postheadericon MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Midnight Mass was glorious last night!  The Church is always almost mystical at night, even more so at Mass.  As we celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Savior, let us remember the humble circumstances that He chose to become one of us so that He could lead us to Salvation.  May God bless you.

 

postheadericon MORE EXTENDED FAMILIES AND NEWS ABOUT RATTLEBRIDGE CAVALIERS 12/22/2010

I am so far behind in posting extended family pictures that I may never catch up. Besides the pictures I have been sent on email, I have a huge folder of pictures that need to be scanned. ANYIONE WANT TO VOLUNTEER TO SCAN??  I have no idea when I will get around to doing this.  I am as proud of the Rattlebridge Cavaliers who go to wonderful pet homes as much as the show dogs, therapy dogs, and performance dogs.  Cavaliers have no purpose if they do not become the beloved companions they were created to be.  Without my Cavaliers, I would not have made it through my husband’s death.  Our extended families of owners of our Cavaliers keep begging me to not quit breeding because of the splendid dogs we breed. 

There is so much heartache in breeding dogs, but so much joy also.  A few weeks ago, I lost Ch. Rattlebridge Arch Rival to congestive heart failure. Archie finished his championship at ten months and shortly after our cardiologist, Dr. Linda Lehmkuhl found a click in his heart which was not there as a puppy.  Further testing revealed that Archie had the beginning of mitral valve disease.  He was a beautiful Cavalier that could have had a career as a show dog, but we never bred him and had him neutered so that there would be no accidents with our girls.  He lived a good life though not into his teens like most of our dogs.   He was one of my husband’s very favorites, but Archie loved me with his soul.  I picture Al scooping Archie up at the Rainbow bridge with Al’s Katie, Sammy, and Tia wagging their tails. 

                                                                                                          archie sweet face         archie full face

Ch. Rattlebridge Arch Rival at ten months.  He had such a sweet face!!!

I would like to introduce Rattlebridge Cyber Dawn who went to his first shows a few weeks ago to lovely wins in the three shows in which he was entered.  I have not shown a dog in three years; I have never been a great or even decent handler on some days, but handled my untrained boy very bravely as I was almost gimping around the ring with a sprained ankle on one leg and fifteen stitches in the other.  Oh, the will to win against all odds!!!   Anyway, Cyber took winners dog and then best of breed over champions all three days even garnering a Group IV.  Not bad for a 13 month old puppy that had never been to a show and was in my own unique style “ half assed trained.”  Now I am giving away my total ineptness on filling out forms online when I tell you that I had registered Cyber online and thought it went through, then entered him with his litter number which a couple of my doggy friends told me I could do.  NOT!!!  He was not registered as I must have hit a glitch on the online registering process and his three majors were taken away.  Oh, well,  we will just have to start over and have more fun and he is so much fun to show with his effervescent attitude!  His brother Rattlebridge The Dawnald who like his siblings was co bred and co owned by my friend and partner in crime, Sherri Meyer, and his sister, the wicked Rattlebridge Dawnatella lives with me; she chewed up a rosary tonight and could get me in real trouble with the Blessed Mother just before Christmas.  She, in the true sense if the word, is a little bitch and gets away with it due to her beauty and adorability (my newest coined word—don’t you love it?). She and her brother, The Dawnald, already have points toward their championship.

Rattlebridge Cyber Dawn

                                                                                                                                                                   Rattlebridge Cyber Dawn

AND NOW TO THE NEWEST EXTENDED FAMILY COLLAGES:

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postheadericon And That’s When the Fight Started . . . My friends have weird senses of humor:

 

I thought the following amusing for it shows men at their best.  NOT!

And That’s When the Fight Started . . .

One year, a husband decided to buy his mother-in-law a cemetery plot as a Christmas gift. The next year, he didn’t buy her a gift. When she asked him why, he replied, "Well, you still haven’t used the gift I bought you last year!"
And that’s when the fight started. . .
  

****************************************************************** 

I asked my wife, ‘Where do you want to go for our anniversary?’ It warmed my heart to see  her face melt in sweet appreciation. ‘Somewhere I haven’t been in a long time!’ she said. So I suggested, ‘How about the kitchen?’
And that’s when the fight started.

****************************************************************** 
My wife and I are watching “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” while we were
in bed. I turned to her and said, ‘Do you want to have sex?’
‘No,’ she answered.
I then said, ‘Is that your final answer?’
She didn’t even look at me this time, simply saying ‘Yes.’
So I said, ‘Then I’d like to phone a friend.’
And that’s when the fight started…
******************************************************************

I tried to talk my wife into buying a case of Miller Light for $14.95.
Instead, she bought a jar of cold cream for $7.95. I told her the beer
would make her look better at night than the cold cream.
And that’s when the fight started….. 
*******************************************************************

I took my wife to a restaurant. The waiter, for some reason, took my order first…
‘I’ll  have the strip steak, medium rare, please.’
He said, ‘Aren’t you worried about the mad cow?’
‘Nah, she can order for herself.’
And that’s when the fight started….. 
********************************************************************   
My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping
the channels.
She asked, ‘What’s on TV?’
I said, ‘Dust.’
And that’s when the fight started…

********************************************************************

My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming
anniversary.
She said, ‘I want something shiny that goes from 0 to
200 in about 3 seconds.’
I bought her a scale.
And that’s when fight started..

