OT You guys are NOT going to believe this!

Oh, Gem! You need a break, you really do! Here, on a lighter note, the third thing DID happen, if you want to talk generalties... MJ was found not guilty on all counts. What IS this world coming to? Count that injustice as number three, and you're DONE, I'd say! Hugs, Noreen

Our third thing did happen... to us.

It's just so bizaar that it's funny! Like the time I was having an extremely bad day and a policeman backed into my car denting the fender... I burst out laughing in his face! As my Mom always said... "If I can't laugh, I might as well be dead!"... I take after my Mom, and that's a compliment to myself! :o)

Gem

PS. This latest thing doesn't even have me remotely concerned as the garage I have dealt with for years will just put it on my existing bill and I don't have to pass out any money right away. It's just a "yeah, so.. something else happened". LOL

Yep, we even joke about it in our house, Gem... like most people say sXit happens... well we 'haughtily' say, like with hot potatoes in our mouths, Crap Occurs. Yeesh! enough! Hugs, Noreen

Hi Gemini,

When I read your story about the dog and the van door, I was wondering what kind of dogs you have. I have a Shih Tzu - Poodle mix (ShiPoo) and I'm always interested in other people's dogs .

You certainly have led an eventful life lately ! I hope it quiets down for you now.

Rusty in CT and Dusty too

Hi! :o) Buffy, our oldest dog (13 years old now) is a black & white Border Collie mix (we don't know what she's mixed with). Casper, our youngest dog who will be 4 years old in July (the big powerful brute who broke the van door), is a white Golden Lab / Shepherd mix. His mother is a Black Lab / German Shepherd mix, but she was smaller than our Border Collie mix, so Casper obviously takes after his white Golden Lab father for his size and colouring. :o) He has a longer nose than Golden Labs, and longer floppy ears too (from the Shepherd side, I assume).

Gemini

Someday I'll have a website again and put pictures up for all to see. ;o)

There you go, I got so busy talking about my pooches that I forgot to thank you for the good wishes.... So, thank you! :o) And, eventful is a polite way of putting it... it certainly hasn't been dull.

Gemini

Gemini,

My family used to have a dog, Clancy, who was a golden lab/shepherd mix. We always suspected he had a little greyhound in him too because he was pretty skinny (until after living with us a couple of years. LOL!) and would run in circles around the outside of the house over and over. He had the longer, thinner nose as well and his ears sort of stood up but flopped over at the top. The ears actually had a life of their own - in the wind they would flap back and forth (which is surprising because they weren't actually all that large!) and we have several pictures of him with one sticking straight up and one flopping down. He was a great dog - very cute and VERY active and mostly crazy. I can't even begin to describe all the damage he did to our house and belongings in the 7 short years we had him (he succumbed to cancer at an all-too-early age).

I would love to see a picture of Casey someday to see if he looks anything like Clancy!

LauraJ

Awww, he sounds cute... and very much like Casper. Those ears sound like Casper's too... they do tend to stand up somewhat, but often are straight out at the sides and flopped at the ends... and he often gets what we refer to as "flop-over ear" and will come to us to fix it. ;o)

When we're all outside (his favorite time) he runs around the back yard at such high speed that Matthew and I often joke that he looks like a white tornado zooming by. There have even been times that he's been running so fast that he's almost laying down on his side.... and in the winter when it's slippery, he has wiped out on more than one occasion. But he loves it, and will get up and go again. Of course when he does wipe out in the summer, he ends up with grass stain on his white coat... quite comical looking. ;o)

If you'd like, I can email you a picture. It actually has two pictures on it... one of Buffy, and the other of Casper. His nose looks humongous on the picture (like those newer stuffed dogs they have out now with small bodies and HUGE heads) because he tried to get a closer look at the camera. Of course once I snapped the picture and the flash went off, he told me off in no uncertain terms. LOL

If you'd like me to email the picture, just send me an email mthecarpenter at xcelco dot on dot ca (the one I go through to get to my newsgroups) and I'll send it off to you. :o)

Gemini

Gemini, your dogs sound like they're so much fun for you. Casper must be a pretty big boy with the Shepherd/Lab mix. (Well, sure, if he can take the door off of a van !)

Buffy the Border Collie mix - any dog with BC heritage just has to be smart and going every minute. With the two of them, I bet you have a wonderful time, and a lot of laughs.

Thanks for sharing your pets.

Enjoy !

Rusty in CT

LOL My thoughts exactly! When we had him at the vet on Saturday they said he weighed in at 73 lbs... Buffy was about 52 lbs. When he stands beside me (often, I'm his *most favorite* person) and I put my hand down, I can touch his lower back without stretching to do so. Buffy is a lot shorter (Casper towers over her and drapes his head over her back... which she doesn't like), but Casper lets her think that she can take him down when they play in the yard.

She chases him, but can't actually keep up with him, and then he'll stop and put his head on the ground with his butt up in the air, and Buffy puts her jaws around his neck "pinning" him. They only ever fought twice... in the house thank you... and Casper put her in her place in seconds. She had the nerve to touch his rawhide bone and he took her by the scruff of the neck and swung her back and forth roughly. Matthew wouldn't go near them, but I went over and pulled them apart.. he thought I was nuts to touch them. LOL Casper picked up his rawhide bone and walked off happily, and Buffy was "smiling" and wagging her tail all over thinking that had been great fun. LOL

Funny how many people say that Border Collies are one of the smartest breeds around. Yes, she was quick to learn to "sit", "stay", "say please", and "lay down"... but other than those things she really isn't all that smart. Fast... oh yes, when she was younger she would fly around the yard... but she has slowed down now, she is 13 afterall and that is human years.

Casper on the other hand is very smart and alert. He watches everything you do very intently, and he catches on to things very quickly and often by himself. And he often amuses himself when no one plays with him. hehehe He is definitely a clown!

We love them both... but Buffy is Matthew's, he picked her out. I am Casper's, because he picked me out... and melted my heart, so he is mine too! ;o)

Gemini

Hi Gem,

I'd love to see a picture - I just emailed you with the subject "puppy picture". Is the "flop-over ear" kind of like the ear is turned inside out? Clancy used to get that too. Though I have to admit that one of our favorite tricks was to turn his ear inside out on purpose and then blow in it or gently tickle it while he was sleeping. What can I say, we were obnoxious teenagers at the time :)

LauraJ

:o) Yes, "flop-over ear" is exactly that... his ear gets turned inside out, often for no apparent reason. We'll say "Uh oh, flop-over ear!" and he'll come to have it fixed. By the way... we tend to tickle or blow very gently in and at his ears (from the back) sometimes too. I also tickle between his toes... makes him chew on his toes for a couple of minutes. hehehe

We cracked up laughing the first time he ever did a "stand-up itch", and a "lay-down itch"... where he'll either be walking along and suddenly stop and instead of sitting down to scratch, he just lifts his leg and scratches while still standing up.... or be laying down and be too tired to bother standing up, so he just lifts his leg and scratches while staying on his side. I had never seen any of our other dogs before him do either of those things before... it looks so cute.

Also... when he was very tiny (a couple of days after getting him) I was at the computer one night and heard what I thought was a chainsaw, but it was dark out. I glanced down and there was this tiny ball of fluff laying beside my feet letting loose with a VERY loud and long moan. LOL He also tends to "hold on" to my foot, or my leg or arm while laying beside me... and if I pretend not to notice him, he'll slightly tighten his grip with his toes until I say "Oh there you are!" and he *smiles* his doggy smile and wags his tail slightly. He loves to have his "Casper / Mama time", or "Family time" with all of us on the couch together. :o)

Gem