• Thursday-What'sUP October 25 - 09:00 pm

Joyce Tormala has done it again, she's captured the joy a dog must feel when he's in the Keweenaw woods, playing with a stick. With all the fallen branches and twigs you encounter on a walk through the leafy, carpeted floor, it must seem like heaven to a pooch who loves to fetch sticks all day long. Joyce caught this one smiling. The kitty in the second shot, doesn't seem to have a smile on his face, but has struck a pose of watchful, waiting. It looks as if he's waiting on the outskirts, hoping that someone will include him in this game of throwing and catching the stick. Looks to me like a great place to be.

We had a cat on the farm when I was a youngster that would follow us all around. If we happened to be going to the woods or back to a field it would follow us for a ways, then stop and sit down and neow until we were out out of sound or sight.

My family and I could never imagine our lives without the companionship of dogs!

Are we having fun yet?! My animals would love this outing.

I'm thinking that cat couldn't care less about getting involved in the game, but rather would like to spot a mouse or some other unsuspecting creature. LOL My dog would love that though. She'd fetch sticks all day long if you'd keep throwing them to her. Nice pictures.

The dog looks like it's fetching the entire tree.

Im with Janie, as well as two good lookin pictures today, can't wait to get U.P. there!

I love dogs Uncle Chuck! :) As for the cat...I wish our neighbors 2 cats were UP there with the one in the second picture! I don't mind cats, just not the neighbors.

Sweet pix this morning. We had a cat once upon a time, that would 'fetch'. We're twist a pipe cleaner into a spiral, throw it across the room and "Ching" (half siamese) would fetch it and bring it back to us. Would do that for a good while before wandering off for his nap. :)

My Brothers old Rott turned back into a puppy when I brought her into the woods up there, then I had to chase down a dog that weighs more than me. She didn't care.

Nice pictures. I couldn't live without a dog.

You can't buy loyalty, they say
I bought it though, the other day;
You can't buy friendship, tried and true,
Well just the same, I bought that too.
I made my bid, and on the spot
Bought love and faith and a whole job lot
Of happiness, so all in all
The purchase price was pretty small.
I bought a single trusting heart,
That gave devotion from the start.
If you think these things are not
for sale, Buy a brown-eyed puppy with
a stump for a tail.

I always love Joyce's photos of ol' Pasty Paws. :) There are some great ones in her most recent album.

Beautiful pics; I wish these were my woods, especially this time of year with all the colours out.

I can believe Brooke when she says the Rott weighed more than her. I've met Brooke; she's just a little thing!! I can just picture her being dragged through the woods hanging on for dear life to a leash..... ;-)

Please allow me to correct my spelling...meant to write "we'd", not "we're"....don't know where that came from. :-[ Bothered me 'cause my mom, God rest her soul, was a stickler for correct spelling and grammar. Thanks for the space, Mary.

I haven't seen these guys in awhile! What Pals they are!! They make me feel good when I see them! Thanks!

Nice poem, Snowman. Nice pictures. I love Joyce's pictures.

I Love the pics and love the dog!!! Here are 2 excellent sites about pets in general:


http://indigo.org/friends/


http://www.indigo.org/rainbowbridge_ver2.html

What a great picture. Reminds me of my walks in the woods with my dog, since departed. She used to love to fetch sticks. My wife and I went out for a walk in the woods last weekend but it wasn't quite the same. She even brought back the wrong stick.

Hey Bruce- My McAfee site advisor says that when they entered their email address on that site,
http://indigo.org/friends/ they received 2 emails a week for over 2 months, 9 of which contained a virus. Just FYI.

Regarding walking your dog in the woods, we used to have a female Alaskan Malemute named Misty. After the incident with the porcupine, we kept her on the leash when we took a walk through the woods up north. She was inclined to pull a bit but it only became an issue when we walked with my cousin Chris. As a kid, he wanted to be first. So did Misty. Chris, Misty & whomever was on the end of Misty's leash swiftly became engaged in a walking race. So much for a peaceful stroll looking at fall colors.

It's always nice seeing Joyce's pets. I went to the albumn & took a look at Paco.

This post is fitting and figures today for us!
The pics are beautiful! Looks just like "our" woods out back! Have been to the "rainbow bridge' before. Not now tho, too many tears already since yesterday.---- Love the poem Snow man!

