HAPPY JUNE TO ALL!

 Not only do we bring you Saturday morning, but a new Month today!  As always, our pleasure!

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Its hard to talk about this, but Stella is quite upset with me, her Mum.  I think she has resorted to calling

her law firm, the well known Dewey, Cheatham and Howe.

The reason?  She has gained quite a little weight over the winter and I have reduced her food by a mere quarter of a cup twice a day.  That means she is going from one full cup twice a day to 3/4 cup twice a day.  Now we all know exercise is important, but it has been raining and thundering which finds Stella somewhere else.  Sort of a sticky situation with us, the other night she stood in the doorway of my bedroom not allowing me in, until I found a treat for her.  She was most serious.  We hope the rain goes away so we can walk without fear of rain/thunder (her fear, not mine!) very soon and leave the lawyers out of it.

One of the problems Stella faces is being a mixed breed, she is half Labrador, and then half Spaniel.  Ah well, we will help get her down
a bit and she will feel better, I know.

Her announcement today is not to forget the Thunder Support Group for next Saturday, June 8th.  We had a good meeting last time, and will have a very special guest for our next week meeting.  Please plan to attend.  Anyone who has some fear of storms is welcome to attend.

We are hoping those folks who are in tornado weather are OK, like the Porties of Joplin, and the Overland Park Sibes and all the others
who might be concerned .  Scary business.

Sending good wishes to every buddy. . .

Jo, Stella and Zkhat---

Long Weekend!

Now usually I can start  out by wishing you a Happy Weekend, but I have arranged for you to have a three day weekend this time.  Oh, you deserve it, you do too!  Even as a long retired person, I still get happy with three days  instead of just two.  So make the most of it, have fun because I don't know when I can do this again!

Here is a little Memorial Day recollection from me.  Goes all the way back to 1943 when I was a first grader.  We were given flags to walk in our towns parade, and here is mine.

48 stars on this one, and a nice wooden painted staff to hold it with.  We turned out for the parade (most of us), we walked from one end of town to the other, with parents wildly applauding us.  We didn't know much in those days, but we knew this was for the soldiers who fought and protected us.  It was the day to decorate the graves of those who served and died.
I wonder if kids still do this, get out and march for something important.  We may not have understood it, but people told us how good we were to do it and it sure turned me into a flag waver at age five that has lasted my whole life.

Stella was asked by me, to pose with the flag and she told me she didn't want to because a storm was coming and she wanted to go to her special place.  This is all I could get from her.

I think she would have if she wasn't upset about a storm.  The flag is not in great shape but it hangs above a bookcase next to my chalkboard I got for Christmas one year.  My mother saved it for me and I am glad she did.  Thanking all of our military men and women, and hoping for some peace for all of us to enjoy.

Our friend Bobby from England who is the pup that never got adopted asked for some help today:  Hi Jo, We are still around just can not blog on windows 8 we keep
getting error code http://productforums.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!searchin/blogger/bX-5dvf4a, so we will have to keep trying. to find out if we can fix it.
Licks Bobby & PiP
If anyone can give him some advice, he is
bobby.grumpy@gmail.com and will be most appreciative of any help.  These folks do a wonderful job rescuing animals, and they need their computer!

Also our friends at Soggibottom are having a Giveaway of a beautiful  handmade stuffed Dartmoor hare and they would love to have you sign on and enter for this.  Look for their notice at the top of our sidebar!

And speaking of signing on, won't you make me happy by signing on to read our blog.  I was at 59 readers, then, I was expecting 60, but got 58 instead.  Now I am back at 59 and I definitely want 60! Want it!  Maybe I have to throw a giveaway.  Could happen!

Cheers and hugs all around,

Jo, Stella and Zkhat

This and that Saturday

Do you love to read?  Friendships among readers always seem to have a good number of recommendations for something new and something good.  My friend Mary, who is of Scandiavian descent, has been after me to read the very popular and timely Norwegian and Swede mystery writers, but I find something else and go my way.  However, I found a book by Karin Fossum, a highly popular Norske writer called He Who Fears the Wolf and it was one of those can't put it down books!

I always wonder about books that are translated from another language, what might get left out, but nothing seems to be missing from this one at all.  Have a look at it and see what you think!

We seem to be having a rainy day today, nothing noisy with Thunder or Lightning, just nice gentle rain and I hope it stays like this.  The Thunder Support group that started last Saturday, May 11 was very nice, and our next get together will be June 8th, the second Saturday of the month.  Anyone with any storm issues is welcome to join us!

Our favorite bread is the Italian Ciabatta and I think today would be a perfect day to make a loaf or two!

Wishing you the very best weekend, rain or not!

Cheers,

Jo, Stella and Zkhat

CANINE CPR POSTER

Hello Everybuddy:

Thanks for the good turnout for our first Thunder Support Group.  We will meet the second Saturday of the month, for June and July.

Monica Segal, Canine Nutritionist sent this very valuable CPR poster along in todays mail.  She said that it had been posted on Facebook, but in case you might not see it there, here it is:

CPR For Dogs and Cats

After posting this on Facebook and watching it be shared over and over again, I received a private message that the information had actually saved a dog about one week later. That's what  leads me to share it with you and ask you to pass it on to others. The more people who see this the greater the chances that some dog or cat somewhere is going to be saved. Monica is highly respected in her field, and has a web site at http://www.monicasegal.com/  .  This poster is going up on the wall, after I try the poses with Stella, i.e. find pulse, where to compress, etc., just so I'm not a stranger to what I need to do. Cheers to all, Jo, Stella and Zkhat

The First Meeting of the Thunder Support Group!

We warmly welcome you to the first meeting of The Thunder Support group! 

Yes, this is where we will be meeting.  Our first meeting will be in our favorite closet where we will all feel secure if it should start to
thunder.

Doesn't this look cozy for us?  Please help yourself to the water bowls and snacks.  We want you to feel right at home. 

You all got letters about what we will be talking about and I think the best way to start is to tell about your particular fear and how you cope with it.  I will be glad to start.

My name is Stella, and when I was just two  years old, I got kicked out of my home on a nice summer day.  I thought it would be fun to be on the run and so I just took off and went quite a long way.  I found a stream to drink from and just kept going.  Then the clouds came up, and the wind, and I had never been out in it before.  The thunder and lightning started and that made me very scared, the rain came pouring down and I got soaking wet!  What a mess!  I ran to a house and cried to be let in, and a nice lady took care of me, rubbed me dry and gave me some food.  But she also called the dogcatcher and after the rain quit, I fell asleep, and I woke to a knock on the door.  A man came in and put a collar on me and a leash and put me in his truck.  That started 3 months in the animal shelter!  That was my first fear of storms and it hasn't changed much.  I got adopted by my Mom after 3 months and she was so sorry for me to be scared of storms, that she bought me a storm jacket which helps just a little.  She lets me come up on her bed when it storms and talks to me nicely and that helps too.   But I still shake and shiver over it.

Now you guys tell your stories, won't you? Be sure and read the comments for each dog's "story"!
 and after all eight of you are done, we will have a Guest Barker.

Stella

Let me intro our guest Speaker, Grandpa Johnson, who wants to just talk you you a little.  Grandpa has a whole lifetime of experience with all kinds of dogs and can share a little of that with you.

Hello Pups!  Hope I didn't wake you up from a nap.  I have a whole lifetime of experience with dogs and I want to share some things I have learned.  1. Don't be embarrased to be comforted by your Ma or Pa when you are scared. Its common for adults, kids, and all animals to want this when they are frightened.  2.  Your pawrents are helping you to try to change your behavior by changing how you feel.  3.  Don't be upset if you are the only dog or cat in your home who is afraid of thunder or loud noises.  It is your experience of being fearful and NOT the other dogs.  Just you.  4. Try each time it thunders to hold off the fear for just a few minutes.  You are trying to change your behavior so even a couple of minutes is an improvement. 5.  Thunder hasn't hurt you yet and its not going to!

Thanks for inviting me today.

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Thanks for coming today and our next meeting will be the second Saturday in June.  Stick around today if you are having a good time, we have doughnut holes added to our eats and they have frosteen on them!

Stella

Impawtant Announcement!

Stella here with an announcement!  Back in April we talked about a Thunder Support Group and we have our plans made and ready for you to come to our first meeting this coming Saturday 5/10/2013.

Our members who signed up number seven strong and are:

Myself, Stella
Molly the Wally
Phantom of the OPs
Thelma of Tex-Wis
Frankie Furter
YoYo Ma of the WDA
Little Reufus

We have a perfect meeting place, we have a crate for Phantom, we have water bowls and snacks available, and we feel we will have an enjoyable time together.  We will have a Special Barker who will share some feelings about overcoming storms, thunder and other loud noises.

If any of you wish to come who have not signed up, please comment on this post so we can prepare for you. 

You are all welcome to bring your Storm Jackets, favorite blankets, and anything else that is helpful to you.  We may have good weather or we may have a rainstorm.  Be prepared.

Looking forward to seeing you here.

Your pal,
Stella

A Little Late are We

OK, OK, so its a little late for Saturday Morning, but we very much wanted to get our summer header up because to be honest, we are just sick of snow!

We owe a thank you to Ann Adamus who rounded up our summer header since we could not locate it anywhere at all.  Thanks, Ann!

Did you watch the Kentucky Derby today?  None of us here are sports fans much but Zkhat and I like the Derby. Zkhat thinks that the horses are all big dogs and that its a good thing for them to get ridden like they do.  Once a cat has her mind made up you can't tell them anything. I like the race mostly because if you just watch the race itself, its over in a couple of minutes.  But the beautiful Orb won and now he is on his way to the Preakness. 

Its chilly and rainy here today, but that only eats up what little snow is left and we are happy about that.  You southerners who got whacked with a big storm have our sympathy (heh, heh, sure you do!)

I just want to wish you a good and happy rest of the weekend and we'll see you next week.

Cheers and hugs,
Jo, Stella and Zkhat