Tony Walker was sitting in a parked car in the afternoon on May 7, 2007, when a Dodge Intrepid came past with three bald-headed Hispanic men, at least one of which, according to a witness, had a gun. Multiple shots came from the Intrepid, killing Walker and Jamal Varcasia, who was running across the street at that moment.
The witness, Raeshel Shay, was frightened and did not immediately report what she had seen. Later she was in custody for having a fraudulent gift card when, during a monitored phone call to her sister, she mentioned the shooting. Using photographic six-packs, she identified Jose Elias as the driver, Joseph Ruiz as the rear passenger, and Eric Perez as the front passenger. At trial, she identified them again but said Elias had been in the back seat and Perez had been the driver.
Elias and Ruiz were also identified by Johann Montoya as being in a car near the scene of the May 7 shooting, though Montoya made this statement to an officer after he was beaten by some of the men in the car on or about May 11. At trial, Montoya denied making a statement about the May 7 incident.
Bullet casings were recovered from the scene of the murders. All casings were fired from the same Remington Peters 9mm Luger, and probably all the recovered bullets and fragments were fired from that weapon as well. A .32 caliber handgun was recovered later during the investigation at a different location. This was not the murder weapon but there was some evidence that a second gun had been in the Intrepid on May 7 and the police considered it possible that this gun had been in the car during the shootings.
Station Identification
A station identification was performed on May 16, 2007, by Ted Hamm, a civilian handler working for the police, and his dog, Bojangles. Detective Grant Curry had three detectives take the three defendants�Ruiz, Elias, and Perez�to the third floor of the Pasadena Police Station and put them in different rooms. The opinion states:
�Neither Detective Curry nor Hamm knew where on the third floor the defendants were. Detective Curry then gave Hamm three bullet casings recovered from the crime scene and the .32 caliber gun. Using a Scent Transfer Unit (STU), described as a modified dust buster, Hamm extracted scent from the three casings and placed it on a sterile guaze pad. Hamm did the same with the .32 caliber gun, placing its scent on a different gauze pad.�
It is not clear why Hamm felt it necessary to place scent from all three casings on the same pad since more than one person may have loaded different rounds and separate pads from each casing might verify this. In any case, the scent pad created from all the casings was used by the dog to identify two individuals. There was no discussion concerning whether this might indicate that one of the rounds was loaded prior to the incident on May 7, which could argue that one of the defendants might not have been present during the shootings.
�Hamm brought his dog, Bojangles, up the elevator to the third floor and let Bojangles smell the pad containing the scent from the casings. Bojangles immediately went down the hall, making turns, and led Hamm and the detective to Perez. After Bojangles smelled a pad with the scent from the casings again, Bojangles this time led them to Elias. But when the scent pad was reintroduced a third time, Bojangles did not move.�
Why did the dog not move after being scented a third time? Presumably we are to understand that the dog had completed its tracking, but this was not explained. Did Hamm and Bojangles begin each sniff in the same location? Once the dog alerted to a suspect, was the suspect removed? Was a replacement put in the same place as the identified suspect had been? How many choices did Bojangles actually have in terms of suspects or individuals who looked like suspects after being scented each time?
A third identification took place in the Pasedena Police Station parking lot:
�The other detectives then took Elias, Ruiz, and Perez to the parking area, and Hamm had Bojangles smell the scent pad from the .32 caliber gun. Bojangles led to Ruiz.�
This change of location should also be explained. A parking lot identification has some of the same concerns as a station identification and most of the same questions raised above should have been of concern to the police and defense counsel.
A jury convicted Elias and Ruiz of the murders in February 2010. Elias received a sentence of life without possibility of parole plus two consecutive 25 year terms. Ruiz was sentenced to two life terms, each with a 15 year minimum plus two consecutive 25 year terms.
Canine Evidence at Trial
In a pre-trial hearing, the court determined that a scent transfer unit (STU) is, in the words of the appellate court, �generally accepted in the scientific community as a collection device and that it can pick up scents from items that have gone through volatile events or scents.� The trial court also determined that a foundation had been laid for the handler and the scent dog.
The appellate court found the assignment of error of the defendants regarding the canine evidence �imprecise,� but concluded that they were objecting to the STU on scientific grounds, but to the dog scent identification as lacking a proper foundation. The defense argued at trial that it had not been established that an STU could pick up multiple scents. It is not clear where the defense was going with this argument. Did someone on the defense team think that an STU selectively picked up only certain scents? In any case, the defense seems to have dropped this line, but then suggested that a dog could not differentiate multiple scents. The appellate court called this a foundational issue. In any case, canine detection is based on the knowledge that a dog can be scented to one odor and thereafter distinguish this odor from others that might be present at the same time. This was established scientifically by Otto Kalischer more than a century ago. Dogs can also be taught to remember multiple scents (up to 17 separate individuals were distinguishable by dogs in one experiment) and will continue to distinguish them for much longer than was required for the testing discussed here.
The appellate court concluded that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that the prosecution established a foundation to admit the dog scent identifications. The court analyzed the history of dog tracking and scent lineups in California, describing cases reviewed extensively in Police and Military Dogs, including People v. Willis, 115 Cal.App.4th 379, 9 Cal.Rptr. 235 (2004), a station identification in which a California appellate court determined the admission of the identification using an STU was clear error, though harmless because of the other evidence. Despite the rejection of canine evidence in Willis, the appellate court here found that the testimony of the experts had provided an adequate foundation for admission of the scent identification evidence:
�We find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that the People laid an adequate foundation to admit the dog-scent identification evidence through the testimony of its expert witnesses: Dr. Kenneth Furton, a professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Rex Stockham, an FBI supervisory special agent who is the forensic canine program manager and research program manager for the evidence response team unit; and Ted Hamm, a civilian contract canine handler primarily employed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Bojangles's handler and trainer.�
Hamm and Bojangles
The defense objected that there were no negative scent pads used, i.e., negative controls or zero trials in which the dog was scented on a pad unconnected with the case to verify that the dog would not start tracking if there was no scent related to the pad to be followed. One of the experts described his use of a negative scent pad to ensure his dogs are working properly, before the actual trailing is done. The court rejected this argument as follows:
�Using such �controls,� however, is not common practice, and the only law enforcement agency that uses controls is the FBI. Hamm's failure to use a negative scent pad did not therefore establish that the procedure he used was a bad practice.�
Hamm is familiar with negative controls. In a 2005 case, the Los Angeles Superior Court cited several experts (including Stockham) regarding the value of negative controls and said that Hamm, a handler in that case as well, �uses negative checks and Knight responds reliably.� People v. Salcido, Docket No. GA052057 (Los Angeles Superior Court 2005). The authors are aware of law enforcement agencies other than the FBI using negative controls, but perhaps the court is correct as to California police practice.
The defense also argued that Hamm�s procedures were faulty because he only used one dog, not two. The court also rejected this:
�Stockham, however, merely testified that while he prefers to use more than one dog in his investigations, he uses single dogs too. Stockham did not testify that the only generally accepted practice is to use two dogs. In fact, Stockham praised Hamm as �very competent� and in the �top echelon of experienced handlers in the U.S.� He considers Hamm to be a leading expert in scent trailing.�
In a properly conducted scent lineup, it is our opinion that several dogs increase the reliability of an identification. (See draft paper of Ensminger, Jezierski, and McCulloch, pp. 58-63, describing how requiring three or more dogs for a positive identification significantly reduces the number of identifications, but also reduces the chance of a misidentification almost to zero).
The defense then argued that a finding of adequate training and reliability could not be made because Bojangles was not certified. The court rejected any certification requirement, and concluded that one of the experts in the case, Furton, though mentioning certification, had not meant that it was required:
�Defendants incorrectly assert that Dr. Furton testified that a dog must go �through certain blind tests and reach a set percentile of correct identifications� to be certified in California. What Dr. Furton actually said was a California organization he belongs to requires a training log, blind tests, and a certain percentile of correct identification to certify a dog; he did not testify that California has a certification standard or process. Rather, there is no national standard for certification or training of scent dogs, and standards vary from state to state. Neither California nor the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department have requirements for certifying trailing dogs. The Scientific Working Groups on Dogs and Orthogonal Detection Guidelines (SWGDOG), an international working group funded by the FBI, is developing best practice certification and assessment guidelines for police-related canine disciplines.�
Hamm is presumably not opposed to certification. In Salcido, he used a dog named Knight that had been certified in 1998, apparently with the California Bloodhound Handlers Coalition, though Hamm did not purchase the dog until 2000. The court then summarized the position of another expert, Rex Stockham of the FBI, regarding training and certification:
�Although there are no national or specific state standards for training or certifying a scent dog, Stockham described his training process and how he determines a dog's reliability. Stockham keeps detailed training records to compare and contrast the milestones a dog should reach. To determine a dog's reliability, he relies on frequent observation of teams and blind testing, which the FBI routinely conducts. Before Stockham considers deploying a dog for a job, he subjects it to a series of tests and controls. The �best practice� is for someone not routinely involved in the dog's training to assess its readiness for fieldwork. But a dog's handler also has the ability to determine whether the dog is positively or negatively trailing a scent. Once a dog is ready for fieldwork, the dog still requires maintenance training, and the industry standard is a scent dog should have 16 hours of maintenance training, although some people in the field believe that once a month is sufficient.�
Although some of Stockham�s comments would seem to provide a model different from what Hamm actually used, there was no further discussion of the disparity.
The defense also pointed out that Hamm had lost training logs dated before 2008 in a computer crash and argued that this meant that �Bojangles�s training and abilities were merely anecdotal.� The court responded:
�We disagree. Hamm testified extensively and specifically about his and Bojangles's background. Hamm has trained bloodhounds for 21 years and participated in over 2,000 investigations. He begins training a dog when it is a puppy. The dog first watches a person run away and then follows. Then the person drops an object that has his or her scent on it. Eventually, the person goes out of the dog's sight, and the dog must transition from visually following the person to using its nose to find the person. The length, age, and complexity of the trail is slowly increased. Hamm also works blind, meaning he doesn't know where the person is or what the result should be. The training process takes about two years, although a dog continues to do maintenance training even after it is ready to work. He tries to do maintenance training at least once a week and more often if he is able.�
Hamm is no doubt busy. In a 2008 opinion, the court cites the trial court�s description of Hamm as having been involved in 1,200 cases. People v. Alonzo, 2008 WL 2248628 (Ct. Appp. 2008). This suggests that Hamm works on at least 200 investigations a year, a significant number for a contract worker.
The absence of training records is not made trivial by a restatement of the training procedures preferred by the handler of the dog. Hamm has testified in many cases, and it would seem likely that prior records might have been introduced in other cases where he testified, but this possibility was not discussed. The court continued regarding Hamm�s training regimen:
�Hamm trained Bojangles in this manner, on trails fresher than 48 hours, to discriminate between human scents and to identify only the scent he's given. Bojangles has also been trained in different environments and on different surfaces. He's been trained with the STU and on a variety of scent articles, including spent cartridge casings. Bojangles frequently participates in a weekly maintenance training session. Hamm has been doing casework with Bojangles for three or four years with no history of falsely identifying targets in either blind testing or casework. Bojangles has confirmed cases, which are cases in which the dog's conclusion is confirmed by other sources, for example, witness statements, confessions, and DNA. To Hamm's knowledge, Bojangles has no confirmed negatives, where the dog found a scent and trailed to a subject who did not match the scent.�
The court apparently accepted Hamm�s testimony that Bojangles had �no history of falsely identifying targets,� and that �[t]o Hamm�s knowledge, Bojangles has no confirmed negatives.� Not many handlers could say this about the entire history of any dog. A footnote explains that �Hamm has been able to confirm approximately 40 of Bojangles�s cases out of 300.� This meant that the defense apparently had access to about 13% of the dog�s field work.
The defense also argued that there was no evidence that a bluetick coonhound had particular scent abilities. Here, the court correctly observed that �to the extent a dog�s breed is related to its ability to discriminate scents, there has been an insufficient foundation�.� Coonhound mixes have been effective trackers since the nineteenth century.
Thus, the defense had no access to a significant part of the dog�s training history or to the vast majority of its field work. Consequently, neither did the experts. A good part of the prosecution�s case, therefore, rests on the testimony of the handler, to which the court was quite receptive.
A Florida court recently excluded canine evidence where adequate field records could not be supplied (though the records there were more substantial than those available here), stating that if �an officer fails to keep records of his or her dog's performance in the field, the officer is lacking knowledge important to his or her belief that the dog is a reliable indicator of drugs.� We suggested in that context, which could have involved the exclusion of evidence in the future from a large number of canine teams that had no advance notice that additional recordkeeping would be required, that the Florida court should perhaps have fashioned some interim means of qualifying a dog. The solution in the case here would have been to allow independent testing of Hamm and Bojangles prior to the admission of the canine evidence. We suggest that, if such an approach were accepted, the testing should consist of an independently monitored scent lineup, since duplicating conditions on the third floor of the Pasadena Police Station would be impossible with any scientific objectivity.
Human Scent
The court then discussed the uniqueness of human scent, the ability of dogs to pick up scent from an object, and the ability of dogs to differentiate multiple scents on an item. Relying primarily on the experts, the court correctly determined that these elements were supported by scientific findings as accepted by prior California cases.
Instruction to the Jury
California provides for standardized instruction in tracking cases, and the CALCRIM No. 374 was used for this purpose:
�You have received evidence about the use of a tracking dog. You may not conclude that the defendant is the person who committed the crime based only on the fact that a dog indicated the defendant. Before you rely on dog-tracking evidence, there must be, one, evidence of the dog's general reliability as a tracker, and, two, other evidence that the dog accurately followed a trail that led to the person who committed the crime. This other evidence does not need to independently link the defendant to the crime. [�] In deciding the meaning and importance of the dog-tracking evidence consider the training, skill and experience, if any, of the dog, [its] trainer or [its] handler together with everything else that you learned about the dog's work on this case.�
The defense pointed out that the case at hand was not a typical tracking case in that the dog did not follow a scent from the crime scent to a location where the defendant had been or was found, yet the instructions were issued without objection. The court acknowledged that the situation was not typical:
�Although CALCRIM No. 374 might seem more appropriate to [tracking situations], it is not inapplicable to a station identification. The instruction simply says that there must be �other evidence that the dog accurately followed a trail that led to the person who committed the crime.� (Italics added.) Bojangles smelled scent from the .32 caliber gun and trailed to Ruiz. Although there was no physical evidence that a .32 caliber gun was used during the crimes (only nine-millimeter bullets and casings were recovered from the crime scene and from the victims' bodies), Raeshal Shay testified that she might have seen two guns; hence, it was the prosecution's theory that Elias and Ruiz committed the crimes together and that there was a second gun, possibly the .32 caliber gun found at Ruiz's girlfriend's house. The dog-scent evidence therefore merely connected Ruiz to the .32 caliber gun; there had to be other corroborating evidence that Ruiz was the person who committed the crime.�
The court found the �other corroborating evidence� in other testimony regarding the actions of the defendants, and after reviewing gang-related issues, affirmed the conviction.
A Hybrid Procedure?
There was far too little discussion of the station and parking lot identifications, and too little consideration of how they were conducted. A floor plan of the third floor of the Pasadena Police Station would have been helpful in determining what sort of tracking was really involved. How many rooms were on that floor? How many suspects were on the floor? If there were only a few suspects on the floor, then the possibility of cueing is not negligible. Did any officers on the floor, either with the defendants or otherwise, know why the dogs were working there? If so, the possibility of third-party cueing was present, a factor that scientifically conducted scent lineups remove by insisting that no one within sight of the dog know the correct station in a lineup.
If the dog was not trained with negative controls, it may have performed its work in expectation of a reward. How many individuals not in police uniforms and dressed as gang members were actually on the third floor that the dog could choose from? In a scent lineup, the possibility of randomly correct identification increases as the number of stations in the lineup decrease. Was this issue considered?
The tracking aspect of the procedure also needs to be explained in more detail. Did all the defendants on the floor use the same hallway and follow the same path except when entering separate rooms? Did any of the suspects enter any rooms where other suspects were placed, even if only temporarily? Did the dog use the same hallways and passages as the defendants? Did any defendant enter a room through a passage where the dog could not sniff? If so, this begins to look like a modified scent lineup rather than a modified tracking or trailing.
Was the procedure videotaped? Although scent lineups should, in our opinion, be videotaped, it is seldom practical to videotape a tracking or trailing. Here, however, given the limited space and the advance placement of the suspect, it would have been advisable to use video cameras. If this is to continue to be the Pasadena Police Department�s method of scent identification, stationery video cameras should be installed in the third floor in places that will capture the movements of the suspects as well as those of handlers and dogs.
The presence of other individuals than those directly involved in the identification should have been recorded. Certainly this would be required in a scent lineup. So who was present in the hallways? What did they know? Were doors to the rooms with the defendants open? Were all other doors on the floor open as well? Could individuals in the hallways see the dogs when they entered the rooms and presumably alerted to the suspects? If only the doors to the rooms with the defendants were open, there was little possibility for randomness in the dog�s indications.
There were other differences from tracking. In most tracking situations, the dog has the possibility of following a trail that ends with no suspect in the vicinity. The suspect may cross streams, enter cars, disappear in countless ways. There is a good chance that the dog will abandon the trail. The possibilities of what can happen in an outdoor tracking are often infinite. Here it appears the handler knew there was a correct choice to be made in a finite space, much as if the handler was guaranteed that one station in a lineup would be a positive match. This is another reason why some sort of negative control should have been performed, one where Hamm would not know that there was no match to be found on the floor, but where individuals who looked like suspects were present in some of the rooms.
Some research has indicated that a longer trail reinforces the dog�s ability to identify a suspect as the individual being tracked. (Police and Military Dogs, p. 62) The trails here were presumably very short. One study found that dogs often follow the correct trail but fail to alert to the correct party at the end. In one segment of that study, dogs followed the correct trail 100% of the time, yet alerted to the correct �suspect� only 73% of the time. Did Bojangles ever alert to anyone besides a suspect? Apparently not, yet the fact the defendants were accompanied by escorting detectives raises the possibility that the dog was not always tracking a defendant. Without a videotape the only witness whose testimony could be elicited on this question was apparently Hamm. Did defense counsel obtain detailed accounts from the defendants of what happened on the third floor of the Pasadena Police Station? Even if so, would they have understood that they were seeing an alert to someone besides themselves?
Hamm and the Pasadena Police Department have begun to use station identification as a procedure. This formalized station identification fits neither the parameters that are applied by SWGDOG or any certifying organization to a scent lineup or most tracking environments. The court rejected that the argument that the procedure used by Hamm had to be vetted as a novel scientific approach. That may be correct because it was an amalgam of two generally accepted procedures. Yet because it was an amalgam it must be analyzed for what it is, not assumed to pass as a tracking with insignificant variations.
Station identifications have often occurred accidentally. The trail goes cold, the dog stops tracking and is returned to the station, where a suspect has been brought in on other evidence, the dog picks up the scent inside the station and resumes tracking, then alerts to the suspect. Here this result was not accidental but expected.
Hamm and Pasadena police officials have used the third floor of the Pasadena Police Station before. See California v. Smith, 2011 WL 1350762 (Ct. App. 2011). Were the defendants put in the same rooms as those in prior cases? If so, this also raises the possibility that Hamm may have expected the defendants to be in certain rooms on the floor. Were these rooms ever sterilized? How often was the procedure on the floor being used? Could anyone be certain that odor from prior suspects was not still present?
There are reasons why scent lineups must be so rigorously conducted in order to be fair, and why their use in some countries in Europe (the Netherlands, Poland) has been so considerably restricted. Hamm�s station identification procedures were not required to meet any scent lineup standards because the court accepted that this was a tracking situation. Yet the variations from tracking were sufficiently great that it must be asked why scent lineups were not used, since these could involve parameters that would assure a high level of reliability.
Conclusion
The case is disturbing at a number of levels. The court affirmed the reliability of Bojangles based on the handler�s description of the dog�s history, without either adequate training or field records, or any certification of the handler and dog as a team. Although the court was correct that certification can vary from state to state and organization to organization, the presence of records of a certifying organization could have been of considerable assistance in a case where the handler could offer only fragmentary records.
Station identifications have a legitimate place in American legal history, and have resulted in properly admitted identifications of suspects since at least 1918. Nevertheless, the Pasadena Police Department, with the help of California courts, has inappropriately elevated this procedure to a forensic technique. Significant differences of this formalized station identification from a typical tracking situation were ignored in this case, and have given the green light to further use of a procedure that fails to take into account the controls that can assure that a scent lineup is objective. California has here accepted an approach that may far too easily result in misidentifications.
It must be acknowledged that canine evidence is often important in drive-by shootings where witnesses can disappear for many reasons, and California is right to want to preserve the possibility of using this evidence. The solution is to adopt skillfully managed scent lineups, not to use a slapdash cross between tracking and scent lineups.
A larger concern is that if American law enforcement authorities continue to employ poorly designed scent identification techniques, the label of junk science that has been given by the Innocence Project and others to such techniques will stick after a few more reversals and there will be considerable pressure on U.S. courts to stop allowing scent identification altogether. Unfortunately, the junk science label is correct as to most--perhaps all--scent lineups described in any detail in American judicial opinions. It would be a shame to have such a wholesale rejection of scent identification since scent lineups can be made much more rigorous than has been true in the United States so far and could be a valuable forensic technique for law enforcement.
People v. Elias, B224372, 2011 WL 3949808 (Ct. App. 2011). It has been pointed out to us that we should note that this opinion has not been certified for publication and, under California Rules of Court, Rule 8.1115, may not be cited or relied on by a court or party except under limited exceptions. This rule has been the subject of considerable criticism. One commentator noted that "[t]here is no valid reason why litigants should not be able to let a trial judge or appellate justice know how their colleagues decided a case involving similar facts even if that opinion is unpublished." Keshavarzi, M. (May 7, 2010), Daily Journal. In any case, our criticisms are not part of a legal proceeding.
This piece was written by John Ensminger and L.E. Papet.
Sunday, 23 October 2011
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
IT'S GOOD TO BE THE QUEEN!
IT�S GOOD TO BE THE QUEEN!
Or
IS THERE LIFE AFTER A DOG FINISHES THEIR CHAMPIONSHIP?
A better question would be what becomes of a dog once she finishes her championship and she lives in the Cohen household? Chances are once a male becomes a champion and especially if he adds Select to his title, the German Shepherd population will know more about him than if it�s a bitch that has done the same thing. Of course if she becomes a top ROM producing dam then that�s another story. Ever wonder what becomes of some of these lovely girls that had such wonderful show careers? Well if she�s raised in the Cohen�s house (Lorraine and Marc) and her name is Select #2 Ch Cathelin Azeri of Hallmark one might find her sailing up and down the coast line of Washington. Or she might be accompanying Marc on one of his veterinarian lectures sitting right up on the podium next to him. After all she�s used to being put on display and the stares and smiles directed at her has all been shown to her before. She takes it all in stride and is more concerned about the dinner that she and Marc will be sharing back at the hotel later on. So if a bored yawn escapes her mouth, it�s not that she�s unappreciative of her adoring admirers, it�s just that she�s looking forward to a favorite treat that awaits her back in the hotel room.
