Angel… Our Mama Turns 10-Years-Old Today
Our Angel, a half-long-haired, half short-haired, light red and white, fawn-face Chihuahua stole our hearts and literally saved my life, or at least my sanity, during a very dark time for me. Angel is the mama and the alpha dog at our house and of our little pack of Chihuahuas and Chiweenies.
According to her papers, Angel was born in Oklahoma on May 3rd and ten weeks later had made her way to our home and into our hearts.
Baby Angel
My husband was allergic to everything with fur and feathers. But when our daughter was young we gave in starting with hamsters, mice, rats, geckos, lizards, fish, turtles… and then birds. Then our daughter came home with a dog, Angel, while she was working part-time at a pet store, the summer after her first year of college. She was supposed to be earning a little pocket money for the next year. Instead she pretty much spent all she earned and came home with a papered Chihuahua at the height of the Chihuahua craze… who became our Angel.
My husband said, “no way… absolutely not!” Our daughter was going back to the dorms and he was allergic, so he took Angel right back to the store. They wouldn’t take her back because our daughter had signed the contract and they had given up a full paying customer to let her buy Angel at the employee discount, less than half of what they had had an actual customer for. And of course, our daughter went back to school and the dorms about a month later with Angel in tow insisting she could sneak her in and keep her there. Less than an hour after her arrival at school with her 4-legged roommate, we were on our way to pick Angel up. My husband went through 18-months of allergy shots after that so we could keep her.
A year later our daughter was off sailing around the world with the Semester at Sea program. When she got back mid-year, she was assigned a lulu-bell for a roommate and bargained with us to get an off-campus apartment a semester early. She wasn’t there a month… when she brought home a Chiweenie puppy, Apachi, who was being given away outside the pet store, near school, where she had just gotten a part-time job after returning from her sail. A pet store job is never a good idea for her. Major Problem… it was a no pet apartment and we had signed a year’s lease.
Not long after getting Apachi, our daughter’s colitis flared up to an extreme level (I tend to think some vaccines that they got overseas might have exacerbated her condition adding to some stress in her life at the time and too much partying during that period and trip). After a stint at an alternative care facility, in an attempt to avoid radical surgery, she unfortunately ended up having to have 2 major surgeries and I spent a total of 54-days (24/7) in the hospital sleeping on a cot in her room, with her. My husband, who was home with Angel and Apachi, visited daily. With all that was going on we really didn’t think about the fact that neither 6 month old Apachi nor Angel had been fixed. Angel was the best tempered Chihuahua with a really easy going disposition and everyone had said, if we could breed her with a like-type male, they’d love to have a puppy. So I was looking for a mate for her and Apachi was just a baby, and taking him in to be neutered just got lost in all the goings on.
Next thing we knew… we had 4 puppies: Goji Angelina, Magnum, and Princess (As Pictured Below)
Angel was a natural and terrific Mom who took great care of her little brood and Apachi watched over them from somewhat of a distance… until they were weaned, at which point he took over.
Angel Has Always Loved Riding in the Car and Going for Walks… Before and After the Rest of the Family Arrived.
Heading to Dana Point, CA for a Walk
Walks in Wyoming
Traveling From Texas to CA
Walking in Texas
The boy pups (Magnum and Goji) and Angelina went to new homes at 10-weeks of age and we decided to keep Princess, our ADHD girl… Then a few weeks later Angelina came back to us, because her new family couldn’t keep her and we had requested that if anyone who took a puppy had problems that we would get them back. Long story short… we kept Angelina too and that is how we went from birds, turtles and rats, at the time, to 4-dogs and a fish who survived being fed to our turtles.
Angel at Age 8
Angel (9) and Neighbor MaryAnn Playing
Angel’s 2nd Birthday
Angel’s 5th Birthday… USC Party
Our pups are now 7, 8 and 10-years old… We have always had separate birthday parties for everybody, but this year we are going to have a combined party next week, including for Rocky, our in-laws’ aging Cocker Spaniel. But we had a mini-celebration today, on Angel’s actual 10th B-day.
Our Christmas Card the Past Couple of Years (Below)… Featuring our Furkids Singing. The Rule Within the Pack Appears to be That Nobody Can Start Singing Until Angel Starts.
