R.I.P. Gremlin

Gremlin wasn't doing too well lately. Bad kidneys, bad liver. Spine very bad. But she'd been going out to do her business. And eating. That kinda dropped off the past week, though.

The Human Assistant had said we'd be celebrating her birthday tomorrow/​today/​Wednesday. He doesn't really remember even what month he got her! But she was an 8-​week-​old puppy. Fourteen years ago.

Our dokker's records say she was born July 11. H.A. thinks that might have been Gremlin's first visit to her first vet. So she was either 0 weeks old then or 8 weeks old. H.A. split the difference and said she was 4 weeks old on July 11.

Which would make her birthday June 11!



Today (Tuesday) Gremlin woke up feeling really, really bad. She couldn't move and wouldn't eat. H.A. told us he was taking Gremlin to the dokker. But she wouldn't be coming back anymore.

He carried her out to the car. They went for a ride. It's too bad she was feeling so bad. She and Mutzger used to love going on rides with H.A. But Tuesday was her last ride with him. Until they meet up again.

When that happens she might be waiting for him in the Siberian Husky area. H.A. says Gremlin was an honorary Sibe because she could wooo really well!



Besides woooing, Gremlin was an escape artist! And she liked to chew the covers on hardback books. (But only old ones.) So that's why the H.A. called her an honorary Siberian Husky.

I hope Gremlin finds Mutzger now! Mutzger was a month or two older than Gremlin. But H.A. got the two of them from the shelter at the same time. They were buddies. Even though Gremlin teased Mutzger and made her mad.

I'll bet Mutzger would like to see her buddy again. They escaped and ran off together a bunch of times when they were younger. But Mutzger was part Chow. She'd usually come back to H.A. Gremlin would just run on by him. Like a Sibe!

Run In Peace, Gremlin!

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Giving thanks

It's hard to even know where to start being thankful!

There are so many humans and animals who have to struggle just to live from day to day.

Timber was an old gal who lived here before I came.

She had been dumped in the hills.

But somebody caught her and brought her to town. The Human Assistant got her from the rescue group.

Timber didn't ask for much. In fact, she didn't ask for anything.

But she was grateful to be part of a pack that got food in their bowls.

Sometimes she would eat from somedoggy else's bowl, but Gremlin and Zot would let her.

For sure she lined up with them when it was time for treats! And she loved walks. Like we all do, of course. But the H.A. says she was very well-mannered. Never pulled on the leash! Can you imagine?

And when he took all of them out together, Timber picked a spot beside Gremlin and would walk right there. Until Gremlin would head to one side or the other to sniff things. Timber kept going straight ahead. But when Gremlin got back in line, Timber lined up with her again.

H.A. says it made him sad to think of such a pack-loving sweetie being out on her own, all alone.

He is thankful for the basics. We're so lucky to have food and a home! Then he is very, very grateful for his family and friends. Some have four legs, but some have only two.

He took this picture of his family about 12 years ago.

Mutzger and Gremlin were buddies, sorta.

They did like grooming each other.

It looks like Mutzger doesn't want her ear licked, but actually she loved the attention.

And she loved giving it back to Gremlin. Who is the one with touchy ears she didn't really want licked.

As for me ... I am grateful for cars and clothes and collars and leashes.

If H.A. didn't have those things, he would stay in the house all the time! And I would never be able to get out and see the world!

And we would run out of food and treats! That would be terrible!

I'm thankful that humans think Siberian Huskies are handsome and beautiful.

[Especially fluffy Meeshka. Whose picture is on Wikipedia. Which Amber noticed!]

And that hardly anyone thinks I'm a wolf.

So people are nice to me.

And I almost never hear that I can't be a Sibe because I'm red instead of black or gray. ::SNORT!::

I mean, shouldn't an "Irish coat" be red? How many leprechauns have you seen with black hair? Heh.

Anyway. I hope you all are having a good day! A good Thanksgiving holiday if you're in the U.S. A very good other kind of day if it's not an official holiday where you are!

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-- photo of bi-eyed, red Siberian Husky our friend Meeshka from Wikipedia Penny Blankenship's flickr page via Wikipedia

-- edited 23/11/07 to credit Penny Blankenship for Meeshka's photo

Alien invaders

And this time I don't mean Mystique!

The Human Assistant just caught up reading his SIBERNET email and learned that poor Shelby and Maddox have wormies. Eeew, stay away from them!  ::big Husky smile::  Just kidding, gang!

The vet thinks I had some kind of parasite when I got here. He never saw it. I got it at the rescue, probably. It was a strange-sounding explanation. But he said it was the right pattern of symptoms leading up to my new monia.

On SIBERNET they're also talking about giardia. Well, I've never mentioned Timber before. She was here before my time. But she must have lived on her own in the mountains for months. And when she was rescued she had two kinds of parasites. Giardia and some other creepy slithery thing. But she got treated for them before she came here to live with Gremlin and the H.A.

So parasites happen.

Time for a more fun topic!

My other posts haven't had links to Gremlin's dogster page. This is H.A.'s fault. It has to be because he does the typing. So he will go back and add links as he adds tags to the posts. (Only Blogger calls them labels.)

If you look at my dogster page you'll see H.A. finally put a bunch of photos on it. Some of them have been in the blog before because he had already cropped and tweaked them.

(I thought it was ears that got cropped. And tweaking sounds like something you do to tweaky toys. But that's what H.A. said.)

He says he has lots more pictures of me he can put on dogster. But they have to be cropped and tweaked first. And it looks like a ton of them show Mystique trying to play with me.  ::scowl::  They're from when she lived with H.A.'s buddy and we would go visit her.

I didn't mind her so much then. I played with her a little because it was just for a while and then we would go home. But H.A. took a gazillion pictures. I look pretty good in lots of them. But Mystique is also in them! And she looks just a little too darned cute! So the pictures shouldn't be on my dogster page!

(Okay, so Mystique really is an alien invader!)

Our dogster pages have links to each other. Like to Mutzger, who was here before anybody else but Gremlin. H.A. got puppy Mutzger and puppy Gremlin at the same time more than 13 years ago.

But anyway. All the other doggies that have lived with H.A. can be seen from my dogster page. There have been nine of us in just four years! I mentioned five in yesterday's blog. They were the guest doggies.

Plus Mutzger and Timber, and Gremlin and me. The H.A. was really surprised when he counted us all up. But now he's made sure that each of us has at least a few pictures on a page all our own.

Everydoggie should have a dogster page, I think!