Annie is the queen of the Cohen house and the other dogs (many of them being her kids and grandkids) know it and show her the respect that she�s grown accustomed to. Many of them are following in Annie�s illustrious show career with major points and Best in Futurity wins and class winners.
As much as Annie enjoys the comforts of her home or traveling with Marc on his lecture circuits, one of her passions has been those lazy days spending time sailing up and down the coastline of Washington where she resides. Although Annie is not the only dog in the Cohen household that has shared in this beloved sport of Lorraine and Marc�s, she usually accompanies them the most. It�s a privilege that she�s earned! The latest adventure found the Cohen�s and Annie sailing through the straights up to Canada. Lorraine told me that they ran into (or better put) ran away from a storm that was chopping up the sea that they set sail on. In typical Annie fashion, she took it all in stride. If it was good enough for her masters, then it was good enough for her as well.
Annie has her own life jacket and her infamous little red booties that she wears on those rougher days out at sea to help prevent her from sliding on the wet deck. She tolerates her embarrassing red booties surprisingly enough more than her constricting life jacket. I wonder what her show dog competitors would think of her walking around in red booties and a life jacket. Jeez!
Come dinnertime, a plate is set at the table for the Queen to join her masters as they discuss their day at sea. Lorraine swears that Annie understands many of their conversations. No matter how rough the seas can get, Annie never gets sea sick or nervous as the writer of this article would be! I guess that�s why she�s a true German Shepherd��she�s a brave little soul!
And what about when �mother nature calls?� Going potty on the deck of the boat is something that Annie refuses to do. She�s such a lady! Instead, she enjoys her little boat rides on the dinghy that takes her and Marc to shore. One would swear that she�s just looking for an excuse to feel the sand between her toes and run along the beach with Marc. Lorraine says that she loves it! Is this a dog that enjoys life or what?
Most days find Annie walking around up on deck taking in the sights and smelling the fresh air and sea water. Some days a stray seagull or two might hitch a ride to the sails of the �SV Gantman� (the name of the boat) to see what a German Shepherd is doing away from land. Once their curiosity is satisfied, they turn a disinterested eye away and fly beyond the horizon until Annie loses site of the feathered creatures.
Annie is eight years young now having just celebrated a birthday on August 17th. One would swear that she�s still a puppy the way that she �tells off� the resident dogs that live on the docks on boats with their owners. So this is when the �Queen� is put on a leash and hooked up to the �grab rail� down in the salon of the boat as they leave the docks. It�s as if she�s letting them know how special she is. I guess she forgets that she�s no longer home ruling her domain and these dock dogs aren�t at all impressed with her show dog titles. To them, she�s just another one of those loud, boisterous German Shepherds trying to push her weight around. They are most thankful when the �SV Gantman� prepares to set sail with �that dog of theirs.� A male dog lifts his leg to relieve himself where their boat was docked as if saying �Bon Voyage Ms. Show dog!� And as they further drift out to sea, one can still hear Annie in the belly of the boat barking in defiance at the dock dogs� indifference to her!
I was delighted to meet Annie in person when I shared a room with her owner Lorraine at the 2005 National where I saw this beautiful representative of the breed deservingly take her Select 2 title! Annie is everything that a German Shepherd should be. Besides her successful show career and her equally impressive offspring, Annie is the type of dog anyone would be happy and proud to own. She�s beauty, brains and bravado all wrapped up in one tightly neat little black and red package!
Back at the Cohen�s house bed time can prove challenging for Marc as sometimes he finds himself in the awkward position of �asking� Annie if she doesn�t mind moving her little body over so he can climb in as well. Oh it�s not that she�s selfish, but if she gets into bed first then she�s claimed that spot as her own for the night and �those other two� have to scramble to find a comfortable spot of their own. Did I say already that Annie is one smart canine?!
Annie is retired from the show ring now and lives a very happy and content life��..�You think?�
My rating: Living, loving and playing with your German Shepherd: (4)
Or
IS THERE LIFE AFTER A DOG FINISHES THEIR CHAMPIONSHIP?
A better question would be what becomes of a dog once she finishes her championship and she lives in the Cohen household? Chances are once a male becomes a champion and especially if he adds Select to his title, the German Shepherd population will know more about him than if it�s a bitch that has done the same thing. Of course if she becomes a top ROM producing dam then that�s another story. Ever wonder what becomes of some of these lovely girls that had such wonderful show careers? Well if she�s raised in the Cohen�s house (Lorraine and Marc) and her name is Select #2 Ch Cathelin Azeri of Hallmark one might find her sailing up and down the coast line of Washington. Or she might be accompanying Marc on one of his veterinarian lectures sitting right up on the podium next to him. After all she�s used to being put on display and the stares and smiles directed at her has all been shown to her before. She takes it all in stride and is more concerned about the dinner that she and Marc will be sharing back at the hotel later on. So if a bored yawn escapes her mouth, it�s not that she�s unappreciative of her adoring admirers, it�s just that she�s looking forward to a favorite treat that awaits her back in the hotel room.
Annie is the queen of the Cohen house and the other dogs (many of them being her kids and grandkids) know it and show her the respect that she�s grown accustomed to. Many of them are following in Annie�s illustrious show career with major points and Best in Futurity wins and class winners.
As much as Annie enjoys the comforts of her home or traveling with Marc on his lecture circuits, one of her passions has been those lazy days spending time sailing up and down the coastline of Washington where she resides. Although Annie is not the only dog in the Cohen household that has shared in this beloved sport of Lorraine and Marc�s, she usually accompanies them the most. It�s a privilege that she�s earned! The latest adventure found the Cohen�s and Annie sailing through the straights up to Canada. Lorraine told me that they ran into (or better put) ran away from a storm that was chopping up the sea that they set sail on. In typical Annie fashion, she took it all in stride. If it was good enough for her masters, then it was good enough for her as well.
Annie has her own life jacket and her infamous little red booties that she wears on those rougher days out at sea to help prevent her from sliding on the wet deck. She tolerates her embarrassing red booties surprisingly enough more than her constricting life jacket. I wonder what her show dog competitors would think of her walking around in red booties and a life jacket. Jeez!
Come dinnertime, a plate is set at the table for the Queen to join her masters as they discuss their day at sea. Lorraine swears that Annie understands many of their conversations. No matter how rough the seas can get, Annie never gets sea sick or nervous as the writer of this article would be! I guess that�s why she�s a true German Shepherd��she�s a brave little soul!
And what about when �mother nature calls?� Going potty on the deck of the boat is something that Annie refuses to do. She�s such a lady! Instead, she enjoys her little boat rides on the dinghy that takes her and Marc to shore. One would swear that she�s just looking for an excuse to feel the sand between her toes and run along the beach with Marc. Lorraine says that she loves it! Is this a dog that enjoys life or what?
Most days find Annie walking around up on deck taking in the sights and smelling the fresh air and sea water. Some days a stray seagull or two might hitch a ride to the sails of the �SV Gantman� (the name of the boat) to see what a German Shepherd is doing away from land. Once their curiosity is satisfied, they turn a disinterested eye away and fly beyond the horizon until Annie loses site of the feathered creatures.
Annie is eight years young now having just celebrated a birthday on August 17th. One would swear that she�s still a puppy the way that she �tells off� the resident dogs that live on the docks on boats with their owners. So this is when the �Queen� is put on a leash and hooked up to the �grab rail� down in the salon of the boat as they leave the docks. It�s as if she�s letting them know how special she is. I guess she forgets that she�s no longer home ruling her domain and these dock dogs aren�t at all impressed with her show dog titles. To them, she�s just another one of those loud, boisterous German Shepherds trying to push her weight around. They are most thankful when the �SV Gantman� prepares to set sail with �that dog of theirs.� A male dog lifts his leg to relieve himself where their boat was docked as if saying �Bon Voyage Ms. Show dog!� And as they further drift out to sea, one can still hear Annie in the belly of the boat barking in defiance at the dock dogs� indifference to her!
I was delighted to meet Annie in person when I shared a room with her owner Lorraine at the 2005 National where I saw this beautiful representative of the breed deservingly take her Select 2 title! Annie is everything that a German Shepherd should be. Besides her successful show career and her equally impressive offspring, Annie is the type of dog anyone would be happy and proud to own. She�s beauty, brains and bravado all wrapped up in one tightly neat little black and red package!
Back at the Cohen�s house bed time can prove challenging for Marc as sometimes he finds himself in the awkward position of �asking� Annie if she doesn�t mind moving her little body over so he can climb in as well. Oh it�s not that she�s selfish, but if she gets into bed first then she�s claimed that spot as her own for the night and �those other two� have to scramble to find a comfortable spot of their own. Did I say already that Annie is one smart canine?!
Annie is retired from the show ring now and lives a very happy and content life��..�You think?�
My rating: Living, loving and playing with your German Shepherd: (4)
Friday, 19 August 2011
WHAT'S SEX GOT TO DO WITH ANYTHING ANYWAY?
Quick, if someone asked you to name the all time greatest German Shepherd Dog in the history of the breed, who would you say? How about if they asked you who the best looking dog of all time was? Want to make a bet that you would name a male dog for both of those questions?
Admit it, when you were a kid and someone would mention the German Shepherd Dog, I bet you would visualize a male dog. I know that I did. I�ve always loved the noble look of this breed. I visualized them as being a masculine, big boned dog with a great big old head. I thought of them as a powerful breed; strong and courageous and willing to defend you with their life! Not once did I ever think of a German Shepherd bitch when I thought about this breed! For some reason, thinking of a German Shepherd brings up a picture in most peoples mind of the majestic male of this breed. Many times if your parents bought a German Shepherd as a pet, nine times out of ten, it was probably a male. They were probably looking for a guardian for their family, but more importantly a powerful protector of their property and valuables.
There�s just something about the noble German Shepherd Dog that makes you think in terms of the males of this breed. On the other hand, if you�re thinking of a lap dog, many times you might think in terms of a female.
When I first started out in this breed, a male is all I ever thought about owning. I wanted a big masculine dog that would turn people�s heads when I walked down the street with him. �That�s right, we�re cool. I got myself a big �bad boy!� I wanted a dog that commanded people�s respect and in my mind, what better way to do this than with a male German Shepherd? That was my mind set then. German Shepherd Dogs equaled male dogs! That was until I was knocked down a few pegs when one of my very first lessons in this breed is when someone told me: �Your kennel is only as good as the bitches you own!� Really? But I loved the males. That might have been true, but unless he was a star, I would be just about the only one that loved him. He would never be used for public stud and would only remain my beloved pet! Boy, that didn�t seem fair at all! I mean after all he had the same bloodlines as his more desirable litter sister! How come it was OK for me to keep her and not him? Seemed like a reasonable question to me at the time.
I was told that if the bitch didn�t turn out for showing, I could always breed her to a top producing stud dog and perhaps get a show quality puppy or two. On the other hand, if I kept her brother and he didn�t turn out, no one would breed to him, except me and that would mean I would have to go out and buy myself a bitch to breed to him. It looked like if I wanted to have any little bit of success in this breed, I�d better learn to follow the advise of those seasoned pros that proved what they were saying was true by keeping mostly bitches in their kennels. However, the few males if any that they owned were all top winning dogs.
I would soon find out the difference in owning males compared to owning bitches! Both sexes certainly have their own unique personalities. I find it very different owning a bitch compared to a male. The majority of German Shepherds that I�ve owned have been bitches; so therefore, the majority of my favorite dogs throughout the years have been females. That said I still miss the males. I find that they are easier to get along with as long as you don�t have females in season! Most of the time they make great house dogs! Very much like the human male, they can be big babies!!! They like to be pampered and loved on and thrive on attention. Most of the time, they're quieter than the bitches.
