It's a Dog's Life-

[Daisysmama]

That sounds like a great trip!

 

I hadn't seen a coatamundi so for anyone else who hasn't here is a clip. So cute!

 

 

[casablancalover2]

****, Daisysmama! The snow does get softer on the southern side of the snowman. That Dachshund really had a thing about it.

 

As far as the little critters, I don't know if feeding them was such a good idea. Do some people domesticate them?

[Daisysmama]

From what I was reading, they're great pets when they're young but take a lot of time, and possibly are too difficult to control as adults. But people do keep them as pets especially if they have a lot of land.

 

This is a cute one.

 

 

[Daisysmama]

SUCH a sweet story!

 

http://www.dogheirs.com/larne/posts/2978-adopted-dog-treks-10-miles-in-freezing-cold-back-to-shelter-to-be-with-his-beloved-mate

 

[casablancalover2]

That dog story is wonderful. They truly bond, and not just with the human companions.

 

This dog story had me laughing so hard as i was mousing down the page, I made the pages jump up and down 'cause I shaking the mouse.. LOL !

 

http://www.lifewithdogs.tv/2013/03/photo-bombing-dog-helps-couple-rent-apartment/

h3. Find Otis...

[Daisysmama]

So adorable! Otis has a ton of personality.

 

Speaking of ton...

 

This is one of my all time favorite videos, not about a dog but..well, you'll see.

 

 

[Daisysmama]

*Cute!*

 

 

[casablancalover2]

That picture is so cute!

 

It's National Puppy Day! I didn't even get you a card, but here's some wonderful scenes at the link

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/23/national-puppy-day-2013_n_2934715.html

[Daisysmama]

 

Freedom and I have been together 11 years this summer.

She came in as a baby in 1998 with two broken wings.

Her left wing doesn't open all the way even after surgery,

it was broken in 4 places.

She's my baby.

 

 

When Freedom came in she could not stand

and both wings were broken. She was

emaciated and covered in lice. We made the

decision to give her a chance at life, so I took

her to the vet's office. From then

on, I was always around her. We had her in a

huge dog carrier with the top off, and it

was loaded up with shredded newspaper for her to

lay in. I used to sit and talk to her,

urging her to live, to fight; and she would lay

there looking at me with those big brown eyes.

We also had to tube feed her for weeks.

 

 

This went on for 4-6 weeks, and by then she still

couldn't stand. It got to the point where the

decision was made to euthanize her

if she couldn't stand in a week. You know you don't

want to cross that line between torture and

rehab, and it looked like death was

winning. She was going to be put

down that Friday, and I was supposed to come in

on that Thursday afternoon. I didn't want to go

to the center that Thursday, because I couldn't

bear the thought of her being euthanized;

but I went anyway, and when I walked in everyone

was grinning from ear to ear. I went

immediately back to her cage; and there she was,

standing on her own, a big beautiful

eagle. She was ready to live. I was

just about in tears by then. That

was a very good day.

 

 

We knew she could never fly, so the director

asked me to glove train her.

I got her used to the glove,

and then to jesses, and we started

doing education programs for schools

in western Washington .

We wound up in the newspapers,

radio (believe it or not) and some

TV. Miracle Pets even did a show

about us.

 

 

In the spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with

non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. I had stage 3,

which is not good (one major organ plus

everywhere), so I wound up doing 8 months of

chemo. Lost the hair - the whole

bit. I missed a lot of work. When I

felt good enough, I would go to Sarvey

and take Freedom out for walks. Freedom would

also come to me in my dreams and help me fight

the cancer. This happened time and time again.

 

 

Fast forward to November 2000

 

 

The day after Thanksgiving,

I went in for my last checkup.

I was told that if the cancer was not

all gone after 8 rounds of chemo, then my last

option was a stem cell transplant. Anyway, they

did the tests; and I had to come back Monday for

the results. I went in Monday, and I was

told that all the cancer was gone.

 

 

So the first thing I did was get up to Sarvey and

take the big girl out for a walk. It was misty

and cold. I went to her flight and jessed her

up, and we went out front to the top of the

hill. I hadn't said a word to

Freedom, but somehow she knew. She looked at me

and wrapped both

her wings around me to where I

could feel them pressing in on my back

(I was engulfed in eagle wings), and she

touched my nose with her beak and stared into my

eyes, and we just stood there like that

for I don't know how long . That was a

magic moment. We have been soul mates ever

since she came in. This is a very special bird.

 

 

On a side note: I have had people who

were sick come up to us when we are out, and

Freedom has some kind of hold on

them. I once had a guy who was

terminal come up to us and

I let him hold her.

His knees just about buckled and he

swore he could feel her power course through his

body. I have so many stories like that..

 

 

I never forget the honor I have of being so close

to such a magnificent spirit as

Freedom.

 

Edited by: Daisysmama on Mar 24, 2013 5:09 AM

[casablancalover2]

What a wonderful article! Thank you for posting it.

 

Living for many years along the high bluffs of the Mississippi in Minnesota, I would see many a bald eagle soaring overhead. They never stopped thrilling me.

 

The Minnesota Raptor Center treats and rehabilitates injured raptors for release back into the wild.

 

http://www.raptor.cvm.umn.edu/

 

The National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN

 

http://www.nationaleaglecenter.org/our-eagles/

 

These raptor centers rescue to preserve these mighty birds and protect them for future generations (theirs and ours) . These groups are found all over the U.S, now, and they too deserve our support and encouragement.

 

Edited by: casablancalover2 on Mar 24, 2013 6:46 AM

[lavenderblue19]

I agree. Thank You Daisy for posting that wonderful, inspiring article. This was the first post I've read this morning and I'll probably be thinking about this heartwatming story for the rest of day. Thanks again.

