took her to the vets that evening and they did a superficial autospy. Radiographs revealed massive head trauma so the vet speculated that she must have been hit with great force on the head. Car hit her? Don't know.

We loved her greatly. We miss her still.

This first picture is bad, I know, but I kinda liked how it blurred. That's Aaron Pruitt, Olivia's ex-boyfriend. We still love Aaron too!







Bella loving on Ryker. Ryker is Ginny Edmiston's son. His last name isn't Edminston and I can't recall what it is!






















A beautiful specimen of fawn Great Dane.







She was a "presence" in the house. So relaxing, so calm and very loving. She was a force to be reckoned with too! Very protective and territorial. She really did not trust most strange men and we had to watch her closely to prevent her biting. I always felt safe when Jug was away with Bella in the house!