On Saturday, May 15, my girl Chivas crossed the rainbow bridge. She was about 15 years old and it was just a few weeks shy of being a Derrbetts for 15 years.
My parents had lost their Jack Russell in May of 2006 and asked me to find a puppy for them. I had some connections to a Jack Russell breeder via the Russell Rescue group in Texas. This breeder had WAY too many dogs and was in a position to need to find as many of her dogs new homes as quickly as possible prior to a local humane society coming on site and taking possession of remaining dogs. I was told that Chivas was a puppy and went home with her and another dog that would be our dog. Mom named her after Dad’s favorite scotch; Chivas Regal.
Mom and Dad came to visit that July and had decided that life without a dog was easier, so were not going to take Chivas back to Montana. Alas Chivas became my dog. The following years with Chivas were nerve wracking at times, always full of unconditional puppy love, and included myriad adventures.
We were told she was a “puppy” when we got Chivas. She was never bigger than this and this was within a couple months of when she became a member of our family.
The August after I got Chivas my Dad passed away from complications from a horseback riding injury and Chivas made her first of many trips to Montana. We had puppy dog barrel races in Mom’s backyard with family and friends, which provided much needed levity during a very difficult and sad time. I cannot find any photos from the event, but trust me, it was epic.
ALL the dogs really would have loved to have Edith as a snack. Chivas was no exception, but she was a good girl. Always.
Chivas also frequently attended the World Famous Bucking Horse Sale in Miles City. She experienced all the weather options that Montana has in May. From sunny and in the 80s to a blizzard. Her last visit to Miles City was in 2019 and having been left for a few hours in Mom’s backyard, Chivas decided to go look for me. She got out of Mom’s backyard and took herself on at least a 13 miles walkabout. We figured out the distance based on who saw her and where they saw her. Mind you she was 13 years old then!
Chivas made many new friends over the years. The baby goats were always her size when they were first born. This was much loved Marigold.
She went on a few walkabouts when on visits to other cities. Once she ran out the front door of the family member whose home she was staying in McAllen, Texas. We found her (in the dark) within an hour. She also ran out the front door of a friend’s home in Fort Worth. We drove around and looked for her for a bit, but finally gave up because it was impossible to find a 10lb dog in a big city. We had happy hour on their porch and sure enough she found her way back after a few hours. In November of 2019 she was exploring around the end of our driveway and wandered down the busy road where we live. A man saw her and picked her up, unbeknownst to me, but got her scanned for a chip and we were reunited a few days later. I was convinced she had been dinner for a coyote and sobbed in relief when I got her back.
She had a knack for being places where she shouldn’t.
Some of Chivas other adventures included wildlife encounters. One morning I was cleaning stalls. It was dark outside and I heard a commotion towards the back of our property. I didn’t think anything of it and finished my morning chores before heading to the house, where I found Chivas shaking and bleeding from a couple small holes. Based on her extreme discomfort, where the injuries were and what I heard, we believe she was attacked by an owl (of which we have MANY). We think the owl tried to pick her up and the bigger dogs attacked it and prevented it from taking Chivas. She was in extreme discomfort for about a week and would cry anytime we touched her sides, but she made a full recovery!
Chivas playing in the snow with Sterling. He was about to turn two when this photo was taken.
Chivas and Boot City didn’t get off to a great start. He was trying to pick her up to remove her from an area being treated by an exterminator and it scared her enough that she ran away from him anytime she thought he was trying to pick her up for a couple years (mind you he didn’t hurt her at all, she was just very sensitive to men). She was so fearful that one day she climbed the 6′ fence out of the backyard and was gone for almost an entire day after he had merely opened the sliding glass door to the yard when she was outside. When she showed back up she had a cooked hamburger patty in her mouth. We assumed the neighbors were having a cookout and didn’t think much of it until a few days later when we were chatting with the neighbors and asked about their cookout. Turned out they hadn’t been cooking burgers and we still have no idea where she got that hamburger patty!
A photo with two of my nearest and dearest.
