tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35381285550967780282024-02-07T03:42:39.356-08:00Carrots, Cucumbers, & Cookies!JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-22103182642181549972012-07-06T17:12:00.000-07:002012-07-06T17:12:00.244-07:00All natural tick/fly/gnat/mosquito sprayIn a clean, empty spray bottle, (mine is 28oz.) mix together:<br />4 ounces of Avons' Skin So Soft Original Bath Oil<br />1 cup of vinegar (either white or apple cider vinegar will work)<br />40 drops of 100% pure citronella essential oil<div>
40 drops of 100% pure marigold essential oil<br /><br />Fill the bottle the rest of the way up with water<br /><br />Shake well each time before applying it to yourself and your pups and since the oils and water will separate quickly, be sure to shake it up while using it. <span style="background-color: white;">If it's just not quite getting the job done, add another ounce of Skin So Soft and 10 drops of each of the oils.</span></div>
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Of course, because of the ingredients, don't spray on eyes or open wounds, but just a light mist on your dog's fur/hair and a light mist of it over the top of your clothing will do wonders to keep those nasties away from your family!</div>JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-68886719524344326672012-07-04T10:34:00.003-07:002012-07-04T10:49:50.713-07:00#INDIVISIBLE Honor the light inside eachStarbucks CEO, Howard Schultz, issued a national Call to Action for Americans with his letter, "<a href="http://www.blogger.com/An%20Open%20Letter:%20How%20Can%20America%20Win%20This%20Election?">An Open Letter: How Can America Win This Election?</a>" In it, he asks us to blog, video, tweet, FB or otherwise use the internet communication devices and services to express our individual view of how America could be, and how we can all put citizenship over partisanship.<br /><br />I'd like add my voice now and it chimes in with Ghandi's:<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man."</blockquote>
In my version of America, our Animals would be our Friends and Companions rather than Possessions. I assert that each individual creature who lives and breathes can not be a possession. It can only be itself. S/He has the right to both give and receive love & kindness to and from those around them. S/He, if adopted into a human family, as the right to expect love, kindness, fresh food & fresh water, shelter, grooming, consideration, empathy, attention, fun, health benefits, and a full enjoyable life from their human(s). I think they also have the right to a voice. I genuinely think that each family who chooses to adopt an Animal Companion into their family must have at least one member of the human group go learn Animal Communication so there's an open line for conversation. Animals should be treated with respect and their lives honored every bit as much as a human respects and honors other human's rights.<br /><br />Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are the basic rights of humans, according to the US Constitution. Perhaps we should spell out that Life, Respect, and 2 Way Communication are the basic rights of Animals and make it a World Constitution, adoptable by every nation. Only Great Nations with a high set of moral progress could stand forward and adopt this idea *and* ensure those rights+ for each Animal Companion.<br /><br />Atrocities against Animals and Children should be met with disciplines twice or thrice as harsh as those against other adult humans. Those who are helpless should indeed be more entitled to protection.<br /><br />Where I understand that most Christians don't believe an Animal has a soul, it still matters that we treat them as though they do. What if Animals are really Guardian Angels incarnate? What if they're here to test Christians and their goodness?<br /><br />I say that if there's a light in their eyes, they have a soul, because only a soul can emit such a strong light. If you don't believe an Animal has a soul, look into their eyes. Go on, really look! There's something special inside each and every one of them. It's the same thing you see when you look into the eyes of a human. It's the same light.<br /><br />In my version of America's future, and the whole of the World's future, the light is honored, respected, and loved, no matter what shape the body takes.JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-56220647806078373782012-05-19T13:32:00.000-07:002012-05-19T13:32:00.150-07:00Gardening without ChemicalsYou can easily mix your own simple and effective sprays. Following are probably the most popular among those who like to keep chemicals out of the garden. I use these solutions instead of chemicals to keep my Grrls safe. See the <a href="http://doghters.blogspot.com/2011/07/danger-report-roundup.html">Roundup post</a> I've got to see what just this ONE commonly used spray can do to your Dog!<div>
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I have two sprayers for the two things I use most often. One labeled GARLIC and one labeled VINEGAR. I use them pretty consistently throughout the Spring-Summer-Fall seasons, so I keep them on my back porch. The others aren't used that much in my household. For the soap spray, I just put it in a hand held spray bottle and squirt directly on the plants on the deck.</div>
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<u><b>Vinegar Weed Killer</b></u></div>
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One gallon white wine vinegar - straight.</div>
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Pour into a yard sprayer. Choose a morning when there won't be any rain for a couple of days. Spray the leaves of the weeds thoroughly and leave on while the sun is shining. Don't water where you've sprayed the vinegar. The weeds should begin to wilt in 2-3 days. If not, apply vinegar again to the leaves and pour some straight vinegar at the root base. Wait another 2-3 days.</div>
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<u><b>Garlic Spray Insecticide</b></u></div>
One whole elephant garlic bulb<br />Two cups water<br />One gallon water<br />Combine in blender the entire garlic bulb and two cups water, and blend on high speed until garlic is finely pureed. Put in storage container and set aside for a day. Strain out pulp, and then mix liquid with one gallon water in sprayer. Spray tops and bottoms of leaves thoroughly. Apply about once a week, and after a rain.
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<b><u>Soap Spray Insecticide</u></b></div>
Detergent-based liquid soap, such as dishwashing liquid<br />Water<br />Mix one-tablespoon detergent per one gallon water in sprayer. Apply liberally to both tops and bottoms of leaves. Reapply about once a week, or after a rain.<br /><div>
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<b><u>Fungicide Spray</u></b></div>
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(Treats Powdery Mildew & other fungus)</div>
One gallon water<br />Three tablespoons baking soda<br />One teaspoon dishwashing liquid<br />One tablespoon bleach ( Warning - NO more than this amount )<br />Mix all ingredients in sprayer and spray all areas on the plant that look affected. It's best to remove all leaves and other parts of the plant that are the worst affected. Apply sparingly to unaffected areas, and keep in mind that too much bleach can harm the plant. Try to avoid getting it on healthy leaves.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<b><u>Hot Pepper Spray</u></b></div>
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(Helps repel rabbits, deer, and other nibblers)</div>
6 - 10 Hot Peppers<br />2 cups water<br />1 quart water<br />Combine peppers and two cups water in blender and blend on high speed for 1 - 2 minutes. Pour in storage container with lid and put aside for a day. Strain through cheesecloth, and add this liquid to one quart of water in sprayer. Spray plants liberally every week and after a rain.</div>
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</div>JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-10934554029806552422012-05-16T13:17:00.004-07:002012-05-16T13:34:25.076-07:00Spring PeasThis year is the first year I decided to plant something along the fence of my "pooh yard." It's the yard we have so the Grrls can go in and out at will to do their business but I don't have to worry about them getting into the road or chasing the neighbor's chickens or running about with neighbor dogs as A Dog Pack (read: Human's "Gang" equivalent).<br />
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I chose to do snap peas and sugar peas all along their fencing. I have really pretty fence up - it's railroad ties as uprights and there's a red stained wood that has the hog wire attached to it. It's nice. And it's perfect for climbing plants like peas. I also planted grass in their yard, so I'll be regularly watering it over the summer, too. The peas should grow up and provide a nice shady spot fort them to lay on the grass and be outside when it's nice. Seems like a dogs' perfect environment. They could even reach over and nibble a pea if they wanted one while they were lounging around.<br />
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So, all the necessary ingredients were accounted for and I planted my peas. They've all come up now and I'm starting to train them to go up the fence. All's well.<br />
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I thought.<br />
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A few days ago, though, I went out to see if any of them needed to be redirected toward the fence and found several that had been trained to the fence already were eaten down by something. I didn't look closely at them, just noted they'd been eaten and went to get my Garlic Spray (see recipe at the end of the post). I sprayed the whole yard with Garlic that day, thinking I had an infestation of bugs that would be eating all my garden plants. I did find some aphids on the lilacs while I was spraying, but other than that, nothing.<br />
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I went the next morning to check on the aphids in the lilacs first to find that didn't like the garlic and left. However, the starts of peas I trained just the day before were eaten down. Again. I decided I'd better really have a look at those peas.<br />
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About this time, Molly runs up to find out what I'm doing. She's on the inside of the fence, I'm on the outside. Where I'm perplexed about what's going on with my peas, I still need the ones tall enough to reach the fence to be trained to go grab the fence or my shady spot isn't going to happen. Carefully, I push a pea over to the fence so it's little tendrils wrap around the fencing. Great! Next one.<br />
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Just as I'm tenderly pushing the pea start over to the fence, making sure it's got a good hold on the fence, out of the corner of my eye, I found out just how big my "bug" was.<br />
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Molly happily chomped down on that poor little start of a pea and ripped it right off the fence. She showed no mercy, nor did she show any remorse when I asked her what she was doing. She grinned at me, chewing her tasty prize, swallowed and wagged her tail, then proceeded to where I was trying to get the second pea to take hold of the fence. Luckily for the pea, I managed to remove it from the fence before Molly could get devour it, too.<br />
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Now, I have to figure out what I'm going to train the peas to climb so they can grow into that shady spot.<br />
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<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">Garlic Spray Insecticide</span></b></u></div>
