Here is a family shot on our sculpture that is in the ArtPrize competition!
Voting ends Weds. night so Vote, Vote, Vote!!! I spent a lot of time walking up and down the bench part when Dad was working on it :)
Mom has been taking pictures of toher dogs on the bench too!! She is going to post them here when she gets a chance...come get your picture taken on this very cool ArtPrize sculpture!!! Here is the profile http://www.artprize.org/artist/id/2728

I live with crazy artist types :)

Busy, busy, busy around here! The official ArtPrize seal has arrived :) Wish us luck and if you are going to be in Grand Rapids, Mi
Sept 23-Oct. 10....DON"T MISS ArtPrize
If you can't be here in person you can follow us on Twitter and Facebook

Roo and Wallace do it again!

Sunday, July 12, 2009 Roo and Wallace win USDDN Qualifier "Ohio Cup" First place in the Super-Open Freestyle event!

And...

Emma's Hero Wallace in the news again! OK she loves Roo, Josh and family too :) KSTP TV - Minneapolis and St. Paul - Rehabilitated pit bull becomes state champ Shared via AddThis

OK let's finish the first part cause things are movin' fast and this should have been maybe 4 or 5 posts :)

So over the next 2 weeks it sounded like this at our house...between chasing the puppy around and hauling out more old equipment and books (to brush up while we find a home for the puppy)...She's not stayin'


Mark: "She's little! she won't eat much"


Suzanne: "She's not stayin' "


Mark: "She is just a doll!"


Suzanne: "No she is a Pit Bull, remember how it felt when people thought that Hobbes and Baily were vicious killers while they wagged their little nub of a tail?" Hobbes and Baily were our Rottweilers and they were the best dogs in the world. "I hated it and Pit Bulls have it worse than Rotts did back in the early 90's!"


Mark: "I know..."


Suzanne: "Besides these dogs are major athletes, she is going to need a lot of training and exercise to be happy. With all of the changes around here , we do not need to add a puppy."




May 8th 2008 Mark wrecked his knee and has had 2 surgeries, off from work then layed off too. We are basically ok financially because we listen to Dave Ramsey and are debt free with savings.


:) Thanks Dave! BUT this is not the time to take on a new puppy. She's not stayin'


I put up signs and called the shelters and Vets in the area...



Mark: "We have most of the stuff we need we can cover some food and the vet, look at the puppy, she's so cute"


Suzanne: "We have an old dog that is used to going with us places and not sharing his toys etc. and what about your cat? Maggie is 20 1/2 years old she does not want to deal with a hyper puppy."


On cue Emma decides the kitty should play and Maggie smacks the heck out of her, Mags is declawed so the puppy loves every minute. It's nuts but Maggie is still going strong and has no problem giving the puppy what for. Emma wants to play but has been very good about being careful with the old kitty.



Mark: "(laughing) That's funny!"


Suzanne "Do not name that puppy."


Mark: "I won't"


Suzanne "She's not stayin' "


Mark: "I can't believe I like a Pit Bull. She is so smart and wow she can move!"


Suzanne: "I have told you for 20 years Pit Bulls are beautiful and great dogs, amazing athletes and that it's the irresponsible owners/media hype machines that cause the headlines."


Mark: "I know but you like all dogs and I didn't believe you."

I put ads on craigslist and Kijiji. I had some interest from people I wouldn't give a housefly to. I am getting pickier by the day...

Now for another thing that worries me to death...my niece...she has 4 kids 8 and under. She isn't the most comfortable with dogs and I suddenly have a "Pit Bull"

Today is the Day...
My niece and the kids are coming over and Emma is still a crazy wiggle butt jumpaholic with people and this will be the first time with kids. I plan to spend the entire time chasing her around so she doesn't knock the kids down etc. and praying I don't hear that she can't be comfortable with a Pit Bull around her kids.


OK I have seen dogs that were good with kids...but this is beyond good. Oh Emma was crazy wiggle and her front feet may have left the ground for a second or two but...Wow she is being sooo good!! Emma loves the kids and is being careful and sweet. Don't get me wrong, she would have washed every kids face twice if they let her LOL!


