Shayker

Shayker was a small Lhasa terrier mix that my husband bought for me. The first time I saw her she shook so bad, that I called her Shayker. It stuck. When I brought her home she weighed less than 800 grams.

She was a funny puppy. The first night I had her she slept in our living room in a crate. All was well the first night. The next night, wow, who knew a small baby like that could make such a racket? Anyway kicked hubby out of bed, and let her sleep with me. I got her in April 2001, just after my husband had lost his job. I sure loved her. Akeija, had a minor stroke in April and then I had one 6 weeks later. I lost my short term memory and my speech for 8 months. That sucked. The only one that understood me was Shayker. Shayker loved me and barely tolerated my husband. Every time he would come near me she would growl. On January 2, 2002, I brought Shayker to the vet for a check up. I thought she was too thin and she was a fussy eater. While at the vets she peed on the floor. The vet was concerned that is was too dilute so he ran a bunch of tests. It was then we found out Shayker was in Chronic Renal Failure. She was dying from the day she was born. I was hysterical and my speech shut down again. The vet only gave her a few weeks to live. I brought her home and started her on Peditite and a special diet. I cried so much, my doctor was concerned that I would either have another stroke or a heart attack. Shayker lived for almost 4 months, then the succumbed to this terrible disease. Out of all my losses in my life, she rates up there as #1. I miss her so much and I think of her everyday. She is buried in a pet cemetery with Dallas and I go visit them quit often there. I still cry when I go. To me she was the child I never had..

Shayker was the product of a backyard breeder in Markstay. I called the lady and told her about Shayker. I was not polite with her and honest to god, if she would have been standing in front of me, I would have kicked the life out of her.

Shayker died at the age of 14 months. 6 weeks after Akeija.







Charlie thinking Shayker is a chipmunk



Shayker, Dallas and Akeija




Shayker with a small kong

Charlie

After Salsa died, I was really depressed. So my husband said lets go to the pound and see if anyone there needs a good home. I cried the whole time I was there. No one there caught my eye. When we were about to leave, this black paw reaches out and swatted my husband's leg. He had been so far back in the cage, we never saw him. So, they let him out and he wrapped his arms around Gaston's neck. He came home with us.

Akeija loved him and Charlie just chilled. That night after coming home from work, we could not find him. OMG check Akeija to see if she ate him. No blood or fur on Akeija. Where could he be? We called and called and searched the house. No Charlie. After a while, I hear a meow and I look up. There he is. On top of my kitchen cupboards, sleeping in a corner. Little monkey is a climber....He was a hunter, he tried to get my budgies all the time. He loved being on the counters, table what ever was high off the floor. During this time, we brought Dallas home. After a while my husband began to feel sorry for Charlie because the dogs would beat him to his dish, so he started to feed Charlie on the counter. LOL a man who does not like cats, crumbled.
I came home early one day and went to my office. I could hear running and playing so I just let them be. After a while, I noticed no noise so I went to check on them.

What I found made me laugh. Dallas was splayed out on the floor not moving. Charlie had knocked a tube of crazy glue off the counter, and Dallas being a puppy, chewed it. He had glued his face to the hard wood floors. After I carefully cut her away from the floor, I called poison control. I swear Charlie was laughing in only a way a cat can.

We moved the following year and Charlie began a new habit. When he was annoyed with you, he would poop on something of yours. Usually Dallas's bed. But I remember one time, I saw Charlie running out of our bedroom and a very angry, naked husband in pursuit. So I asked what? He said shit.. What? The beast had crapped on the bed, while he was in it, right beside him. Payback for stepping on him earlier, I guess. LOL

Charlie was a garage hunter. He killed a lot of mice and chipmunks. I tried to get him when he got them. I like chipmunks. I managed to save a lot from Charlie. Who knew chipmunks played dead? And man do they take off fast when the sense danger is gone. Charlie was most certainly a character.

Charlie was not allowed outside, but when we were moving again, Charlie disappeared. We went back everyday for months, leaving food and calling. Charlie's remains were found almost a year after we lost him. He left a big hole in my heart.

Charlie left us in 2002.

