Wednesday, January 24, 2007

PHOTOS: newest to oldest



JANUARY 2008


Whispy doing the A-Frame




Oh the joy of running!!


Nearing the tunnel



Entering the tunnel


Weaving thru the weave poles





Doing a jump


Exiting the chute

Out of the chute





AUGUST 2007
Whisp doing the A Frame





June 2007




Beautiful little Whisp



May 2007


The Storm Watchers



April 2007


Tired little Whisp in her new ferret "fish house"





Whisp modeling her lavender SDIT vest and her new matching leash






March 2007


13March2007 "For Lease: One Hard Working Chihuahua" ....



I was thinking about leasing Cally out. She has been kind of moping around the house after the grand adventure last Friday when all 5 dogs went to the vet. I am amazed I was able to manage that many all at once…never again though. This morning when Rain and I left the house on errands Cally seemed very busy and didn't even notice us leaving. When we got home I was so tired I lay down to take a nap. I was awakened by Cally barking in the living room but drifted back to sleep when she stopped. ...I felt Cally walking on me and could feel her staring in my face with her feet on my chest. I slowly opened my sleepy eyes and there stood Cally with a mischievous look on her face with something in her mouth. As she was so close to my face it took me a moment to see what she held in her mouth…!!! I was out of bed in a heart beat, stifling a huge EWWWW! Cally dropped the dead mouse in my bed right where I had just been lying a nanosecond before and also fled the bedroom. She had been spending her time catching a mouse in the house and I was so grossed out that I didn't stop to praise her as I fled.….Since she is a proven mouser I was thinking maybe I should lease her out. It keeps her busy and she is good at what she does. Her kill was still warm. EWWWW!!! My Service Dog is "moonlighting"!!





"Hey I want to see!! Let me look!! I wanna see the dead mousy thing!" "Cally when will I be old enough to catch mousy things too? Huh? When? Oh it looked like so much fun and I can run way faster than you!!"


"We just came home from the vets. I didn't have to get any shots. YAY!! ...but everybody else did." (10 March)





Well muscled and agile baby Whisp is 4#s







"The Vet said I was very pretty and oh so well behaved....that's 'cause Rainy told me to!"








"Hey I'm checking my teeth....the Vet says I have extra canines!...Just LOOK!!"





FEBRUARY 2007




"Are you sure that is SmokeyHaze?!? It doesn't look like SmokeyHaze?!?"





"It doesn't smell like SmokeyHaze...?!?"






"I guess everything is okay, just ask Cally. It is Smokey....why, I knew it all the time."







Cally helping me with the trash.



Whisper watching Cally helping me with the trash.






"Here Cally, I'll help you!" Whisp's first attempt at helping Cally with the trash.






Cally sporting her new Service Dog (SD) vest posing with Whisp dressed in her Service Dog In Training (SDIT) vest. Whisp has grown into and nearly out of her SDIT vest - check the earliest photos of her wearing this xxxxs vest, 21 August 2006. Whisp is still so small compared to Cally that it is actually hard for me to remember exactly how tiny Whisp actually was when she came to live with us.






Cally SD and Whisp SDIT dressed for work.






DECEMBER 2006

Whisp's first adventure with snow. She doesn't quite know what to think of the white cold stuff. This was all the further down the wheelchair ramp Whisp made it on this first time in the snow. Later in the day when I sent the dogs all out again Whisp went out like an "old trouper" but stayed out a little too long and I had to go out to "save" her as her feet just got too cold.






High stepping like a Tennessee walking horse or even a moose - Whisp didn't quite like the feel of her first snow experience.






When I opened the door for Whisp's first snow experience she raced outside with the others, as usual. She went out about 3 feet then slammed on her brakes because she didn't know what else to do.





After venturing 1/2 way down the wheelchair ramp Whisp had decided that enough of this snow and came right back to the patio door to be let inside...she was still moving really funny!





With the coming of winter the nights are getting longer in MN and seemingly much darker. Whisp's brightly colored sweaters do not help me find her in the blackness of night. I put a "pet blinker" on her that blinks pink and teal. With her moving about fast, very close to the ground, she reminds me of a tiny brightly colored fire fly flitting from here to there.






Trying to capture Whisp playing firefly in the back yard with a digital camera was very hard. I took approx 20 photos to come up with just these two. Even though the pet blinker is blinking in pink and teal one would be hard pressed to say those are the colors that showed up in these photos.





Whisp in her new coat from Santa.





NOVEMBER 2006


" Look Whispy... My mouth is still bigger than yours!!"





Cally and Whisp just hanging out together on the couch







Whisp carefully walking on a quilt covered Rain who was asleep on the couch






Whisp eating breakfast as Rain waits to see if there will be any left overs. There is absolutely no food guarding by any of the dogs.






"Rainy look and see if I have lost any more of my baby teeth."







Whisp's turn to "wash" dishes.







Rain and Whisp playing with each other.




Close up of Rain's and Whisp's mouths so you can see the size comparison of their canines. Whisp's teeth are still baby teeth so her adult canines will be a wee bit bigger than they are now.







Whisp and Cally look like daughter and mother, don't they? Although at this angle Whisp appears to be the same size as Cally. Whisp isn't nearly as big as Cally.




Whisp working hard on chewing what is left of a hard large Greenie bone. She has begun losing some of her baby teeth and chewing feels good.





Whisp enjoying what is left of a large Greenie bone.