The female on the other hand has earned her title (and wears it proudly) of being called a bitch and everything that the word may stand for! She is nobility at its best. She may even be the homeliest little thing that was ever born, or even the runt of the litter but don�t tell her that, because she�d never believe it. She�s too into herself strutting around like she owns the place. And if truth be told, she does (well in her own mind anyway)! She rules her domain by either being a showoff looking for endless adoration or ruling with a quiet dignified look to anyone that might challenge or doubt her. With her dark Hershey brown eyes, ears standing strong and centered resting on a fabulous feminine head well there's just nothing more breathtaking!
The bitches are definitely unique in how they view their world. They can be cunning, inquisitive, and sometimes oh so challenging! Living with bitches means there is never a dull moment. There is nothing funnier than when you see a 90 pound male submitting to the 58 pound �Queen Bee� as she steals his favorite toy only to drop it after she gets it. Then she runs over to put her teeth gently but firmly across his mouth to let him know she really didn�t want it at all but to let him know she can have it anytime she pleases! It�s like she�s saying, �I don�t really want it, but I don�t want you to have it either!� Can we say "Diva" here? Hmm��.sounds like some human bitches that I know of!
As far as watchdogs, both sexes of this breed are excellent, but sometimes the bitches can be just a little be nastier than her male housemate! She has to make up for all his bravado so what she may lack in strength, she makes up for in speed! They�re quick and it�s almost like their maternal instincts kick in when defending their human family and property. They�re very purpose driven; not being satisfied until they accomplish what they�ve set out to do. For sheer strength and power, you couldn�t want a more formidable defender than the male German Shepherd. He is not a dog that an intruder wants to find greeting him. But for sheer quickness and agility all the exercise and jogging in the world won�t save the perpetrator from the sheer cunning of the bitch of this breed! If you trespass on this breeds property, their goal is to get you and they�re going to �get you good!�
Living with the male German Shepherd he has learned how to manipulate his humans to get what he wants by surprising them with his �big baby� ways. Those big old brown �cow eyes� that hold you in his stare makes for some �laugh out loud� moments. Few can resist this big macho dog collapsing at your side for a belly rub. The bitch can be more demanding of your attention by moaning, groaning and whining when she feels her needs are not being met. If she were human, this would probably equate to the not so nice label of being called a �nag!� Oh they do keep us on our toes!
So no matter what sex you decide upon, living with a German Shepherd is always an adventure. You never know what your day is going to be like with these guys, but one thing is for certain, it�s never going to be boring. They make sure it�s not. They�re just too darn smart for that!
Admit it, when you were a kid and someone would mention the German Shepherd Dog, I bet you would visualize a male dog. I know that I did. I�ve always loved the noble look of this breed. I visualized them as being a masculine, big boned dog with a great big old head. I thought of them as a powerful breed; strong and courageous and willing to defend you with their life! Not once did I ever think of a German Shepherd bitch when I thought about this breed! For some reason, thinking of a German Shepherd brings up a picture in most peoples mind of the majestic male of this breed. Many times if your parents bought a German Shepherd as a pet, nine times out of ten, it was probably a male. They were probably looking for a guardian for their family, but more importantly a powerful protector of their property and valuables.
There�s just something about the noble German Shepherd Dog that makes you think in terms of the males of this breed. On the other hand, if you�re thinking of a lap dog, many times you might think in terms of a female.
When I first started out in this breed, a male is all I ever thought about owning. I wanted a big masculine dog that would turn people�s heads when I walked down the street with him. �That�s right, we�re cool. I got myself a big �bad boy!� I wanted a dog that commanded people�s respect and in my mind, what better way to do this than with a male German Shepherd? That was my mind set then. German Shepherd Dogs equaled male dogs! That was until I was knocked down a few pegs when one of my very first lessons in this breed is when someone told me: �Your kennel is only as good as the bitches you own!� Really? But I loved the males. That might have been true, but unless he was a star, I would be just about the only one that loved him. He would never be used for public stud and would only remain my beloved pet! Boy, that didn�t seem fair at all! I mean after all he had the same bloodlines as his more desirable litter sister! How come it was OK for me to keep her and not him? Seemed like a reasonable question to me at the time.
I was told that if the bitch didn�t turn out for showing, I could always breed her to a top producing stud dog and perhaps get a show quality puppy or two. On the other hand, if I kept her brother and he didn�t turn out, no one would breed to him, except me and that would mean I would have to go out and buy myself a bitch to breed to him. It looked like if I wanted to have any little bit of success in this breed, I�d better learn to follow the advise of those seasoned pros that proved what they were saying was true by keeping mostly bitches in their kennels. However, the few males if any that they owned were all top winning dogs.
I would soon find out the difference in owning males compared to owning bitches! Both sexes certainly have their own unique personalities. I find it very different owning a bitch compared to a male. The majority of German Shepherds that I�ve owned have been bitches; so therefore, the majority of my favorite dogs throughout the years have been females. That said I still miss the males. I find that they are easier to get along with as long as you don�t have females in season! Most of the time they make great house dogs! Very much like the human male, they can be big babies!!! They like to be pampered and loved on and thrive on attention. Most of the time, they're quieter than the bitches.
The female on the other hand has earned her title (and wears it proudly) of being called a bitch and everything that the word may stand for! She is nobility at its best. She may even be the homeliest little thing that was ever born, or even the runt of the litter but don�t tell her that, because she�d never believe it. She�s too into herself strutting around like she owns the place. And if truth be told, she does (well in her own mind anyway)! She rules her domain by either being a showoff looking for endless adoration or ruling with a quiet dignified look to anyone that might challenge or doubt her. With her dark Hershey brown eyes, ears standing strong and centered resting on a fabulous feminine head well there's just nothing more breathtaking!
The bitches are definitely unique in how they view their world. They can be cunning, inquisitive, and sometimes oh so challenging! Living with bitches means there is never a dull moment. There is nothing funnier than when you see a 90 pound male submitting to the 58 pound �Queen Bee� as she steals his favorite toy only to drop it after she gets it. Then she runs over to put her teeth gently but firmly across his mouth to let him know she really didn�t want it at all but to let him know she can have it anytime she pleases! It�s like she�s saying, �I don�t really want it, but I don�t want you to have it either!� Can we say "Diva" here? Hmm��.sounds like some human bitches that I know of!
As far as watchdogs, both sexes of this breed are excellent, but sometimes the bitches can be just a little be nastier than her male housemate! She has to make up for all his bravado so what she may lack in strength, she makes up for in speed! They�re quick and it�s almost like their maternal instincts kick in when defending their human family and property. They�re very purpose driven; not being satisfied until they accomplish what they�ve set out to do. For sheer strength and power, you couldn�t want a more formidable defender than the male German Shepherd. He is not a dog that an intruder wants to find greeting him. But for sheer quickness and agility all the exercise and jogging in the world won�t save the perpetrator from the sheer cunning of the bitch of this breed! If you trespass on this breeds property, their goal is to get you and they�re going to �get you good!�
Living with the male German Shepherd he has learned how to manipulate his humans to get what he wants by surprising them with his �big baby� ways. Those big old brown �cow eyes� that hold you in his stare makes for some �laugh out loud� moments. Few can resist this big macho dog collapsing at your side for a belly rub. The bitch can be more demanding of your attention by moaning, groaning and whining when she feels her needs are not being met. If she were human, this would probably equate to the not so nice label of being called a �nag!� Oh they do keep us on our toes!
So no matter what sex you decide upon, living with a German Shepherd is always an adventure. You never know what your day is going to be like with these guys, but one thing is for certain, it�s never going to be boring. They make sure it�s not. They�re just too darn smart for that!
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
BIG BOYS DON'T CRY - OR DO THEY?
Being a part of the Facebook community allows us to make friendships with people that most of us will never meet in person. But everyday we invite these strangers into our living rooms to share a piece of our lives with them and them with us. It's a comfortable environment. We can pour ourselves a cup of coffee and lounge around in our pajamas without having to get a robe to cover up. We get a peek into their relationships both good and bad. Sometimes they share too much information, but some feel this is a good way for them to vent their frustrations and disappointments. There also are lots of good news........babies born, engagements announced, birthdays celebrated, etc. Then there are the deaths and those that are grieving for their lost loved ones. Well yesterday one of these loses came across on my screen. This was from a man who seems extremely popular and well liked if the number of responses he gets from people everyday is any indicator of this. I don't know him personally, but by reading his posts everyday, I feel I know a little something about him. We share his life through his pictures he shares with us and his words he writes on his posts. You can tell this man has a lot of love in his heart for those that are in his life and his beloved dogs. They say every picture tells a story and in his case this is very true. The picture that he posted yesterday will remain in my memory for a very long time.
Most people think of women as being the ones that can share their pain and express their emotions more easily than a man does. I mean we are raised in a culture that applauds the hero in men, the strong, the noble.....the "men don't cry" persona. You know the mind set......big boys don't cry! Well yesterday, this man's picture blew that mind set out of the water! His picture showed just two faces, two faces with their heads laying down on the floor. The man had his head touching his dog's head. A picture of a man and his dying dog stared back at me. The black eyes against the dark fur with a blank look in her eyes and the sorrowful eyes of the man who was saying good bye to his beloved dog was a picture of unquestionable love. "Good bye my friend, good bye a part of my heart" spoke to me from that page. We shared in his sorrow. We knew that we were looking at a very special bond with a man and his dog. He shared with us his vulnerability; unashamed of his sorrowful heart. Although it was very heartbreaking knowing the pain he was suffering, it was also very beautiful seeing this man share his softer side. I say that because I look at all his pictures and he seems like a macho type of guy. He trains his dogs and shares those pictures with us as well. They are so beautifully trained and cared for and loved. He handles and loves his puppies with a loving, gentle but firm hand. We see pictures of him and his love who he just became engaged to. We see him and his sons and his grandchildren. This is a man who is loving his life and has much to be thankful for. But it's the loss of his very special dog that brings him to his knees.
When there are times when our hearts are heavy, it seems that it's just you and your beloved dog against the world. He's got your back covered. When he's no longer there, it's just your memories that get you through. For all the times that you cried, he was there to lick away your tears and reassure you when you didn't feel so sure yourself that all would be alright. He never left your side. It's when he has to leave your side that you may feel alone against the world. But if you watched the lessons that your dog taught you throughout his short life, you will take that love into all the other areas and relationships in your life. You see once you've decided to own and love a dog, your heart no longer belongs to you. You've just signed up for 10 - 15 years of unquestionable love, but nothing can prepare us for when that purity of love is taken from us. They may have taught us how to love, but they never taught us how to say goodbye!
You may ask how can one of God's creatures that is not another human being do this to us? To ask that question would mean you never shared your heart and life with a dog. If you view the dog as "just a dog" than you missed the whole point of that animal coming into your life to begin with. It is this writers belief that the dog is one of God's angels on this earth. If you own a dog and you miss that, you've missed one of life's greatest mysteries. There is no other purpose for them to be here. Sure you can train them, use them for herding, protection, breeding, etc. If you miss the point that dogs are pure love and I mean pure love because of their desire to only be with man, then you have missed the opportunity that has been given to you. This is why I feel that they are here such a short time on earth. They are here to teach man about loving and if you ignore it, you've denied yourself the most beautiful of all emotions, the most beautiful of all gifts. If you just breed them for the champions that they may produce or the dust collecting trophies that you may accumulate than you have used the dog for your own glory instead of the blessings that has been bestowed on you for even being in their presence. They are angels. You can be sure of that. They can do no bad unless they are ignored and forgotten about. Then you are left with a dog that is angry at you for not recognizing his real purpose here on earth. Listen to what he is saying to you without his capability to utter a single word. If you don't know that love is standing in front of you and if you've ignored it, then you've ignored that angel that was sent to you. Think dog spelled backwards is God is a coincidence? If you believe that God is love and loves unconditionally, then the dog that he has sent to you is indeed a Heavenly gift.
