Adopt A Husky - News You Can Use

It started just fine. Sunday was a beautiful day, and I was surrounded by all my friends. We were just hanging out, enjoying a lazy Sunday morning when a van pulled up. OK, that piqued our interest. Van deliveries usually mean a new dog to chew on, I mean play with, yep play, not chew. And sure enough, the door opened and out popped a dog. And then another dog, only both these dogs looked familiar. I looked closer and OH MY GOD, it was Skycat trotting down the driveway!!!!! Sure, my former BF Kodak was right behind her which was fine, but Skycat, here, in MY foster home???? How did this happen?

Lots of commotion ensued in which it became apparent that both Skycat and Kodak have come for a short visit while their family is on vacation, but still, a short visit is still not something I signed off on. I mean, this is MY house now and FM needs to run these things by me before agreeing to them.

Skycat is her usual snarly self with me. I mean, I was perfectly friendly when I rushed, I mean, casually strolled up to her to say hi again and she made it quite clear she was not real excited to see me. Of course, being Skycat, she made it clear she was not real happy to see any of my buddies either. Kodak remembered me, of course and was very excited to see me. I am a little concerned that he seemed to be very excited to see Poppinga too. I think I need to remind Pinga that Kodak was mine long before she came around and it is just not cool to be fawning all over my former boyfriend. I mean, I am SO over him and all, but still, she needs to chill out.

Siberians do not like summer. At least us athletic ones, anyway. Our humans make sure we do not get too hot which means no bike rides, no running ourselves silly in the big yard, no sledding. Nada, nothing. Just lay around all day waiting for Fall to come. We might be persuaded to frolic in a pool or sprinkler or water bowl, though:

Please do note that I insisted the water was changed in the pool since Skycat played in it. I have standards, you know. But basically, playing with the other dogs and playing in the pool is all I am allowed to do until it cools off. Which is why I do not care for summer. Oh, it is kind of fun to watch (and catch) all the lighting up bugs that go off each evening. And those Junebugs were pretty tasty. And I hear the grasshoppers are about to come out and they are pretty fun to chase too. But yep, other than playing with dogs, surfing and bug eating, summer can go away soon, thank you very much.

Here is another beef I have with summer. Well, not so much with summer but with some pretty clueless humans who do not understand what summer, and all it's corresponding bugs, can do to us. Here is a perfect example of what Siberian ears *should* look like:

Please note how symmetrical they are. Note how the ears are fully furred, with nice pointy tips ringed in black fur. This is how they are suppose to look!!!!! They are not suppose to be bloody and fly bitten and half gone and chewed up looking because you humans did not take proper care of your dogs. I know I am ranting a bit here, but lately all the poor dogs that are coming in to our rescue have chewed up ears due to flies and it is just not right. I like the outdoors just as much as the next dog but that does not mean FM leaves me out there to be eaten up by bugs. And don't get me started on mosquitoes. I mean, poor guy Drift has been cooped up all month while he is undergoing heartworm treatment all because his owner could not be bothered to give him a tasty treat once a month to prevent the mosquitoes from giving him those nasty heartworms. Those heartworms could have killed him!!!! So, all you humans out there, make sure your dogs are taken care of in these hot days. Make sure they do not have flies around them. Make sure you give them that monthly yummy heartworm pill. Really, it is not too hard to make sure we keep looking and feeling this good.

I did nothing wrong, I swear. All of a sudden I was put in this jail and told to go to sleep. I mean, yea, FM did give me a french fry from her lunch since I was being so good and quiet and all. And it is, like, a gazillion degrees outside which makes it much more comfortable for a lady like me who is wearing a permanent fur coat to be inside in the air conditioning. And sure, proving to the world that I am "crate trained" might help find me a forever home soon. But I still don't understand why I was put in this contraption:

So here I sit, being all good and stuff. And you know I am being good because, let's face it, any Siberian can easily get out of these wimpy wire jails. FM hardly ever uses them, preferring those veri-siberian proof-kennels instead. So she must trust me big time to put me in such an easily escapable one. Might behave and stay put just to throw her off.

