She's a G.E.M.

Here is the reason I haven't posted lately. Meet Lily. Lily is now 10 weeks old. Lily is a Goldendoodle. Her mother was a Golden Retriever and her father was a miniature Poodle. She is what we call, a Genetically Engineered Mutt, G.E.M. Yes, the world shall soon be over run with these GEMs. There is nothing wrong with a pure bred dog. I think that people want something different, so they came up with hybrids, designer dogs, or GEMS. As humans, we always want to see what would happen if we changed something. We want to know what makes something work, what would happen if we mixed these ingredients together. That is what makes big companies like P & G so successful. We mess with stuff to create other stuff. It is the same thing in the dog world. There are dog allergies. What would happen if we bred these low shed dogs with other dogs and create a new type of dog. Now, with Lily, the poodle side of her has the soft wavy coat, no shed, intelligence and love of family. The golden side of her has the buff color, easily trained, longer coat, love of family. That is what is expected of this mix. That may not be what you get. So far, we know that Lily loves us. She loves being around the family. She is working on training us more than we are training her. She is showing some signs of intelligence, but mostly she is showing signs of selective hearing. She will come, when she wants to. She will stop doing something she shouldn't when she is done doing it. She knows who will give her treats, and who she can bully. Jake has't gotten use to her yet. He is gone most of the day, and when he is home she feels the need to bite his feet. He then runs from her and puts his feet up yelling for somebody to get the dog. I must admit it is funny seeing a 5'8", 130 lb. boy running from a 10", 7 lb. puppy. Beside that entertainment factor, I also love seeing my husband yell every time the dog looks like she is going to squat. This could be just to sit down. The dog makes this move, Lee jumps up and yells outside! This makes her wag her tail and run in a circle, growling. Yes, she is training us well. I have read that having a dog will extend your life. You will have unconditional love. I think that it makes a person feel needed. We need to take care of something. We need to have that feeling of reward that we helped something in this lifetime. The dog takes care of that need. I hope that you have something to care for, and someone to care for you. Take Care!

The Lamb Story

Spring always brings out pictures of cute little lambs. They always look so sweet and gentle. Let me tell you the REAL story about lambs. When I was younger we ended up with a lamb. It was born on my Grandpa Henrys farm and was rejected by it's Mother. That should have been the first clue. Dad brought it home, and I'm sure we named it, but I can't remember. I don't know if it was a boy or a girl, but for this story I will refer to it as Lambzilla. Lambzilla was a small white lamb. Mom would fill a empty whiskey bottle with formula and we would bottle feed it. Lambzilla didn't live in a pen like normal lambs. Nooo, Lambzilla had an identity crisis and thought it was a dog. It would sleep on the front porch with the dogs. It would leave little "pellet presents" on the porch that Mom would have to sweep off every morning. Lambzilla was a happy little lamb. The problem with Lambzilla was, every day it tried to kill me. Yes, this lamb was violent! It was summer, and I loved to play in the yard. I would go outside and before I knew it Lambzilla would come running. Not towards me where I could see it coming, it was a sneak attack. Lambzilla would run up BEHIND me, with its head down, and head butt me in the back. I was little, and it would knock me over. Time and time again, I would get knocked over. My brother Greg thought this was the funniest thing. You see, he was older and faster and could run to the apple tree for safety. This also gave him a great view of watching me get knocked over. For days I would spend my outside time on the ground. I had worked out a way of not getting knocked over. When I heard Lambzilla coming, I would sit down. The only thing it could do was push on me. I would be screaming for Mom and Greg could be heard laughing from the top of a tree. Obviously, Lambzilla needed to find a new home. I don't remember how long we kept Lambzilla, but I don't think it was very long. I also have no idea what fate awaited Lambzilla. I have visions of a "Lamb Fighting" arena. You know, the matador with a red cape, flashing it as a little white lamb comes charging at it before taking the matador down at the knees. As Spring is right around the corner and you go to that petting zoo, think about Lambzilla and don't turn your back on any cute, little, fuzzy lambs. You have been warned! Take Care!