Christmas Get-Together with Veronica and Dennis

Veronica and Dennis came over for an afternoon of food, presents, and "The Princess Bride" movie. Veronica always brings the best treaties!

We have both lost our female dogs recently (Bettina died in November and Lady Flame died in July), and we share our pain from this loss. At least we still have our boys!

Toby waits patiently for more treats. He loves when we have company!

Dennis says, "Mom...you told me to lay down, now where's my treat!" Poor Dennis misses Bettina so much that he has become a munchie monster when it comes to food;-) He is such a sweet gentleman of a pup. The boys got along very well.

Veronica took this photos of us while watching the movie.

And here is the swag we got! This picture frame is for a photo of Lady Flame, which we have yet to print. Our pretty girl needs to be adored daily and it will probably be placed on the kitchen counter.

And, we also got this cool tea bag/credit card/flash drive/anything-we-want holder. Many thanks, Veronica, for joining us for a fun afternoon. We absolutely have to make an effort to get together more often like we used to do! You are a source of joy in our lives and we are so thankful that you are part of our extended family...

Happy 13 to Sugaree!

Cheers to the Sweet 13 Birthday Girl! Yay!!! You only turn 13 once in a lifetime and we hope that Sugaree can kick up her heels a bit on this special day;-)

She does love snuggling with her brother, Trouble. So, that also makes her day!

Youth Deer Day and the start of hunting season

Today is Youth Deer Day, and we avoid the woods. Usually, there is lots of gunfire, but today it was silent. There was tons of target practice last Sunday, all day into dusk. So, the neighbors must have taken their kids elsewhere for the hunt today. Fine by me. Nevertheless, we have begun wearing blaze orange.

Toby looks like a deer (if seen from a distance), so it is very important that he sports the latest in hunter orange dog vests.

We think he looks quite grand in his outfit and no hunter should mistake him for a white-tailed deer.

And the vest is reflective as well. Check out all the reflective strips and the dog prints, too! Nifty!

Our boy is stylin', if I do say so myself;-) He thinks that he deserves a biscuit for looking so grand!

Ahh...the life of a supermodel doesn't get any better than this! Chill out in your backyard, wearing the latest in pup fashion, and get treated like a king!

Papermill Trail Walk

We just cannot get enough of the autumn colors, so we took a nice walk along the Androscoggin River portion of the Papermill Trail today.

This has always been a favorite location of ours for photographing the dogs, and today did not disappoint!

Our goal was to walk to our favorite chunk of granite on the shoreline of the Androscoggin River. As you can see, the colors were stunning and my two guys were handsome as could be!

We stopped at a nice bench to rest our legs for a few minutes before heading back.

Whereupon Toby and Drew went walkin' down the line!

And, here is a portrait of our super sweet, big yellow dog! He had a blast and was a very happy pup;-)

Colorful autumn and handsome Toby!

Oh my, oh my...the autumn colors are absolutely stunning this year!
And, so is our big, handsome boy, Toby! 
Here he is on a walk down Starbird Corner Road. 

And, here he is waiting patiently (more like stubbornly) for a biscuit! 
Gotta have a biscuit every 10 feet or so to keep his energy up;-)

Toby also likes walking around Hillside Park, in Topsham. 
He was a perfect model to show off the gorgeous sumac in full color.

Then, he and Drew went down to Riverside Park (across the street), and Toby put on the brakes just a short way down the trail. 

So, no photos of Toby, just that of the gorgeous trees along the trail;-)

Toby in the forest

Toby is such a handsome pup and he truly enjoys his walks in the woods.

First family walk since surgery

Today was a picture perfect day, and I felt pretty darned good after an acupuncture appointment that treated some severe post-surgery sciatica that I have been dealing with for weeks. I had enough confidence to walk in a stable fashion on a trail today, as long as I had my walking poles. So, off we went to Hix-Small Cemetery Rd.

Drew and Toby led the way while I followed at a snail's pace, picking and choosing each footfall.

We made it half way up a slight rise, and I had to call it quits. I did quite well for my first outing (11 weeks post-knee replacement.) The total walk was about 0.3 mile on a bit of an uneven trail. I must say that it felt so good to be in a forest again.

Toby was a good boy as always. Even though the walk was short, he seemed to enjoy himself. This was our first family walk since Lady Flame went to doggy heaven and it felt strange to have only one pup in the forest.

Missing the Flame in our lives

It is the little things that make me miss Lady Flame. Like when I see a calendar reminder that says, "Toby gets Heartguard", or "Toby to get his nails clipped", or any other single dog reminder... And, I miss all the toy squeaking. Lady Flame would throw her toys into the air, pounce on them, and squeak the daylights out of them;-) She loved her toys, and she loved when I threw them all over the living room so that she could chase them. She didn't interact with us much over the years, but she loved/lived to play...

