To Honor Taffy's Life, We Rescued Kiah

Our little gift from God. . .meet Kiah: (youtube video)

Help Us Save Our Dog Taffy

Visit Taffy's ChipIn Page

She's Slipping Away From Us....

The vet called & seemed to be upset that the other vet we saw gave us possibly false hope w/Pepper...my step-dad though is still not ready to give up...he's joined a Canine Kidney group online to see what might still be done to save her (which breaks our hearts even more)...our vet said to decrease some of her meds & see if this helps any...but if she doesn't start eating soon we have to let her go. :(( ♥

Keep Your Friends Close. . .

Taffy aka 'Top Man' with one of his 

6 Ultra Chuck It Balls always nearby.

Wishing Everyone a Truly Blessed, Family Filled Christmas!

Hope everyone has a holiday filled with family, fun, and lots of laughter! Thank you for your support & encouragement throughout this year and for your friendship! God bless!~Lara

Deer Encounters with Jedha Bug Bear...

Deer is something new to this Aussie pup. He was introduced to his beloved squirrels last year, and a baby skunk last summer (he didn't like that one so much, nor the subsequent bath which followed), but this fall he has come to know deer, and a love/hate relationship has begun. I only wish I had a better camera as this little doe came so close to Jedha, and had he not started growling I think she would've come straight up to him! She would move a little closer, stomp her hoof to see if Jedha was scared (which he probably was), and then move a little closer. But alas, Jedha spoiled the fun with his grizzly bear growl and off she went, back into the woods!

Summer Memories...Our Trip Up North!

Sorry for neglecting Jedha & Taffy's blog, I get so busy with painting, blogging, tweeting, facebooking, etc. etc. that other things tend to take a back seat. Anyway, we took oodles of photos on our end of summer trip back in September to Cheboygan, Michigan so I will probably spread them out in a few posts....here we go!

This was where we stayed (on the left), nothing fancy, but the right cottagy feel in the woods that we were after so it worked...

 

The boys had NO idea the place had a beach...here they are 

checkin out the new digs, completely unaware 

of what lie only feet ahead of them, ah yes...

Of course Taffy is the 1st to spot the lake! CHARGE!!!

 

I like to call this shot, 'On Golden Lake'...

And of course with playing in the water all day 

it was soon time to take a Bug-Bear nap....

So, there you have it, the first installment of Jedha & Taffy's adventures Up North...to be continued! :)

Give a Dog a Bath...

Jedha literally a few hours after a much needed bath...

...questioning 'why all the concern'?

After all, it's only a little bit of dirt right?...

Which reminds me...back in Sydney Jedha Bug-Bear was a bit of a 'digger'...we had thought Jedha was just soaking up the sun all the while in the backyard, chasing an occasional cockatiel, but truth be told he had been spending his afternoons under the house digging a cubby hole that could fit a small vehicle! Not sure where he thought he was going, but thankfully the hole was discovered before he made it to China!

My Mom keeps nudging me that we need to have kids, and again I say
'why have kids when I already have 2 fur-children'? :o)

What's Yours is Mine...A Love Story?

I think photos can really tell stories so well, but for a bit of background,
Jedha is not really big on balls...this is actually 1 of Taffy's 6 Ultra-Chuck It balls....

....but, of course, like children Jedha figures 'what's yours is mine'.

It's not that he really wants to play with the ball...he just doesn't want Taffy to have it.

Taffy manages to get the ball back momentarily...only to lose it a few moments later.

...and being a bit of a brat, Jedha taunts Taffy with the ball in his face & tempts him to 'just try and get the ball from me'!...

...just look at that face!

A brief squabble erupts and then Taffy quickly recovers his faithful friend.

Nothing like sibling rivalry! :o)

A Park in Our Own Backyard!!

If you only had seen their faces...me included! I probably should've gone around to the back and took a photo of their faces as they discovered that they have a 'park' of their very own in their backyard as we just moved a week ago today.But even from behind they still looked like a couple of kids seeing Disney World for the first time...all the possibilities, squirrels, rabbits, things to smell, places to explore! When I get a chance I will have to take some more pictures of the 'boys' exploring their new digs and neighborhood...it is just so grreat to see them so happy! :o)

Packing & the BBQ Thief...

So, as you can see from the photos above, Taffy (and Jedha) have been contributing quite a lot to our packing this week as we prepare to move this weekend....

...and they even helped Dad prepare steak & chicken

for the 'barbe' (BBQ in Australian)

...but a funny thing happened in the end, apparently the steak and chicken was a bit too tempting to one someone of the 'canine persuasion'...so as Dad was talking with a neighbor, someone of the 'canine persuasion' carefully removed a steak from the plate next to the BBQ... Well, if you haven't guessed who the culprit was, I'll give you a hint, he's large, yellow and furry...yep, Jedha Bug-Bear helped himself to a steak, medium rare, just how he likes it. Dad was a bit upset to say the least, but he cooled down after Mom reminded him that Jedha is a dog and if you are gonna turn your back on a steak, well....

I'm just happy Jedha was so careful as to not break my plate!That's my boy! ;o)

Comfy?