One whole elephant garlic bulb<br />
Two cups water<br />
One gallon water<br />
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Combine in blender the entire garlic bulb and two cups water, and blend on high speed until garlic is finely pureed. Put in storage container and set aside for a day. Strain out pulp, and then mix liquid with one gallon water in sprayer. Spray tops and bottoms of leaves thoroughly. Apply about once a week, and after a rain.<br />
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This recipe does a small yard, like in the city. If you're doing a country yard, like mine (3/4 acre), you need to do this recipe 4-5 times.JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-52358489884536109252012-04-29T12:09:00.001-07:002012-04-29T12:09:34.216-07:00Recharging and Interruptions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKP6z-D-OtdLVrmRMCiFTEP_-YtlA7HvrDg5D54S_nT0WMtUE2ZtRh2GkwRstG0zl1gGbRMmzPC8qeQ0HCHZn9a57hU6NOymnG7MUms10jtRp4Mck7U9qzulAM6CbUs_StZXpQTG6Hi_qA/s1600/DSCN4760.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKP6z-D-OtdLVrmRMCiFTEP_-YtlA7HvrDg5D54S_nT0WMtUE2ZtRh2GkwRstG0zl1gGbRMmzPC8qeQ0HCHZn9a57hU6NOymnG7MUms10jtRp4Mck7U9qzulAM6CbUs_StZXpQTG6Hi_qA/s320/DSCN4760.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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It was time for a nap and Molly chose really well - with the Energizer batteries that were recharging.</div>
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But then I made a whistling sort of sound and disturbed her. She looks lopsided here and reminds me quite a bit of a white Grover muppet! :)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP1Vax1x6Y1fYJIVNm-i04nd4C-JeFFfJj23KI_EJxT3MwxaBy6huwqCfeByRUPBHnPSkoDTyYONyYInFWdkl32Sg_ZZLytdikbLMFfvmxd-lQs-96DBO5KDC0nkjfPoHPqoGhduT5WzwP/s1600/DSCN4762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP1Vax1x6Y1fYJIVNm-i04nd4C-JeFFfJj23KI_EJxT3MwxaBy6huwqCfeByRUPBHnPSkoDTyYONyYInFWdkl32Sg_ZZLytdikbLMFfvmxd-lQs-96DBO5KDC0nkjfPoHPqoGhduT5WzwP/s320/DSCN4762.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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She figured out it was me making that sound in short order, though...</div>
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And decided that she'd go back to her napping</div>
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but then figured she'd best keep an eye on me.</div>
<br />JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-66954927566422894452012-04-27T09:25:00.000-07:002012-04-27T09:25:36.178-07:00For my personal remembering...<br />
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<a class="active" href="http://www.tasteforlife.com/green-living/natural-pets/healthy-pet-repel-pests-naturally" style="color: #2b4270; line-height: 1.3em; text-decoration: none;">Healthy Pet: Repel Pests Naturally</a></h2>
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Authored by CJ Puotinen on Wednesday, 04-25-2012</div>
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<em>How to keep your dog comfortable this season</em></div>
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Winter’s over, and all sort of interesting bugs will soon come a-calling. Unfortunately, many conventional flea and tick treatments contain toxic chemicals that can remain on your pet's fur for weeks. Learn natural strategies for keeping spring from, well, going to the dogs!</div>
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<strong>Q: How can I keep fleas under control?</strong><br /><strong>A:</strong> Try spraying your pet and his bedding with natural products containing neem (gentle to pets but toxic to parasites) to prevent infestation. In addition to fleas, neem can help keep your dog free from ticks, lice, mites, flies, and mosquitoes.</div>
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Another natural flea preventive is a homemade spray made of 50 percent apple cider vinegar and 50 percent warm water. For best results, use unfiltered, organic apple cider vinegar that has not been pasteurized. Fill a spray bottle with the solution and spray on your pet’s fur daily. Pay special attention to the base of the tail and behind the ears.</div>
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A gentle herbal shampoo that helps repel fleas will contain useful ingredients such as bergamot, citronella, eucalyptus, geranium, juniper, lavender, neem, pine cedar, or rosemary.</div>
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<strong>Q: Are there any natural products that help repel other types of bugs—such as mosquitoes—from my dog?</strong><br /><strong>A:</strong> Diluted essential oils of peppermint and lavender are great for repelling insects. Commonsense precautions include always diluting essential oils in a carrier oil (such as grape seed or jojoba) before using them topically. First, apply oils to a small area of your pet’s skin to watch for negative reactions.</div>
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Eucalyptus, lavender, rosemary, rose geranium, or citronella essential oil can also be applied to a heavy-duty woven nylon collar or a bandanna. Use an eyedropper to put one drop of 100 percent pure essential oil on the collar each week. If your dog seems to tolerate the smell, you can try two drops per week. (Do not use these collars on cats, as most essential oils are toxic to them. Pregnant women should also avoid using undiluted essential oils.)</div>
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<strong>Q: What do I do if my dog gets stung by a honeybee? </strong><br /><strong>A:</strong> Honeybees leaves their stingers behind. Gently flick the stinger away or remove it with tweezers. Rinse the sting with cider vinegar or strongly brewed chamomile tea. A drop of full-strength or diluted essential oil of chamomile or tea tree oil can be safely applied to a bite or sting on most adult dogs as long as you avoid the eye area. Do not use this disinfecting treatment on cats, very small dogs, or young puppies.</div>
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<label for="tfl-sources" style="color: #49747d; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 3px; text-transform: uppercase;">REFERENCES:</label><div id="tfl-sources" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">
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for more information about natural pet care, read The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care by C.J. Puotinen ($21.95, McGraw-Hill, 2000)</div>
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</div>JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-65574807112947249602012-04-21T17:49:00.002-07:002012-04-21T18:16:02.700-07:00Photo album!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Our Lady Bug with half a hair cut. Compare leg sizes! Hahaha!</div>
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My white MollyGirl... She's so dang cute! She's always being cute at me, too...</div>
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The lovely Yenna, even with matted ears. It's going to take us a few days to get her ears back to their normal beauty. Not that she cares. She's just glad the grooming is over for the day.</div>
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Lady Bug after her groom (both sides):</div>
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My MollyGirl, in Ansel Adam's style:</div>
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It's was especially cold in the house this winter, as you can tell by the "sweatered fluff "sleeping </div>
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in front of the fire:</div>
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Molly's fluff was so long, I had to do something so we could see her eyes.</div>
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Here's what I came up with. :)</div>
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<br />JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-54949727586413025032012-04-16T16:55:00.002-07:002012-04-16T16:55:39.470-07:00BlackMolly: Bicycle Built for Two (...or Three or Four)<br />
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As an amature photographer, I've treked nearly all the trails on Mount Hood last year, all on foot. I wasn't alone in my hiking and my companion rather enjoyed the fact that we were afoot. Molly, my toy poodle daughter, was on a leash most of the time and wasn't allowed to stray far when she wasn't on the leash. Ok, there's a bit of an exaggeration about <i>all</i> the trails, but only because we didn't know where those other trails were!</div>
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Since we only take pictures of things we find pretty or interesting, it helps to have a little faster mobility than just on shoes and paws. We tried the next fasted form of travel, bicycle. I'm sure that was a funny sight to see but I suspect there were more amature pictures taken <i>of</i> us than pictures I was able to take. Trying to juggle a backpack full of Molly (securely tied to the backpack!), a camera case, and lunch must've really been a sight to see! It reminds me of a Dr. Suess tale. Since a large part of our hikes is for me to find interesting or pleasant pictures, it wasn't long before we parked the bike and returned to our slower form of travel.</div>
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We have trouble finding new things to interest us, with our limited distance that we're able to hoof it, so we decided to try just driving to new locations. That worked for a short while. The early summer was best for taking drives around the area. It was still cool enough to roll down the windows! Molly had a terrific time getting the wind blown in her face! The airconditioning in the heat of full summer was nice, we both admit, but the thirst to get out and be a part of nature instead of only looking at it drove us to a complete stop and back out on foot after only a few drives. I admit that we now drive to a new location to hike, thus expanding our territory to include the whole of Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington, but we still hike around the hills for the most part.</div>
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We surmised that our main problem was that we were carrying too much stuff. So we left lunch in the car while we took our hike. Still on foot, we set off to find a wonderful adventure out in the forest and capture some shots of beauty at it's best. After a decent hike, we came to a clearing. It was fantastic! Molly leapt in the air and pirohetted about my feet with excitement because I had stopped and was taking pictures. That generally means a quick snack from the lunchbag. What a perfect place to take a lunch break! After looking around a bit, I realized we didn't bring it. Hmm. That idea didn't work too well. Our hike was cut short that day and we haven't left anything behind since.</div>
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While driving to work one day, I spotted a wonderful item in a bicycle store that would solve the whole dillema! I even had to drive around the block, and risk being late to work to get a closer look at what was on the other side of the window, set there as bait just for me, I'm sure. The ideal solution to our problem sat inside that closed store. Sleek lines and aerodynamics assured speed and ease of travel. Giant wheels made sure the ride would be smooth. Aluminum framing made it light but safe. The yellow nylon covering most of the frame was just the right color for wandering around in the woods. It had a smokey window cover to keep the sunlight down and a fine netting under the cover, to keep the bugs out of occupant's faces if they're are looking for wind in their face. There were even side window panels so my passengers could look all around them. It was a bicycle trailer! I was thrilled with my find and made a mental note to come back with Molly and look closer that afternoon.</div>
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After work, I raced home to get Molly. I found I was also baby-sitting my parents' two poodles, Moe and Tess. Wasting no time at all, I dressed them all in their halters and sweaters. Then we bailed into my Jeep and headed for town.</div>
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Once we arrived, they seemed to know just where we were going and what they were supposed to check out. Tess sniffed the wheels warily while Moe pawed at the bike attachment part. Molly scratched at the front window to take a peek inside. We found a seat for human children inside, complete with shoulderbelts and lapstraps. Molly hopped in and started sniffing about. It took her a good 8 minutes to check the whole inside. Meanwhile, Moe had discovered the rear compartment and wanted in. I let her in the rear section and the two of them, Molly in the front, Moe in back, played CatchMe with each other through the seat in the middle.</div>
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Tess was simply unimpressed. She sat at my feet, shivering. I tried making her feel better by putting her inside with Molly, but it didn't help much.</div>
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With all three poodles inside, I started dragging the trailer around behind me. That put an immediate stop to the CatchMe game and all three quickly had their faces pasted to the various windows the trailer sported. Molly was obviously impressed, although I'm sure she thought the whole idea was for me to pull them around while I walked. There is an adaption kit that will allow me to do that, but that's not what I had in mind.</div>
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After getting Molly's approval, I purchased the trailer ($350!!) and we all went home to wait for a sunny day to try it out. It sat in storage for about three weeks before our first opportunity came. I hooked the trailer up to my bike while the poodles (I had Tess that day) watched closely. Molly scratched at the trailer front a little slower than she had when it was in the store. Tess still shivered.</div>
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I invited the girls to hop in and look around, after it was all set up on the back of the bike. Molly the Great Adventurer hopped right in and started checking things out. Things certainly looked the same on this inside as she remembered the inside at the store looking. She sat in the seat and waited patiently. Tessa's turn next. Tess just curled up into a ball on the seat and seemed resigned to the inevitable.</div>
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I strapped them both in, as tight as I could manage with human-child-sized seat belts. They weren't very tight. Those belts refused to size down to toy poodle size. We did the best we could, though. After they were seat belted in as good as I could get, I pulled down the front bug shield and window cover. Molly started to get a little suspicious at that point and she began uncertainly whining a little. I told her everything was fine, gave her a quick pat on the head, checked the seat belts once more, then hopped onto the bike.</div>
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We sailed out the driveway, the wind whistled in my ears as I cut through the still afternoon air. I peddled faster, knowing that Molly likes the wind in her face. When I turned around, to make sure they're having a good time, I found that they're not enjoying this at all! Molly, my little Houdini, was trying to sneak out through a gap she found between two snaps and Tess was nervously dancing about the cab. I stopped as quickly as I could, so I didn't run over Molly and got off the bike.</div>
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Needless to say, our maiden voyage turned to a pretty short trip. After I finished getting them adjusted in their seat belts again, I headed back to the house, on foot.</div>
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I'm not finished trying this new toy out and I think Molly will enjoy it, once I figure a safer way to travel in it. Molly, I'm sure, just wanted to feel the wind in her face as we traveled. But I think that Tessa would much rather be on solid ground than in that rolling-accident-waiting-to-happen-contraption. </div>JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-21360150868035804562012-04-16T16:54:00.002-07:002012-04-16T16:54:23.064-07:00BlackMolly: Into the Belly of a Whale<br />
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I had my usual yuppy coffee, a sugar-free vanilla breve with two shots of espresso, the other day with my parents, an aunt and uncle, a handful of cousins and my daughter, Molly. Molly's tounge flapped as fast as it could at every customer coming into or going out of the cofee house while they made comments like, "What a cutie," and "Awe, it's waving at us. Look at that. Isn't it cute?" My daughter is a toy poodle and full of energy. She loves people and she loves the attention even more.</div>
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In a way, I don't mind the comments. However, I must confess that, in my head, I compare how those same people react to my one year old niece. They stop and ask what her name is, how old she is and if she's walking or not. "Oh, what pretty blue eyes. She's going to be a heart-breaker when she gets older." They never talk about her like she's an "it." How hard can it be to ask me the name of my daughter?</div>
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The general population of adult humans simply can't, or won't, consider Molly a daughter. I wonder why Gippetto didn't have the same kinds of problems when Pinnochio had ears and a tail. Then again, Gippetto had to go into the belly of a whale and Pinnochio after him before Pinnochio became a "real boy." It would be worth it for Molly to be considered a "real daughter."</div>
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Most of the inconsideration I encounter doesn't come from the strangers who say something inaudible under their breath as Molly and I pass by, but from a work level - Companies. My current employer doesn't allow paid time off to take care of my daughter, even though they will for co-workers with human daughters ("real daughters"). There's no option to add Molly to my health policy, though that would be a really nice benefit for those of us who chose not to have human children. In fact, I'd gladly swap my own health insurance so Molly could have it.</div>
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Fortunately, I'm one of the luckier people I know because despite the fact that I can't take time off from work to attend to Molly's needs (paid as a sick day or two for having a sick child at home that needed me), I do have a terrific boss and human resources manager that help me when things come up where Molly is concerned. In fact, they figured out a way to allow Molly to come to work with me when I thought she had cancer. We actually moved my whole office to the front so Molly could sit with me while I worked! Those two people are some of the rarest around and I thank them often for their understanding and consideration. Molly was a model work guest and I got the required work done in addition to spending (what I thought at the time) her last days with her. It's always tough when someone is misdiagnosed. I'm just glad the initial diagnosis <i>was</i> wrong.</div>
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I suspect that it's only a matter of time before employers start offering benefits like dog health insurance to their staff. Some of the high tech industry companies allow canine children to come to work, as a way to lure those with technology experience to join their staff, right now. They offer groomers' services and on-site parks. Those companies are reaping the benefits of a more loyal, dedicated staff.</div>
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It's also been shown, scientifically, that the more exercise a person gets, the more productive they are on the job. What better way to make people more active than to add someone to their life who demands attention and exercise? Animals help lower blood preassure, reduce stress, contribute to better sleep at night, as well as help keep healthy people healthy. Doctors are now inviting dogs to hospitals in an effort to help sick people get healthy, too. Why on earth aren't companies inviting animal-children in more often?</div>
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Traditionalists, of course, have a hard time swallowing some of the more relaxed settings offered out in the job market. Being part of that high tech industry, working on the database side of things, I find that I'm looking (not actively, but definately looking) to go to work for one of those companies. I have to say that, once I'm there, it will be terribly difficult to entice me to go anywhere else until I go to work for myself at home.</div>
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Human children live longer than their parents, generally speaking. I know that I will more than likely outlive my own daughter and the knowledge nearly brings tears every time I think about it. I can only resolve to spend every moment I can with Molly and continue my search for a workplace that will accommodate our need to be together.</div>
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Anyone need an Oracle8 and 8i Database Admin who will be loyal and productive? Benefits should include a steady flow of classes so I can stay on the edge, a health insurance plan for Molly, and an open invitation extended to my "real daughter" to come to work with me every day. </div>JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-55060158026480074182012-04-16T16:53:00.001-07:002012-04-16T16:53:16.095-07:00BlackMolly: The Spice of Life<br />
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Just like any parent, I'm always on the lookout for new and better everything for my daughter, Molly, a five year old toy poodle. I look for better health insurance, better ways to train, improved toys, more tools for her dental hygiene (yes, I brush her teeth), and better nutrition. In fact, I've recently been looking into a "new" form of diet, commonly known as BARF.</div>
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You want to feed your daughter vomit?? What kind of nutritional value could that possibly have? Actually, BARF is an acronym for Bones and Raw Foods. It's a rediscovered way of feeding canine children, like Molly, which takes into consideration some basics that society seems to have forgotten.</div>
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In a world where even humans drive up to a window and order the same processed food nearly every day, I suppose it's easy to understand why we would forget and choose to believe what the kibble manufacturers have been telling Doggie and Kitty Parents for nearly a full century: They'll get all the nutrition they need, all in pellet form. But wait! There's more! It's now available in three different flavors and we've added yellow and red food coloring to make you think you're feeding your kids real food!</div>
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The other day when I was refilling Molly's dish, she sniffed at the kibble and looked up at me expectantly. She seemed to be asking, "Kibble again? Couldn't you spice it up with something different every now and again?" That look made me really stop and think about what I'm asking my Girl, the dog I call my daughter, to eat day in and day out.</div>