Dallas

Dallas was a husky/Sheppard cross. The first time I saw her she was only about 4 inches long and I had to climb under a barn to get her. I never owned a husky cross before and man was she strong. I took her for a walk when she was about 6 months old and she dragged me on my face up the street.(much to my neighbors delight.free entertainment) Dallas loved all people but she disliked all other animals. She liked only her pack. She was smart and we taught her to smile. She had big white teeth...lol freaked out those door to door religious groups. You could take anything you wanted out of her mouth, but her dish was a whole other story. We used to feed her alone. I remember one time Charlie ( you will read about him soon) brought in a chipmunk. I freed the little rodent from Charlie and he took off running in my house. Now we had a full fledged circus going on. The cat was chasing it, Dallas was after it and Akeija joined in the fun. My dinning room table went flying and chaos was rampant. I had to put the cat in out attached garage, Dallas in our solarium, give Akeija a stay command. I opened our front door and went and had a nap. When I woke up, the critter was long gone.

I remember one time we got a flea infestation, so we decided to wash the dogs on our lawn. Akeija loved bath days. How was I supposed to know, husky's hate water? My husband had a halti on Dallas and was using his foot on the leash. As soon as we wet Dallas, she took off like a bat out of hell. My husband did a flip that was definitely Olympic worthy. ( more entertainment for the neighbours who have now brought out beer to enjoy with the show)

Dallas was a very camera shy dog, she would try to hide so her pictures are not the best.

Dallas died in 2004 from colon cancer. Her antics are sorely missed.

Salsa

Salsa was a one in a million orange cat. My husband noticed I was feeding all the stray cats in the neighbourhood. After a while he said if you want one, get one....
My husband does not like cats. So I looked in the paper and found one.

So I went to meet this beauty and fell in love with him. The most incredible green eyes and a friendly personality. Salsa came into my home and immediately made himself at home. The first night we had him, he curled up beside me and kneaded, sucked on a blanket and had the loudest purr. I was watching him when I seen this hand come over me. My husband was going to flick the cat in the ear to stop him from purring. So being me, I asked...What are you going to do with that hand? Fingers down and a nice pat to Salas's head, while saying nice kitty.

Salsa was neutered and declawed before I got him. So I told my husband he could not go outside unattended. Akeija and Salsa became buddies and Akeija always looked out after him. If a stray cat or dog came into our yard, Akeija would put the run on them. Salsa liked being with us. unfortunately, my husband let him out one day with out Akeija and he disappeared. I found him the next morning. He had been killed my a loose pit bull that the neighbors had. I was so upset. This dog was known to be friendly but hated cats and killed 2 of my neighbours cats.

My husband says that Salsa was a nice cat, he even played with him.

Salsa gone to Rainbow Bridge 1997. Mom still misses you also.

Akeija

Akeija was the first dog I owned. She was a golden retriever collie cross. A beautiful furbaby. When I first got her, I decided to take a year off work to train her for hand and vocal commands.
She was so smart and beautiful. She liked all other animals and once introduced herself to a skunk. Ugh. No Akeija that was not a cat with a bad attitude. Another time she introduced herself to a porcupine. She only got 2 quills on the side of her face. She was not animal aggressive. When my husband and I got together, it was love me, love my dog. Now this was a man who wore suits everyday and never had a fur throwing machine in the house before.
One time my husband was agitating me and I told him if he kept it up, Akeija would eat him. He just laughed and cuddled Akeija and said this lover would not bite him. I gave her a silent command and Cujo appeared. She backed him into a corner snarling and snapping. He damn near crapped himself. Akeija aged and she started to slow down over the years, but she loved me and protected me. She was also trained to open doors. One time when I was working I got robbed. Akeija, who was about 14 at the time came flying through the door and went into attack mode. I gave her a command to stay. I beat the living crap out of the guy. The cops laughed when they arrested him. Considering I was only 8 months out of having a stroke, I won that round. Really wanted to rip this guys throat out, but did not let Akeija go after him. If they guy would have knocked me down, she would have bitten and contained him.

At 16, it was time to let my baby go. Her hips were failing and she was in pain. I did not have the strength to put her down so I left the country and my husband took her to the vet to release her to Rainbow Bridge. I keep her ashes with me and when my time comes, she will go with me.

I still miss her. Akeija 2002

This morning about 4 am, Quincy woke me up. He stashed a cookie in the couch and decided to have an early morning num num. Too bad he was sitting on my chest....

The Funny Farm

Welcome to the funny farm.

My name is Vanja and I am owned by my pets. My dogs are Missie the poo ( Terri-poo ), Tyra, a retired Champion Shih Tzu, Quincy a Shih Tzu and rescue failure ( I fell in love ) and Annie, a little Shih Tzu that was tossed away to die.

I have a cat named Piper that rules the house and is bigger than the fur-babies. LOL

Pictures will be coming in soon....with stories of my kids.