Reese and Kole are our November 9, 2014 Pups of the Week

When humans have problems they tend to bottle them up and keep them from with their friends.  Something silly about not wanting to be a “burden.”  But us dogs never worry about being “burdens.”  It is kind of our thing.  Feed us, walk us, clean up after us, stop us from jumping on others, making sure we don’t trip you, we are wonderful burdens so when  we have problems we can’t wait to dump them on our friends.

But what happens when you have to dump and you have nowhere to take a dump.  That is what happened to our friends Reese and Kole two weeks ago.

They live in the Ozarks but their parents come from Michigan.  I don’t know how that happened.  I think their car couldn’t make it through the mountains so they just decided to live there.

A few weeks ago Reese’s and Kole’s Uncle Mark got sick.  Their Uncle Rob, who lives with their Dad Jeffrey, had to go back to Michigan to be with his ill relative.  The problem was that air travel is expensive when you aren’t an angel.  They had a stack of bills to pay and something had to be sacrificed because we live in a recovering economy where, whenever you pay a bill you have to go into recovery.  What had to be sacrificed was the Internet:  Resse’s and Kole’s outlet to their support network was gone.  It not only came at a bad time for family reasons, but poor Kole, who had been found abandoned in a parking lot by Uncle Rob earlier this year would be without his beloved best friend when he returned to Michigan.

When Uncle Rob went to Michigan to visit Uncle Mark the former collapsed and tests showed he had a weak heart.  There was talk he might need a pacemaker.  Now there were two sick Uncles and no support network except for a few friends Reese’s and Kole’s Dad could text.  

It was a long week without hearing from our friends, and an eventful one for them. Uncle Rob was released from the hospital and came home.  The doctors are not sure what is wrong with him, they have lots of different opinions, but he is home where he belongs and Kole is very happy about that.  

Once Rob returned the family got their Internet turned back on and Reese and Kole were all over the web telling their friends that they were safe, although their Uncles needed prayers.

Uncle Mark is waiting in the hospital in Michigan for a liver transplant.  Getting a liver transplant is very hard unless you are famous.  Hopefully, because Reese and Kole are famous in the dog world that will help their Uncles get the medical treatment they need.

But I do need all of you to send me prayers for Reese’s and Kole’s Dad so I can fly them up to the Big Guy because he freaking loves me.  And also pray that their financial problems ease so they can stay on the Internet and Reese and Kole never feel abandoned again.

Reese is our March 23, 2014 Pup of the Week

Every dog is a hero in their own home.  All our humans require from us to be their hero is friendship and love, but sometimes we do something truly heroic.

That brings me to my very good friend Reese.  He has had a lot on his plate since his big sister Meika went to the Bridge.  His family was left broken hearted and Reese had to do everything he could to keep smiles on the faces of his Dad and his Uncle Ron.

To make their suffering worse, Uncle Ron took ill and had to be admitted to the hospital.  They ruled out that he had a heart blockage but the Ozark Mountain Doctor Daredevils weren’t sure what was wrong, and, as is often so with the human health care system, when doctors don’t know what’s wrong, they send you home.

Uncle Ron and Reese’s Dad were both catching up on sleep while Reese dutifully watched over Uncle Ron.  Feeling hungry Uncle Ron got up for some lunch.  Apparently he got up too quickly and when he got to the kitchen he collapsed (once again showing the fallacy of humans insisting they walk upright.)  That’s when Reese, who, truth be told, Meika and I always thought was a bit of a duffus, sprung into action.

Uncle Ron told Reese to go get his Daddy and Reese went to the bedroom barking and scratching to wake him up, which he did successfully.   His Dad rushed to Uncle Ron and was able to get him off the floor and did a quick triage to determine that Uncle Ron had just got up too quickly and was uninjured.  He was helped back to bed.

And Reese was the hero of the day.  But he is everyday.  We all are.

So here is to the hero in all of us.

The Tornado Dogs are our June 2, 2013 Pups of the Week

Meika

Friday night I sat in front of the computer scared to death.  I wasn’t watching a frightening video or watching stories about how the humans are messing up the world, I was reading post after post from my beloved friends who were living in the path of killer tornadoes.  

Thankfully all have checked in and were spared from the storm’s wrath, but it made me realize just how fragile our hold on life, and our friendships, are.  One horrible storm can cause so much havoc and devastation it is unimaginable.  The names of towns become synonomous with destruction, Moore, Joplin, Oklahoma City, Rainsville, like the towns that became famous for Civil War battles:  Fredricksburgh, Antetiem, Shiloh, Gettysburgh.

Practically every day we bark with our good friends Reese and Mieka from Missouri.  Reese is very proud that he can howl just as loud as the tornado sirens.  But his talent scares us.  We never want him to use his howler because that means danger is coming.  On Friday night they were excitedly waiting on word of twin family members being born in Michigan.  But they couldn’t contact their family, and they couldn’t contact us, so there was a big circle of worry going on.  We were happy to hear from them yesterday, but their human twin cousin is in a hospital and in need of prayers.

Then there are our very good friend Koda, Josie, Wills and Emme.  They all had to pack up and leave their farm Friday night as tornadoes were headed right for it.  Thankfully the twisters spared their homestead and by the next morning they were back at the farm, but for one night there were lots of prayers said in their name.

Chey’s and Kaizer’s Mom had to ride out the storm in their basement.  They lost contact when the tornadoes grazed their neighborhood and all us friends held our breath. They came through the storms in one piece but the hotel where many friends stayed during last year’s Baronfest was hit.  Chey’s and Kaizer’s Mom made a wise choice pushing this year’s Baronfest until after tornado season.

On Wednesday Chelsea and Junior Johnson’s family got a warning about a major tornado and had to hunker down in their bedroom.  Two nights later they had to go through the same hell and then again on the 30th.  Their Mom’s Facebook page became tornado central, as did many other peep’s pages.

Shakira, Napa, and tiny Travis had to go into the storm cave to wait out the tornadoes that swirled around them.  It was Travis first storm but he came out fine  thanks to his Mom being so calm and Angel Apollo watching out from overhead.

There were lots of other pups in the path of these terrible storms like Summer Grace whose stories we have not told.  But we want them all to know we prayed very hard for them and are so happy they came through the darkness OK and pray it is a long time until they face another week like this.

For now we give you and your parents a big tip of the tail for being calmer and braver dogs then either us or our parents could ever be.

May you have nothing but sunny days for the rest of the summer.