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After all, if I was stuck eating the same food every day, regardless of nutritional value to my body, I'm sure I'd be a whole lot more skinny than I am! I just wouldn't bother eating. Why should I? I'd know what it was going to taste like. I certainly wouldn't look forward to dinner if it was going to be the same thing as breakfast. So why should I be the only one who needs some variety in my diet?</div>
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That got me started on a different track of thought. Molly recently went through a sickness that attacked her stomache lining. Initially, my vetrenarian thought it was cancer and I was devastated. I did nothing for four days except spend time with her and just cry. Dr. Brenda and Dr. Sterling, of course, sent blood work and samples of the infected tissue off to a lab to confirm before telling me it was indeed cancer. I anxiously awaited results. It turned out not to be cancer, but Molly was still very ill. At least her illness was something treatable and she got on the road to recovery!</div>
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The moral to my story is that if she's getting all the nutritional value she needs from her complete-nutritional-value-kibble, then why was her immune system unable to fight that illness when it was small? There are other things that my daughter has needed to go see the docter about, too. Things that shouldn't have gotten as bad as they did, had her immune system and body <i>really</i> been getting all that she needed. The other dogs we live with, Tessa, Moe, Pepper, and Cody have each had something go wrong with them that never should have escalated to the extremes they did. Tumors, anal gland infections, inexplicable dehydration are just some examples of what we've fought in the past.</div>
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I don't have plans to jump in before I know more about canine nutrition that I'll ever know about human nutrition, but I will certainly be researching the topic with the ultimate goal of regulating Molly's nutrition myself. Not only does Molly appear to be missing some key element of the nutritional value from that kibble I give her, but she's also missing out on the spice of life: Variety. </div>JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-64882426755688101952012-04-16T16:52:00.003-07:002012-04-16T16:52:33.144-07:00BlackMolly: My Doghter, My Dog<br />
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I don't have any children. But I feel like I do. Most people look at me a little strange when I introduce my daughter, Molly. I have to admit that even the people closest to me still look at me like I'm right near the edge of losing it. My daughter has wonderful soft curly black locks, dark brown eyes, a black nose and a personality that doesn't stop. Molly is a toy poodle. My family consists of my parents, Molly, Moe and Tess (all toy poodles), Pepper and Cody (big dogs). I don't usually refer to them as family, though. They're pack.</div>
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It's a little tough being a DogMom because, in general, people don't consider that I could, or perhaps should, be as close and concerned for my furry daughter as they are over their human children. I have to admit that I'm much luckier than most canine parents, as my parents baby-sit for me when I'm at work and make sure that Molly doesn't find any harm to get into (she's good at that) while I'm away. They even refer to themselves as Grandma and Grandpa when talking about their relationship with her.</div>
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People grow up, have kids, then proudly show off pictures of what appears a great deal, to me, like a ruddy, wrinkly, kinda fuzzy peach attached to a cotton bag, snuggled deep inside blankets. Then they spend the next two or three years changing diapers and making bottles for that "bundle of joy." With Molly and I, all that baby stuff took a grand total, on the outside, of 6 months. I never had to clean up diapers when she was a baby and her biological Mom took care of the bottles until it was time for weaning.</div>
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Molly communicates her needs to me far better than most babies or children I've met. That could be because I don't know baby language or because I loose all patience before I have a chance to learn it, but the fault could easily be laid at my feet for not <i>wanting</i> to learn baby-language.</div>
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If babies are hungry, they cry. Of course, if they're wet and need a change, they cry. Then again, if they aren't feeling well or are injured, they cry. And what do they do if they're tired? Oh, yes. They cry. I'm told that a parent learns what their baby needs by the cry. Personally, I have an extraordinarily hard time swallowing that, but I'm not a human child Mom. I'm a DogMom.</div>
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When Molly's hungry, she paws and whines at me, then goes over to the food bowl, looks at me, looks at the bowl. It's like she's <i>willing</i> me to get up and put some food in the bowl. Clear and plain as a line of communication can get.</div>
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What I don't understand is that when a baby, one who can at least crawl or walk, needs to relieve themselves, they do their business in their diaper. That's the whole reason diapers were invented. That part I understand completely. The next action is what I don't get. Instead of going over to where the spare diapers are, picking one up and waving it around a little at their parents, they sit in that ick and cry. Without going through a number of different "standard" possibilities in order to narrow down to what's wrong, there's no way a parent could know that the baby needs their diaper changed!</div>
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Thankfully, Molly normally goes out the back door to the "pooh yard." However, if we're in the car or visiting someplace, she tugs at the leash or gets my attention somehow, then looks at me purposefully, then at the door and whines. Once again, I understand her perfectly. For the record, even non-dog people understand what she's saying to me. They get more than a little nervous about it, too. I simply have to guess they think a canine is the equivelant of a baby. Get a diaper on it, take it outside immediately or you'll end up with business on your shoe!</div>
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If I need a simple yes or no out of Molly, I ask her the question, maybe give her something related to the question to smell. If the answer is yes, she gets excited, rears up on her hind legs and waves her front paws. If the answer is no, she does a half snort half sneeze at me. Trust me, I know when the answer is no.</div>
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It's true that I'll never hold a conversation with her in the English language. But a few things I'm sure of are more than some humans can say they're sure of. Molly will always love me completely and without any long-term grudges, ever. Molly and I will spend as much time with one another as we can and we won't get bored of each other's company. She will never tell anyone else my secrets. She'll listen to my problems, fears, and joys, all without judging me. She'll want to play ball as soon as I get home from work.</div>
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I can't understand why anyone would chose to have human children and bother with the headaches that their continual crying causes. For myself, even with all the strange looks I get from people for being so involved with my Molly girl, I'll stick with being a DogMom. </div>JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-88461044581560083692012-04-16T16:51:00.001-07:002012-04-16T16:51:42.195-07:00BlackMolly: That Used to be MY Lap<br />
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The small town I live in was extra quiet last night as I sat in the living room working on my laptop at a steady pace. Molly, my five-year-old toy poodle daughter, sat at my feet and waited for an invitation to my lap. Excuse me, her lap. When I didn't move my computer, she snorted at me, gave herself a good shake and hopped up on the opposite end of the couch. After she saw that it hadn't seemed to phase my typing, she sighed and lay down, resigned.</div>
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Shortly after being introduced to the world of technology, my mom gave me a little comic sketch displaying a lady sitting in a chair with a laptop sitting on her lap. At her feet was her dog and cat. The dog was telling the cat, "That used to be my lap."</div>
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I used to keep that comic pasted to the monitor of my home desktop system, as a reminder to put the computer and the homework away for an hour or two each day and play with Molly. When I moved back home from college, it got lost somewhere in the shuffle. Come to think about it, that happened to quite a bit of my things from college.</div>
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The lure of learning has always been a strong one for me. Amazingly, it's gotten more attractive to me as I get older, too. These days, education goes hand-in-hand with technology and I've fallen into the never-ending circle of learn, go to work, learn, go to work. Even with my photography hobby, I am still sucked into the endless technology training hole and forget to play with Molly. That's not completely accurate. I don't <i>forget</i> to play with her. Instead, I tell both of us that I'm almost finished. Just a couple more tweaks and my project will be perfect. Next thing I know, I've "wasted" the whole evening and it's time for bed. No ball playing for Molly that night.</div>
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Sometimes, the pressure to learn more and keep up with an ever changing work environment can be so overwhelming that all I do is study when I get home from work! The whole reason I've got projects outside of work is so I can stay tuned for work. If I think a tool in my toolbox is getting rusty, it comes out and I work on it until I'm sure it's in working order.</div>
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All the reasons I should keep going on my work last night flashed through my head. Molly continued watching me, over on the opposite side of the couch from me, and the comic strip popped into my head. That comic was <i>not</i> funny. It's so true that it holds absolutely no humor for me.</div>
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I did try to keep going with what I was doing. A few more lines of code, Molly, just a few more. I promise.</div>
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A guilty conscience always nags at a person, though, and I found myself thinking about a Star Trek episode I'd watched just a few days earlier, instead of working on my project as I sat there. A man tried to help his people by manipulating time through calculations. His first attempt went wonderfully, but his second attempt wiped out a colony where his family lived. Over time, he destroyed several nations, trying to reverse what he'd done, but he was always one more calculation from bringing them back. He also had had haunting memories of his wife inviting him for walks or asking him to spend time with his family. He always replied that he only had a few more calculations to do and then he'd spend time with them. He promised. Was I doing that to Molly?</div>
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It's absolutely amazing how fast the brain feeds all these images and how perfectly guilt works on you when your daughter sits and stares at you, then looks at your computer, then back at you. The picture of that dog talking to the cat kept nagging at me. I was doing that to Molly, only she was telling other dogs about it.</div>
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I think the whole self-guilt trip took a whopping ninety seconds before I firmly told myself to stop working on my project. It could wait until tomorrow. Molly couldn't. So I shut down the computer, put it away, and invited her to come reclaim her lap.</div>
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Perhaps I should root around a bit and find that comic so I don't do that to Molly again. I will need to make copies of it and put one on my server, one on my graphix computer, one on the family computer, one on my laptop, one on my work computer… No wonder she's so upset with me! </div>JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-39485944128154403502012-04-16T16:50:00.001-07:002012-04-16T16:50:05.119-07:00BlackMolly: Slime Balls<br />
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I live in the tiny town of Boyd, Oregon with my five-year-old daughter, Molly. She's not your average daughter, though. Really. Molly's got some fantastic black curly locks and I think she could be a model except for the fact that her ears are too short, and her legs have the same problem. So, she couldn't <i>actually</i> be a model, but as far as I'm concerned, she's the perfect toy poodle.</div>
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Molly gets up with me every morning and is at my heels the whole time I'm getting ready for work. She paws at me to tell me it's time to get up. While I'm getting dressed, she prances around in a circle at my feet, hoping I'll hurry so there's time before I leave for a quick game of ball. We go downstairs to the bathroom and she lays on my robe while I get my personal things complete. She's really quite patient about everything, considering she knows it's almost time for me to be gone for almost an entire day.</div>
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After my personal things are out of the way, it's time to take care of the daily things for Molly. She still waits, watching everything I do, just in case I reach for a toy to throw.</div>
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Then it's time to play! We have about seven minutes each morning to play fetch. The game starts off with a question that I already know the answer to, "Do you want to play ball?" Of course, the answer is yes! She zips accross the living room and bounces off my knees then flies around, looking for the ball.</div>
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Once she finds it, she doesn't bring it straight to me. First, she tenderizes it for us. Her tongue has to be at least six inches long and she uses every inch to produce as much saliva as she can to transfer over to our ball. We use a very small version of a tennis ball, about a two-inch diameter, so it soaks all that spit right up!</div>
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By the time she decides it's time to pass the ball to me, I don't want to touch it with more than two fingers and even that's pushing it. As I take it from her mouth I could swear (except I have papers to prove otherwise) that she's got a Saint Bernard in her ancestory.</div>
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When she gives it to me, there's a line of saliva dangling in the air between that slimey spit ball and her little mouth. It's nice and warm. Of course, it's terribly gooey so I try to think about how much fun she's going to have once I've thrown it, rather than how nasty it is.</div>
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I start to draw back my arm with the ball, while her whole body tenses up as she gets into "Get Ready" mode. She crouches down to "On Your Mark" stance as the ball goes up in the air, still poised in my hand. I hold that position for a moment, to watch her eyes sparkle a little in the low lighting. She's so alive and happy! It's the <i>best</i> part of the game for me, sitting with a slime-ball almost above my head to watch her eyes while she's still "On Her Mark..."</div>
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"GO!" I fling the ball toward the other side of the house and she's almost on top of it. Sometimes she's even ahead of it so she can catch it before it even hits the floor on the other side of the room!</div>
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Split moments after I've thrown the ball, it's back in my lap and my pants slowly start to soak up Molly's slobber. I don't ever seem to notice the ball is so wet until I've thrown it again and the wet dot on my jeans starts to get cold. I really need to train her to put the ball next to me instead of <i>on</i> me.</div>
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Seven minutes doesn't last long and it's soon time for me to go to work for the day. We put the ball back into the toy basket, I tell her to have a good day and be a good girl while I'm gone, then I'm off for a busy day at work. Molly, on the other hand, is stuck at home waiting for me to get back home. Perhaps I should look into an automatic tennis ball thrower so she can play all day while I work.</div>
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For the time, Molly will just have to wait for me to get home - or talk my Mom into a game when she's home. Sounds pretty boring for Molly, but it's fine with me because I'll get to see that extra sparkle of excitement at the beginning of the game. And the game always starts again when I get home.</div>JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-24335508007527115392012-04-16T16:48:00.006-07:002012-04-16T16:50:19.117-07:00BlackMolly: Molly Knows<br />
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My daughter, Molly, understands most of what I say to her. She's only five years old, so her grasp of my vocabulary isn't so great, but she still seems to find a way to figure out what I'm telling her. Poodles are supposed to be amongst the world's top four of all dog breeds for intelligence, but it never fails to amaze me that she understands so well.</div>
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We keep several different toys and each has a different name. We've a small green porcupine called "Squeeker" that's one of her favorites. There's a piece of fake fur I tied into a knot that she knows as "The Fur." Of course, every dog toybox has a dental floss knot. We call that, simply, "The Knot." Then there's a collection of knots tied into a knot I call "Colors." And we have several different balls. "Big Ball," "Giggly Ball," "The Ball," "Peanutbutter Ball." We have "Bouncer" and "Spike," which are those hard rubber throw toys. That's ten toys listed and I can ask for any of them by name and she'll bring it to me.</div>
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But those are just memorized commands I've associated with each toy, right? Not neccessarily. Molly eats at the dinner table with us. She knows that it's ok for her front paws to be on the table but not her back paws. If I ask her if she wants more of something, she opens her mouth. If she doesn't, she opens and closes her mouth. She even waits to be excused instead of just hopping down.</div>
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She has a good grasp on a vast array of words, questions, and phrases. For instance, she knows the difference between going to the Park, the School, Grammy's House, Holstien's, and The Pet Shop. When we arrive near the correct destination, she gets excited and starts searching the car for a toy to bring in with her. I can go to several different places that she knows before going to the place I said we were going to and she doesn't get excited until we arrive where I said we were going at the beginning of our trip.</div>
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She hates it when I tell her it's time to go to work. She knows that, currently, this activity doesn't include her. She jumps to the top of the chair sitting next to the door and waits for me to tell her to be a good girl, to have a good day, and that I love her. Then I kiss her on the nose and am gone for a several hours. It's not a wonder that she doesn't like that phrase. Come to think about it, I don't like that phrase much either.</div>
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Molly races to my room when I tell her it's time to go to sleep. (Actually, I tell her it's time to go asleep.) After I open the door, she leaps into my bed and starts mussing the covers up to have a cozy spot for bed. She also understands the difference between "go asleep" and that I need to "work on the computer and she needs to go to bed." This is altogether different from "going asleep." I sit at my desk and she sits or lays on the desk in her basket, which is "bed."</div>
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Even after all this, people still ask me, "If she's so smart, how come you can't teach her to stop licking?" I just smile, shrug my shoulders, and think to myself because if she stopped licking, she wouldn't be Molly.</div>JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-40404198034091907442012-04-16T16:48:00.002-07:002012-04-16T16:50:31.431-07:00BlackMolly: Cookie Theory<br />
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With all children, asking if they'd like a treat is really a silly thing to do. I have a five year old daughter who's full of life and curiosity. She loves to ride in the bike trailer or the car, loves to go for walks with me while I take pictures, completely enjoys a good romp in an open play area but she'll stop everything for a treat.</div>
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Like all five year olds, Molly knows exactly where the cookie jar is. And, like most parents, I keep the jar up high so my daughter can't gorge herself on treats and get an upset tummy. I'm sure she's smart enough to go get them anyway, but she doesn't.</div>
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Molly is a registered toy poodle, and she's got so many of the same expressions any human girl can display. From a sound sleep, I can mention to someone else that I'm nearly out of cookies and neet to go get some more. Molly's eyes will fly wide open like she'd never been snoring only moments before. She even manages an extra-excited sparkle in her eye and her upper lip twitches into a smile before she gets up and dances her way over to me then skips over to where I keep the cookie jar.</div>
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It's almost like I need to begin spelling out C-O-O-K-I-E J-A-R now. How old are human kids before they figure out that trick? Even now, if I refer to cookie as "those," she looks at me with her head tilted to one side. I don't know of a more direct way to ask, "Those?" She even glances at the cookie jar to see if I react to the question!</div>
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Once or twice, I admit to wondering if it's just me living in a wild fantasy world where dogs can understand every word you say. So I test the "cookie theory" with someone who's not a big dog fan. I've yet to meet anyone who disagrees with me on the assumption that Molly knows what I'm saying when I refer to "those." She springs to life and dances over to me like I've said the C-word, then skips over to the cookie jar to wait for me to give her a treat. When the person looks at me like I've got a possessed dog, I smile and explain that the cookie jar is over there and she knows when I'm talking about them.</div>
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They admit to being impressed and that it does <b>seem</b> like she knows what I'm talking about when I speak to her (or to someone else, for that matter). Personally, I think the fantasy world of all dogs understanding what I'm saying <b>is</b> a little whacked. It's just too broad an assumption and I'm no Dr. Doolittle. But if the fantasy bubble where to include only Molly and I, yah, she understands what I'm saying and I understand what she's saying.</div>