Related:
‘Until One Has Loved an Animal, Part of Their Soul Remains Unawakened’
Pet Parties – The Latest Craze
For these moms, a dog-day afternoon
Photos By: UCLA Shutterbug
Halloween Pet Fun… Looking Back
Looking back at some fun Halloween moments with our gang and friends…
Happy Halloween 2013 From the Gang at Just One More Pet
2013 Annual NYC Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade – Haunted Hounds
‘Until One Has Loved an Animal, Part of Their Sour Remains Unawakened’
Pet Dads With Their Pets (Furkids)
UCLA Shutterbug – Wyoming Outing
Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival
UCLA Schutterbug - Kisses for Schatze
Reddit/orangefever - Just Wrestling
UCLA Shutterbug - Having a PowWow
UCLA Shutterbug - Whole Family is Asleep… Pups 7-Weeks Old
Merry Christmas From Just One More Pet
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas
And a fabulous Holiday Season
May you be surrounded with the people, pets and things you love.
May your heart be filled with joy and memories of former Christmases
And may you be blessed by the story and love of the true reason for this beautiful season.
The characters below are at the top of the list of what makes us happy!
US… Angel, Angelina, Apachi and Princess
Us… As We See Ourselves
Us… Singing to Wish you a very Merry Christmas…
Cross-Posted at our Sister Site: Ask Marion
Related:
A Dog’s Rules For Christmas and Hanukkah
Adopt a Pet This Christmas… Or Give Someone a New Friend for Christmas (or Hanukah)!
Watch Glenn Beck’s Emotional Tribute To His Dog, Victor
Training Your Dog to Decorate Your Tree
All I want for Christmas Is You~
Critter for Christmas Gift… Not Always Best Idea! – Unless you do it the right way
Living the life of Riley in fast lane – Wiener Nationals
HUNTINGTON BEACH The last time I talked to Brittany Hayes we were in China, at the world’s grandest sporting event, discussing the possibility of being a champion, an Olympic champion.
Now, I’m talking to Hayes here, at a nearly empty park, but still discussing the possibility of a champion, one who stands 10 inches high and weighs 12 pounds.
And, in mid-question, someone’s dog jumps on my lap.
This rarely happens at Lakers practice, although no one is ever sure what’s coming next from Ron Artest.
“I’m an Olympian,” Hayes says, “and my dog is more famous than me.”
In recent days, I’ve written about Phil Jackson, Mike Scioscia and Vladimir Guerrero. Generally, whomever I write about is a big dog.
Today, I’m writing about a wiener dog.
But, no, not just any wiener dog. This wiener dog is one of the fastest wiener dogs around.
Hey, I do have standards and Riley does measure up, even if he’s so short he could limbo under a bathroom rug.
He already has won the Octoberfest event at Old World Village in Huntington Beach and the wiener dog races that are part of Long Beach State’s homecoming. When your school doesn’t have a football team, apparently you improvise.
Riley next will be going after the Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals on Saturday at Los Alamitos Race Course. The event mostly is for charity — benefitting the Seal Beach Animal Care Center — and for laughs.
But something quite significant also waits at the finish line — $1,000. That goes to the dog’s owner.
And the dog house in the shape of a Wienerschnitzel restaurant? That goes to the winning wiener.
What sets Riley apart — besides being Usain Bolt in a teeny chocolate-and-tan fur coat — is that his owner possesses an Olympic medal. Hayes, who played at Foothill High and USC, won silver with the U.S. women’s water polo team in 2008 in Beijing.
Now, she’s on dry land chasing another valued piece of sports hardware: a trophy inscribed with the words “Fastest Wiener in the West.”
So it’s not exactly “Faster, Higher, Stronger,” but let’s see Michael Phelps race on all fours against opponents with names like Killer, Dude and Snuggles.
“I am competitive, of course,” Hayes says. “But Riley just loves to race. He’s a natural. People might think I’m a crazy dog lady. Well, I am a crazy dog lady but not one who goes crazy if my dog doesn’t win.”
When USA Water Polo wanted to do a story — complete with video — on Riley, Hayes was worried about what other people might think.
No one wants to be viewed as having the stability and perspective of a person who potentially one day could live alone with, say, 27 cats.
Well, Hayes isn’t that person. She has a boyfriend, Stefan Luedecke, and lives in a condo. The only hint of insanity is her desire to be an attorney; she just finished her first year at Loyola Law School.
But, be very certain, she does love her wiener dog.
“He’s our child,” Hayes says. “Everything revolves around him. He goes everywhere with us.”
Riley has been inside restaurants, hidden in a beach bag. He has gone grocery shopping. When she coaches, Hayes sometimes takes Riley to the pool, where he’ll sit in a bag with his head popping out.
He has a nice life, in part because he almost died before any of this racing business even began. Riley, who turns 2 in a couple weeks, was sick with bad allergies for five months.
There were times when Hayes had to hand-feed him baby food and carry him out to go to the bathroom, holding him up so he could do his business.
On this day, Riley appears completely healthy, and he sounds that way, too. The little guy enjoys a good bark.