Magic words "Wow Aunt Suzi, she is being soo good, I have never seen a dog that good with my kids." Pheeew thank goodness that's over.

Good job Emma you passed the kid test!

But She's not stayin'


We have friends that said "Your keeping her, c'mon!" and I debated well why we should not keep her and why we would not be keeping her!


The puppy goes to bed when Mark does. I stay up to do computer work etc and didn't want to watch her. One night (two and a half weeks from the night she showed up) when the puppy goes into her ex-pen again with out any trouble Mark says...


"Ya know we could just call her Emma for now..."Em ma Stayin' or Em ma goin' ?" LOL Ha! he is very impressed with his little joke...

So I got some tears in my eyes and said " You named the puppy, you had to name the puppy..."


Mark: Well, you have to admit it's funny! I mean I'm not sayin'...um...I didn't do it...and next time you want a puppy you can just bring her in, that whole "Found her" thing was not necessary LOL!"

I have a list of legitimate reasons she is not stayin'...

Not one of them matters to that beautiful little face.

I sighed and couldn't help but smile, she had planted herself deep in my heart so I said
"OK then...it's Emma...and...Emma's Stayin' "

We couldn't be happier, she has brought a crazy new energy to this life that I am gateful for and will share with you on this blog...when I have time...I have a puppy to take care of, LOL!

YAY!! Emma's Stayin'

Emma's arrival continued...

Now she feels sooo much better :) Yuk...

So we have to figure out what we are going to do, we have an abandoned Pit Bull puppy (5 months maybe) in the house....NOW what??


First drag out an ex-pen, thankfully it's not too buried. We used to show our dogs so we had enough equipment to get by quite nicely until we found the perfect home for this little thing. She's not stayin'.
I said it again 'cause Mark was sitting in his chair with the puppy sleeping on his chest saying "Oh she's cute!" I am on very dangerous ground here because I have a soft spot for all critters...he usually didn't. The economy isn't great in Michigan (I know that's an understatement) so the prospects for the best home are not good at all "She's not stayin'!" I said again.




Mark: "Look at her! she is sooo cute."


Me: "I can see that...she's not stayin' "


Mark: "She's little and she has short hair..."


Me: "MmHmm and you wrecked your knee, have been out of work because of it and we are watching our money...puppies need vets. She's not stayin'."


Mark: "Awww look she is sleepin' right through me playin' with her toes."


Me: "She's not stayin'."


...to be continued....

First post :)

Emma came to us on a freezing night in early March 2009. Around 9:30 pm our neighbor called and said, "There is something in your yard." The "something" was a 5-6 month old female pitbull puppy. She was wearing a pink faux snake skin collar, smelled like shampoo, nails were short and she was a healthy weight. So obviously this little girl got away from home and somebody is freaking out or will be soon right?

OK let's walk around maybe she will head toward home or we will hear someone calling for her...

Nope...she wants to go back to our house...Now!

???

OK well it's too cold for her to stay outside any longer and she is coughing so in the house she goes.
We two legged types went out every couple of minutes to listen and watched out the windows while the puppy ran around saying Hiiii :) to the old dog Travis and the 21 year old ruler of the house Maggie. Yes, Maggie is a cat, a whopping 7 lbs (1 lb below her normal weight over 20 years) and the undisputed ruler of the house according to her :)

The two old timers were not impressed..."MOM!!! What is She doing here!"

The puppy was still coughing...why is she coughing? I had heard kennel cough before but this was different.

We found out minutes later when she vommited up an enormous pile of undigested dog food, more than she would be fed in a day let alone one feeding...the thought kind of creeps up and hits you in the head..."They dumped her, Oh No they dumped her!"

That's why she did not want to leave the yard, which I thought was odd for a puppy that wandered away from home. Thank goodness the neighbor is a smoker and smokes outside on his porch! It was freezing and what if she did wander off and been hit by a car or picked up by someone evil?

Poor little thing, she doesn't know us or why she is here...

...to be continued