So rival Skycat came and visited this past weekend. She took one look at me, I took one look at her, and we ignored each other the rest of the day. She did go swimming in *my* pool which I was not too happy about. I requested FM change the water afterwards, of course.

I think Kodak was pretty jealous of all my new boyfriends. I flaunted Razz and Twister and Niles and Tag and Billikin in front of him and he pretended he did not care, but I could tell he really did. You know, like deep down. REAL deep down, he totally was bugged.

So, I do not think it is a coincidence that the day before my rival is coming down to visit the clouds are forming and we are getting pelted with severe storms, thunder, lightening, rain, wind-all kinds of "hand of God" stuff. I mean, I hear that Skycat is coming to visit and all of a sudden Armageddon happens in my backyard? Seems to me like the harbinger of doom is kind of making his presence known. I'm just saying . . . .

I know, I know. I am a horrible blogger. I would blame it on FM, but honestly, I have just been too busy to even think about staying inside and typing on a computer. I am one busy girl now that I get along with EVERY DOG UNDER THE SUN! Yep, I am now the poster child for "plays well with others". Every girl dog wants to be my BFF and every boy dog wants to be my boyfriend. Rough life I have, huh?

So now the only thing standing in the way of me finding my forever home is this little thing called my "energy level". FM keeps saying "High" does not describe it well enough. She uses words like "off the chart" and "whirling dervish" to describe it. Not sure what that means, but I think it means I would prefer a nice active home that likes to jog or run or bike or SLED with me! I don't think that is too much to ask, right? And the thing is, once I do get a good workout, I become a very nice polite girl. Most of the time, anyway. You can ask FM-she will attest that I make a very nice house dog after I run around for a while. We have been having awful thunderstorms lately (not afraid of them in the least, mind you) and FM, being the wuss she is, has been pulling us all inside and crating us and stuff and I lay nicely in my crate not making a sound when she does that. I sleep through the night not making a sound in my crate either. So really, you get the best of both worlds with me. Nice quiet crate time and explosive fun time as well. How is that not a good thing? How come no one seems to realize how rare it is to have such a great dog as me that likes both extremes? Why are there not folks lined up in the driveway waiting to take me home? I just cannot figure it out. And I know for a fact that there are several of you sled homes out there that NEED a dog like me for your team next year. Remember, I ran lead last year with FM and my good buddy Karen so I know all sorts of important sled stuff. No learning curve with me. Better hurry up and fill out an application now before it gets cool and FM thinks better of letting me go live somewhere else!

The black dog next to me is Twister, and he runs on FM's "A" team. He is an awesome sled dog that she adopted through AAHI. The black one in the back ground is our wise teacher Lacey, who is 14 now and just tells us how to pull a sled instead of showing us. But she knows a lot. I don't ever tell off Lacey or jump on her back. Learned that lesson quick! Lacey is an AAHI dog too. Lots of them around here! And the grey girl with the shawl is Mikie, who is also 14. Doesn't she look awesome for her age? Looks like you could harness her right up and she'd go for miles with you. And those nose in the picture is boyfriend Razz. He thinks he is a playboy and chats up all the girls, but he likes me best. See all these dogs that I get along with!!!

Speaking of likes me best, an old boyfriend is coming to visit this weekend. I am very excited to flaunt all my boy toys off in front of Kodak, who you recall abandoned me to live with my arch enemy Skycat. Well, someone wants to meet him so he is coming down on Sunday. It will be good to see him again, although I heard a nasty rumor that "she who will not be named" might be coming with him! Good thing I look so good and have so many friends around now. I will no doubt wow her with my new attitude on life. Oh yea, I am sure she is going to be massively jealous when she sees how everyone just adores me now. I wonder if I can convince FM to get me a new purse so I can be especially spiffy this weekend. Stay tuned for details of how our reunion goes!

