R.I.P. Sally Violet

Sally Violet  (Lucy)

You probably remember Lucy. She arrived almost two years ago and was the most-okay of all the dogs that the Human Assistant has ever brought here.

Lucy was always checking things out in the yard. She found really interesting stuff sometimes! I just had to follow her around and see what she got her nose into. And she never ever annoyed me. Wow!

Lucy was a happy little girl. She made the H.A. smile every single day we took care of her for the shelter. And she almost never annoyed him! (Sometimes it's like humans just look for things to get annoyed about!)

When Lucy got adopted her new mom changed her name to Sally Violet. And her mom is the only one who's written to the H.A. a few times after adopting one of our fosters.

Well, it seemed like all she ever said was that Sally Violet was the most perfect dog ever! But still. We knew that Lucy Sally V. was going places and meeting people and dogs and living a good life!

Sally Violet got cancer and died three weeks ago. It's hard to imagine! She had so much life and energy! When the H.A. would come home, Sally V. would run to the bedroom and jump on the bed and roll around and check to make sure he was paying attention and having as much fun as she was.

I could do that. But why? H.A. doesn't keep treats in the bedroom. And that would be the only reason for a Siberian Husky to act silly like that. But Sally Violet did it because she was happy and it was fun.

She made a big impression around here. She got mentioned in 64 blog postings plus she wrote one herself.

There are pictures in 41 of those postings. (I'm counting on the H.A. to tell me the right numbers, here.) H.A. took lots of pictures back then.

In fact, he went through the computer looking for all his snapshots of Sally V. He said we have 321 of them! Most are no good. Crummy angle or too dark or something. But he'll give copies of them all to Sally V.'s mom so she can do something with them if she wants.

The picture on this posting is one he's never used before. So it took him hours to get it from looking blah to being sorta okay. He had the camera tipped, for one thing.

So he's looked for 321 snapshots, and looked for a few of the better ones, and worked on them, and worked on another project or two.

Also there was lots of sad time. And so three weeks have gone by since we heard from Sally Violet's mom about her dying.

People and dogs all liked Sally Violet. She sure is going to be missed!

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Now who?

Sorry for no posts in a while! The Human Assistant has been busy. As I'll explain.

Here's a cozy domestic scene. According to the H.A. He took these Sunday night.

Sinjin in his den.

Me 'n' some other dog.

Like I said before, the Human Assistant must've started missing Sally Violet pretty fast. He only got rid of her Friday afternoon. Then just a day and a nap later, he brought home some other dog.

I could smell that she came from someplace with lots of dogs. But not the H.A.'s usual shelter. And she looked and smelled like she hadn't lived with humans in a while! Not that I minded that, of course. It made her more interesting. But even her pee smelled funny.

The H.A. thought that since I  ☮ didn't mind ☮  the senior female Lucy Sally Violet, then I was bound to positively  ♥ like ♥  a senior female Sibe!

I wish I could make that human sound where they stick out their tongue and make it flap against their lips! Try bringing me a female friend that doesn't walk into me when I'm sprawled out! If you're going to bring me a female friend.

Then the next day he took this dog to the usual shelter and brought her back wearing a MaxFund tag.

Then the next day he took her someplace else and came back without her. He smelled like the place where I go to get weighed and shots and stuff. He said they wanted to keep her overnight.

Hey, I'm not greedy! Keep her forever!

Then nothing happened the next day. Which was Tuesday. Okay, H.A. says he spent a lot of time on the phone trying to find this dog's humans. From a chip she has on her shoulder. That's a strange thing for him to say! She's actually a pretty relaxed dog.

The phone calls convinced H.A. that her name really was Alizé. Like the shelter told him. He just kinda had trouble believing someone would name a Sibe a French word for wind. Or some French booze. Or a French singer. Or one of her French songs.

Wouldn't it make more sense to name a dog after French fries? (French french fries are pommes frites. Isn't that the breed of our friend Minky? )

Anyway. Then H.A. brought Alizé back on Wednesday. She had these places on her front legs with no fur. She said they scraped it off one leg and stuck a needle in her.  ​Ouch!