*********************************************************************

My wife and I were sitting at a table at her high school
reunion, and she kept staring at a drunken man swigging his drink as he sat alone at a nearby table.

I asked her, "Do you know him?"  "Yes," she sighed, "He’s my old boyfriend;  I understand he took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago and I hear he hasn’t been sober since."

"My God!"  I said, "who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?"

And that’s when the fight started. . . .

*********************************************************************

I rear-ended a car this morning. So, there we were
alongside the road and slowly the other driver got out of his car. You know
how sometimes you just get soooo stressed and little things just seem
funny?
Yeah, well I couldn’t believe it… he was a DWARF!!!
He stormed over to my car, looked up at me, and shouted,
‘I AM NOT HAPPY!’
So, I looked down at him and said, ‘Well, then which one are you?”

And that’s when the fight started….. 

*********************************************************************

SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST…..

THE BROKEN LAWN MOWER

When our lawn mower broke and wouldn’t run, my wife
kept hinting to me that I should get it fixed.
But, somehow I always had something else to take care of
first, the truck, the car, playing golf,
always something more important to me and rightfully so!

Finally she thought of a clever way to make her point. When
I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass,
busily snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors.
I watched silently for a short time and then went into the
house. I was gone only a minute, and when I came out again I handed
her a toothbrush. I said, ‘When you finish cutting the grass,
you might as well sweep the driveway.”

And that’s when the fight started.

The doctors say I will walk again, but I will always have a limp.    

postheadericon CANINE CHRISTMAS COMING

 

You gotta see this!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUtPKbMwnRo

As you watch the frivolity in this youtube video, remember that all pets are not as lucky to enjoy the holiday season.

Please remember all the dogs, cats, and other animals suffering from starvation, cruelty, abandonment, and neglect in this season of giving.  As the economy worsens, the plight of animals also worsens.  Please do what you can do to help either by donating money to your local shelter, fostering a dog, volunteering at the shelter, and helping where you can. Not every dog, nor every child, will be safe, warm, fed, and loved this year.  As I look at my well cared for lot, I cannot help but pray for the unwanted and thrown away animals in our society as well as all of our homeless and displaced people trying so hard to survive. As foreclosures increase, so do the number of abandoned pets and much worse the number of homeless people.  Please give your time and money to our fellow man and those animals in dire need.

postheadericon A Dog’s Purpose Through the Eyes of a Six Year Old

Before I launch into my BIG POST after not posting for several months, I want to share the following vignette. Since Al’s death I have wondered about my purpose, my future, my way of life.  I have no idea what God will call me to do, but I hope to do as much good in the world as our beloved dogs. Aren’t they grand?  Without them, I would not have made it through the past months.  Certainly they cannot take my Al’s place in any stretch of the imagination, but they are good company (when they are not decorating the floor with mud, sneaking behind the couch to leave a present for me when it is raining and they do not want to get their behinds wet, or trying to take food from my mouth or in the case of Snoop from the counter or the table or wherever else he can find a tidbit.  I have loved dogs from my earliest childhood with good reason: they are loyal, affectionate, playful, sometimes courageous and protective when necessary, and warm on a cold night.  I have a lover affair going with dogs, all dogs from purebreds to mixed breeds but especially Cavaliers.  More on my Cavaliers in my next post!!!  The little boy in the following has it right!!!

A  Dog’s Purpose Through the Eyes of a Six Year Old   

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish 
Wolfhound named Belker.  The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their 
little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping 
for a miracle. 
 
I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer.  I told the  family we 
couldn’t do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia 
procedure for the old dog in their home. 
 
As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be 
good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure.  They felt as though 
Shane might learn something from the experience. 
 
The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker’s family
surrounded him.  Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last 
time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on.  Within a few 
minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. 
 
The little boy seemed to accept Belker’s transition without any difficulty 
or confusion.  We sat together for a while after Belker’s Death, wondering 
aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.
Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, ”I know why.” 

Startled, we all turned to him.  What came out of his mouth next stunned 
me.   I’d never heard a more comforting explanation.  It has changed the 
way I try and live. 
 
He said, ”People are born so that they can learn how to live a good
life — like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?” The 
Six-year-old continued, ”Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they 
don’t have to stay as long.” 
 
Live simply. 
 
Love generously. 
 
Care deeply. 
 
Speak kindly. 
 
Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like: 
 
When loved ones come home, always run to greet them. 
 
Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride. 
 
Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure 
Ecstasy. 

Take naps. 

Stretch before rising. 
 
Run, romp, and play daily. 
 
Thrive on attention and let people touch you. 
 
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do. 
 
On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass. 
 
On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree. 
 
When you’re happy, dance around and wag your entire body. 
 
Delight in the simple joy of a long walk. 
 
Be loyal. 
 
Never pretend to be something you’re not. 
 
If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it. 
 
When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them 
gently. 
 
ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY!