AN OPEN LETTER TO BERTIE & OTHERS

Hello to Bertie and others interested in Thunder Support Group:

I would like to begin by welcoming all dogs who suffer from Fear of Thunderstorms to our support group.  We meet on the second Saturday of each month (next July 13th).

Bertie, you have carried on about being a member even though you do NOT have fear of Thunderstorms.  I would ask you to carefully read the following:

If you've ever dealt with a tough problem in your life, you know how helpful it can be to know you're not alone. Support groups can bring individuals with problems together, providing valuable social support, along with the information to solve or ease their problems.

Support groups are made up of individuals who have an experience in common, such as fear or  a shared life experience. These individuals meet, in person or through a facilitator, to provide information and emotional support. 

This is really not a group to encourage members of those who have no understanding of the fear of thunderstorms that our membership has.  Bertie, you suggest that SOMEDAY you may have these storms in Aberdeen or that SOMEDAY you may wind up living in OKlahoma.  If that becomes the case we are certain you will find a good group to assist you at that time.  But until you actually experience debilitating fear of thunderstorms, you have no need of our group. We are limited in space and feel certain that our group will understand my decision.

One of your good friends sent me this letter:

GizmoGeodog has left a new comment on your post " Hi Every Buddy!  A week or two ago I got an e-mai...":

Oooh those treats sound great Stella...Came over to visit from Bertie's blog this morning...I'm OK with thunder so I won't ask to join your support group but I know a lot of pups who would benefit...it's a good idea Happy Thursday.  (Posted by GizmoGeodog to Jo's World at 20 June, 2013)-------------------

This would be a good attitude for you to work on.  We did get a couple of new members who very much need to work on this fear and for that, we thank you.  Now, please, Bertie, just let this go.

Thank you,

Stella 

A nice Saturday!

Hello Every Buddy!

Jo reporting today.  On Saturday I was invited to the lake cottage of my son's wife's family.  I had been a visitor there before so I knew it was going to be a very pleasant day and it was!!

However, these lovely folks are not what we would call Dog People. They have no pets and don't seem to care to have them around, so Stella was not invited.  I felt badly in the sense that Stella loves the lake, loves to swim, but could not come along.

We spent time eating, talking and listening to stories and soon decided to go for a pontoon ride.  Since it has been a cool, late summer, it was not warm enough for swimming, but its a large lake and we enjoyed looking at the scenery.

One of the very best things we saw was a family of loons, and we were able to get up close to them.

We watched them while they dived, found goodies to eat and the baby stayed right close to his Mum.  They are the Minnesota state bird, so we all love them for their beauty and their haunting call.  My daughter-in-law told me they only lay two eggs at a time so its not unusual to just see one baby.

It was a lovely day, cloudy and then sunny, and we enjoyed traveling the lake and the visiting.

So excuse us for no Saturday Morning post, we were out playing!

Cheers,

Jo with Stella and Zkhat at home!

Hi Every Buddy!  A week or two ago I got an e-mail from

the folks at Chewy's wanting to know if I would like to test and review some of their dog or cat treats.  Not being interested in sharing with Zkhat, I said sure! I love treats. 

My Mom says I love treats a little too much and she is always looking for low calorie munchies for me.  I have got in the habit of having a treat whenever I come in from outside, about 3 to 4 treats total for the day.  So the last batch she got for me were 15 calories for one small treat and they were alright.

 

BUT THEN,  I got a package from Chewy with these in it.

They are Black Angus Beef treats, freeze dried, from Ontario, Canada, and made by Orijen.  Here is the part my Mom just loves, they are 100% beef, and from 5-7 calories for each treat.  Doesn't that sound good?  I wish you were here so I could share some with you.  But sadly, I cannot (heh, heh).  The package I got is 2 ounces and has about 60 treats in it.  Believe me when I say they are very tasty and quite satisfying!

My Mom has cut my kibble down to 3/4 of a cup twice a day and these low cal treats and she said she might buy me another pack if I keep losing.  How is that for incentive?

Kisses from me, the future skinny Stella!

A letter recieved from Shado

Hooray, another great letter from my pal Shado in Arizona!  I will answer it to his Mom's blog at
http://arizonabren.blogspot.com/ so about TUESDAY you canfind my answer there!

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Shado



Dear Stella,

Wow, I think it has been a long time since we wrote each other. I have a lot to tell you!

We got new neighbors. Two labs, one black and one chocolate. They seem like really neat neighbors. We don't bark much at each other, but we know when each of us is across the block wall. A tiny bit of whining expresses a "hello", "hey there", or just "you there?" They moved here from Wyoming and I think our summer heat has hit the whole family pretty hard. BUT GET THIS - they also have a cat! A CAT!!! We don't know the cat's name, but we see it a lot. It uses their doggy door to go outside. And when it is outside, it walks the walls around our house, it walks on our roof, and it sits at our front door. Since none of us (me, Toby, Sophie, Gus) know much about cats, we usually bark at it. And you know what IT DOES? It sits on the wall AND stares at us!!! Can you believe that? It doesn't flinch, it doesn't run away. It just sits and stares. Once in jumped into one of their trees that has branches that hang over into our yard. I thought, "it's not going to last long in that tree." But it sat there and stared at me for at least 15 minutes. WHAT IS IT WITH CATS???? You have one for a pet, right, Stella?? Enlighten me! And why don't the two labs chase it? I can't wait until you explain CATS to me!

I'm sorry you have such horrible thunderstorms. Does your thundershirt help? We will be getting lots of thunderstorms in the next few weeks, when Monsoon season starts here. We usually get BIG dust storms (they call 'em habubs), and then gully washing rain and LOTS of thunder and lightning. And then the power goes out. Once the power went out for a long time. You know, even with the rain, it doesn't cool off and so we sat in misery with temps about 105 degrees.

Anyway, B. reads to us when the thunder starts. I think she hopes that her voice and storytelling will make us forget about the thunder. It doesn't always help. But we sit in the closet with her, and she reads. My favorite book for her to read is "Walter the Farting Dog". Do you have that book? It is great. It was B's dad book, and B inherited it. We should send it to you. You know, Toby's name should be Walter. We can send you Toby, too, okay?

Well that is it for now. We had our cousins Ondine and Holly Ann visit from Prescott. Ondine is a black lab, Holly Ann is a goldie. They stayed with us for a few days. I'll write about THAT event in my next letter.

I think of you often, Stella!
love with kisses of treats,

Shado

The rest of Shado's family, front row Toby, Sophie, Shado, Gus
and Cousin Vinny in the back

Welcome to Willa Mary!

Hello Everybuddy!

As promised here is our new girl, named Willa Mary after two very good friends of mine and soon to be hers, I am sure.

She found a book among her belongings, something about Widdicomb Moor, her old home, and she has been sharing that with the Old Lady and Little Bear. They are both so enamored of this little girl, she is really a bright spot in their lives.

Willa Mary is wearing  a pretty green dress, with an embroidered collar she found among our sewing things. 

Thanks for welcoming her and she probably won't be popping up on the blog very often, being busy and having fun.

Cheers and hugs all around,

Jo, Stella, Zkhat, Willa Mary, Old Lady, Little Bear

Happy Weekend to All!

A New Member of our Household!

We were most excited today to get a parcel from England (Royal Mail!) that contained the beautiful Dartmoor Hare that we won in Soggibottom's give-a-way.

We opened it, and found our new girl, she was a little tired and hungry from her very long trip over the Atlantic.  Little Bear was happy to give her his Rocking chair and the old lady offered warm greetings.  We offered her a large strawberry to eat which she did with gusto and liked!  We are thrilled with this new girl (and once we get to know her, we will give her a special name.)

She wanted to give a wave to her friends at Soggibottom

and have Michelle tell everyone she is just fine.  She will miss them but she already likes it here, and is happy to stay. We, of course, are most happy to have her , and she has made  good friends in Little Teddy and the Old Lady .

Go visit Soggibottom and see what beautiful bears Michelle might make you.  You won't be sorry if you do!

Thanks, Michelle, for this lovely little bunny!

Jo, Stella and Zkhat

Second Meeting of Thunder Support Group!

Good morning all you pups!  This is a meeting of the Thunder Support Group and all animals are invited that have a fear of stormy weather.  Help  yourself to water bowls and treats.  Use the comments to tell us your story or how it is going for you.

We have had a whole lot of very scary weather the last few weeks and please tell us all how you managed to get through it.

We had a bad one about a week ago, and my Mom was right here with me, and she is good to talk to me and pet me when its bad outside.  I admit I am not quite as scared as I used to be.  We have two big chairs side by side in the livingroom and I just stick my head in between them laying right down by my Mom who sits in one.  Its good being close to Mom and hiding my head so I don't hear the thunder so loud.

We are supposed to have a  storm tomorrow, so I guess some of you won't be able to come, you'll stay  home in your special place, maybe wear your thunder jackets or a snug tee shirt.  You know we are wishing you the best, don't you?

We have a special article for you to read to your parents written by a vet from Florida, Dr. Patty Khuly, called 10 Ways to Calm Dogs in a Thunderstorm. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/pets/2010-06-10-vetviews11_ST_N.htm?POE=click-refer

Let us know if you find this helpful! 

We wish you the Very Best and look forward to seeing you in July!

Your pal, Stella