So I'm sure this man on Facebook will compose himself and continue to love the rest of his dogs, but he'll never forget the girl he just said goodbye to. He's acknowledged the fact that she was love. He said that she was his beginning. She took a part of his heart to Heaven with her where it will be written in the Book of Life.........this man knows how to love. Good night "Mocha," your time on earth was well spent! You did what you came here to do. Your master was touched by an angel and he'll never be quite the same again!
From the book: GOODBYE FRIEND: HEALING WISDOM FOR ANYONE WHO HAS EVER LOST A PET: For pet lovers, the loss of a cherished pet ranks almost as high as the loss of a close family member in terms of grief experienced. In Goodbye, Friend, Gary Kowalski takes you on a journey of healing offering warmth, guidance, and practical advice on how to deal effectively with death by honoring your animal companion's life. A superb and comforting book for both adults and children.
My rating: Dealing with the loss of a dog: (1 - 4).....there are stages we all must go through to it through it!
Most people think of women as being the ones that can share their pain and express their emotions more easily than a man does. I mean we are raised in a culture that applauds the hero in men, the strong, the noble.....the "men don't cry" persona. You know the mind set......big boys don't cry! Well yesterday, this man's picture blew that mind set out of the water! His picture showed just two faces, two faces with their heads laying down on the floor. The man had his head touching his dog's head. A picture of a man and his dying dog stared back at me. The black eyes against the dark fur with a blank look in her eyes and the sorrowful eyes of the man who was saying good bye to his beloved dog was a picture of unquestionable love. "Good bye my friend, good bye a part of my heart" spoke to me from that page. We shared in his sorrow. We knew that we were looking at a very special bond with a man and his dog. He shared with us his vulnerability; unashamed of his sorrowful heart. Although it was very heartbreaking knowing the pain he was suffering, it was also very beautiful seeing this man share his softer side. I say that because I look at all his pictures and he seems like a macho type of guy. He trains his dogs and shares those pictures with us as well. They are so beautifully trained and cared for and loved. He handles and loves his puppies with a loving, gentle but firm hand. We see pictures of him and his love who he just became engaged to. We see him and his sons and his grandchildren. This is a man who is loving his life and has much to be thankful for. But it's the loss of his very special dog that brings him to his knees.
When there are times when our hearts are heavy, it seems that it's just you and your beloved dog against the world. He's got your back covered. When he's no longer there, it's just your memories that get you through. For all the times that you cried, he was there to lick away your tears and reassure you when you didn't feel so sure yourself that all would be alright. He never left your side. It's when he has to leave your side that you may feel alone against the world. But if you watched the lessons that your dog taught you throughout his short life, you will take that love into all the other areas and relationships in your life. You see once you've decided to own and love a dog, your heart no longer belongs to you. You've just signed up for 10 - 15 years of unquestionable love, but nothing can prepare us for when that purity of love is taken from us. They may have taught us how to love, but they never taught us how to say goodbye!
You may ask how can one of God's creatures that is not another human being do this to us? To ask that question would mean you never shared your heart and life with a dog. If you view the dog as "just a dog" than you missed the whole point of that animal coming into your life to begin with. It is this writers belief that the dog is one of God's angels on this earth. If you own a dog and you miss that, you've missed one of life's greatest mysteries. There is no other purpose for them to be here. Sure you can train them, use them for herding, protection, breeding, etc. If you miss the point that dogs are pure love and I mean pure love because of their desire to only be with man, then you have missed the opportunity that has been given to you. This is why I feel that they are here such a short time on earth. They are here to teach man about loving and if you ignore it, you've denied yourself the most beautiful of all emotions, the most beautiful of all gifts. If you just breed them for the champions that they may produce or the dust collecting trophies that you may accumulate than you have used the dog for your own glory instead of the blessings that has been bestowed on you for even being in their presence. They are angels. You can be sure of that. They can do no bad unless they are ignored and forgotten about. Then you are left with a dog that is angry at you for not recognizing his real purpose here on earth. Listen to what he is saying to you without his capability to utter a single word. If you don't know that love is standing in front of you and if you've ignored it, then you've ignored that angel that was sent to you. Think dog spelled backwards is God is a coincidence? If you believe that God is love and loves unconditionally, then the dog that he has sent to you is indeed a Heavenly gift.
So I'm sure this man on Facebook will compose himself and continue to love the rest of his dogs, but he'll never forget the girl he just said goodbye to. He's acknowledged the fact that she was love. He said that she was his beginning. She took a part of his heart to Heaven with her where it will be written in the Book of Life.........this man knows how to love. Good night "Mocha," your time on earth was well spent! You did what you came here to do. Your master was touched by an angel and he'll never be quite the same again!
From the book: GOODBYE FRIEND: HEALING WISDOM FOR ANYONE WHO HAS EVER LOST A PET: For pet lovers, the loss of a cherished pet ranks almost as high as the loss of a close family member in terms of grief experienced. In Goodbye, Friend, Gary Kowalski takes you on a journey of healing offering warmth, guidance, and practical advice on how to deal effectively with death by honoring your animal companion's life. A superb and comforting book for both adults and children.
My rating: Dealing with the loss of a dog: (1 - 4).....there are stages we all must go through to it through it!
Thursday, 7 July 2011
IS BIGGER ALWAYS BETTER?
So the last couple of times that I talked to one of my friends she has made mention of wanting to get a bigger dog. Mind you MOST of the time throughout her years, she has owned smaller dogs. WAY smaller��.having owned and still owns a Chihuahua! Now let me explain to you a little more about my friend. She�s a lovely woman with a kind heart and has a beautiful home. She is elderly (69 � 70) but looks and acts more like a 59 � 60 year old. In fact she looks wonderful! Did I mention that she has a beautiful home? Oh yeah, I just did. Well this �youthful� looking 70ish year old woman is what I call a �Fuss Ass� meaning she is a fanatic in her home!
About two years ago my friend rescued a Chihuahua mixed female to come live with her and her husband and her purebred female Chihuahua. Life was wonderful when the new puppy arrived. Her other dog now had a companion and my friend had a new �baby� to love. It seems the purebred is more her husband�s dog than hers. So this �new kid on the block� would be hers to spoil and love on. She�d call me up to ask about advice about food and health questions. The puppy was extremely loving and extremely �puppy� in behavior.
So the cute, adorable love fest went on for awhile until the �puppy antics� showed its ugly little head a little more than my friend could or would tolerate. First of all the pup had the terrible, yucky habit of eating her stools. She tried everything that I suggested and the stools were still her puppy�s �treat of choice!� Take one point off for stool eating.
Next the little rascal starting eating her wallpaper off of her walls. Seems she had one favorite place for doing this. Take off another point for wall paper eating. Then there were the usual puppy leaks on the floor and carpet. Yup another point was taken off for puppy potty deposits in the house. I encouraged her to get a dog crate which she did and the puppy was fine with going into her �den.� But it was those times that she was out of the den that left �Mrs. Susie Homemaker�s� nerves stretched to its limits. Now mind you this is a woman that is a fanatic in her home. I�m sure she must walk around the house with a spray bottle of Lysol attached to her pants. Smudge marks, muddy paw prints, water on the floor, dog biscuit crumbs might just send her running to the medicine cabinet for another tranquilizer!
She bought a new mat to place in front of her back door. Seems like the little mixed breed thought it was her invitation to leave her �tinkles� on it. So now the last point was taken off! It looks as though the little dog ran out of points and second and third chances! So long story short, she just placed the �new kid on the block� on someone else�s block to live and they love her very much; especially the teenage daughter. So the youngster is doing fine, but now my friend is experiencing the �empty nest� syndrome!
So she gets this brainstorm that she must get a large dog. Her birthday is coming up soon and her husband asked her what would she like? Wrong question to ask a �determined to get what she wants� obsessed woman!!! Her husband is not in favor of a large dog mind you! So she runs this by me again yesterday. So I went down a whole list of reasons why she should not get a large dog. This is what I told her��..small dog = small problems. Large dog = large problems! Now I�m not saying that large dogs are necessarily problem dogs, but they are dogs after all and dogs do, well doggie things!
She says to me, �Well you have three large dogs.� Yeah and I say to her, I�m not a fanatic around the house either or I would have shot them a long time ago! I told her there is no guarantee about her new dog�s personality traits. I might have three dogs, but they are most certainly different in personality. My house dog is a great house dog. Her daughters are horrible house dogs. Yes, yes, I know a trained and obedient dog is a wonderful dog to live with. But therein lies the key��..personality traits also dictate the obedience time spent on training a dog. My housedog is very smart and willing to learn. Her nerves and concentration level is more steady. I believe her two daughters have �attention deficit disorder!� Oh they�re very smart too, but their concentration level is on another planet somewhere! And with my own health issues and my lack of physical endurance and strength, I must use caution when trying to train them. A younger me probably could have trained them properly, but the older me just can�t keep up with these two. So these are things my friend needs to think about as well. Does she have the strength and health to train a dog of this size? The little dog she can just pick up and put him back down again. Try doing that with a 60 � 90 pound dog!
Oh yeah, I also mentioned to her that she better get ready to change her home owners insurance now that she was getting a large �guard dog!� I told her depending upon where she lived, she might have a hard time getting insurance once she owned this type of breed. She didn�t think of that before.
Having owned German Shepherds for most of my adult life, I find them great dogs to live with, but there are those occasional few (like two of mine) that might make you rethink about owning them at all. They can be destructive. They are highly intelligent and they never miss a trick. Their noses are on everything because of their need to investigate anything new that might come into the house. They might communicate with you that they want to go outside by smudging their noses on your sliding glass door or scratching at the back door with their heavy paws. Be prepared to use your vacuum cleaner a heck of a lot more than you normally would. Hair and dander removal from rugs, floors, clothes, etc. is a normal part of your life now. Smudges and scratches and dog hair and dander are not for the fanatic housekeeping type. Before I get those private e-mails sent to me����I AM NOT SAYING LARGE BREED DOG OWNERS ARE LOUSY HOUSEKEEPERS! I�m just saying that having a larger dog is more work than having a smaller dog. Oh yeah, lets not forget about cleaning up after them after they have done a �potty call!� It�s a whole lot different then picking up after a smaller dog!
So to my friend that is thinking of adding 70 or 80 more pounds of dog flesh and hair to your beautiful, �magazine picture perfect home,� do heed my advice. Your friends and family don�t want to see your face plastered on the front page of the National Enquirer announcing �Woman locked away for the rest of her life� because large dog squashed his nose against her windowpane for the hundredth time. Enjoy your little dog and the teeny tiny piddle that she may leave behind because it�s a heck of a lot easier to clean than a darn lake all over your antique Oriental rug!
My rating: Large dogs or small dogs: (4), Taking care of large dogs: (2), Taking care of small dogs: (3)
About two years ago my friend rescued a Chihuahua mixed female to come live with her and her husband and her purebred female Chihuahua. Life was wonderful when the new puppy arrived. Her other dog now had a companion and my friend had a new �baby� to love. It seems the purebred is more her husband�s dog than hers. So this �new kid on the block� would be hers to spoil and love on. She�d call me up to ask about advice about food and health questions. The puppy was extremely loving and extremely �puppy� in behavior.
So the cute, adorable love fest went on for awhile until the �puppy antics� showed its ugly little head a little more than my friend could or would tolerate. First of all the pup had the terrible, yucky habit of eating her stools. She tried everything that I suggested and the stools were still her puppy�s �treat of choice!� Take one point off for stool eating.
Next the little rascal starting eating her wallpaper off of her walls. Seems she had one favorite place for doing this. Take off another point for wall paper eating. Then there were the usual puppy leaks on the floor and carpet. Yup another point was taken off for puppy potty deposits in the house. I encouraged her to get a dog crate which she did and the puppy was fine with going into her �den.� But it was those times that she was out of the den that left �Mrs. Susie Homemaker�s� nerves stretched to its limits. Now mind you this is a woman that is a fanatic in her home. I�m sure she must walk around the house with a spray bottle of Lysol attached to her pants. Smudge marks, muddy paw prints, water on the floor, dog biscuit crumbs might just send her running to the medicine cabinet for another tranquilizer!
She bought a new mat to place in front of her back door. Seems like the little mixed breed thought it was her invitation to leave her �tinkles� on it. So now the last point was taken off! It looks as though the little dog ran out of points and second and third chances! So long story short, she just placed the �new kid on the block� on someone else�s block to live and they love her very much; especially the teenage daughter. So the youngster is doing fine, but now my friend is experiencing the �empty nest� syndrome!
So she gets this brainstorm that she must get a large dog. Her birthday is coming up soon and her husband asked her what would she like? Wrong question to ask a �determined to get what she wants� obsessed woman!!! Her husband is not in favor of a large dog mind you! So she runs this by me again yesterday. So I went down a whole list of reasons why she should not get a large dog. This is what I told her��..small dog = small problems. Large dog = large problems! Now I�m not saying that large dogs are necessarily problem dogs, but they are dogs after all and dogs do, well doggie things!
She says to me, �Well you have three large dogs.� Yeah and I say to her, I�m not a fanatic around the house either or I would have shot them a long time ago! I told her there is no guarantee about her new dog�s personality traits. I might have three dogs, but they are most certainly different in personality. My house dog is a great house dog. Her daughters are horrible house dogs. Yes, yes, I know a trained and obedient dog is a wonderful dog to live with. But therein lies the key��..personality traits also dictate the obedience time spent on training a dog. My housedog is very smart and willing to learn. Her nerves and concentration level is more steady. I believe her two daughters have �attention deficit disorder!� Oh they�re very smart too, but their concentration level is on another planet somewhere! And with my own health issues and my lack of physical endurance and strength, I must use caution when trying to train them. A younger me probably could have trained them properly, but the older me just can�t keep up with these two. So these are things my friend needs to think about as well. Does she have the strength and health to train a dog of this size? The little dog she can just pick up and put him back down again. Try doing that with a 60 � 90 pound dog!
Oh yeah, I also mentioned to her that she better get ready to change her home owners insurance now that she was getting a large �guard dog!� I told her depending upon where she lived, she might have a hard time getting insurance once she owned this type of breed. She didn�t think of that before.
Having owned German Shepherds for most of my adult life, I find them great dogs to live with, but there are those occasional few (like two of mine) that might make you rethink about owning them at all. They can be destructive. They are highly intelligent and they never miss a trick. Their noses are on everything because of their need to investigate anything new that might come into the house. They might communicate with you that they want to go outside by smudging their noses on your sliding glass door or scratching at the back door with their heavy paws. Be prepared to use your vacuum cleaner a heck of a lot more than you normally would. Hair and dander removal from rugs, floors, clothes, etc. is a normal part of your life now. Smudges and scratches and dog hair and dander are not for the fanatic housekeeping type. Before I get those private e-mails sent to me����I AM NOT SAYING LARGE BREED DOG OWNERS ARE LOUSY HOUSEKEEPERS! I�m just saying that having a larger dog is more work than having a smaller dog. Oh yeah, lets not forget about cleaning up after them after they have done a �potty call!� It�s a whole lot different then picking up after a smaller dog!
So to my friend that is thinking of adding 70 or 80 more pounds of dog flesh and hair to your beautiful, �magazine picture perfect home,� do heed my advice. Your friends and family don�t want to see your face plastered on the front page of the National Enquirer announcing �Woman locked away for the rest of her life� because large dog squashed his nose against her windowpane for the hundredth time. Enjoy your little dog and the teeny tiny piddle that she may leave behind because it�s a heck of a lot easier to clean than a darn lake all over your antique Oriental rug!
My rating: Large dogs or small dogs: (4), Taking care of large dogs: (2), Taking care of small dogs: (3)
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
THINK ALL PEOPLE ARE MEANER THAN A RABID GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG?
If you go on any given e-mail list that is sharing their opinions about our beloved breed, you are bound to run into a few disgruntled people. Emotions can become rapidly agitated and tempers can reach the boiling point. Like the German Shepherd Dog that they own, they are a proud community. They feel things strongly and "Oh my goodness," challenge their viewpoints and sometimes the "uglies" spew out of their mouths, feelings become hurt and sometime friendships strained or lost forever! But like the most faithful dog on the planet (of course that's the German Shepherd Dog), the majority of the people connected to this breed when called upon for help, step up to the plate and score a home run! I always knew that I had made some wonderful friendships in this breed, but little did I know how wonderful they truly were. Even more surprising were those in our community that I never met who was right there for me during my hard times. Most people know people in this breed by the dogs they own and show, but sometimes we forget that they are human beings before they were ever a dog person. I am so blessed and so appreciative to all of you that reached out to me. It proves that there are, indeed, angels right here on earth.
It all began with my dog "Amber." Yup I wanted to include her here on my list of "thank-you's!" Like most German Shepherds, she's very smart and very curious. I remember how she would come up to me looking for a pat on the head because she's an extremely affectionate dog. When I look back on it, many, many times she would take her big black German Shepherd Dog nose and press it against my stomach and sniff and snort loudly. I would jokingly say to her, "What are you smelling Amber.......some bad stuff inside of me?" I've had some health problems these past several years so nothing surprised me anymore. Now I know what it was she was smelling. They say that a dog can smell cancer or other illnesses that you may be harboring inside. I was convinced that she did just that! So pay attention if your dog is paying attention to you a little more than usual.
When I was first diagnosed with uterine cancer and told some of my closest friends in the breed, they all were concerned and before I even knew what hit me, they were busy behind the lines, if you will! So here goes with all the many "thank you's" that I need to say. The first one goes out to my dear friend Marilyn Smith. Many of you only know her for the lovely animals that she's bred. But Marilyn is much more than a friend to the German Shepherd Dog. She is a friend that goes out of her way more times than not when someone is in need. She has this calm demeanor but don't let that fool you, she knows how to get things done. I told her that I was very concerned for my three dogs when I go to the hospital and then when I come home for my recovery. I knew that I wouldn't have the money to have people come in to take care of my dogs. She told me that she didn't want me to worry about my dogs. She said "You get your operation and I'll take care of the rest." And true to her word, she did. First she gave me the number of a organization that helps dog people when they become ill. It's called "Take the Lead." I contacted them and filled out the papers that they asked me to only to be told that it was too expensive to pay these dog sitters and with a "pat on the back" wished me well and sent me on my way. In my opinion, their attitude was not very friendly and almost made you feel guilty for being sick at all. They depend on donations to help their cause. I'm sure other people that they helped would give them a favorable review. I'm sorry that I will not be counted as one of those people. In my opinion they need more friendly, sympathetic people that answer their phones and deal with ill people. While I understand that they can't help all that may come to them, they need to do some work on learning how to turn people down with more kindness than they do now. They may be dog friendly, but I didn't feel they were very people friendly!!!!
Marilyn reassured me that all was not lost. She said she was going to contact the "Sunshine Squad" from the German Shepherd Dog Show list. So she placed a call to Doc. Zoe and called me back to let me know she was waiting to hear back from her. Later that night, Marilyn and I were talking again and she was getting a call from Zoe and told me she would call me back. A little while later, she excitedly told me that I was approved and for me to call up those dog sitters and book them to come take care of my dogs. I cried with joy as my dogs were a major concern for me. Now I could go get my insides cut out of me with a smile on my face!!!! (Not)! My dogs were going to be taken care of!!! Doc Zoe was marvelous to talk with and so very supportive during my hardest times. She wrote to me and called me several times to make sure I was doing well. Think she's just one of the administrators and founding members of the Show Dog list? Then you don't really know one of the kindest people that I didn't really know either!!! The Sunshine Squad is a marvelous charitable organization that helps fellow German Shepherd enthusiasts that are in need during their trials and tribulations. The word "sunshine" is an appropriate name for this organization because that is just what they did for me...........brought a little sunshine during some of the blackest days of my life. I don't know all those that contribute to this wonderful organization but from the bottom of my "itty bittie" heart, thanking you and Marilyn seems so inadequate! God bless you all! Please check out the Sunshine Squad's link here. It offers so many different resources for those that are in need. And donations are gladly accepted for you never know when you too may need assistance! It's a great website for information. http://showgsd.org/sunshine.html
And then there's my good friend who makes me laugh more than most. You guys may only know her as that lady from "Last Hope, Safe Haven." Yup that's the one and only Dawn Restuccia! I asked her to take over my e-mail list (The GSD Showcase) in my absence and she graciously accepted. But more than supporting my e-mail list, it was that chicken soup of hers that most impressed me! Since the time that she knew that I was ill, she kept saying to me that she wished she lived closer so she could make me some homemade chicken soup. Then one day she gets this brainstorm (she's gets a lot of these) and tells me that she's going to send it me in the mail!!! I thought she was kidding and told her she was crazy and I just laughed it off knowing what a "joker" she is. Well no she wasn't kidding and yes she is crazy because "lo and behold" there's a big box waiting for me on my doorstep one morning! I look at the return address and it's from Massachusetts. Who do I know that lives up there? It could only be Dawn! I open up this overly taped up box that houses a big old bowl that she froze in her freezer. It's taped up with a gazillion wrappings that took me forever to remove. Sure enough there's the soup that she told me took three pounds of chicken to make! Can you believe it?! And "man of man"..........the woman can cook! My stomach loved every spoonful. Knowing Dawn has been a true pleasure in my life! Thank you dear friend. You are really special.....even if you are a little crazy!
Thank you to all my other many friends in the breed for your many phone calls and e-mails. They all meant so much to me. It's true, you really don't know who your friends are until you are in need of their friendship. It's so easy to be a "friend" to someone when their life is good. It's those people that hang around when your life stinks that are true friends! Those that impressed me the most were those that I never met who reached out to me. Thank you very much. There was Steve up in Maine that offered to take care of my dogs for me. There was Bruce who had prayers said for me in his church as many others did as well. There was a special e-mail group of German Shepherd people who say prayers for the sick and dying and Deb would send me prayer updates all the time. The list goes on and on. I never really appreciated how truly blessed I am until I became ill. I never felt sorry for myself and asked, "Why did this happen to me dear Lord?" I just accepted it and knew I was in God's hands and he already knew what was going to happen to me anyway! Life is what it is............not always easy, not always fun, and certainly not what you may want it to be, but it is what it is. You can either accept it or fall down and crumble, moan, groan and complain or "get up" and go on! Well I'm still here for as long as God wants me here because I know he has work for me to do yet in whatever way he chooses to use me. All I know is that I am blessed.
I also want to thank my family that has been here for me. You already read about my youngest brother, but my other brother Jedd has been a God send to me as well. He was with me after my first operation and waited with me in the recovery room and listened to my endless drug induced chatter for what must have seemed like hours on end! He has the patience of a saint for that one. I was no better in his immaculate car when I threatened to get sick in it from the triple morphine running through my veins. He got me home just in time because what I threatened to do in his car, I did in the kitchen sink. Yucky! Sorry for the visual, but I'm telling my story as it was! Then he also took me down for my follow up at Sloan Kettering which ended up being an all day event because of more testing. We left at 9 in the morning and returned at 9 in the evening!
Then there's my sister who commissioned the dog sitters to stay a few weeks longer. Thank God because I just couldn't do the physical work needed to take care of them! Then there's my cousins that called me all the time and my best friend Brenda who has been "too kind for words!" She's like a second sister to me!