I’m sure you’ve all been wondering where I’ve been lately. Let me tell you, it’s been a whirlwind this last month or so. I’m sure many of you have heard about the passing of Lois Leonard, one of the founding members of Adopt A Husky and my first foster mom. I was saddened when I heard the news but felt relief when I heard that her foster failure Dickens was with her along with her husband and many close to her heart friends. FM attended the service for Lois and said that the eulogy was very nice and spot on. Thankfully all the volunteers of Adopt A Husky have gone the extra mile and are keeping Adopt A Husky going strong. That’s good news for me since I’m still looking for my forever home.

So I bet you are all wondering what I have been doing for kicks lately. Where do I begin? I have met a couple of nice families who thought I would be a good fit for their home but I showed them my true energy level and I proved to be a bit much for them. I know that there is the perfect home for me; I just have to be patient. With that said, don’t you want a beautiful, energetic, fabulous athlete for your own? My sign is sled dog crossing, what’s yours?

So to keep in shape now that all the snow is gone, FM has had me “free running”. Now that’s not exactly how it sounds, I’m not running the neighborhood but I am running in an acre of fenced property. There is enough room that I can full out run, none of this prancing stuff. And guess what…..I’m doing this with 11 other dogs.

Here is a picture of me with Poppinga (new dog for FM from Alaska) in the lead, me next and Lexi coming up from behind. On the far right is Mikie who will be 14 yrs old next month. Her first mom was Lois. Mikie became part of the pack back in 2004 and taught many of the Frozen Tundra Siberians how to be sled dogs.

So then I buddied up with Niles to romp with. He is a cool dog-all white but bi-eyed like me:

To give you an idea of how fast I am, FM was lucky to capture this on film…what grace!! Gazelles have nothing on me.

The thing is, now I get along with every dog possible so I really do not see why I am not snapped up by now. Here is proof-please count all the dogs in this picture. I get along with all of them! And I am the only one smart enough to make sure I had a nice head shot in the picture.

I’ve been doing some other activities to stay in shape but that will be for another time.

Twinkles tip for the day….remember to give your pets their heartworm meds, those mosquitoes are in full force.

Have a good weekend!

Twinkselle

Blame FM for my long absence. I have tons of stories to tell, many of which are a direct result of her "spring renovations" projects, but for some reason, she is censoring those topics and not allowing me to blog about them. Not sure why-it is not a big secret to anyone that her projects usually result in great laughs for the rest of us. Kind of rude not to allow us to join in her fun, even if it is at her expense, doncha think?

But anyhoo, lots has been going on around here. Sled season is firmly done I am afraid. We Siberians were all excited about the late season snow we did get but it quickly got rained away. So I just have to tell this story, though. You all know we got tons of snow this winter here in Ill Annoy. And FM, in a rare moment of brilliance, hired a big truck to come plow her driveway rather than doing it herself with the kong clogging snow blower. But she told him to pile the snow up in this one spot, which he did, time and again. And so when the snow melted, this big huge mountain of snow (don't worry-I marked it) did not melt right away. And it turns out the snow mountain was in the direct path the rain takes to move away from the house. But instead of moving away from the house, it hit the snow mountain and came IN to the house! FM was freaking out! Truth be told, us Siberians were not real happy with an expanding lake where we like to nap either. Her solution? Well, you would think it would be to relocate the snow mountain, right? Um, no. That would be logical. Her solution was instead to run out and get all these sand bags, which she threw all over the perimeter. And so we had to jump over sandbags to get in and out of the house! How stupid is that. We, of course, clawed the sandbags pretty good so they can never be used again. That should show her what we thought of the sandbag plan. The snow mountain has since melted so all is back to normal with our home.

So Spring brings changes. And one of the big changes is that my boyfriend Jonah moved to a different foster home! I cannot argue that it was the right thing to do-he really was craving some big time human companionship and in his new foster home, he does not have to share with all the dogs we have here. He only has to share his humans with two other dogs, whom he really likes (not as much as me, of course). He is doing very well there and almost has the humans bent around his paws. Give him another couple weeks and I am sure he will be in charge.