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That's not a fantasy, that's my life with Molly.</div>JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-17592924981820619102012-04-16T16:47:00.002-07:002012-04-16T16:50:40.563-07:00BlackMolly: Cookie Bake<br />
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Molly, my six year old daughter, and I recently made cookies together. She wasn't quite sure what to think of the whole process, especially the long wait for the finished product at the end. By the time we finished, she had dough in her little black curly locks, between her toes, on the top of her nose and in her eyelashes, but her tongue never stopped! Molly's so similar to other people's children that it's hard for me to remember that she's not viewed that way by the public most of the time. My daughter is a registered toy poodle and people generally can't see past the fur.</div>
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My Girl isn't tall enough to see the top of the counter, even when she stands on her tippy toes and stretches as far as she can stretch. Her little nose tells her the details of what's going on up there, though. It twitches and sniffs as she moves her head from side to side to get the best whiff of whatever can be whuffed. Molly is only 9 inches tall at her shoulders but when she stands on tip-toe, she's about two feet tall.</div>
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Before we even begin the cookies, I ask her if it's a good idea. It's a silly question to ask, really, but how she answers is worth being considered a little silly. I ask her, "Molly, shall we make cookies?" Her whole body stops all motion immediately and she whips her head around with a start. Wide brown eyes stare up at me for a few moments before she races toward me at a flat run and leaps at me. She bounces off my knees in an effort to get me started in the right direction so I don't have a chance to put it off.</div>
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So off we go to the kitchen. The first ingredients aren't terribly interesting to her, at least not separately. She might go ahead and eat the butter, but it's not a favorite. While I'm cutting the butter into to the dry ingredients, she paces about my feet, twining in and out, back and forth. After I get out the eggs and peanut butter, she starts talking to me. My best guess is that she's observed people speaking to one another and tries to copy that. Some of her noises actually sound like words but most just sound like she's singing a song of R's. Her grandma calls the noises budgy noises, though I don't understand why. I think I'd call them ar-ar noises, myself.</div>
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Each time we make cookies, I give her a little taste of peanut butter after I've spooned it into the bowl. Some people think it's mean to give dogs peanut butter, since it sticks to the roof of their mouths. I figure it must be like eating a Sugar Daddy or a caramel apple for humans. It's so good that it doesn't matter that it sticks! Molly sits at my feet and lick-lick-licks until the goodie is gone. By that time, the recipe is ready for the carob chips. As soon as the first taste is gone, she begins ar-aring me to get another treat. I give her a taste of the dough without the carob in it.</div>
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She doesn't eat the dough in one gulp, like most dogs would. Instead, she plays with it a little first. That's how she gets it in her fur and between her toes. Maybe it feels good to have the dough squish in her pads. While she's eating the dough, I pour in the carob chips, but scoop a few out for Molly before I stir them in.</div>
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I roll out the dough and get set to cut the cookies into shapes just about the time Molly's done with her taste of goodie. She starts talking to me again, letting me know that she's out of treat, so I grab a chip and make her sit pretty, then drop the chip from about ten inches above her nose. Everything slows way down while the chip falls through the air to her mouth. Once it's close enough, she snaps it out of the air and gobbles it up, then looks to me for some more. I tell her to be patient and finish cutting the cookies so I can get them in the oven.</div>
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Molly's not much of one for waiting. She never has been. After she sees the cookies go into the oven, she sniffs at it, to get the current status scent and begs for the rest of the carob morsels to be doled out.</div>
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While the cookies are baking, I wander about cleaning up my mess and doing other things. The whole time, she's a half step behind me, but no more than a half step! Every trip to the kitchen to check on the cookies mean that she gets another carob chip, after all.</div>
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When they're finished baking, they've still got to set overnight and get crunchy. She doesn't think this is very fair and tells me about it. The kitchen is kept under close observation for the remainder of the day and throughout the night, if she can. The kitchen holds her treats. She wants to make sure no burglar makes it into the house to steal her cookies!</div>
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Upon waking in the morning, she bounces off my knees to remind me of the treats in the kitchen. I pull out the cookies and give her one, while I put the rest away in the cookie jar. After she finishes her one cookie, she looks at me disgustedly and muffs at me. She seems to be saying, "One? One! That's all I get? Just one after all that waiting? Grrrr. That's not fair!"</div>
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Molly is just like any other spoiled six year old. She just wears a fur coat the year round and is shorter.</div>JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-79632676831802793172012-04-16T16:46:00.001-07:002012-04-16T16:50:49.062-07:00BlackMolly: Ruff Game<br />
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My daughter, Molly, is just like "normal" kids. She loves to play games and sometimes lets the game get a little out of hand. Games get rough. Or shall I say games get ruff? My daughter is a nearly six year old toy poodle who has an unusually long attention span when it comes to playing fetch.</div>
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When we play, Molly talks to me. I don't have the attention span that she does where the game is concerned and she gets a little miffed with me for it. She stands at my feet and makes a noise that sounds like a seal making it's noises through it's nose. So, instead of ar-ar-ar, she says aerr-aerr-aerr. If I'm not playing as actively as she'd like me to, her vocabulary expands to full blown barks as she dances in front of the ball at my feet, looking from my eyes to the ball and back again.</div>
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After I throw the ball, she does a quick about-face and tears down the hall after it at a full run. Occasionally, even though we've got carpet all the way, she can't quite stop herself in time and she runs into the wall at the end of our hallway. She'll let out what amounts to a curse and zip off to find the ball so she can head back for some more game. Little bumps and bruises are alright with me, as long as they're all right with her. However, when it gets worse, the game must stop.</div>
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Last night, we played a game with our small ball (only two inches in diameter!). I got home, she danced and pleaded that I play with her, so I gave in and threw the ball. I threw the ball for half an hour or so before I decided I just wasn't interested any longer and told her, "No more." She wasn't satisfied with such a short game time, so she went to beg a game from my Grams. Grams gave in as well and this time Ren, her fur-son, decided a romp after a ball was a good idea, too.</div>
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From there, Grams and I aren't sure what happened exactly. She threw the ball a few times, then Molly acted like she wasn't interested any longer. I figured Ren had the ball and was just teasing her with it, while she pretended to not want to play any more. After a few minutes went by, I went over to make sure she was alright. If she's not playing while the ball is being thrown, there's something very wrong.</div>
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When I went to pick her up, she was favoring one of her paws. Upon further investigation, I realized that she had pulled a toenail almost completely off! It was just barely hanging on and her raw toe was bleeding everywhere. I don't normally have a strong stomache for that kind of thing and couldn't bring myself to pull it the rest of the way off and inflict that kind of pain on Molly. Swooping her up into my arms, I went to get Grams so we could make a trip to town and see Dr. Ann.</div>
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We zipped down to the Vets' office and they put her under anathesia so she wouldn't feel it when the toenail was ripped the rest of the way off. Dr. Ann carefully applied antibiotic ointments and wrapped it up in purple bandages, then gave Molly another shot to wake her up. That happens pretty quick, but Molly was so disoriented that she started flopping around on the table, making full body circles, until I hugged her to me and told her it was going to be alright. We waited about a half hour for her to come fully back to her normal self after being under the anethesia, then made the trip home with new antibiotics and instructions to get some baby aspirin and keep that paw bandaged for at least the next five days.</div>
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Immediately upon returning home and going into the house, can you guess what the first thing she did was?</div>
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She retrieved our small ball and began dancing at my feet while pleading, "aerr-aerr-aerr," for a game.</div>JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-82261803663207290542011-07-14T08:44:00.000-07:002011-07-14T08:44:01.492-07:00Molly's Universe MeditationMolly's been very busy tapping me on the shoulder, so to speak, of late. She shows often here and there, always near, though. I see her flying sometimes, she told me often that the flying was what she missed most about being in Spirit form. I think that's why dogs love to put their heads out the window so much when you're driving - it feels like you're flying again.<br />
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After this meditation, I found that I when I closed my eyes for several days afterward, I saw a spiral galaxy, much like our own Milky Way Galaxy. Molly starts the meditation out the same way each time she leads, so I'll keep to her ways as it works out the best for each time she leads me...<br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">On to the meditation:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>Close your eyes. Take a deep breath while visualizing the number 3 three times on an imaginary blackboard in front of you. Take another deep breath while seeing the number 2 three times on your imaginary blackboard. Take another deep breath while seeing the number 1 three times on your imaginary blackboard.</i><i><br />