I’m so fortunate to have been Chivas’ person for 15 wonderful years. I’m grateful for digital photography because I have literally hundreds of photos of her from the past 15 years to remember all our fun times.
Good Friday morning y’all! I cannot believe we are into the double digits dates of August! Soon school will be starting around here and traffic will be bad and the weather will start cooling off and all that comes with the change of seasons.
I’m trying to let myself enjoy the cooler temps we are having right now, but I’m having a hard time not being bitter about the lack of rain. We have been surrounded by rain clouds for a couple days and seen a lot of lightening and even some rainbows. But no rain.
When it gets warm, Tuffy gets in the water trough to cool off. This always cracks me up and it makes him SO happy!
Quila is a saint about letting the puppies climb on her. Some of the tan ones look a lot like her, so she’s extra cute with her doppelgangers!
This is Jackie, she is our newest foster. She had been in the Joshua shelter since about April. They had gotten to the point that where going to have to euthanize dogs to make room for all the new ones coming in the door, so we offered to foster her. She is a DELIGHTFUL little dog! Only about 27lb with lots of love and energy. We are smitten.
PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY ……………………………….. pass out. That is the theme of Dickens. He adores playing with Jackie!
Simon is lame right now with an apparent stifle injury (WTF, Simon!) and since Sterling is gone Coco is getting ALL the love! And it appears to make her very sleepy.
And speaking of Sterling, things seem to be going OK with his kid. Do you see his happy eyes? I think he REALLY loves his kid! I’m the proudest horse Mom this side of the Mississippi!
I’ll be spending the weekend wishing, hoping, praying, begging, and doing whatever else I can try to encourage the rain to fall!
What a week! Lots of emotions and stress! Sterling seems to be improving, thankfully. Coco is having some issues that appear to be related to either ulcers or ovaries. Hopefully we will know more when the vet comes (again) next week.
On a happier note here are some fun photos from the farm this week.
This photo is terrible and ridiculous, but SO funny. Boot City put the baking sheet on the open dishwasher door and Chivas CAMPED out and licked that thing for at least 30 minutes. She growled and snarled at any dog that got close to her! She’s pretty funny in her old age!
Meet Maggie, our newest foster dog! Maggie is from the Fort Worth shelter and is a 4yo Beagle. She has heartworms and is pleasantly plump so will be undergoing treatment and a diet. She will be available to adopt in about 60 days!
Murtagh lives in my tack room, but gets be out when we are at home (we worry about him getting eaten by predators with all that white fur) and boy does he LOVE his barn cat besties!
Lily, our foster chihuahua, was adopted last Sunday (YAY) so Patches likes to bother Annie now. Annie growls at her a lot, but it doesn’t dissuade Patches from laying on her and trying to lick Annie’s ears.
I’ll be spending my weekend cold hosing, sweating and cleaning Sterling’s leg and hopefully riding Simon since he’s the only rideable horse I have right now! How about you?
Welcome to the very last Farm Friday for 2017! I’m going to leave off the year with a bunch of photos of animals being tortured by being forced to don holiday attire. Enjoy!
Annie the reindog
Lily the reluctant Chihuahua Christmas jester (she was trying to chew on the bells)
Sterling looking stoic as usual in his Christmas jingle collar
Quila looking longingly out the window. Wondering why her parents make her wear humiliating holiday jingle collars.
Sterling actually not looking pissed that he’s wearing a Santa hat!
And one final, random cake picture. This is a Grapefruit Cake made famous by the Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant. Read the story in the link, it’s great. I got the recipe from American Cake. My horsey bestie made it for a foxhunt brunch last year and I was extremely skeptical of a grapefruit cake. I mean, I love grapefruit, but in a cake? People. It is TO. DIE. FOR. It is SO good. I made one on Christmas and it is as heavenly as I remember. So go get you that cook book, because it is super fun to read and cook from, and make this cake. Right now.