“We say he has a split personality,” Hayes says. “He’s half Riley and half Chucky. He’ll yell at you for five minutes, and then he’ll be kissing you.”
Funny, Scioscia’s the same way.
But Riley is cuter. Scioscia wasn’t the one who dressed up like a fireman for Halloween and received 20,000 votes in an online costume contest.
“It’s really like he’s a human being sometimes,” Hayes says of Riley, not Scioscia. “It kind of scares us.”
On Saturday, Riley will attempt to let his legs do the barking. He will be trying to become a champion, trying to rise above the designation of mere wiener.
This isn’t the Olympics. This is bigger.
At the Games, first place means you get a spot on the top step. At the Wiener Nationals, first place means you get the whole house.
Source: OC Register
O.C. Olympian Now Eyeing Wiener’s Circle
Nathan’s Annual Independence Day Hot Dog Eating Contest
New York, Boston and Washington are cities warming up crowds with entertainment events during the day, putting up traditional fireworks displays. And what Big Apple Fourth of July would be complete without Coney Island’s embrace of two of America’s biggest loves: hot dogs and competition or Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest (2010).
Nathan’s International Hot Dog Eating Contest July Fourth is an annual competitive eating competition held at Nathan’s Famous Corporation’s original and best-known restaurant at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York.
The event is held on July 4 and is regarded as the world’s most famous hot dog eating contest and a colorful tradition of Independence Day in the United States. In 2006, over 30,000 spectators attended the event, and an additional 1.5 million households watched it live on ESPN.
Three time defending champion Joey Chestnut faced off with his competition, and when all was said and done, Chestnut emerged victorious again capturing the title for 2010. The contest festivities started on Sunday, July 4 at noon. The contest has become a 4th of July tradition.
2010 winner ate 54 wieners and buns
Other cities around the country hold local versions of the contest.
Here are a few local audience photos of attendees 😉
Small Bite
Too Much Fun
No Wiener Dogs Were Harmed…
Save a Life…Adopt Just One More…Pet!
Everyday we read or hear another story about pets and other animals being abandoned in record numbers while at the same time we regularly hear about crazy new rules and laws being passed limiting the amount of pets that people may have, even down to one or two… or worse yet, none.
Nobody is promoting hoarding pets or animals, but at a time when there are more pets and animals of all types being abandoned or being taken to shelters already bursting at the seams, there is nothing crazier than legislating away the ability of willing adoptive families to take in just one more pet!!
Our goal is to raise awareness and help find homes for all pets and animals that need one by helping to match them with loving families and positive situations. Our goal is also to help fight the trend of unfavorable legislation and rules in an attempt to stop unnecessary Euthenization!!
“All over the world, major universities are researching the therapeutic value of pets in our society and the number of hospitals, nursing homes, prisons and mental institutions which are employing full-time pet therapists and animals is increasing daily.” ~ Betty White, American Actress, Animal Activist, and Author of Pet Love
‘Until One Has Loved an Animal, Part of Their Soul Remains Unawakened’
So if you have the room in your home and the love in your heart… Adopt Just One More Pet or consider becoming a Foster parent for pets… Also check out: Little Critter: Just One More Pet
Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know(Kindle)
Photos By: Marion Algier – The UCLA Shutterbug
There is always room for Just One More Pet. So if you have room in your home and room in your heart… Adopt Just One More! If you live in an area that promotes unreasonable limitations on pets… fight the good fight and help change the rules and legislation…
Save the Life of Just One More…Animal!
Recent and Seasonal Shots
As I have been fighting Cancer… A battle I am gratefully winning, my furkids have not left my side. They have been a large part of my recovery!! Ask Marion
Photos by the UCLA Shutterbug are protected by copyright, Please email at JustOneMorePet@gmail.com or find us on twitter @JustOneMorePet for permission to duplicate for commerical purposes or to purchase photos.
See Creative Pet Halloween Costumes
If you can adopt or foster just one more pet, you could be saving a life, while adding joy to your own! Our shelters are over-flowing… Please join the fight to make them all ‘NO-Kill’ facilities.
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Great Book for Children and Pet Lovers… And a Perfect Holiday Gift
One More PetEmily loves animals so much that she can’t resist bringing them home. When a local farmer feels under the weather, she is only too eager to “feed the lambs, milk the cows and brush the rams.” The farmer is so grateful for Emily’s help that he gives her a giant egg... Can you guess what happens after that? The rhythmic verse begs to be read aloud, and the lively pictures will delight children as they watch Emily’s collection of pets get bigger and bigger.
Buy Now: A Must Have For Every Pet Owner
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