7 November 2006, drum roll please.....Whisp weighed in at an even 3#s at the vet's when she went for her parvo booster.





Cally, like Rain, is a High Plains Service Dog. She wears this custom made Circle E harness when she is working as a Service Dog away from home. The handle allows me to easily set her down or pick her up from the wheelchair. Cally is a 6# Chihuahua and will be 9 years old 4/07. I am hoping that little Whisp will follow in Cally's paw prints and become a Service Dog also.




Nose to Nose. Whisp's entire nose would fit inside one of Rain's nostrils with room to spare.





Afternoon play time




Whisp hanging out with Rain along side my chair as I work on the computer. My house is chilly and Whisp has found that sitting on Rain keeps her warmer.











2November2006. Whisp was spayed on 25October and on that day she weighed in at...drum roll please.....3 lbs 1 oz!!! Her weight dropped due to the pre-op fasting and no eating after surgery but she is eating well and gaining back what she lost.






SmokeyHaze




SmokeyHaze



OCTOBER 2006

Whisp taking an afternoon nap in her crate, one tired puppy.




Whisp in her small crate sleeping with her worldly possessions




"BOO!!! Did I scare you Cally?"




"So this is what a thick fur coat feels like....SWEET!!!"













Whisp in her third hand knit sweater. It is bright so that I can find her among the fallen leaves.












See if you can find Whisp in this photo, hint she is wearing her bright blue hand knit sweater
















Clue to finding Whisp - she is following closely on Cally's heels. Now go back up to the previous photo and see if you can find Whisp.










With the photo enlarged check to see if you were right - were you able to find Whisp? Whisp is up and slightly to the left of center.




Baby Whisp




Whisp and SmokeyHaze just hanging out on the couch together.





"I've got it Smokey....I've got it!"












Whisp wearing her second hand knit sweater



SEPTEMBER 2006

Little Whisp at Dog Daze











22September2006, Whisp meeting some children at Dog Daze. Whisp really enjoyed the day watching all shapes, sizes, colors, fur types of dogs that came to the event. She also was very interested in watching the dog event demonstrations: obedience, fly ball and agility. She also met all ages, heights, skin colors, male and female, wearing all sorts of things including caps and hats, back packs, on roller blades, men with facial hair....and she kissed them all.












22September2006, Dog Daze - Whisp is dressed as a baby ear of corn in her first hand knit sweater.











22September2006, 2nd Place at Dog Daze - "Corn Dog" costume. Our State Fair had just ended and it is known for selling many food items on a stick, with corn dogs being one of them - thus this was a tongue in cheek costume and when people realized it there were audible groans.




17September2006 "'Scuse me, let me just climb up here for a better look."





17September2006 "Hey Rainy, can I tell you a secret?"




17September2006 "Don't worry little buddy...I know CPR!"




17September2006 "Say Rainy, do you have faucets down there?"




17September2006, "My goodness, what a big tail you have Rainy!"




17September2006, "No my tongue is longer than yours Rainy....LOOK!"












17September2006, "'Scuse me Rainy....just passing thru."





16September2006 Whisp and SmokeyHaze





16September2006 Whisp checking to see if SmokeyHaze' eye needs cleaning





16September2006 bath time for SmokeyHaze





16September2006 "Wait I want to be in the photo too....There how do we look? Aren't we cute?"


16September2006 Whisp's tear streaked face, after her fall playing "Mountain Goat" in the back yard, see Adventures and Mishaps.











15September Whisp's first watermelon - sweeter when shared with a friend.












15September2006 Baby Whisp sleeping with her piggy


15September2006 Baby Whisp sleeping



11September2006 "No, no don't look Cally!!" Whisp wearing her first store bought sweater - it is too short in the body and too big around and right after the photo she walked right out of the sweater



6September2006 Wild Whisp playing with Cally



6September2006 Standing on her hind legs, Whisp licking her nose



6September2006 Cally and Whisp playing











6September2006 Whisp and Cally playing










AUGUST 2006



21August2006 Whisp in her xxxxs "In Training" vest for further socialization outings.



21August2006 Whisp out on the back yard wheelchair boardwalks.











21August2006 close up of Whisp on the wheelchair boardwalks.











21August2006 Cally and Whisp in the back garden by the goose decoy



21August2006 Whisp by the goose decoy in the back yard










19August2006 Whisp is uncertain about how to get down from the small river boulders. She is growing into her body and learning how it all works.



19August2006 Whisp checking out getting down from the small river rock boulders. Whisp did not step nor jump down on that lower small river boulder this day. She was too uncertain and being cautious.











16August 2006 Whisp and Rain, shortly after this was taken Whisp hid in the pink tissue box










16August2006 Rain checks out baby Whisp. Rain weighs 90#s and Whisp 1 lb 8 ozs.




16August2006 Whisp in her 10" diameter bed with all her worldly possessions. The little brown squirrel is from AKC and it is a mini, for those of you familar with their toys. The little bed is from the small animal section - made for ferrets - as dog beds aren't made this little, which you can see is way too big for baby Whisp.



14August2006 Whisp and Cally first meeting - Whisp is more relaxed



14August2006 Whisp in her temporary housing



14 August2006 Close up of baby Whisp and Cally. Whisp, 1 lb 8 ozs at 11 weeks 4 days of age.



14August2006 Whisp meets Cally for the first time. Whisp weighed 1 lb 8 ozs Cally weighs 6 lbs ....no this is not a McDonalds Happy Meal toy with a normal size Chihuahua