So FM was looking at me kind of funny the other day and said "Well Twinkie, you really have come a long way this year and I think you are ready to have a party". And she then proceeded to bring out Niles, Lacey, Malibu, Razz and Lexi for me to play with! And I got along with EVERY one of them! Ok, well, maybe not so much with Lexi but that was HER fault, not mine. I mean, if you jump on my back I am going to say something about it. But with Lexi put away, the rest of us had a great time running in the yard and playing together. And please note that two of those four dogs are GIRLS!!! See, I not only get along with boy dogs now, but I am good with the girls too! I tell ya, the way I am going I am going to be the poster child for "plays well with others". Razz is my new boyfriend and given he is a permanent dog here, there is no chance whatsoever that he will get yanked away from me like my other boyfriends. So I guess we are going to be going steady! Woo hoo, this spring is looking up! Who cares if the snow is gone when I have a handsome boy to play with.

Wow did I score for Valentine's day!!!! I have the bestest boyfriend EVER! He got me the coolest Valentine's gift that showed that he really knows me and understands what makes me tick. No, he did not get me candy or pizza or bones. He got me . . . . . . a matching shoe to go with my purse!!!!!!!!!!

I am in heaven. I just love my shoe. It goes perfectly with my purse and I must say, I am quite the styling girl right now:

I take my purse and my shoe with me everywhere I go, now. I do not even like to leave them when I go play in the yard, but FM pointed out that they really are more of an evening ensemble, so I am scaling back.

We finally got some more snow, which I am loving. FM said the yard was too icy for me so I have not been able to zoom around the yard like normal. But the snow covered up the ice and we are back to full on zoomies! So much fun. We still have one more race to go to, and FM says she might run me on HER team, which will be a hoot! I cannot wait to work with Tag and Tyco to do some off roading at this race. It is no fun just to follow the trail and no one knows that better than Tag!

Not much else going on. Just strutting around here with my new shoe and my beloved purse and playing with Jonah. Hope everyone is staying warm and dry.

Seriously, I really do not think I did anything wrong. I mean, if you talk with Kellie, she might try and tell you a different story, but here is the truth, I swear.

So we went out again on a nice ride Saturday and things were going along just fine. My new boyfriend Jonah came along too, and, well, let's just say that Jonah is not going to be winning any sled races if you know what I mean. Some dogs are just naturals in harness. Jonah is not one of those dogs. I am, of course. But Jonah was making it clear he needed a bit more training before he was hooked in a team which is just fine. I mean, not every dog can be as good as I am in harness right off the bat! He did really well at jumping on the table and boxing himself, though. And hey, he is young and still has some things to learn. So Jonah was all boxed up after the hilarity that was the attempted sled run and the rest of us went out. I went out with Kellie and three of Rainer and Cynthia's dogs. And things were going fine until miss big mouth MacKenzie had to start taunting me at every step. Of course I was in lead and apparently she was not too happy about that because every step I took I heard a snide comment from Mac, who was purposely trying to tick me off. Take a step, hear "my harness is prettier than yours". Another step and "wow, you have big feet", another step and "hey, was that your boyfriend I saw earlier? Rob the cradle much?" another step and "I think Jonah likes me better". And then, finally, the last straw: Took a step and "Your purse is SO last season, mine is much better". That was it for me. I am sorry, but you can insult my feet, my harness and even my boyfriend and I will turn the other cheek. But if you dare comment about my beloved purse, heads are going to roll. So of course it was well within my right to turn around at this point and give Mac a piece of my mind. But for some reason, Kellie did not appreciate me putting Mac in her well deserved place. I personally thought she should thank me for keeping Mac in line as Kellie obviously was not doing it. But no, *I* get yelled at the *I* get the blame. But as you can all clearly see from my totally unbiased version of events, I am completely innocent in this entire situation.

Well, I feel better getting that off my chest. Now I can go and prepare for tomorrow, which you all now is Valentine's Day. Jonah has been acting very secretive so I am sure I am going to get a great surprise tomorrow from him. Can't wait!