[dpompper]

 

I was moved to tears. Thank you for posting this.

 

 

People who think that animals do not have feelings just don't get it.

 

 

[JakeHolman]

The Navy Seals Dogs

 

http://blogs.canoe.ca/parker/general/the-dog-that-cornered-osama-bin-laden/

 

Jake in the Heartland

 

Edited by: JakeHolman on Mar 24, 2013 7:09 PM

[Daisysmama]

Hey All, I am so glad you enjoyed Freedom's story, and that of her handler. I was very inspired!

 

Found a nice clip of Freedom the Eagle and Jeff

 

 

 

Casa, those are great links, thank you for posting them. I really enjoyed the eagles stories.

 

 

Jake, I love the service dog blog. It's taken a long time, but, we finally retire these dogs with the respect they deserve.

 

 

Nowzad brings dogs home who have become the companions of our soldiers in Afghanistan. They are not trained military dogs They are the dogs found starving in the street and taken in by our soldiers. It absolutely breaks thier hearts to leave them behind when thier deployment ends.

 

 

http://www.nowzad.com/

 

Edited by: Daisysmama on Mar 25, 2013 5:02 PM

[Daisysmama]

From: https://www.facebook.com/LegendOfLamarValley

 

 

The farmer about 2 miles down the road had stopped by to tell us about a wolf with pups he found in the forest. He said she was real young and looked near starved out. He said she would not let him near her and he wanted to help her. He was asking us what to do as he did not want to kill her nor did he want her getting to his livestock.

Well, I assured him we would take care of her and get her help.

 

 

 

I took off to the location he gave us and sure enough she was there.

 

The embankment she stood atop of was over my head and her body posture was not going to fool anyone, head down, snarled curled flues, teeth bared and statue still. Her eyes glared with an intensity of a willingness to die to protect the 'puppy pile' behind her.

 

 

I had never seen puppies piled like logs before as she had them, and even with the flies and skeeters not 1 twitch was done by them. It gave a new meaning to be quiet and don't move. I found it amazing.

 

 

She was thin, and scared, and not going to come close or let me come in to help. I spoke soft and reassuring..backed down from the bottom of the embankment and left..went straight to the store and bought beef...lots of beef. When I returned to where she was, the exact scene unfolded. I laid slowly several pounds of meat and backed away.

 

 

Every day sometimes twice a day I repeated the feeding and soft spoken words, I even sang to her softly in a cooing manner.

 

 

For over 2 weeks this went on. Every evening before dark I fed her and spent time with her. She would not leave the embankment or relax the posturing. And the puppies would be 'piled' the same way.

 

 

One night while sitting after the food was set, she made her way down the embankment, my heart was pounding, all the "what if's" flooded my head. What if she attacked, what if, this or that. I sat still and kept cooing to her. She came close, sniffed me and laid down and went fast asleep in less than 10 min. I was astounded.

 

 

It was as though she said, "i'm exhausted, you babysit while I rest" Then here came the puppies..boundless and all over me as though I was auntie and I was a new play-toy. Mama never moved, she was fast asleep.

 

 

There were 5 of them, mostly brown and 1 male that was predominately white & gray. The next

few days were very different, I was now greeted with howls and jumps and body language that was a joy to view.

 

 

I would baby sit for several hours and let mama sleep. Her den encampment had hides of old deer carcasses and misc. animal parts of unknown identity that she had rummages in the area

to feed the pups.

 

 

She was scavenging, not hunting, as she would not leave the pups for long. I got her out of the woods, and into a compound where she finished raising the pups and then, my promise to her was kept. I had promised her if she let me help her and her babies she would walk with me for the rest of her life if she so chose.

 

 

I came to get her, opened the compound and walked to my vehicle, and not looking behind me, opened the door and she crawled right in and sat as tho she was raised by humans.

 

 

For 13 years we walked together, and she had to go where I went, there was no other option.

 

 

If she even thought I was going to leave she would climb atop of my car and wait.

 

 

I called her Z Ina. The Z is for 'the" Ina is Native American for 'Mother'. The Mother.

 

 

She had many opportunities through the years to go back to the wild, but she never did, she had found home.

[dpompper]

Thank you for sharing, daisysmama.

[casablancalover2]

All I can say, is, WOW and thank you.

[JakeHolman]

 

Nice story Daisy and have a wonderful Easter and may God bless.

 

Jake in the Heartland

[Daisysmama]

*HAPPY EASTER!!* AND PASSOVER*!!*

 

 

 

 

 

[lavenderblue19]

Adorable photos. Thank You and the same to you, Daisy.

[wouldbestar]

 

Thank you, Daisy, for letting all of us posters in on the fun. Christian or Jewish they were just adorable. I'm glad I went to that lecture as I understand what the "kosher" doggies are wearing and look like they're going to be dining on. Some of those "Easter bunnies" though sure look like they're more likely to bark or meow than hop. Oh, well, I hopoe your day is going okay.

[dpompper]

May I add my "thanks" to the list?! On behalf of cat people . . . The white Persian looks REALLY pi**ed. So cute, though.

[Daisysmama]

You know what I noticed about the Seder photo is that the dogs are photoshopped in, and the yamakas are paint shopped. I think it's so sweet that someone went to all that trouble to make a photo of dogs at a Seder. They even paint shopped the ball!

 

I think the kitty just wants to get to the easter eggs!

[JakeHolman]

A little diversion...then back on track...

 

 

 

Jake in the Heartland

 

Edited by: JakeHolman on Apr 3, 2013 6:02 PM

[Daisysmama]

Wow that is such a remarkable clip! I would have been terrified..but I wonder if the gorilla pack is somewhat accustomed to humans. Seemed very at peace with the man. That was amazing, thank you Jake.

 

One of my favorite clips that I had not seen in circulation for awhile..