I have to say something here about my faith. I have very strong feelings about it. But there are times when you wonder what you are going to do about something that you see no way through. I experienced this many times during my trials. I wondered how I was going to do this or that. One day I was walking through the kitchen talking to myself and asking myself these exact questions. I felt my blood pressure elevated and through my "self talk", I heard a silent voice say in answer to my questions........"Ye of little faith!" You have no idea of how enlightening that was to me! I had to remind myself........"Let go and let God!" And because my faith is strong (although tested many times), God was there for me once again.................he worked his miracle through all of you guys that were there for me! So next time you go to a show, say hello to a stranger. Help out a newbie that is looking for a friend. You just never know if he was sent to you as your "Guiding Angel" for sometime in the future!
So this has been my journey. I am still recovering and it's a slow process. I live my life one day at a time. For all those that reached out to me in this breed.............you are so much more than just a breeder or exhibitor. You are special human beings above anything else. Some of you may never own a champion and some of you own more than your share of them, but to me, you are champions among people!!! You may not have a title just yet, but your crown is reserved by a judge far better suited to judge than any AKC licensed judge on this earth!!!
From the book: A SECOND HELPING OF CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL: The runaway bestseller Chicken Soup for the Soul captured the imagination of millions of readers with its uplifting message of hope and inspiration. With a nation still hungering for more good news, Canfield and Hansen went back to work and cooked up another batch of life-affirming stories to warm your heart and soothe your soul.
Through the experiences of others, readers from all walks of life can learn the gift of love, the power of perseverance, the joy of parenting and the vital energy of dreaming. Share the magic that will change forever how you look at yourself and the world around you.
My rating: "Sunshine Squad": (4), Chicken Soup for the Soul books: (4), most German Shepherd Dog people: (4)!
It all began with my dog "Amber." Yup I wanted to include her here on my list of "thank-you's!" Like most German Shepherds, she's very smart and very curious. I remember how she would come up to me looking for a pat on the head because she's an extremely affectionate dog. When I look back on it, many, many times she would take her big black German Shepherd Dog nose and press it against my stomach and sniff and snort loudly. I would jokingly say to her, "What are you smelling Amber.......some bad stuff inside of me?" I've had some health problems these past several years so nothing surprised me anymore. Now I know what it was she was smelling. They say that a dog can smell cancer or other illnesses that you may be harboring inside. I was convinced that she did just that! So pay attention if your dog is paying attention to you a little more than usual.
When I was first diagnosed with uterine cancer and told some of my closest friends in the breed, they all were concerned and before I even knew what hit me, they were busy behind the lines, if you will! So here goes with all the many "thank you's" that I need to say. The first one goes out to my dear friend Marilyn Smith. Many of you only know her for the lovely animals that she's bred. But Marilyn is much more than a friend to the German Shepherd Dog. She is a friend that goes out of her way more times than not when someone is in need. She has this calm demeanor but don't let that fool you, she knows how to get things done. I told her that I was very concerned for my three dogs when I go to the hospital and then when I come home for my recovery. I knew that I wouldn't have the money to have people come in to take care of my dogs. She told me that she didn't want me to worry about my dogs. She said "You get your operation and I'll take care of the rest." And true to her word, she did. First she gave me the number of a organization that helps dog people when they become ill. It's called "Take the Lead." I contacted them and filled out the papers that they asked me to only to be told that it was too expensive to pay these dog sitters and with a "pat on the back" wished me well and sent me on my way. In my opinion, their attitude was not very friendly and almost made you feel guilty for being sick at all. They depend on donations to help their cause. I'm sure other people that they helped would give them a favorable review. I'm sorry that I will not be counted as one of those people. In my opinion they need more friendly, sympathetic people that answer their phones and deal with ill people. While I understand that they can't help all that may come to them, they need to do some work on learning how to turn people down with more kindness than they do now. They may be dog friendly, but I didn't feel they were very people friendly!!!!
Marilyn reassured me that all was not lost. She said she was going to contact the "Sunshine Squad" from the German Shepherd Dog Show list. So she placed a call to Doc. Zoe and called me back to let me know she was waiting to hear back from her. Later that night, Marilyn and I were talking again and she was getting a call from Zoe and told me she would call me back. A little while later, she excitedly told me that I was approved and for me to call up those dog sitters and book them to come take care of my dogs. I cried with joy as my dogs were a major concern for me. Now I could go get my insides cut out of me with a smile on my face!!!! (Not)! My dogs were going to be taken care of!!! Doc Zoe was marvelous to talk with and so very supportive during my hardest times. She wrote to me and called me several times to make sure I was doing well. Think she's just one of the administrators and founding members of the Show Dog list? Then you don't really know one of the kindest people that I didn't really know either!!! The Sunshine Squad is a marvelous charitable organization that helps fellow German Shepherd enthusiasts that are in need during their trials and tribulations. The word "sunshine" is an appropriate name for this organization because that is just what they did for me...........brought a little sunshine during some of the blackest days of my life. I don't know all those that contribute to this wonderful organization but from the bottom of my "itty bittie" heart, thanking you and Marilyn seems so inadequate! God bless you all! Please check out the Sunshine Squad's link here. It offers so many different resources for those that are in need. And donations are gladly accepted for you never know when you too may need assistance! It's a great website for information. http://showgsd.org/sunshine.html
And then there's my good friend who makes me laugh more than most. You guys may only know her as that lady from "Last Hope, Safe Haven." Yup that's the one and only Dawn Restuccia! I asked her to take over my e-mail list (The GSD Showcase) in my absence and she graciously accepted. But more than supporting my e-mail list, it was that chicken soup of hers that most impressed me! Since the time that she knew that I was ill, she kept saying to me that she wished she lived closer so she could make me some homemade chicken soup. Then one day she gets this brainstorm (she's gets a lot of these) and tells me that she's going to send it me in the mail!!! I thought she was kidding and told her she was crazy and I just laughed it off knowing what a "joker" she is. Well no she wasn't kidding and yes she is crazy because "lo and behold" there's a big box waiting for me on my doorstep one morning! I look at the return address and it's from Massachusetts. Who do I know that lives up there? It could only be Dawn! I open up this overly taped up box that houses a big old bowl that she froze in her freezer. It's taped up with a gazillion wrappings that took me forever to remove. Sure enough there's the soup that she told me took three pounds of chicken to make! Can you believe it?! And "man of man"..........the woman can cook! My stomach loved every spoonful. Knowing Dawn has been a true pleasure in my life! Thank you dear friend. You are really special.....even if you are a little crazy!
Thank you to all my other many friends in the breed for your many phone calls and e-mails. They all meant so much to me. It's true, you really don't know who your friends are until you are in need of their friendship. It's so easy to be a "friend" to someone when their life is good. It's those people that hang around when your life stinks that are true friends! Those that impressed me the most were those that I never met who reached out to me. Thank you very much. There was Steve up in Maine that offered to take care of my dogs for me. There was Bruce who had prayers said for me in his church as many others did as well. There was a special e-mail group of German Shepherd people who say prayers for the sick and dying and Deb would send me prayer updates all the time. The list goes on and on. I never really appreciated how truly blessed I am until I became ill. I never felt sorry for myself and asked, "Why did this happen to me dear Lord?" I just accepted it and knew I was in God's hands and he already knew what was going to happen to me anyway! Life is what it is............not always easy, not always fun, and certainly not what you may want it to be, but it is what it is. You can either accept it or fall down and crumble, moan, groan and complain or "get up" and go on! Well I'm still here for as long as God wants me here because I know he has work for me to do yet in whatever way he chooses to use me. All I know is that I am blessed.
I also want to thank my family that has been here for me. You already read about my youngest brother, but my other brother Jedd has been a God send to me as well. He was with me after my first operation and waited with me in the recovery room and listened to my endless drug induced chatter for what must have seemed like hours on end! He has the patience of a saint for that one. I was no better in his immaculate car when I threatened to get sick in it from the triple morphine running through my veins. He got me home just in time because what I threatened to do in his car, I did in the kitchen sink. Yucky! Sorry for the visual, but I'm telling my story as it was! Then he also took me down for my follow up at Sloan Kettering which ended up being an all day event because of more testing. We left at 9 in the morning and returned at 9 in the evening!
Then there's my sister who commissioned the dog sitters to stay a few weeks longer. Thank God because I just couldn't do the physical work needed to take care of them! Then there's my cousins that called me all the time and my best friend Brenda who has been "too kind for words!" She's like a second sister to me!
I have to say something here about my faith. I have very strong feelings about it. But there are times when you wonder what you are going to do about something that you see no way through. I experienced this many times during my trials. I wondered how I was going to do this or that. One day I was walking through the kitchen talking to myself and asking myself these exact questions. I felt my blood pressure elevated and through my "self talk", I heard a silent voice say in answer to my questions........"Ye of little faith!" You have no idea of how enlightening that was to me! I had to remind myself........"Let go and let God!" And because my faith is strong (although tested many times), God was there for me once again.................he worked his miracle through all of you guys that were there for me! So next time you go to a show, say hello to a stranger. Help out a newbie that is looking for a friend. You just never know if he was sent to you as your "Guiding Angel" for sometime in the future!
So this has been my journey. I am still recovering and it's a slow process. I live my life one day at a time. For all those that reached out to me in this breed.............you are so much more than just a breeder or exhibitor. You are special human beings above anything else. Some of you may never own a champion and some of you own more than your share of them, but to me, you are champions among people!!! You may not have a title just yet, but your crown is reserved by a judge far better suited to judge than any AKC licensed judge on this earth!!!
From the book: A SECOND HELPING OF CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL: The runaway bestseller Chicken Soup for the Soul captured the imagination of millions of readers with its uplifting message of hope and inspiration. With a nation still hungering for more good news, Canfield and Hansen went back to work and cooked up another batch of life-affirming stories to warm your heart and soothe your soul.
Through the experiences of others, readers from all walks of life can learn the gift of love, the power of perseverance, the joy of parenting and the vital energy of dreaming. Share the magic that will change forever how you look at yourself and the world around you.
My rating: "Sunshine Squad": (4), Chicken Soup for the Soul books: (4), most German Shepherd Dog people: (4)!
Friday, 10 June 2011
RED ROSES FOR A BLUE LADY
The last time that I wrote on my blog was right after my first surgery and I was not looking forward to the second one down at good old Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City! Facing the unknown is always a scary prospect. I must say I didn�t dwell on it, but there were times that it hit me in the face with the force of a brick being thrown at me. I could never really wrap myself around the fact that I had uterine cancer! My relatives and my friends shared with me their cancer horror stories in the past, but now my reality was I too was added to the list of those that would battle this invader of life! Having lost my beloved mother to colon cancer, I was all too familiar with this dreaded disease. And that�s exactly what it is��.an invader! Who asked it to come and reside inside of me anyway? Invited or not; it took up residency and it planned on staying for awhile.
The morning (and I�m talking about the wee hours of the morning) of my dreaded surgery, was dark, dreary and raining heavily. I said goodbye to my three dogs and told them to be good and I�d see them in a couple of days. My youngest brother Jack who had been taking me back and forth for my Sloan Kettering appointments was once again at the wheel of the car as we hydro-planed our way down to Manhattan. If I was nervous about the operation, riding in this temperamental weather ran a close second to my already stressed nervous system that morning! Thank God my brother is a good driver and knows his way around the city because if I had to depend on �yours truly,� I�d still be looking for the hospital!
Arriving at the hospital and walking down those long, cold corridors that would lead me to �who knows what� is like playing an old black and white news reel that spins in my head. I know I was there, but it�s like someone else was pushing my reluctant body along. I didn�t want to be there, but I knew I had to be! Filling out more papers, signing in at the desk, small obligatory chatter exchanged between me and the receptionist and all of those nurses. My, my, there were so many nurses! I met so many people before the actual operation and now their faces are but a blur in the memory bank of my brain.
