My Beloved Gateway

This afternoon my heart was broken once again. Gateway left this Earth and is now with his beloved Bunny in heaven.

He was a gorgeous broken black & white mini lop. I fell in love with him the moment I saw him. I adopted him through the House Rabbit Society. He lived in Virginia where a girl could no longer keep him. We set a date for the two bunnies to meet hoping they would hit it off.

At first Bunny did not know what to make of him. It took about 5 weeks of introducing them each day for them to finally bond. She fell madly in love with him. She would present herself to Gateway for grooming. Gateway would take his cute pink tongue and lick her head and ears. She just loved it. I would find them in numerous places snuggling together. I marveled at their relationship. Bunny often told me that Gateway was the best gift she ever had. If only all human couples could live in peace and harmony as Bunny & Gateway did.

Gateway loved the pugs as much as they loved him. They would sniff each other's noses. So cute to watch.

Gateway loved his blueberries, bananas, carrots, oranges, timothy hay, oxbow pellets, and raisons. Anytime I was in the kitchen or opened the refrigerator door, Gateway was like grease lightning leaping into the kitchen. When he heard me come home, he would come running to greet me. He would make this endearing sound as he approached me. He loved living cage free. Oh, how I am going to miss this special boy.

I was honored and blessed to take care of Gateway. God has so blessed me with all the pets he has entrusted to me.

Invincible Unstoppable Super Pug

Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's SUPER PUG. Alright, I should probably train Sidney in agility. He proved his talent this morning. My mom and I were working on Sidney being quiet when the door bell rings. I put Sidney on a leash and had him sit stay. My mom was outside the house. Sidney knows the commands quiet and speak. She rang the door bell every 30 seconds for 2 1/2 minutes. When the door bell rang, I told Sidney quiet. When he was quiet, he was reinforced with a treat. My mom came back into the house when she was done ringing the door bell. Sidney was now off leash in the kitchen. The baby gate was closed. He thought someone was still at the door. From a stand still, he leapt straight up and over a 3 foot baby gate. And some people think pugs are couch potatoes. Above is a picture of Sidney who is sleepy and hanging out in front of the same baby gate that he easily cleared today.

Down Under With Sidney

I have been working on the down with Sidney. I could get him to bow down his front end by putting a treat on the ground between his front legs. But when I would push down on his rump, I got opposition reflex. Next I tried sitting on the floor and bending my knees. I would them lure him under my legs. Once under, I would lower my legs on top of him, then click and treat. Then I put the treat in my hand and made a fist. I put my fist on the floor and slid it toward his front legs. Wow, he went down so I clicked and treated. Then I put a name to it, down. Now he throws himself down on the floor without me asking. Oh how the clicker works wonders.

In obedience, you want to teach your dog to down from a standing position with the front hitting the ground first followed by the rear. In the Open class, dogs do a recall with a drop. If you teach the dog to sit first, then go down. He may remain in the sit and not go completely down. If this happens, then you NQ and blow your entry fee.

Bunny, Gateway & The Pug Boys

Missing and remembering how special Bunny was to me. I'm so glad I made this video of the buns & pugs and posted it on YOU Tube.

Bunny Goes To Heaven

It's the first day of spring. 7:20 a.m. the phone rings. The Emergency Vet called to tell me Bunny had passed away 20 minutes ago.

Bunny, a mini lop rabbit, was a gift from Norman. We saw her in a pet store while looking for supplies for an aquarium. She was irresistible with those long hanging ears, sweet eyes, and gorgeous seal point fur. Norman gave into my dark brown eyes when I asked, " Could I get her?"

She was my first rabbit. I had no clue in how to take care of her or what incredible adventure I would embark on. At the age of three, she developed a tooth root abscess. She battled this several different times and always won. She loved life and was sweet natured. As a baby she loved to do binkies and run like mad around the living room.

Doing research on the Internet, I discovered the House Rabbit Society. They are a wonderful organization that has great knowledge about the health and care of rabbits. Fortunately in Delaware we have a local chapter of the House Rabbit Society.
There I met Theresa and Joyce who help direct me to knowledgeable rabbit vets.

Bunny has a bonded mate. His name is Gateway. He is a black & white mini lop. I adopted him when Bunny was 1 years old. It was heart warming to watch the two of them together. They would snuggle and groom each other. If only all humans could get along as well as Bunny & Gateway, it would be Heaven on Earth.

This past Saturday Bunny really wasn't interested in eating her pellets. She was still eating lettuce and hay. On Monday I called my vet. The office manager told me they were booked. She could squeeze me in on Tuesday. Her lower molars on grown crooked and prevented her tongue from moving much. Her tongue was somewhat trapped. The vet wasn't able to file her teeth by hand because of the location. He anesthetized her. Then filed her tooth. I couldn't get her to start eating pellets when I brought her home. I started feeding her by syringe. Thursday night she was week and I feared that she may not make it. I took her to the Emergency Vets so she could get IV fluids, body temperature warmed up in the incubator, and forced fed. They also gave her metrocleptromide to help the motility of her gut.

I so love my little girl and miss her dearly. She deeply touched my spirit. She's now in heaven with my beloved Bailey.

Happy Birthday

March 8th was Sidney's first birthday. He woofed down his pumpkin cupcake and left the plate squeaky clean. Not even a crumb for his big brother. I couldn't just buy Sidney gifts. Jasper would have felt left out and he would have given me that sad face look. So they both got kongs, bully sticks, and a plush toy.

Sidney's First Show -N-Go

Salisbury's New indoor facility is wonderful. Climate controlled with heating and air conditioning. On Sunday, they held their second Show-N-Go at their new facility. The people there were very friendly and quite helpful. Randy was a sweetie and carried in Sidney's heavy huge plastic crate while I carried in Jasper's light folding crate. You see Sidney did have a light folding crate until he decided he rather be with me and doesn't have the patience to wait while Jasper trains with me. He fuses and digs at the crate door tearing small holes in the material. So I'm stuck toting around a heavy plastic crate until he is trained better and a little more mature.

Outside the rings we played tug, sit, twirl, spin, touch, pre-heeling, and Sylvia Bishop's stack ups. He had a lot of self confidence and enjoyed the company of other dogs big and small. I had unfamiliar people ask Sidney to sit, twirl, spin, speak, and touch. He happily did those things for yummy treats. He's quite a food hound.

Jasper is improving with his attention and self confidence. We did 2 runs in Open A. I'm looking at May or June to start competing again in obedience with Jasper pursing a CDX title.