Farewell, sweet Lenny

Lenny died last night after having a stroke. He lived a happy 12 years, 7 of which were shared with our family. He brought us joy and humor every single day.

Thank you to all of Lenny's wonderful DWB friends for some great memories. He is with some of them now.

RIP Lenny, 7/12/1998 - 3/20/2011
Thank you, sweet little buddy

Transported animals

My mom has been having a lot of fun meeting new dogs and taking them from the shelter to new foster homes.

FALCOR

This is Falcor (named after the Luck Dragon in "The Neverending Story"), who got the new name "Cory." He was at our local shelter and is now being fostered by Indianapolis Great Pyrenees Rescue. Do you think he looks like the original Falcor?

Cory is SO BIG that my mom couldn't fit him in her little car - her friend lent her car and helped drive him to Indianapolis. You can read all about Cory on Petfinder - I hope he finds a new home soon!

SHILOH

Mom's next transport was an Australian Shepherd named Shiloh. He was another big boy and traveled in a crate, so another one of my mom's friends helped her drive him. Poor Shiloh has heartworm and is being treated in foster care, and he got the new name "Babaloo!" You can read more about him at the New Spirit 4 Aussie Rescue website.

BARNABY!

Check out this sweet little guy!

Of course, Mom prefers to transport wire fox terriers whenever she can, and a couple weeks ago she got to drive BARNABY! Isn't he adorable? He loved riding "shotgun" and watching the world go by. His nose prints are still on the window of our car - they need to clean that up so I can leave mine!

Another picture of Barnaby, in which I think he resembles Yours Truly. Very handsome, of course.

Barnaby has TWO websites - on Petfinder, and on the website for Wire Fox Terrier Rescue Midwest. There are plenty of WFTs that need homes too! How about Barnaby?

TEAM LENNY!

I have started a team to help out my fellow dogs that need new homes. Maybe even a few kitty cats too. Our humane association is hosting a "Walk for the Animals" on October 3rd, and I am gathering my friends to raise a few bucks for the animals in the shelter. The MCHA also offers my therapy dog training classes, and has a therapy dog group called VIPaws. It is a good cause and I am happy I can help, because I don't have any money!

Please check out my fundraising site!


Here are all of the fun activities for that afternoon:

1:45PM Musical Sit
2:10PM Argus K-9 Search and Rescue Demonstration
2:25PM Flying Paws Agility Demo
2:40PM Doggie Costume Contest
3:00PM Recall Relay
3:30PM Argus K-9 Search and Rescue Demonstration
3:45PM Fundraising Prizes Awarded
Ongoing Activities: Agility Try-It, Doggie Dash Obstacle Course, Canine Water Park/Off-Leash Play, Pawfect Pedicures Nail Painting Station, Pet/Human Caricatures, Adoptable Animals from the City of Bloomington Animal Shelter, Kids Carnival with balloon animals, face painting, games, animals and more! Human massages, Vendor Marketplace benefiting MCHA, Nose, Nails and Tails trims from Joyful Hound Mobile Grooming, Booths from sponsors and other animal welfare non-profits.

Do you have maybe $5 to spare to join Team Lenny and support the shelter animals? Or can you help your own local shelter in some way? The animals - and I! - thank you!!

Pet Partners!

I've gotta tell my mom CONGRATULATIONS! She and I have been going to therapy dog classes for almost a year now. This weekend, she completed her human coursework side of things. She even got a nice little certificate! Now we just have to take the evaluation test together to become a registered Pet Partners team through the Delta Society. Our local branch is called VIPaws. One hurdle is that we are waiting for the Delta Society to make a ruling on whether my bald legs are acceptable or not - no leg warmers allowed when visiting!

And congratulations to my dad too! He was in the paper (Herald Times) yesterday. It was not his favorite picture, but Mom and I thought he looked pretty darn cute.

He always looks like he's having a great time when he conducts. His orchestra has a big season coming up.

Mom has also transported some more great dogs - including a fox terrier again! She got asked to transport an alligator named Elvis but declined the opportunity. I'll put information about Barnaby, the WFT, up tomorrow. He needs a good home!