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</i><i>Take another deep breath and reach out for the One Energy. You won't need to reach far because it's always reaching back, always near, always wanting to be part of you. Pull the white crisp energy down around you in a column about three times as wide as you are with your arms outstretched. Pull it down so it envelopes your head, your neck, your shoulders... As you pull the energy down, allow your muscles to fully relax and soak up the energy. Continue pulling the energy down through your heart, your arms, and hands, your torso, your hips, your thighs... Let the energy soak into each area, fully relaxing and accepting the energy. Pull it further down over your knees, your calves, your ankles, the tops of your feet and toes, the bottoms of your feet. Push the energy down into the earth, push it all the way to the center of the earth. Imagine a sort of trampoline at the center of the earth so the white energy melds with the energy of the earth and bounces right back up, quickly jumping to your heart center and spreading out into the world.</i></div></blockquote><blockquote><i>Envision a whole space of nothing - it's all just black. There's nothingness all around you. You float in the middle of the whole space, knowing completely that this space is awaiting your imagination to come alive. First, see that Source Energy is present as you. YOU are Source Energy. Next, see that there's a spinning hole in the same space you occupy. The hole is even more black than the space you've been floating in.</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>See that there's a stream of light feeding from you straight into the hole. You find you're being sucked into the hole, but you don't mind. You feel like your entire Spirit is entirely in the hole now, and feeling cramped. Inside the hole, you continue to feel more and more restricted and want to move around, free like you just were in the space of nothingness.</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>Suddenly, without any warning at all, you decide to burst forth from the hole, but the process scatters your once single Light into countless small lights. The spin of the hole spreads your lovely light into myriad fractious directions. You watch the whole of your Light flow out, lighting every section of what was once a large nothingness. Observe that it's a lovely place now, full of smaller and smaller lights, each light part of You.</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>See that it's beautiful and it's all a part of who You are. Enjoy the view as long as you'd like.</i></blockquote>JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-32810611856756782902011-07-11T07:11:00.000-07:002011-07-11T07:11:00.832-07:00Molly's Guard Petal Pruning MeditationMolly shared a lovely meditation with me last night. First, you might need a little background information, though. A florist gets flowers from the market that show up pretty bruised and ugly. The flowers go through a whole process of cleaning the bottom leaves off, stripping thorns, cutting off the bottoms of the stems under water, & sitting in warm water treated with preservative water for 24 hours before the flowers even reach the stage where they can be put into an arrangement. At least, if your florist is a *good* florist, that's the process.<br />
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The outside petals of most flowers are, in the world of the florist, called "guard petals." They get beat up, bruised, pinched, crunched, and look terrible. But when you peel off the guard petals, a lovely pristine example of the flower emerges. Guard petals guard the beauty inside.<br />
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On to the meditation:<br />
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<blockquote><i>Close your eyes. Take a deep breath while visualizing the number 3 three times on an imaginary blackboard in front of you. Take another deep breath while seeing the number 2 three times on your imaginary blackboard. Take another deep breath while seeing the number 1 three times on your imaginary blackboard.</i><i><br />
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</i><i>Take another deep breath and reach out for the One Energy. You won't need to reach far because it's always reaching back, always near, always wanting to be part of you. Pull the white crisp energy down around you in a column about three times as wide as you are with your arms outstretched. Pull it down so it envelopes your head, your neck, your shoulders... As you pull the energy down, allow your muscles to fully relax and soak up the energy. Continue pulling the energy down through your heart, your arms, and hands, your torso, your hips, your thighs... Let the energy soak into each area, fully relaxing and accepting the energy. Pull it further down over your knees, your calves, your ankles, the tops of your feet and toes, the bottoms of your feet. Push the energy down into the earth, push it all the way to the center of the earth. Imagine a sort of trampoline at the center of the earth so the white energy melds with the energy of the earth and bounces right back up, quickly jumping to your heart center and spreading out into the world.</i><i><br />
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</i><i>Now, direct some of the energy so it forms a ball between your hands. You should be able to feel the outsides of the ball, but if you can't find the outside, don't worry, just imagine it being between 10" and 24" between your hands. Label the ball "My Life" and hold the ball there for a moment.</i><i><br />
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</i><i>Imagine the stem of a flower with a few leaves and a small green bud atop in the middle of it. See that it's in a pool of water and has roots extending into the water, finding nourishment there. Allow the bud to get some color and bloom into a flower. Notice the color of the flower. For each relationship in your life, allow a new petal to form on your flower. Remember each relationship with people, animals, plants. Remember to create a petal for each good relationship. Remember to create a petal for each relationship that is having difficulty. Remember to create a petal for each creature and plant for each of your meals. Create a petal for each relationship with the celestial bodies, with your angels, with your dieties, and your guides. Each petal you create is created in the center of your flower, until your flower is in full bloom.</i><i><br />
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</i><i>Now notice there's a small green flame just to the right of the blossom. See that it's a most unusual flame, though. It floats, the green flame feeding on nothing, but you see the flame dripping water from it's base into the water your blossom roots take nourishment from. Allow your bruised and battered relationships to push to the outside of the flower now and pluck the Guard Petal off the outside of the blossom. Feed the Guard Petal into the top of the green flame. Watch the flame eat the petal, transforming it into the very nourishing waters your blossom lives on. Notice the circle of life and honor the battered and bruised petals you feed into your transforming flame, then watch a relationship grow anew in the middle of the blossom from the nourishment of the old petal.</i><i><br />
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</i><i>Go through each of your battered and bruised relationships, pruning off the Guard Petals, feeding them into the flame until your flower is a creation of only love and beauty. Notice that this is your life. It's a continual process of pruning the Guard Petals off and recycling the energies.</i><i><br />
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</i><i>When you're ready, come out of your meditation knowing that you can visit this Flower of Life any time you'd like to do some pruning of the Guard Petals.</i></blockquote>JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-83753885067366681832011-07-09T12:02:00.000-07:002011-07-09T12:06:42.382-07:00Danger Report: RoundupI just put together - duh - what roundup (the herbacide) does to your puppies. Here's how it goes. You spray the roundup on your weeds. Then your pups brush by them or under them or if there's any slight breeze, the roundup blows onto the ground where your pup walks.<br />
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Basically, the roundup gets on your pup's paws and fur through one way or another. Then, being the clean pup s/he is, the tongue bath starts. That's how the roundup gets ingested. First, it gets into the skin through the bottoms of the paws. Second, it gets licked off the paws and goes through the digestive system.<br />
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It took me my Molly's whole lifetime to put this together. Serious duh on my part. It wasn't until Ladybug started displaying some of the same symptoms Molly displayed that I finally put it all together.<br />
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The symptoms:<br />
Losing control of bladder function<br />
Sleepiness (it could be fatigue)<br />
Forgetfulness<br />
Mood & depression<br />
Generalized anxiety<br />
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All these symptoms show themselves, but don't necessarily disappate a few days after exposure. The symptoms seem to build, getting worse, each time there's exposure to the roundup. They do not go away. They do subside a little bit, but each time they come in contact with the<br />
herbacide, all symptoms come back and stronger than the last time.Eventually, their bodies can't fight it and succumb to something else (like bronchial pneumonia, in Molly's case).<br />
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So, a warning for everyone out there who uses roundup or any other herbacide: KEEP YOUR PUPS OUT OF IT! DON'T USE IT!<br />
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What can you use instead to keep weeds down? White Wine Vinegar! Just pour it, straight, into a *CLEAN* weed sprayer container. Spray it directly onto your weeds, once a month or so, on sunny bright mornings, just like you would spray roundup. Start spraying it early in the spring, like on Tax Day, April 15.<br />
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I "rounded up" the <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B94ecNWCjdFQODhkMzQ3MDYtZDRjNS00N2FmLTgxNzktM2ZlMWNkMWRhY2M3&hl=en_US">MSDS sheet on Roundup</a>. It doesn't show the symptoms on it that my pups displayed. However, there can be no coincidence of those symptoms showing up and getting worse each time we did spray with roundup.JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-81997051489152915902011-05-28T20:42:00.000-07:002011-05-28T20:42:01.303-07:00Yenna's Flower in Poopay Meditation<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 20px; white-space: normal;"><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;">First, I need to explain that "poopay" is also known as "pooh" and feces, aka waste matter discharged from the intestines through the anus; excrement.</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;"><br />
</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;">Center yourself using Moe's Advice on the Chattering Mind technique.</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;"><br />
</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;">Bring in source energy to the top of your head. Allow the energy to blossom the top of your head into a flower. Cup the energy and collect it like a flower in your garden would cup and collect sunshine. Imagine the rest of you is the stem, leaves, and roots. Fill each petal with the light, making it whatever color you want. The color means stuff, but you can ask your guides about that later. As the top of the flower collects the source light/energy, feel some energy flow down your stem and into your leaves, then further down your stem, into your roots beneath your feet, into the earth. Remember that the root systems are as big as what's up top and visible OR BIGGER!</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;"><br />