Life after the Reign of Flame

People keep asking us how life is after the loss of Lady Flame. For us, we miss her most when her half-sibs come over for a visit. It just doesn't seem right that the trio isn't running around together anymore. 

We miss watching Flame run around the backyard with wild abandon. Her joy was so heartwarming...makes me tear up just writing about it... She loved being chased and we had a game that we played almost daily called, "I'm Gonna Getcha!" All we had to do was lunge in her direction, and she would take off running in the opposite direction. Repeat, repeat, repeat until she was out of breath!

We miss watching Flame roll around on her back in the grass with her legs going willy nilly in the air. She loved being outdoors more than anything in the world...

And, I truly miss photographing our supermodel hound. She was a stunning specimen of Greyhound loveliness...

Toby in his crate

But, life has changed for the positive for Toby. Oddly enough, he is now spending time relaxing in his crate. This is something he never did when Flame was alive. She occupied both crates as her condos. He would only go in them momentarily to mess up the blankets in protest;-)

Toby is spending more time in the sand between the house and the garage to stay cool. That used to be where Queen Flame's former territory was.

And, Toby is going on fast walks with Drew with virtually no stand-up or sit-down strikes at all. And, he has become a waggly-tailed dog where before he would only wag his tail briefly when I came home from vacations.

All in all, Toby is more content than ever and is truly enjoying the life of an only dog. He gets all the treats and all the lovin'!

Sugaree

 Now that Lady Flame is romping around in Doggy Heaven, we have to get our girl-dog fix with sweet Sugaree.

Who doesn't love a black dog gone grey!

Sugaree is going to be Sweet 13 in December!

Lady Flame's last day

Our beloved Lady Flame had been limping for a couple of months and her left foreleg was not improving. Drew took her in for two different sets of xrays and in the second extensive set, the dreaded osteosarcoma tumor was found. We debated back and forth knowing that Flame's days on Earth were numbered. There were so many factors to consider, and ultimately we chose to take her to the vet sooner than later to end her suffering. Drew took photos on what was to become her last day.

Flame was happy that she did not have to get her teeth brushed or her ears washed on her last day. 

Drew partially cooked a carrot for her to munch on (and later she got to snack on broccoli, yummm...)

Flame loved her daily carrot. She would snatch it out of Drew's hand and run into the backyard to munch in private.

Toby gets to eat crunchy carrots and also loves this daily ritual.

He is so laid back that he can eat his carrot with no fear.

Halfway through the day, Lady Flame's half-sibs came over for their last play date together.

Before the play date could begin, Lady Flame had to get some lovin' from Billy and Shannon.

Because it was so hot outdoors, Flame and Sugaree immediately headed to the sand for some relaxation. All the dogs are rather geriatric (with the exception of Toby), so they don't do much running around anymore. Oh, how we love these two girls!

Trouble and Sugaree had come straight to our house from the kennel (after a vacation) and they still had kennel smell. Trouble got to chillax in the pool while Billy washed him off.

Trouble then got to dry off and hang with his best human buddy, Drew.

After the half-sibs left for home, we got the call to take Lady Flame in to the vet. Before arriving at the clinic, Drew took Lady Flame on a walk at Riverside Park. He let her lead the way. It was her last sniff, mark, and poop walk and he let her set the pace and the time. Once we were in the exam room, Dr. John treated Lady Flame to the best last meal ever. He gave her pieces of Pup-Peroni (something that Drew and I would never feed a dog). Flame was one happy camper. She chowed down on three sticks of Pup-Peroni before dropping into a calm and relaxed state.

Then, something very special happened. As the sedative was pulsing through Flame's body, all the dogs that were kenneled at the vet office began to howl in unison. And, they howled continuously until Lady Flame drew her last breath, and then all was silent. It is my firm belief that they knew she was dying and they all helped her cross over the Rainbow Bridge to be with her buddies like Skyy, Blue, Cola, Vinnie, and hopefully Girlie Girl and Kasha too. Whoo...I am weeping as I write this. We miss our pretty little girl sooo much....

 Sweet dreams, Flamer...Romp, roll, bark loud, and play hard...

Lady Flame is my heart dog

I do love this gorgeous girl...she is my heart dog.

Snoozin' away the afternoon

Toby really knows how to relax and he gives us so many chuckles as he changes position during the day.

Lady Flame is just so super cute, petite, and doesn't relax as much as Toby as she is so alert most of the time.