Then they left the needle in her leg the rest of the day!  ​Owooowooowooo!

She said at least she wasn't starving for a drink while this hose was connected to her. But she got tired of it and pulled the hose off that night. She couldn't get the needle out. But she licked it and chewed it and goobered it up so they couldn't use it.

So then they scraped fur off her other leg. And stuck a needle in that one! And left it there all day !  ​I thought there were humans who stopped animal torture like that!

Well. She got tired of that hose too. Pulled it off that night. They didn't hook it up again. Thank dog!

But they were sticking her with other needles. And bothering her while she peed. Which was pretty often. They kept catching her pee in jars. Humans are so weird!

I guess Alizé can barely see. When she first got here she ran into steps that go up. And tripped down steps that go down. Now she does fine on the steps. And actually, she doesn't step on me anymore. But she still gets too close! So I have to bark at her.

The Human Assistant gives her shots twice a day. She acts like she can't even feel them! And he catches her pee. And sticks a skinny piece of paper in it. Weird!

And puts drops in her eyes. Now that she doesn't especially like.

And she won't eat kibble now. She did before she went away for a couple of days. But I guess they spoiled her. And her second meal isn't at the same time as ours.

So me and Sinjin will be getting some stinky canned food at night! I hope that's in addition to medi-treats!

And that's the story on this other dog. We'll see what happens. Or smell and hear what happens. You know what I mean.

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Red Wubba red Wubba web Wudda

No, I don't miss Lucy.  I mean, Sally Violet.  (That's her new name.)

She was okay. She hardly ever bothered me. But last week she barked at me! Just because I was eating her food! So I gave her a bite on her muzzle.

That's why the Human Assistant was mad at me. He doesn't like for the merchandise fosters to get damaged. Oh, and I gave Sinjin a second bite on the muzzle. So much for his "handsome face"!

Anyway. Here's the second part of the pictures from last time. The more important part. Especially since What's-​her-​name isn't here anymore.

Thank you.
Now, don't take my Wubba!	I mean it!

My Wubba!

Yup.

Mine.

Doo be do be chooo....	You're not taking it, are you?
Dang it!	Why'd you throw it?
Double dang it!	Not again!  Forget it!  Game over!

Yeah, so I guess the Human Assistant misses Sally Violet already. Last night he was looking at other dogs on the computer.

Another dog?   Already ‽‽‽

He made notes about one dog in a notepad. So this morning while he was still asleep I took the notepad off the computer desk. In the back yard I pulled all the pages out. Then I came back in for a flyer he had for the Lucky Mutt Strut for the MaxFund shelter.

Shoot! That only had his notes for Vasha's blurb! So I only tore one corner off.

Then I came back in and dug around in a bag of stuff H.A. got at REI. There was some kind of doofussy pen from outer space or something. Still on its little card from the store. So I unwrapped that and gave it a good chew.

I happen to know that it's not the pen he wanted. But the store didn't have any of those. And they're not on the outer space website now, either.

So I'm sure he didn't mind. And I just dented the cap real good. Metal's sure harder to chew than plastic! He got the red one, by the way.

Anyway. I guess I didn't foil the H.A.'s plans. More about that another time.

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Blue Wubba blue Wubba boo Blubba

I wanted to write "Woo Bubba"!  But the Human Assistant wouldn't say it that way.

One time he let us play with these really neat toys. I can't link you to the exact page. But go to products then NEW PRODUCTS. Check out the dog in the picture! Then go to KONG Wubba.

I loved chewing the red one! But H.A. said they weren't chew toys. He took them away!   ☹

Then a few days ago he got them out again to take pictures. Just to show that I'm destructive. How rude!

Gremlin's interested.

But Lucy takes it.

The other doggies gathered 'round. But H.A. shooed me away. Then very carefully and politely Lucy took the blue one. She had played with that one before.

So H.A. figured, what the hay. He didn't have pictures from the other time.

Hey!  Come back here, Wubba!

Hmmmph!

He threw the blue one for Lucy a couple of times. And he let her chew on it a little. And he threw the red one for me. You know, neither one of us wanted to go chase the danged things!

Nuh-uh.  Mine!	Hey!  Quit throwin' it!
Must. Hide. In. Den.	You called?

That was a few days ago. Today he put the blue Wubba in a sack. And some other toys that only Lucy plays with. And some food and treats. And Lucy's medical records.

I was a good boy! I didn't take the papers out and chew them! Or the food! Or even the treats! I just took the Wubba out. Then the H.A. distracted me with food. And took the Wubba again.

Then he took the sack and Lucy and got in the car. I know he went to the shelter cuz he came back smelling like Vasha and Caesar.

But H.A. came in the house with ... no Lucy!  He got rid of Lucy!

WHAT HAPPENED TO LUCY‽‽‽

Goin' to my new home!

Bye!

Oh.  Lucy got adopted!  Finally!

Maybe you remember that H.A. first met her seven months ago!  Then I met Lucy in the yard at the shelter.  Then she came for a weekend visit!

Since then she's been in posts on my blog about 50 times! You can see them all if you click on the label Lucy underneath this post. Or just her photos if you click on photo: Lucy.

If you feel like it.

More on Wubbas later!

(Why did H.A. give her that blue one? She's just gonna chew it up!)

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Deconstructing snowballs

There hasn't been much to write about. Not much has been going on.

Lucy meets somebody interested in adopting her tomorrow/​today/​Thursday. The Human Assistant acts like he doesn't want her adopted. Maybe it's just not to this person.

I wouldn't mind her leaving. But I'd rather get rid of Sinjin. He's getting rude! So a couple of times I've had to pin him down and bite his muzzle. H.A. thinks the owies don't look good on his "handsome face."

So Sinjin should shut up! He gets pushy when H.A. fixes our medi-treats. Squeezes in close and barks. I growl at him to stop it. So what does he do?

Sinjin is now snarling at me! Ooh, it's a good scary snarl, too! Good lip curl. Someday H.A. will have to get a picture of that! Before I chew his nose off. (Sinjin's.)

It's been getting pretty warm some days. And the house doesn't cool off very well at night. Like the outdoors does. So one evening I teased Sinjin. But it was too warm to put much effort into it.

Tucker:  Hot?
Sinjin:  Thirsty!
Tucker:  Eat a snowball.
Sinjin:  A what?
Tucker:  Snowball!
Sinjin:  Snow?
Tucker:  Now?  No.
Sinjin:  O.

Wednesday evening it rained. H.A. got kinda chilly. So he closed the windows and the door out to the garage. Which he usually leaves open so we can go outside when we want.

After a while there was some muffled barking. Gremlin doesn't like noise very much. H.A. says she never really has.

So she went to the room where H.A. was reading and told him somedoggy was barking. Like he couldn't hear it. And decide on his own whether he wanted to leave Mr. Barks-​a-​lot outside.

Heh heh heh. I guess H.A. didn't count noses when he closed the door!

Another good thing that happened was that H.A. cooked 15 pounds of hamburger for MaxFund. Sinjin and I made extra-​double sure to bother him while he cooked. But of course Lucy and Gremlin did their share too.

H.A. hasn't felt up to taking the hamburger to the shelter. So we've already eaten two pounds of it! The girls haven't had much appetite for our kibble lately. So we've all been getting some burger mixed in with it. Thanks, ladies!

Well, that's all for tonight.

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mr_ed:  Happy birthday to the Apple II computer and to Elvis Presley's first public performance of Hound Dog!

Orange puppies?

♫♫  Doo be doo be doo....  ♩	Tucker said there were puppies.
Orange puppies!	Do you see any orange puppies?
Poppies, not puppies!  Teeheehee!	Oh!  Hahahahaha!

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Say good night, Dick!

Dick Martin, thank you for bringing your laughter into my home!

     -- Ed

-- photo of Dan, Dick, and Dick (may they rest in peace) from Associated Press

Happy birthday, Seabiscuit!

