Halloween Dogs

It's Halloween and time to torture the pups. Below you'll see Figgy in her cat suit, well at least her cat ears. The rest is a black coat and neck cover, she looks very cute. Below her is Kingman as the "Halloweener Dog", need I say more?

Happy Dog

Sparky wishes you a happy day!

Sparky Updates!

Sparky news. Cannot believe it has been nearly 5 months since we got this pup. Here are a couple of new photos. Below is Nick and Sparky up near Perkinsville. Sparks is wearing his safety vest that allows him to be secure in the back of the Jeep while riding off road. He's buckled in and gets to ride on the custom bed that Debbie made.



Dogs behaving badly...seriously, table manners?!? Sparks overlooking the Verde Valley, high atop Mingus Mountain. Note the storm clouds in the background. This was near the beginning of a 4 hour trail ride around and down the mountain. Lot's of fun!!! He's wearing "Doggles" to keep the dust out of his face.

New Jeep

It's been awhile, but finally some new postings! We sold the old 1989 Wrangler last month and bought our neighbor's 2004 Wrangler. We've made a number of changes to it, and here's the latest view of it. The back drop is Sycamore Canyon, AZ.

Fire in Sedona!

On Sunday June 18 at about 1:00 pm a fire broke out in the Brins Mesa area of Sedona. It quickly spread and they called for the evacuation of numerous residents in the uptown area. Later they called for the closure and evacuation of the Oak Creek Canyon area as well. At present, they project that the fire has covered 3000 acres and is at 0% containment. Hot, dry, windy weather isn't helping at all. Below are some photos taken yesterday afternoon/evening showing the fire and fire control efforts.


View from our patio--20 miles away


Fire on the hillside


Helicopter with water bucket on the way to fill up


Tanker starting a chemical drop


Tanker continuing to drop retardant


Specialized helicopter with suction hose and water dump tanks


Evening view showing numerous hotspots

Sparky - One month later

What a sweet boy! Sparky has integrated into the pack very well. There were a few rough spots with Tasha, but that was based on her issues and not his. Everyone gets along very well and Sparky has fit into the daily routines. He loves his walks, chasing lizards in the yard, and especially his Jeep rides. He sits in the back--harnessed in for safety--and watches the world go by. He rides like a pro and doesn't move around a lot. If it gets too bumpy or windy, he lays down. Seeing other dogs doesn't trigger any reaction...it's his ride and nothing will ruin it.

Hard to believe that he was in the shelter for all those months without anyone seeing his potential and adopting him. Of course the shelter staff knew he was a great dog...they all loved him and he was a mascot around the place. Like Bella before him, everyone else's miss was our big hit! His personality is a mix of our beloved Sam and Boris, hitting the best parts of both of them. We're convinced that they've sent him with instructions on how to live here.

Stay tuned for more!

"No Quiero Sparky!"

Sparky got a hold of the Taco Bell dog today...I think he was fed up with all the Mexican protesting. Sparky prevailed and Mr. Taco won't be advertising anymore...

Uncanny Coincidence

We are still trying to get over the loss of Boris. Through an odd set of coincidences, we have found another dog who now lives with us. This boy was found wandering stray late last year, and has been in dog jail (the Humane Society kennel) since December 2005. "Vader", as they called him, hasn't been able to find a home. Maybe it's the breed (Pit), maybe it was the sad photo on the Humane Society website. In any case, here's how we ended up with "Sparky" as we call him.

Debbie happens to be looking at petfinder.com and sees his listing. She thinks he is cute, and shows him to me. No expectation of doing anything about it, just showing the resemblance to Boris. Several days later, a neighbor calls and asks if I have the newspaper for that day. "There's a dog in there you should see", he says. It was "Vader". As the paper stated it: "The pet of the week is, once again, Vader..." He's been in before, no luck.

So last Friday we decided to go and see what he was like. He was great! A big headed, brindle pitty boy. Recently neutered, he was all kisses and wags. Whomever raised him did it right, he knows "sit, down, wait, come" and is very well adjusted. He has no problem laying at your feet for 45 minutes while you dine outdoors. He doesn't beg. When you open his crate and say "crate", he goes in and lays down. We currently crate him when we leave him home, and at night. He has to earn his points to be sure he is as well behaved as he appears. In time, he will have full run of the household, but for now, he is supervised closely.

He is also very good at just hanging out. While Nick works in the garage or front yard, Sparky lays down and watches or sleeps. No wandering off!

Stay tuned for more info. We're thinking of making him a bandanna that says "Ask about my Greyhounds" and letting him wear the backpack carrying their water.

In Memoriam - Boris 4/5/95 - 4/17/05

Dear Friends;

It is with a heavy heart and a mind full of sorrow that I write to let you know of the loss of our dear sweet pup Boris. He left our world to continue his journey on April 17th and we miss him so much. He was our loyal companion and taught us many lessons during his time with our family.

He joined our lives 11 years ago as a small puppy. He taught us that we needed a little boy in our lives even though we were looking for a little girl. He was very persistent and picked Nick out, which was the start of a lifelong love affair with our “twins” Boris and Tasha.

Boris taught us to always enjoy life, take a walk every day, savor each meal to the fullest, greet your loved ones with much joy and appreciation each time they return home and finally seek out the most comfortable place to take a nap especially if it is the lap of someone you love.

We have prepared a very special pictorial tribute to Boris that I would like to share with you, it is a large file and on some computers will begin playing almost immediately, while on others it will have to download first and may take quite awhile. Please be patient. Click here to open it.

We are thankful that he was a part of our lives.

The Dogs of Easter

OK, some of you will think it's just wrong...but they had a lot of fun with this! We've taken our three Grey Hares out to a meet and greet event and everyone loved their outfits.


"It's tough being handsome and cute at the same time!"


"Being a bunny is hard work, let's rest!"


"What are YOU looking at?!?"

We Adopt another Greyhound - Welcome Figgy!

OK, so we're suckers for dogs in need. There was a sweet 7 year old female who had been adopted and living with a family for a couple of years. They decided to adopt a chihuahua (why?!?) and the two dogs didn't get along well. So, they dumped Figgy.

We didn't want her bouncing around from one foster to another, so we adopted her. She's very sweet and gentle and all the other dogs get along with her. It will take awhile for her full personality to blossom (as it did with Kingman), but she is already showing that she belongs with us!

We Finally Get A Little Rain...

After over a 140 days with no measurable rainfall, we finally got some yesterday. This morning, we awoke to a little winter wonderland! It will probably melt away in a couple of hours, but for now it's quite a desert treat!

Nice Kitty!

What do you get as a Christmas present for someone who already has everything? Why not a baby tiger? OK, so we didn't really "get" the tiger, but we got to spend 15 minutes playing, petting and holding it. I was the mainly the photographer, but got to pet as well. Debbie was the guest of honor spending the whole time playing. Hmmm, what to get next year...