I CANNOT believe we are into the double digits in NOVEMBER! Where does the time go? Fall’ish weather seems to be sticking around North Texas now, although it is supposed to be 82 today. The most important part is that it is cooler for fox hunting! The days are shorter so I’m not getting to ride after work, hopefully soon Boot City will put up some arena lights. The to-do list on the farm is never-ending……
Little Chivas sunbathing. The poor girl has been extra itchy lately. She’s even had hives the past couple days. Hopefully the vet can figure out something to help her. We have been treating her for itchy skin for years.
This is my formal blog introduction to the latest farm family member;Samson! He’s a kill-pen rescue from a good friend. I’m hoping he knows or we cat teach him how to drive!
The outside of our house has finally finished its face lift! We had a contractor/handyman do some trim repairs and painting and then got ALL new windows. The change in window technology from 1964 to 2017 is pretty huge and fabulous.
Mickey is still ridiculous and adorable. He enjoyed the stacked furniture while the windows were being replaced. He’s had a few adoption applications recently so hopefully he gets his own family for Christmas!
One of the funniest photos from Opening Hunt. My horsey bestie is busy braiding her horses tail while the rest of us are drinking port and chatting. I’m holding her drink and mine, not two of my own drinks.
I’m thankful for all my friends and family and wish you the best Thanksgiving!
This past Saturday was a BIG day for the muppy family! Of the 11 puppies 5 will stay in Texas and 6 will go to New York to get adopted. The New York crew will stay in Texas until they are old enough to get spayed/neutered and finish all their puppy shots. The local puppies can be adopted earlier, with conditions requiring regular vet visits. Well, this past Saturday four of the muppies went to an adoption event and I’m so pleased to tell you that all four were adopted within a couple hours!
On their way to Dogtopia! This photo was before they ALL got carsick and threw up.
The rescue group had done a few posts advertising a puppy adoption event so people were able to submit adoption applications in advance and speed up the process on the day of the event.
Denise was the first muppy to be adopted. She will be an only dog and will have a new little girl to be her best friend.
Denise
Betty Lou was Boot City’s favorite muppy so it was hard for him to let her go, but she was adopted by a delightful older couple who already have one smaller dog.
Beautiful brindle Betty Lou
Rizzo was VERY popular with his adorably scruffy face and extra calm demeanor. He was adopted by a super fun family and will get to go on lots of adventures! His adoptors have already contacted me and requested baby pics.
Rizzo. Who could resist this face?!
Last, but certainly not least, to leave the building was Camilla. She went home with a young couple to be their first pet together.
Camilla and Pablo snuggles.
It is always a little big hard to let the foster dogs go, but it is so satisfying to know that we helped these puppies have the best start to life they could. Definitely much better than if they had been born on the side of a busy road, which would have been their fate had a good Samaritan not picked up Jessie and July. My hope is that their adoptors will keep in touch, but there is satisfaction in knowing they went to good homes.
HAPPY Friday! I”m sorry I’ve been MIA this week. I’m travelling for work a lot this month and didn’t schedule myself very well. We had a lovely holiday weekend and I got was happy to help with some dog transports to open shelter space for Harvey evacuees from the Houston area. Shout out to the Woof Gang group in Wisconsin for taking over 40 dogs out of Texas!
Betty Lou loves her aunt Quila! Quila is a bit unsure about Betty Lou.
It is hard being Coco Chanel.
A different kind of motherhood on the farm. This spider’s abdomen is covered in baby spiders.
I will start this post by telling you just how difficult it is to get decent photographs of 17 day old puppies! They were due for their first deworming so I took the opportunity to get photos of them whilst I was weighing and torturing them with Panacur. They range from 3.8lb to 1.8lb. They all have their eyes mostly open and are starting to walk. I’m pretty sure that within the next week or two they will be hell on wheels and able to climb out of their little pool in my tack room!
Animal. He is the chunk of the group!
Annie Sue was quite sleepy for her photo shoot and time in the scale.
Camilla was very cooperative and cute. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
Mary Louise was inquisitive and squirmy.
Betty Lou is PRECIOUS!
Gladys has the most striking coloring with an almost all white face.
His picture doesn’t quite do him justice, but Gonzo is also a pretty big boy.