I�m told, take off this and put on that. I remove my gold cross and hand it to the man that takes my �valuables� down to security. I�m given a cap to put on over my head and a robe with the opening in the back. I can�t ask my brother to tie the little strings that holds the gown in place so I struggle to make myself �decent� before I pull open the drapes. My brother, who has probably one of the funniest senses of humor that I know, decides that I�m looking more like a scrub nurse than a patient and snaps a very unflattering picture of me on his I-Phone. He threatens to expose me on Facebook but feeling sorry for me shares it instead with my other brother and my best friend. Let me tell you, looking unfashionably yucky is the last worry on my mind. I have every needle pricking me, x-ray of my chest taken, and the anesthesiologist reassuring me as I tell her once again that I almost died from anesthesia one time. Oh let�s not forget about the little old lady in her 80�s that came around my bed and said prayers over my unattractive looking self. What did she say her name was? Sister Hillary? Oh well it was �Sister� something or other. She was a gentle soul and was sweet and kind and momentarily made me forget while I was talking to her in the first place. Wasn�t she there to say a prayer that I make it through the operation alright and if not, may I be taken into the hereafter and hopefully God might find a place for me in Heaven?
Finally after a couple of hours of waiting, my bed is moving along the hallway that will lead me into that sterile, white, cold place called the operating room! My brother walks along side of me and I grab his hand one last time as I turn the corner and he is left behind me. The bottom of the bed hits the double doors and opens into a smaller room than I would have imagined the operating room to be. I was having robotic surgery and I was expecting a larger area for this �robotic doctor� to perform his magic on me! I was asked to get off of the bed that I was on and crawl up on the operating table. More nurses are in here. There�s a man above my head whose face I never really get to see. He�s kind and gentle and keeps on talking to me. I�m nervous and confused as I�m strapped on this gurney that will secure my body for the next four hours. Where�s the doctor I wondered. Then the man above my head was saying, �Barbara, I�m going to put this needle in you now to help you relax. I never did remember relaxing, because I woke up in the recovery room instead.
I�ve got five different needles in me. If that wasn�t bad enough, I am told that they are going to put a sleep apnea mask on my face as I was in the high risk category. Let me tell you, everything up to that point was nothing compared to this horrific thing on my face for an hour and a half. I thought I would just about die with that thing. I felt myself become panicky probably because I felt claustrophobic. And they wouldn�t remove it when I asked them to. They insisted I needed it on. When I was finally released from the �torture� mask, I literally breathed a sigh of relief.
Once in my room, my brother was texting everyone he knew to let them know that I pulled through the operation just fine. But because of the pain that I was feeling, I made many unattractive and goofy looking faces. My brother couldn�t stop laughing at me even when the nurses came into the room to attend to me. I told him that I was happy that he was having a good time for himself laughing at my misery! But all kidding aside, I laugh a lot at myself anyway, so I found myself laughing right along with him until a sharp pain would snap me back to reality!
They gave me dinner that night and most of it I couldn�t eat anyway. My poor brother was exhausted because he hadn�t slept the night before and then driving in that awful weather for two hours and worrying about me knocked him out. Little did I know while I was sleeping, he pulled open this lounge like hard bed and lay down and in minutes was peacefully sleeping. I awoke being serenaded by the deep, robotic sounds of an overly tired brother laying ten feet away from me. �Oh no, I�ll never get back to sleep now� I thought. I didn�t have the heart to wake him���..well not just yet anyway.
So what was a �just operated on� girl suppose to do? I looked over at my bedside table and I saw that my dinner was never removed. So I took a couple of straws and removed the wrapper and threw it at my brother thinking foolishly that something as light as this would make him roll over. Really? What was I thinking? Blame it on the anesthesia that was still cruising around inside of my body. I buzzed the nurses several times for pain meds or some other incidental that I needed and even with them coming back and forth into my room and talking to me, my brother never budged. He just kept on snoring as loud as could be and I just kept on thinking how am I going to get him to stop. Now I ask you was I selfish to think that I needed rest as well? Nope I didn�t think so. So after a few hours of this torture, I called out his name several times and woke him and told him to turn over, stop snoring or go lay in the lounge for a while because my weary body was, just that��.weary. No argument on his end. He just got up and told me he�d see me in a few hours. I guess he must have remembered all those �Hot Wheels� that I bought him when he was a kid! I didn�t know it then, but it must have left a positive influence on him!
Anyway, I�m happy to say that I�ve made it to the other side but not without a few complications here and there. After being home for about two weeks and complaining about this tremendous pain I was having, come to find out I got an infection following the operation. My doctor put me on an antibiotic and thank God, it took care of that. It is now a month and a half since the operation but I�m in pain because I�m not yet healed inside. Some days are better than others. It�s a process and I deal with everything on a daily basis. I�m happy to say that my doctor said that they removed the �invader� and that I do not have to have chemo or radiation! WHOOPIE! I am so very blessed.
I have so many people to thank, but that will be for my next blog writing. For now I thank my doctor and his team of professionals for saving my life. I thank God above everyone else for it was he who held my hand through this whole thing. I could not have made it without my faith! But for this blog I want to thank my brother Jack for he was my hero and I will never forget how he laid in my room at the hospital and how I awoke to his annoying snoring, but the love I felt for him at that moment for being there with me, I shall never forget. Thank you brother!!
My rating: There is life after cancer: (4) Going through life threatening diseases with friendship and love: (4)
The morning (and I�m talking about the wee hours of the morning) of my dreaded surgery, was dark, dreary and raining heavily. I said goodbye to my three dogs and told them to be good and I�d see them in a couple of days. My youngest brother Jack who had been taking me back and forth for my Sloan Kettering appointments was once again at the wheel of the car as we hydro-planed our way down to Manhattan. If I was nervous about the operation, riding in this temperamental weather ran a close second to my already stressed nervous system that morning! Thank God my brother is a good driver and knows his way around the city because if I had to depend on �yours truly,� I�d still be looking for the hospital!
Arriving at the hospital and walking down those long, cold corridors that would lead me to �who knows what� is like playing an old black and white news reel that spins in my head. I know I was there, but it�s like someone else was pushing my reluctant body along. I didn�t want to be there, but I knew I had to be! Filling out more papers, signing in at the desk, small obligatory chatter exchanged between me and the receptionist and all of those nurses. My, my, there were so many nurses! I met so many people before the actual operation and now their faces are but a blur in the memory bank of my brain.
I�m told, take off this and put on that. I remove my gold cross and hand it to the man that takes my �valuables� down to security. I�m given a cap to put on over my head and a robe with the opening in the back. I can�t ask my brother to tie the little strings that holds the gown in place so I struggle to make myself �decent� before I pull open the drapes. My brother, who has probably one of the funniest senses of humor that I know, decides that I�m looking more like a scrub nurse than a patient and snaps a very unflattering picture of me on his I-Phone. He threatens to expose me on Facebook but feeling sorry for me shares it instead with my other brother and my best friend. Let me tell you, looking unfashionably yucky is the last worry on my mind. I have every needle pricking me, x-ray of my chest taken, and the anesthesiologist reassuring me as I tell her once again that I almost died from anesthesia one time. Oh let�s not forget about the little old lady in her 80�s that came around my bed and said prayers over my unattractive looking self. What did she say her name was? Sister Hillary? Oh well it was �Sister� something or other. She was a gentle soul and was sweet and kind and momentarily made me forget while I was talking to her in the first place. Wasn�t she there to say a prayer that I make it through the operation alright and if not, may I be taken into the hereafter and hopefully God might find a place for me in Heaven?
Finally after a couple of hours of waiting, my bed is moving along the hallway that will lead me into that sterile, white, cold place called the operating room! My brother walks along side of me and I grab his hand one last time as I turn the corner and he is left behind me. The bottom of the bed hits the double doors and opens into a smaller room than I would have imagined the operating room to be. I was having robotic surgery and I was expecting a larger area for this �robotic doctor� to perform his magic on me! I was asked to get off of the bed that I was on and crawl up on the operating table. More nurses are in here. There�s a man above my head whose face I never really get to see. He�s kind and gentle and keeps on talking to me. I�m nervous and confused as I�m strapped on this gurney that will secure my body for the next four hours. Where�s the doctor I wondered. Then the man above my head was saying, �Barbara, I�m going to put this needle in you now to help you relax. I never did remember relaxing, because I woke up in the recovery room instead.
I�ve got five different needles in me. If that wasn�t bad enough, I am told that they are going to put a sleep apnea mask on my face as I was in the high risk category. Let me tell you, everything up to that point was nothing compared to this horrific thing on my face for an hour and a half. I thought I would just about die with that thing. I felt myself become panicky probably because I felt claustrophobic. And they wouldn�t remove it when I asked them to. They insisted I needed it on. When I was finally released from the �torture� mask, I literally breathed a sigh of relief.
Once in my room, my brother was texting everyone he knew to let them know that I pulled through the operation just fine. But because of the pain that I was feeling, I made many unattractive and goofy looking faces. My brother couldn�t stop laughing at me even when the nurses came into the room to attend to me. I told him that I was happy that he was having a good time for himself laughing at my misery! But all kidding aside, I laugh a lot at myself anyway, so I found myself laughing right along with him until a sharp pain would snap me back to reality!
They gave me dinner that night and most of it I couldn�t eat anyway. My poor brother was exhausted because he hadn�t slept the night before and then driving in that awful weather for two hours and worrying about me knocked him out. Little did I know while I was sleeping, he pulled open this lounge like hard bed and lay down and in minutes was peacefully sleeping. I awoke being serenaded by the deep, robotic sounds of an overly tired brother laying ten feet away from me. �Oh no, I�ll never get back to sleep now� I thought. I didn�t have the heart to wake him���..well not just yet anyway.
So what was a �just operated on� girl suppose to do? I looked over at my bedside table and I saw that my dinner was never removed. So I took a couple of straws and removed the wrapper and threw it at my brother thinking foolishly that something as light as this would make him roll over. Really? What was I thinking? Blame it on the anesthesia that was still cruising around inside of my body. I buzzed the nurses several times for pain meds or some other incidental that I needed and even with them coming back and forth into my room and talking to me, my brother never budged. He just kept on snoring as loud as could be and I just kept on thinking how am I going to get him to stop. Now I ask you was I selfish to think that I needed rest as well? Nope I didn�t think so. So after a few hours of this torture, I called out his name several times and woke him and told him to turn over, stop snoring or go lay in the lounge for a while because my weary body was, just that��.weary. No argument on his end. He just got up and told me he�d see me in a few hours. I guess he must have remembered all those �Hot Wheels� that I bought him when he was a kid! I didn�t know it then, but it must have left a positive influence on him!
Anyway, I�m happy to say that I�ve made it to the other side but not without a few complications here and there. After being home for about two weeks and complaining about this tremendous pain I was having, come to find out I got an infection following the operation. My doctor put me on an antibiotic and thank God, it took care of that. It is now a month and a half since the operation but I�m in pain because I�m not yet healed inside. Some days are better than others. It�s a process and I deal with everything on a daily basis. I�m happy to say that my doctor said that they removed the �invader� and that I do not have to have chemo or radiation! WHOOPIE! I am so very blessed.
I have so many people to thank, but that will be for my next blog writing. For now I thank my doctor and his team of professionals for saving my life. I thank God above everyone else for it was he who held my hand through this whole thing. I could not have made it without my faith! But for this blog I want to thank my brother Jack for he was my hero and I will never forget how he laid in my room at the hospital and how I awoke to his annoying snoring, but the love I felt for him at that moment for being there with me, I shall never forget. Thank you brother!!
My rating: There is life after cancer: (4) Going through life threatening diseases with friendship and love: (4)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)