Pup of the week: January 10, 2010 Ladybug

If you thought the debates over health care reform and airline security were tense, you should have been a fly on the wall at the Tanner Brigade home office as we discussed this week's pup of the week candidates.

We had two very clear candidates. One was the subject of a blog so perfectly written, so moving, that we retold it to every dog lover we knew and they were moved to tears.

The other is one of our favorite dogs of all time. She has bravely fought through a number of obstacles, including vomiting, lethargy, a restricted diet, and a terrible toilet in a humid camper.

We agreed that the first pup's story was as moving as any we have heard in more than a year of puppy networking. Their parents generosity, their disregard of their own needs, and their purity of heart deserved recognition.

But we had just made this pup's brother Pup of the Week a few weeks earlier. We have so many deserving dogs here that we would like to see them all honored.

Then Pocket, who had been studying the blog posts, said that several had a remarkable idea, awarding their Mom the Mom of the week award.

I, Foley, stood up and announced that this idea was ridiculous. Mom of the week. What is next, kitty of the, squirrel of the week? My comments were meant with silence. I reconsidered then announced that we should award a Mom of the week award. All the paws in the room clapped at my brilliance while Pocket sat back growling quietly to herself.

So, for this week, we announce our first ever Mom of the week: She is Apollo's, Ace's, Shakira's, Schultz's, Victory's and the two chi's Mom, who, when she learned that Apollo, in need of a pancreas transplant, would be getting it from a young Huskie in a kill shelter, sacrificed a few extra months with her beloved Apollo, to save the Huskie, who she named Freedom.

So congratulations to Apollo's, Ace's, Shakira's, Schultz's, Victory's and the two chi's Mom who is our first Mom of the week. And to your Dad, well, you're pretty good too, but you can be damn sure we'll be doing a kitty of the week before we do a Daddy of the week.

Now, on to our Pup of the Week.

She has been suffering so much more in the past months. She has had to take more pills than the Hilton sisters and been on the diet of the Olson twins. She has been poked and prodded like a citizen of Yemen trying to get on a Southwest airlines flight. She has been so desperately hungry she mugged Hobo's Dad but didn't have the strength to finish him off. She has scared her Mom so much watching her sleep was scarier then Paranormal. And yet through it all she has kept us smiling.

This week we got some fantastic news as her Bile Acid Test came back negative and she has gained two pounds. She still has a lot tests ahead of her, but she is such a brave pup, that she'll handle it like a stroll in the park. With every bit of news, if good or bad, she always presents it with a wink and a smile, even while committing a mugging.

Someday we will all face the testings, the diets, the uncertain future, that this lovely pup is facing, and when it is my time, I hope I can face it with the bravery and the humor that she, and her Mom are facing it.

So for that reason, and so many others Ladybug is our Pup of the Week