Dogs On Thursday

Happy warm and furry Holidays!

A giant thank you to Natalie for taking over and running Dogs On Thursday so smoothly while I was away.
I also want to say thank you to my My Mom and Gretchen for helping out too!
And a special Thank You to all who sent me such kind words and emails when my Grandmother passed away and while I was recovering from pneumonia.
I am feeling better now.
I sure missed everyone and I am glad to be back!

Since our group has grown quite a bit since the summer, Natalie has agreed to stay on permanently to help out here.

I hope the doggie Holiday Ornament Swap is going well and those of you involved are having fun.

While trying to catch up on your blogs I noticed many have recived such wonderful packages already.
For those participating in the swap; if you have not heard from your pal or you need an angel pal,(as these things happen.) please let me or Natalie know.

For this weeks 'Doggie Spotlight' it will be on my dear Elise who gave me such a comfort over the past trying month.

Elise was born April 15th 2005.

She came to live with us through a basset hound rescue who saved her and her brothers and sisters who were on their way to a pet store and a puppy farm.
Elise was the runt of her litter and quite small with big floppy ears and lots of warm slobbery puppy kisses.

She came to live with us she was just 8 weeks old.
She was very shy at first but in no time at all she became quite the active, lively puppy full of energy and chasing the cats through the house and trying to chew on them.
It was really hard trying to get pictures of her when she was a puppy because she was always on the move except when was sleeping and even then she only seemed to be recharging her batteries.
I was a bit overwhelmed with her at first as she was quite the hyper little thing, always barking, running and chewing on everything in sight, and I won't even get started about all the drool and slobber everywhere, even on our guests!

House training was a nightmare and at the age of 1 1/2, she finally understood to go pee outside but we had to replace several carpets by then!
She has finally mellowed out now and will only occasionally try and chew on the cats.
Even though she spends quite a bit of time with me and travels with me just about everywhere I go, she has always been my husbands baby and she will always run, jump and sit in his lap at night when he comes home from work and tell him all about her day while pushing off any of the cats with her nose.

My Husband had a terrible car accident almost 7 years ago when he was hit head on by a drunk driver and after 7 surgeries in 5 years on his leg, hip and knee he was told he would be permanently handicapped and would never be able to walk without an assisted device.
He became quite depressed then and was starting to give up on physical therapy.
As soon as Elise came home with us my husband became a completely different person and almost instantly the depression was gone.
He went back to physical therapy and even started the recomended hydrotherapy.
Now just this past autumn he has baffled all his doctors by walking Elise without any assistance at all.

But Elise and I are not baffled, we know it was her unconditional love that saved him and helped him to walk again.