Yesterday we had to have our mother dog "Wiggles" of 13 years (Yellow Lab mix) put to sleep. All of a sudden within just days she deteriorated badly.
We just lost her sister "Looper" (black Lab) of 14 years some of you may remember just a few weeks ago to the same type situation. The Vet gave us a few options, one of course, tests, blood work, blood tranfusion, X-rays etc. etc. which are big $$$ so not an option for us, versus take her back home, take care of her like a person in a nursing home but he thought she probably wouldn't last more then a couple of weeks OR Put her down. Under our circumstances with little choice now we chose Euthanize. I told the Vet I don't believe in Euthanasia cause it gets too close to doing the same with people! I told our kids the same.--When I get in that bad condition (its coming soon) maybe they should do that to me ! (?) Believe me if money wasn't an issue the tests, procedures, surgery that would be needed would've been done!
3 pets in less then a month kinda hard to take!
It seems odd to me that 2 dogs within weeks of each other succumb to the same situation.-- They tell me breast cancer in dogs particularly Labs is common unless they have been neutered.
My thoughts are the contaminated food that was (is?) on the market is a factor here.

Please don't feel bad for us though. We still have Wiggles 2 daughters and we have a few more cats now as we lost 3 since this past spring.

Russ, my heart breaks for you and your family! Losing 3 members of your family in just a few weeks in unthinkable! I can't imagine the pain that you are going through. When you get over 10 years for a Lab, that is a good, long life, though. It is curious that they went so close together. Wiggles may have been mourning her sister, Looper. Dogs are a lot smarter than most people give them credit for, and they honestly do mourn for those they are close to, so that could be a possibility. As for contaminated food, that would be anyone's guess. Were your dogs fed any food that was known to be contaminated? I thought that damage from contaminated food showed up more as kidney or leukemia symptoms? (I am virtually certain that our dog food was not contaminated, thank heavens!)

I certainly understand not being able to spend the big $$$ on vet bills; vet bills have really skyrocketed in the last 3 to 5 years, for some reason. And, please don't feel bad about euthanizing your girl, especially if she was in pain. We have unfortunately had to have several of ours euthanized over the nearly 35 yesrs that we have been married. It hurts, like only those of us who have had to have it done for our special friends, can understand. I am really happy for you that you have two of Wiggles' daughters around to keep your company and play with! In time, you will remember only the good times with Wiggles and Looper. Take care, and hang in there! :-)

For Wiggles:


They say memories are golden
well maybe that is true
I never wanted memories,
I only wanted you.

A million times I needed you,
a million times I cried.
If love alone could have saved you
you never would have died.

In life I loved you dearly,
In death I love you still.
In my heart you hold a place
no one could ever fill.

If tears could build a stairway
and heartache make a lane,
I'd walk the path to heaven
and bring you back again.

Our family chain is broken,
and nothing seems the same.
But as God calls us one by one,
the chain will link again.

Another sad day for another fellow Pasty contributor. I am really sorry, Russell. I sure know how it feels.

Had your girls had their rabies shots or any vaccines recently? Many breeders are highly suspect of the reactions we are getting. We have lost 3 to weird problems immediately following their rabies shots and all 3 were determined to be in good health during their exams prior to the shots.

You make the choices with all the info you have available at the time. I have done the heroics in trying to buy more time for my pets...and never again...even if $ wasn't a factor. If the additional time you buy isn't quality time, you do the hardest & most important act you'll ever do as their caretaker.

Our condolences for your recent losses.

Russell...so very sorry to hear of your family's saddness! I go along with your thoughts on ending a beloved pet's terminal illness by letting go and saying goodbye as they fall asleep. My vet has told me on many occasions that sometimes the treatments can do more damage to an elderly pet than good. Any wonder why I have used my vet for 25 yrs. he's a great guy and straight forward with advice.

Ohhhh- I love the animal pics. The kitten is especially cute!

Our German Shepherd likes the U.P. so much that we drove him up from Nashville three weeks ago so he could swim in Great Sand Bay. I stuffed my face with Abbey Cake from the Jampot with my left hand and threw the stick for him into the Big Lake with the right hand. What could be better?

I m so sorry for your loss Russell, I know what its like to loose a dog. I have 3 of my own. I agree with Snowman I couldn't live without a dog, either. They are so comforting when you come home from a long days work. They want nothing in return but to be petted, fed and loved!
They are my best friends for sure!

Gee! What wonderful thoughts and comments from you all! They really do help at this time, and made us feel better! Snowman: Your second poem really did it. I can't read it without tears running. This poem can apply fittingly to all pets and humans alike! I must print it!

Yes our dogs and cats had the contaminated food. Of late we have been feeding them mostly people food and we can see the difference. My opinion is that much of it is still around and in more sources then imagined-- even in some human foods! Someday the truth will be known!
No our dogs haven't had any shots in recent years. The mandatory Rabies vaccines were a couple of years back. I've recently heard of the now suspect vaccinations of many types harming the immune systems.
Thank you all again and bless you all!

I neglected yesterday to mention that I love these fall pictures, with pets in the Autumn woods, and with the sun shining in on the brightly colored leaves through the treetops! Thank you, Joyce and Mary for a bright spot in our days.