(referring to Friday, May 23)

Winners!

You got the Molson, eh?

People thought neither of them would race again. But a crippled jockey and a 7-year-old stallion that had had a ruptured ligament won the 1940 Santa Anita Handicap.

Their time would have won the same race last year! With a million-dollar purse! Old? Injured? Don't count us out!

Oh yeah. Also happy birthday to the North West Mounted Police!

On King!   On you Huskies!

I may be the last dog on the internet to play the Japanese name game. But I was tagged by Thor. And by an entire Army of Four.

OOF!  That's a lot of tagging!

If you don't know the game, tag yourself and then visit their blogs!  ☺

Real Name	Game Name	Tease Name
Gremlin	ji-shi-ku-rin-ta-ki-to	Taquito Bandito
Lucy	ta-do-mi-fu	Lucy-fucy
Sinjin	ari-ki-to-zu-ki-to	Ricky Toe
me	chi-do-mi-me-ku-shi	Cushy,  Yak-a-Story

-- photos from Wikipedia

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More uncooperation

First of all, uncooperation from the Human Assistant! It's been almost a whole week since he helped me write anything here!

Okay, he was working on a boatload of photos. Not photos that I'd pick. (And it is my blog!) But since he took 'em, we might as well use 'em.

Here's a Beagle that lives two yards away. Two back yards. Things wouldn't be very pleasant if he only lived two yardsticks away!

Bark!  Bark!  Bark!

What's goin' on?

Hey!

The Beagle was rolling around in the grass. And it wasn't the happy-​to-​be-​alive rolling that Lucy and Zot do. It was roll-​in-​stinkies rolling.

I know because it stood up and peed on that spot and then rolled some more! Now, the H.A. is an artiste in the fine art of photography. So he said,

mr_ed:  Hoooee!  I gotta get me a pitcher of that there doggie!

So he did. Whoop. Dee. Doodoo. But the Beagle wouldn't cooperate and roll around any more.

Then there was the uncooperation of our lilacs. All bent over. Probably from one of our rainstorms.



They're doing better now. But I'll bite the H.A. if he takes another picture before we get this posted. So no views of standing-up lilacs for now.

At least, not our standing-up lilacs.

I mentioned that I went to see Diane Doggroomer, right? On that trip H.A. took 75 pictures of lilacs and only 4 of me!!!

H.A. says if I knew military talk I could say it was definitely Whiskey Tango Foxtrot time. But I don't, so I guess I won't.

Lovely front yard ...

... and a closer look!

This is where our trip home started. It should've taken 15 minutes to get from here to MaxFund. Where we got some stuff. But it took much longer. Like a certain three-hour cruise.

These pictures embarrass me! The lilacs all look really crummy up close. H.A. says that's another uncooperation. His old digital camera.

Here's a house with two lilac bushes:

One in the side yard ...

... and one in the front yard!

H.A. wants to buy a camera that costs more than two years' worth of kibble‽‽‽

Here's another house with bushes in two places plus one peeking over from their neighbors:

At the back of the back yard ...

... and the front of the back yard!

Sometimes humans put bushes where there's not enough room for them. Not when the bushes are grown up, anyway.

Crowded against a side fence.

Room to grow.

But lilac bushes can look scraggly until then. And they're probably hard to groom.

Except for sitting still. Heh.

Here's a house with seven lilac bushes! If I counted them right. I'll bet they'll look great when they're all grown up. I don't know if you can tell from the pictures. But each one looks like it's a different color. To me.

Bushes # 1 & 2 ...	... # 3 ...
... #s 4, 5, 6 ...	... and bush # 7!

Lilacs tucked away:

Hidden away?

Peek-a-boo!

And lilacs you can't miss! Huge ones:

Big bush!

Bigger bush!

And lilacs in the front yard:

Lilacs right out front.

On show for everybody!

I told H.A. he needs to pick his photo subjects better. (More pictures of me would be good!) So he doesn't have to worry about a new camera.

But maybe he'll decide to stop buying me food. In which case I could use some help. And the rest of us, of course.

I'll let you know!

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