I have to laugh at our Taffy boy...he usually sleeps in our bed despite the fact that we bought him this wonderfully comfy bed for him, but lately he has wanted to sleep on his own bed. But the funniest thing is about nine times outta ten I find him like this, lying with his head and sometimes upper torso on the floor. How this is comfortable for him I have no idea but he seems to enjoy sleeping this way. We treat him like a king considering his former owners neglected him and more than likely abused him...my husband rescued him when he arrived on his doorstep in the pouring rain of the wet season in Cairns, Australia...every rib showing, afraid to come in, yet longing to have someone show him love...he found his forever home that day, and has a forever home in our hearts!

Ahhh Spring at Last!....

Keeping a watchful eye on Jedha-Bug Bear
from my studio window....

Warm weather = Jedha doesn't want to eat,
just wants to get back outside....

Jedha thinking about all the squirrels he's missing out on
because Mom wants him to eat his food...

Refusing to eat anymore....Mom will have to hand feed me,
of which she on rare occasion will do....

Finally! Back outside in the yard...now don't make me come in! Pleeeez!
Yep, my Mom keeps telling us we need to have children,
and to that I say, heck we already have two!

Snowy Walk in April?

Taffy & Jedha getting their Spiderman Red & Superman Blue
coats on for a walk in the Michigan snow of April??

...if you could bottle the ENERGY they have before departure!

Mom had to take a photo because we still
look SO cute as a bug's nose in our coats....yeah whatever Mom.

FINALLY! I thought we'd never get out to survey the neighborhood...

And of course Taffy is in the lead as per usual...if Jedha only realized
he outweighs Taffy by at least 15lbs!

Thankfully the snow has melted now and maybe, just maybe
Spring will begin here in Michigan!

Twitter Friend Gives Us Tweets :o)

So this week Mom has been investigating Twitter and wouldn't you know it she made some new friends!LabsRus sent us some yummy dog food samples and some super yummy treats!How good is that?! And she even discovered some fellow Aussies on Twitter like Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, and a young singer named Hayley Legg. You can twitter with our Mom at PaintingaPupDay, she's really friendly and never bites!;o) And if you'd like her to paint your pup, check out www.paintingapupaday.blogspot.com, or drop her an email at Loveall4Him@aol.com!

Jedha & Taffy Help Cook a Turkey...

No need to adjust your screen, we haven't lost our minds here in Michigan and thought it was November, but we had a frozen turkey from my Aunt so we thought why not have Thanksgiving in March? As you can see Jedha and Taffy are helping me with cooking the bird...here they are telling me where I should baste it. Earlier today they dined on the liver and heart (sorry for those faint of heart)...they enjoyed it thoroughly....oh and I forgot, before that they dined on the neck, a delicacy in dogland. So, anyway, I just had to share these pics with you because every hour I have to check on the bird, or as we call it the 'chicky chicky' (even thought it's turkey), and there are my boys, right there with me, directing me where to aim my turkey baster.

Where is Spring Already?

So I want to try and be better about posting more goings on of our two Aussie dogs, Taffy and Jedha, but here in Michigan not a great deal has been going on except for grey skies and cold, blistering wind. We did have a scare earlier in the week when we were up at the park. We were playing ball, chasing the occasional squirrel, and then decided to start back on our walk. Well, as we rounded the corner to our horror we came face to face with not one, but TWO loose pitbulls, oh yes, and one was pregnant! I immediately tried to tell myself, 'remain calm & assertive, what would Cesar Millan want me to do right now?'....but that pretty much went out the window as each pitbull went after each one of our dogs. All I could think about was 'bloody hell the white one is pregnant and the grey one is gonna defend her to the death'! Both our dogs would've started a fight in a heartbeat, especially Taffy who was rescued from the streets and is quite dog aggressive....so in panic mode I pulled with all my might and managed to get all 75 plus pounds of Jedha safely across the park and away from the pitbulls. Thankfully my husband was with me and was able to get Taffy across the park as well. In the meantime, the dog catcher tried in vain to wrangle the two pitbulls. He was actually going to have to get an officer to shoot the dogs if he could not find a way to capture them as each time he tried, they would try to attack him! I certainly didn't want for that to happen, and again, thankfully we heard yesterday that they were finally able to catch the loose pitbulls and bring them to the Humane Society... Definitely got the ol' heart rate going let me tell you, but at least all is well once again and we are able to play at the park without any fear of attack...although we will be more aware of our surroundings from now on!(I chose some of my favorite shots of the boys to share here.... love the one of Taffy at the beach in Cairns...he is such a handsome boy:o)

Some fun shots of Taffy & Jedha :o)

I've neglected Taffy & Jedha's blog a bit as I have been busy with a new project I started at the beginning of this year called, Painting a Pup a Day in which I try my best to paint a dog each day, or every few days and donate 10% to one of the many dog rescue groups I currently work with. It has definitely kept me busy as I now have groups on both Facebook and Flickr following along on my year-long journey in addition to my Painting a Pup a Day Blog. Keeps me busy, but it has been such a joy combining two things I love the most, dogs and painting! If you are interested in following along on my journey, feel free to subscribe to my Painting a Pup a Day blog, or join my group on Facebook or Flickr! And of course if you are interested in having your dog's portrait done feel free to contact me at Loveall4Him@aol.com and I can send you my current price list for 2009 and put you on the waiting list!