</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;">Bring in as much source energy as you can, then look around you at the other flowers struggling to collect the light. They may have recently had poopay dumped on them and they're struggling to get any light at all. Look down at the ground around you. You realize that your ground is full of poopay, too, but with source energy you see that you've transformed it into fertilizer. Fertilizer is useful for growing flowers, but poopay isn't.</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;"><br />
</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;">You can help all those other flowers by reaching out to them through your root system, helping to transform the poopay they find themselves stuck underneath into fertilizer! They can grow into flowers now and help turn poopay into useful fertilizer as they collect source energy and share it through their root systems.</div></div>JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-75122023307115123192011-05-28T20:29:00.000-07:002011-06-02T17:05:14.430-07:00Moe's Basic Training MeditationPrefer to listen to this instead of read it?<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><embed allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="file=http:%2f%2fwww.cinchcast.com%2fCinchPlaylist.aspx%3FRecordingID%3D236471&playermode=full&autostart=false&bufferlength=5&volume=80&callback=http://www.cinchcast.com/FlashPlayerCallback.aspx&width=300&height=200&volume=80&corner=rounded" height="200" id="236471" menu="false" name="236471" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" src="http://www.cinchcast.com/cinchplayerext.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="300" wmode="transparent"></embed></div><br />
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 20px; white-space: normal;"><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;">Center yourself first, using the technique Moe gave me first.</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;"><br />
</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;">Now, create a ball of light, white light - so white it's almost blue, about a foot across between your hands. Feel that it's there, then let your hands drop to a comfortable situation to rest. Project YOU into this ball of light and look out from inside it. This is who YOU really are. (Thought form, free, beautiful, powerful, confident, unlimited.)</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;"><br />
</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;">Have another person (canine, human, plant, animal, non-bodied) create a ball of light similar to yours and project themselves into it.</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;"><br />
</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;">Look at the other person from your light ball and note that you both look the same, except, possibly, for the degree of motion or frequency set forth in the two spheres.</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;"><br />
</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;">Now, bring your two lights closer together until they merge into one. At this point, you should be able to see/hear/feel/smell/taste things the other one experiences - things that "belong" to the other person. Ask questions and share!</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;"><br />
</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;">Stay connected/merged.</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;">Come out of your passive meditation into a dynamic/active meditation and write notes about your conversation; note any aches/pains that weren't in your body before the meditation, allow for automatic writing to occur at this time.</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;"><br />
</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;">Go back into passive meditation. Love and thank the other being's essence (lightball). Now, gently drift your two lights apart, so they are once again separate lightballs. You may see a new string of light connecting them together now. This "string" is how most people get 6th sense information from others. </div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;"><br />
</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;">Cleanse out anything left that's not yours, instruct the other being on how to cleanse out their person if they don't already know how. Come out of meditation.</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;"><br />
</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;">Journal/record your insights. Reflect & consider the answers. Make a list of new questions. Let the answers you already got simmer for a little while, then, in a few days, do it again!</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;"><br />
</div><div style="height: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;">However, when the two lightballs were merged, that was true esp senses.<br />
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</div></div>JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-63228343811971333452011-05-23T13:25:00.000-07:002011-06-02T17:05:28.666-07:00Moe's Advice on the Chattering MindWanna listen to this instead of read it?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><embed allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="file=http:%2f%2fwww.cinchcast.com%2fCinchPlaylist.aspx%3FRecordingID%3D235757&playermode=full&autostart=false&bufferlength=5&volume=80&callback=http://www.cinchcast.com/FlashPlayerCallback.aspx&width=300&height=200&volume=80&corner=rounded" height="200" id="235757" menu="false" name="235757" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" src="http://www.cinchcast.com/cinchplayerext.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="300" wmode="transparent"></embed></div><br />
I meditate pretty often. One of the things I struggle with is quieting the chattering brain so I can actually meditate and benefit from it. Moe gave me a solution today.<br />
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Just before meditation, sit quietly and ask your chatter to give you all the facts about the stuff it's yapping about. Just the facts, only the facts. Get those from your chattering self, then ask for only the facts that you can do something about immediately. If you get anything back, go take care of those things immediately.<br />
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When you come back to your meditative space, ask again if there's a fact you can take care of immediately. When there's nothing that comes back, it's time to ask for all the emotions, only the emotions you're feeling. Ask your chattering self for only the emotions that you can take care of immediately. If anything comes back, FEEL the emotion, then return to asking if there's any other emotions you can take care of immediately.<br />
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Now, ask if there's anything else that needs your attention immediately. You may get a fact, you may get an emotion, but most likely, you'll get a whole lot of ...nothing & quiet. Congratulations! You've given your chatter-mind your undivided attention and now it's rewarding you with quiet and contentment.<br />
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Now you know you're ready for your meditation!JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-90188502015389955592011-04-10T13:44:00.000-07:002011-04-10T13:44:17.393-07:00ASL: Animal Sign LanguageMy Molly went deaf early in life. She also went blind. I learned a lot about living with such a person. There's something absolutely wonderful about witnessing the pure courage and fortitude of someone so small and vulnerable to overcome such overwhelming odds. Molly did it and did it so that the world - everyone we interacted with - noticed.<br />
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One of the things we did before she went totally blind was train her in movements. I didn't call it sign language or anything so grand - it was just how Molly & I communicated. For instance, she knew that when I was going to pick her up, I sort of bounced her on her hind legs three times before I actually picked her up. That way, she could ready her muscles and not get hurt when I picked her up. Another example is when I'd put three fingers on her chest, my thumb and pinky finger under her arms and sort of push forward, she knew that it was time to "wave" to whomever was in front of her (she also knew this would probably get her a treat, because it was just so darned cute!).<br />
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Coming from this background, it was very interesting to me to find that there's a person who's developed <a href="http://www.animalsign.org/">ASL: Animal Sign Language</a>. She did it so people and dogs could communicate more clearly with each other - not just have the dog do the person's bidding - <b><i><u>they exchange information</u></i></b>. They share where it hurts, that they want water, food, or treats, or a specific toy. That's HUGE!<br />
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That's an important step to humans understanding that they don't actually "own" their dog/cat/horse/animal any more than the people of the South "owned" their slaves. It's not possible. It's only through gross lunacy and an immoral sense of superiority that such an absurdity could happen. It's absolutely beyond me how any human could fathom that they could "own" another life.JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538128555096778028.post-78703850377112363852011-03-22T22:41:00.000-07:002011-03-22T22:41:10.899-07:00Peanut BeggarsTonight, the Grrls are begging peanuts from Mom. She's shelling peanuts, taking the red skin off and tossing them peanuts. (Can you say SPOILED DOGS???) <br />
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Sophie *always* catches whatever you throw for her to catch. Well, except for liver. All of our Grrls detest raw liver. It just cracks me up to picture in my head the first time they each had liver tossed to them. Sophie caught the liver piece, it *barely* touched her tongue and she spat it back out, then looked up at Mom like she was trying to poison her. Hahahaha! Have you ever seen a look like that from a dog? It's supposed to be something they LIKE.<br />
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Yenna just doesn't catch the treat unless she knows she's going to like it. Sometimes, she doesn't catch it even if she knows she's going to like it. Cookies, for instance, are in that category. Cookies are a favorite food, but she'd rather see it drop to the floor and go picking it up. It's frustrating to never quite know if she's going to catch it or not. What a picky, spoiled snot of a dog. Yen doesn't like liver, hearts, or stomach. She doesn't like fish, in general. She doesn't like lima beans (a dog after my own taste buds, let me tell ya!).<br />
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Lady Bug *NEVER* catches anything you toss to her - even if she can catch it. It's clearly beneath her to do some "common dog" trick like catching your food. It should always be HANDED to her... First, it should be presented properly, though, so she may enjoy the aromas before considering it to actually touch her palette. Liver, unless properly breaded, spiced, and crisped in oil, is something she would never consider. She'd never say something like "blech," but that sort of low-food form is just uncouth. WHY would we consider laying that before her Royalness? Ugh. It's so hard to find good help. She can be so catty some times.JaymeTHunt.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13915131083502888253noreply@blogger.com0