I will never understand humans. FM was all excited, flittering all about, talking about the storm and all the snow and being all excited and stuff. So then the snow comes and now she is not quite as happy, complaining about her back and how much work moving all this snow really is. Sheesh, make up your mind already! I think she just needs a reminder about why we like all this snow. I think I will push her in to a snow drift today so she can realize just how much fun snow really is. I am sure she will appreciate that.

So the curse continues. Only this time, it is spreading to mechanical things that are not even owned by FM. Apparently just having something with an engine approach our house is enough to kill it. Last night the plow driver came over and sure enough, he got stuck in our driveway!!! Now you know this snow has to be pretty deep for a plow to get stuck! Or the curse is just that strong, I guess. FM came out to "help" him but he wisely decided to ask his friend to help get him unstuck instead. Smart man. If he had allowed FM to use her truck to help him, he probably would have flipped that silly snowtruck. She just has that touch. I was all set to harness up myself and have the team pull him out, but they did not even ask us to help. Silly humans.

Hey Twinks!

Sounds like FM needs to stick to snow machines with BRAINS I mean
really WE KNOW where the trails should be, and would never lead the sled
into a 4 ft trench... My mom would probably still be wandering the
single track trails at Palos if I wasn't there to tell her how to get
back to the car... seriously, these people really need a good lead dog
to lead them through life, left on their own without nice smart dogs
like us they get into all kinds of trouble.

BehrBehr
I could not agree more, BehrBehr. But the way FM is killing all these engine thingies, I think we might be called upon to get her to work one of these days. Eventually all her mechanicals will be in the shop at the same time and we will show her what real power is.

Woohoo! I am all set Kellie. Come on over and get me. And given there is so much snow this time, I think we can take those corners a bit faster, doncha think? I mean, worst case scenario is that we whip you off the sled, but you will fall in to a nice big bed of snow, so that is not too bad, right? We'll come back and get you. Eventually.

Finally we have a good decent snow storm! Last night as I was zooming around the yard I was loving the new snow we got. But today is it even more! And it is not stopping at all yet. So much fun! FM is out every hour with her shovel making sure our gates are clear and most importantly, that the entrance to the dog food storage shed is clear. Glad she has those priorities straight! Oh, and seems FM finally wised up a bit this year and rather than rely on her less than stellar mechanical abilities, she hired a plow driver to do the driveway instead of using the snow blower. Which, we all know, was an iffy proposition at best, what with kongs and everything waiting to jump in the machine. So now everyone can come visit me any time they want and they can come to a nice plowed driveway. Still, it was kind of fun pulling FM all over the ice and snow and stuff back in the day when she just decided to wait for the spring melt <g>

So my good buddy Karen abandoned me for a whole 10 days while she took her dogs up to MN to do nothing but dogsled and enjoy the outdoors and stuff. I had my purse all packed up-I was sure I was going to go with them but FM said no. She said that I needed to be here in case someone wanted to meet me to take me home forever which I guess makes sense. But darn, sledding all day for over a week sure would have been fun. FM is training for a new race and so she has 8 of her dogs on the team now so I was left teamless. Normally Cynthia runs me when Karen can't, but not this week. Her husband Rainer, who runs an all AAHI adopted rescue team, had to go to the vet last week and turns out he needed surgery! He is doing well now and is home for all you who know him, but I do not think he can run the team for the rest of the season. Unless he is in the basket, maybe. Hmm, I would love to pull Rainer in the basket. I would give him a great ride! I need to work on that . . . . . Anyhoo, so Cynthia is all busy with Rainer's team and her team too so that left Twinkle out in the cold. Literally. But do not fret! Kellie stepped up to the challenge. Kellie was under strict instructions by her vet to not run dogs this year too due to a snowmobile injury to her hand. I know what you are thinking here-FM gets a new snowmobile and suddenly Kellie has a snowmobile injury. They must be related, right? But amazingly, Kellie did this one all on her own and FM (or her snowmobile) had NOTHING to do with it! But regardless, no sledding for Kellie, nope, nada, just watch, no driving, no hook ups nothing. Except then how come she came out with us on Sunday and was standing on the back of the runners? I guess that vet advice about no sledding was optional, huh?<g> So FM had a little talk with me and told me that I needed to be extra good for Kellie which, of course, I was. I did not even drag Kellie off the trail to go chase that bird, even though I wanted to. Probably would have with Karen come to think of it. Karen has a good sense of adventure. But if I want Kellie to run me again, I need to lull her in to a false sense of security, right? So I was on my bestest behavior. I hope she takes me out again soon!