Kermit is the smallest boy and he was the squirmiest! He tried real hard to get out of that scale and kept me on my toes!
Fozzie looks like a little fluffy bear.
Little Denise is the smallest of the muppies weighing in at 1.8 lb.
Last, but certainly not least, is little Rizzo!
Hopefully later this week and next weekend I will get some more good video. They are a very vocal and mobile crowd these days!
Happy FriYAY all! Casey and I are headed west to a Stock Horse of Texas show. This will be my first horse show in western tack in about 15 years! Hopefully all goes well and we get some ribbons and some interest in buying Casey.
This week has been delightfully less eventful than weeks past. Still lots of prescription meds in the cabinets for various animals, but most seem to be on the mend.
Catfish and Mickey snuggles before Mickey had his surgery. Catfish is always sweet with the little dogs, even though he can’t see them.
We got nearly an inch of rain this week and the temps have been amazingly cool. The forecast for the next 10 days has the highs in the low 90s and high 80s, which is remarkable for Texas in August! I’ll take it! Sterling got the all clear last weekend for turnout (with a quiet buddy) and walk/trot rides. It has been nice to be back in the tack for some easy hill walking.
Sterling also enjoys the rain. Why is it that the horse that is closest to the color white is the one that most feels the need to roll in mud? None of the brown horses have this dirty habit.
The muppies are continuing to eat and grow,eat and grow, and eat and grow. The puppy timelines say their eyes should be open by now, but they are taking their time and appear to be enjoying their eat and grow schedule. Very few workouts for these muppies so far. I’ll probably be eating my words a week from now!
Muppy pile!
Harriet is almost done with her post-heartworm-treatment meds and is ready for YOU to adopt her! She is so wonderful and will be an amazing doggo for someone.
Harriet found/made her very own doggy canopy bed. This is her new favorite place to sleep.
Most everyone here knows that I foster dogs. I follow a few rescue pages on Facebook and occasionally something piques my interest. One of those pages is Sighthounds Worldwide Needing Homes. Because of the Beerhounds and our Whippet, Boot City and I are slightly obsessed with sighthounds. A couple weeks ago a person in Texas found what looked to be two Irish Wolfhound mixes on the side of the road. They were there two consecutive days so she succumbed to the tug on her heartstrings and picked them up. Both are young dogs and one was clearly a pregnant female. She kept the younger male and placed the female into a temporary foster home.
I, of course, was watching all of this unfold on the Facebook group and couldn’t help but throw my hat in the ring as a potential long-term foster for the mama dog. I have friends who want sighthounds after being around our dogs so I thought for sure I could find a few puppies homes. The mama dog is called Jesse and she whelped ELEVEN puppies a few days after being picked up off the side of the road. Perfect timing! She stayed with her temporary foster mom for the first week and once I was approved by the rescue group, I picked up the whole family.
Mama Jesse and her muppies!
Jesse seriously looks like a muppet, in the cutest possible way! She isn’t as large as a typical Irish Wolfhound so is most likely a mix. She also has a bob tail, which is not at all typical of a wolfhound. I have an inclination to think she may be a Wolfhound crossed with a Schnauzer. Regardless of her breed she is a FANTASTIC mom and is a super sweet dog. She is protective of her litter, but happily goes outside and plays with my other dogs. She seems to be feeding all eleven of the monsters with no issue with milk supply. I pull out the smallest puppies a couple times a day to give them time to nurse without competition from the bigger puppies. There are two that are nearly twice the size of the smallest puppies!
Sweet, sleepy muppies.
All of the puppers have some white. Two are brindle, but most are some version of tan with white. It will be fun to watch them grow and change and try to guess their breed cross. Some have half a tail, one has a bob tail and the rest have long tails. None have their eyes open yet, but they are already quite a lot more mobile than they were even a few days ago.
The feeding frenzies are getting crazier and crazier. She is sweet and patient with her little furry family!
If you are interested in adopting a muppy, please let me know! There will be an adoption fee and you must be approved by the rescue group sponsoring their care.
