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Surprisingly a small miracle has taken place at our house. I am sure you are all tired of hearing about my dogs but they are like my kids. I have nothing else to talk about except kids and animals! I will try to post about more intellectual topics in the future! Anyways-I had Bella given to e by a breeder for free which never happens. French bulldogs go for $3000 easy and so selling a pet the breeder could sell them at a reduced price of $1500 with no problem. So I assumed that if I ever wanted another frenchie I was doomed to pay full price. But my good friends at the vet clinic that I used to work at put in a good word for me with the frenchie breeders that come in and I amazingly scored another free frenchie! She is two years old and came from Russia-as did my other Frenchie. But she has seizures and has to be on two medications every day to prevent episodes. The breeder didn't want to breed her and have the puppies have this problem as well but didn't feel she could find a good permanent home for her that would maintain her meds and bloodwork. I am totally comfortable of the all the extras and now she has come to live with us. Her name is 'Stella' and is quite chubby. I've renamed her fatty bo blattey! She has had really no training at all and seems to not know her name. I feel sad for these poor dogs that belong to breeders because although their physical needs are usually well met their emotional needs are neglected. {Matt snickers as I write this} But dogs are very social animals and need that 'pack companionship'. Stella is just soaking up the attention she is getting. And I have no doubt that she will be in excellent shape within a few months going up and down the stairs, chasing chickens, ferret, and small children. not to mention Strider's playful energy levels. Now you all know my secret of how I stay skinny! Who needs a gym when who have a household like Dr. Doolittle! The breeder also brought down a littler of frenchie puppies for the vet to check. I knew it would be hard to see frenchies again but I broke down at the vet's. It was hard to see the big ears and hear unique snort. It was good and bad. It is good to have a snorty dog comfortably sleeping in my lap again though. Wish me luck in the training process because I do believe frenchie's are the dumbest and most stubborn dog to train but worth it in the end.

As to the ferret some have requested more pics of her. Here are some of her looking to be rescued and then sleeping safely in Oma's (grandma) lap. I have had to put a lock on Monkey's cage because Joey is getting to rough with her I am afraid that she will get
hurt. He was very upset about the new rule but I know it will be better for everyone!

Playing Catch Up

After a trial hits home-either big or small -it seems to take me a while to get back into some sort of routine. So, I have some pictures and stories to tell from the last few weeks so bear with me!


After Bella, my little french bulldog, died- I tried to fill up my days with activities to keep me distracted. One of them was to build a snowman with the dry Utah snow. It took a long time but after lots of packing and pounding of the snow we were successful. Elise is a determined and very good snowman builder. She built the head of the snowman entirely by herself. Joseph wanted to know after the snowman was done if he would come alive! Joey was bored after a little while so he went on to play ball with Strider. It is a fun game to play because you get a snowball and tell the dog that you have a ball. Then you throw the snowball and Strider takes off after the ball. Of course when the snowball lands it breaks apart and disappears in the snow but Strider knows the ball is somewhere in that area! Here are some pics of the kids having a snowball fight on our new deck.

One of the worst things a grieving pet owner can do is to go to a pet store! Well, I did. A few days after losing Bella and I came home with a 6 week old baby ferret. I had one a long time ago and I love their little personality. I could certainly use a laugh anyway! Elise named her 'Monkey' since she likes to hang from the top of her cage. I knew the kids would like her but I had no idea they would smother her in attention. They hold and play with her all day long. Lets just say the ferret gets a good night s rest at the end of the day! I like that the kids hold her a lot because the more a ferret is handled the better pet it becomes!

Here are just some funny pictures of Joey eating his 'Big daddy donut'. I went to the store to pick some things up and the kids wanted a donut. So I obliged when Joey wanted the giant size donut. It was fun to watch him eat it!