Opera Dog

You might remember that my dad is a conductor and my mom works at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. So we have a pretty musical family. Including me! I like to sing along when my mom plays high notes on the flute.

However, I don't think I come close to the talent of Duca the Dalmation.

Duca belongs to one of the opera/voice teachers at the JSOM, Carlos Montane', and she goes to school with him all the time. (It's against the rules, but, hey, Duca's a diva.) Duca will even stop by in my mom's office for a treat every now and then.

And did I mention? She even speaks German.

Here she is, the diva herself.

DWB Friends! Maggie and Mitch

I was a very lucky dog this past week. While my family was on vacation, I got to meet some of my oldest and best buddies from Dogs With Blogs -
Maggie & Mitch, and Scruffy, Lacie, and Stan!

The Vacation Dude

Driving back from our week in Maine, we stopped first to meet Maggie and Mitch and their mom, who was super nice and adorable! I think their mom is older than my mom, but their mom looked younger! While the people had a lovely lunch and chatted and admired their gorgeous farmhouse, Maggie and Mitch and I hung out.


Can you believe that I've NEVER met an Airedale in the fur before?

"WHAT?!?"

It's true. I was lucky enough that Maggie and Mitch were the first Airedales I ever got to meet. And they set the standard pretty darn high!

Mitch is an all-around great guy! He could sense that I was a "senior" dog and took it easy with me. He also made total goo-goo eyes at my mom. She was in love.

And the guy can tell a good joke! He was awesome!

And this was no surprise... Maggie was gorgeous! I was glad I dressed up in my party bandana so I would look nice for her.

I gotta tell ya, for such an elegant girl, she has some impressive facial hair. Her beard is great.

Maggie has always been my very special friend because her birthday is exactly two days before mine, in the same year! We are practically "twins"!

Of course, our people wanted us to pose for a picture all together. We did not feel like cooperating.

This was the best shot we got. Maggie has a very "top model" pose, doesn't she? Maybe she should be on Pawject Runway!

Thank you for such a lovely get-together, Maggie and Mitch! I was so happy to finally meet you!

In my next post: Meeting the Holy Terriers!

More DWB Friends! Scruffy, Lacie, and Stan

How many terriers can you count in this picture?

I got to meet Scruffy, Lacie and Stan! Their mom was nice enough to pack them all in the car and meet us EARLY in the morning, even though it was about to rain! She brought us to a nice park in their neighborhood.

Is that you, SCRUFF MAN???

Now we are so happy, we do the DANCE OF JOY! Hey!


Here, Scruffy is doing the long-awaited comparison... who has the longer foxy legs? Surprise! It is Scruffy! My NBA-sized legs are just a teeny bit smaller. It might be an optical illusion though, considering my legs are slightly, um, balding, and he has luscious, full legs.


Drumroll, please....


There she was, the incomparable Lacie. Truly a princess and a diva.


Now, I know that Lacie has a lot of admirers, and a lot of love interests, but she was TOTALLY playing hard-to-get with me. I think it's because I was so nervous I forgot to put on my party bandana.

Stanley proudly led our terrier parade through the park.

"Here we come...walking down the street...

We get the funniest looks from...all the dogs we meet...

HEY HEY we're the TERRIERS! And people say we bark too loud!

But we're too busy playing...to keep our voices down!"


Stan the Man started giving my mom the Airedale goo-goo eyes that Mitch tried earlier.


Hey, come on Scruffy, that's my MOM you're making out with! I will pretend not to be jealous.

...LACIE?? You too? You let my mom hold you and you won't kiss me???
So much for hard-to-get.

I got to say my good-byes to everyone after my mom stopped giving out kisses willy-nilly. My terrier buddies were nice enough to send me off with a goodie bag full of really fun toys! I squeaked them the WHOLE WAY home! My people loved it.

Thanks, Scruffy, Lacie, and Stan - it was so pawesome to meet you! My parents really enjoyed meeting you and your mom.

I can't wait for another road trip - who will I get to meet next?