Smiling at the Vet's Office

You know a veterinarian and his staff is great when this young lady smiles in his office.

Simone is a tri-colored collie.

She was rescued by the Robeson County Humane Society

and the Terrell family adopted her.

She is always the perfect lady!

Playing in the Snow

Seems like we've gone from winter to spring and back to winter!

Here is a video of the dogs, Eddie (a Jack Russell), Lucy (a Jack Russell/ hound mix) and Simone (a collie) playing in the snow from a couple of weeks ago. All the snow is melted and now the storm is just a memory.



Friday Friends

If you've been following this blog, you'll already have been introduced to some of my rescue dogs. These pictures were taken over the holidays and I wanted to share them with you.

This is Simone, a tri-colored collie. Fish have it so much better than dogs in a breeding situation. Fish must have ideal conditions or they won't breed and can't be forced to - the water must be good, they must have adequate food and ample space. Simone, on the other hand, was kept confined to a cage and was tragically malnourished. She wasn't expected to make it when the Robeson County Humane Society rescued her from her horrible circumstances. They asked me to foster her. That was three years ago, and she's never left. Nor do I want her to! She is always the perfect lady. Now healthy and happy, I try to give her all the love she deserves.

We recently added to our family with Lucy, who is part Jack Russell. We believe she is part Basset Hound or corgi, as she is very long! But she acts like she is part cat.

Lucy is the third dog we have adopted through the Robeson County Humane Society. She was rescued about seven months ago and immediately came down with parvo. She went from 14 pounds to 10 pounds and fought for her life. Fortunately, she fully recovered and is having the time of her life with our three other rescue dogs.

The neighbors behind us own several cats so they are kept busy jumping through the doggie doors throughout our home and running along the fence line while the cats sit primly on the other side and watch them.

Friday Friends

While I am busy writing the Black Swamp Mysteries series (the fourth book in the series is due to be released next spring) and caring for my own angelfish - adults, babies and eggs - I have four dogs surrounding me. I am definitely never alone in this house!

I have Mattie, a Treeing Walker Coonhound rescued by the Richmond, VA SPCA. (Her brother Skipper is in the background; unfortunately, he passed away about two years ago.) She is the matriarch, who I refer to as Mama Mattie to the rest of the pack:

I have Simone, the tri-colored collie, who nearly died before she was rescued by the Robeson County Humane Society and I fostered and then adopted her:

One year after adopting Simone, we learned of Eddie, the Jack Russell who had been rescued by the Robeson County Humane Society after he was shot in the leg:

And our newest addition is Lucy Lou (referred to as Lucy LOO when she first arrived and wasn't housebroken). She is part Jack Russell and possibly part Corgi or Basset, because she is very long. Below are what I call "The Three Faces of Lucy":

How can I have so many of them? I have a wonderful fenced yard, three sets of doggie doors, and fortunately for me, they are all well behaved, loving and adorable!

Things Fish and Dogs are Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I am taking the day off so my dogs and angels have written what they are most thankful for today:

Mattie the foxhound is thankful for the cats who live behind us; they give her hours upon hours of exercise and excitement.

Simone the collie is thankful for a home where people don't yell and argue and other than the two Jack Russells, life is pretty laid back.

Eddie the Jack Russell is thankful for the doggie doors because he can run back and forth from the house to the back yard all day long. And all night long.

Lucy the Jack Russell is thankful for the boxes of toys throughout the house, which supply endless hours of joy as she rips each toy apart. She is also thankful for the steps next to Mommy's bed so she can hunker down after exhausting herself.

Lindsay Buckingfish and Stevie Fishnick (shown at right with Lucy) are thankful that I gave them their own honeymoon suite, which they are putting to good use.

The Buckingfish-Fishnick angel babies are thankful for their own infant ward, free from predators.

And all the other little angels are thankful that we eat turkey for Thanksgiving and not angelfish.

Friday Friends

This blog is usually about my experience in raising angelfish but on Fridays I like to talk about the other creatures in my home - my dogs.

This is Simone. She is a tri-colored collie who was rescued by the Robeson County Humane Society (a no-kill shelter) and adopted by yours truly.

Simone was used in a back yard breeder's horrific breeding program. She was kept in a crate barely large enough for her to turn around in. She was not taken out of the crate - not even to use the bathroom. I was contacted by the Humane Society and asked to foster her because they did not believe she was going to survive without immediate intervention. I was stunned to find that she had no undercoat (a collie trademark) and although she was fully grown (two years old) she weighed only 42 pounds - half what she should have weighed.

She also had just given birth, which made her skeletal condition even more heartbreaking. We don't know what happened to her babies. Given her condition, they might not have survived. (At right is Simone when she was saved by the Robeson County Humane Society. What a difference in her appearance today! The day she was rescued, her head was the largest part of her body.)

I was soon to learn that Simone's physical condition paled in comparison to her emotional state. She was terrified of everything and had obviously been horribly abused.

After several months of nursing her back to health, I realized there was no way I could turn her over to be adopted. It had taken too much time for her to learn that we were never going to hurt her and she was safe with us. Fortunately, the Humane Society agreed wholeheartedly and we adopted Simone.

Everyone in the family adores her. She allows my granddaughter to brush her for hours on end (and loves it) and each of my other rescue dogs love her, too. The two Jack Russells act like she is their mama - and she treats them as if they are her bald children. She is the perfect lady and we're very fortunate to have her!