So, now to the big announcement. Sorry Oak, our meeting is not going to happen. Kodak is now just a distant memory. I have a new boy in my life now and he and I are a great match. It is official-Twinkle has a boyfriend! Meet Jonah, my new man:

He is a bit younger than me, which is good, I think. Maybe I finally found someone who can keep up with me! He likes me lots too. We just play and play and play nonstop. I hope he takes the hints I am dropping and gets me matching shoes for my purse for Valentine's day. I think I will give him some extra Twinkie time that day as my gift. Cannot ask for anything better!

You would think I would be tired after this past month, but really, I have more energy now than ever. I think FM thought that running me on sled teams would wear me out, but really all it did was make me super athletic and thus able to do more and more and more. Love it when her grand master plans fail miserably! But I think she is OK with it all because she keeps telling me how proud she is of me. I have met and gotten along with so many dogs these last few months and each time she just beams with pride about how good I am being. I like making her happy, really I do. But I am a Siberian so I best do something off the wall soon to keep her on her toes.

I started thinking about all the races I have done this season, and I counted 4 official races so far! Each of these races were done with my good buddy Karen and her team. You have read about two of them already, but these last two were really special. Seems Karen (and FM too, it turns out) have decided to do do Mid Distance races this year rather than sprint races. Well, it is probably more accurate to say that their *dogs* decided to do Mid Distance given the humans really only stand on the back of the sled and all, eating bon bons and drinking mudslides while shouting out commands to the real racers, us dogs. But anyhoo, our last two were pretty nice long runs, which I just LOVED! The first was way up in MN at a race called the White Oak Classic. We had to get there the day before because we had to do a "vet check" which I was not looking forward to. But the vet was really really nice and petted me all over and asked me to stretch my legs and stuff, which I was happy to do. I passed with flying colors. Here is a picture of the vet check:

So then the next day we went out and did 18 miles!!! Seriously, the 6 of us, Ruckus, me, Anna, Merle, Shamus and Rollo took Karen on a fun ride for 18 miles! At one point we really thought she was going the wrong way and despite her telling us she knew the way, we decided to run the team up a driveway to ask for directions ourselves. Turns out she was right and the owner of the driveway helped take us back down to the trail. I hate it when the humans are right, darn it. But we decided to listen to Karen after that little detour and we crossed the finish line with all of us coming in strong. It was SO MUCH FUN! I, of course, wanted to keep going to the next checkpoint but Karen said 18 miles was enough for that race.

Then two weeks later we went to MI for the MiDD race and ran a total of 18 miles again. Mid Distance is so much fun!

Ok, next post will be all about my new boyfriend. Good thing I found him right before Valentine's Day, huh? And given he is younger than me (hehehe) I think I finally found a dog that can keep up with me! Details coming soon~

So FM got a new toy. As with anything she acquires that has a motor, what usually follows is some degree of misuse followed shortly by a big vet bill. This new toy is no exception.

Telling herself that she really needs a snowmobile in order groom the trails for us, she brought one home not too long ago. The manual is, of course, misplaced already. But anyhoo, my buddy Cynthia, who runs me all the time on her team, invited us over to her friend's farm to train so FM thought it would be only fair to bring a snowmobile/groomer to help define the lines between the corn field and the beet field and, of course, the dreaded asparagus field. And all was going well for a while. Rainer, who worked at the farm when he was a kid put in our trails after all the big snow we had. He obviously knew what he was doing and where he was going, right? I mean, if the man who worked the farm for years and years put in a trail between all the fields, you would think someone who has never ever worked on a farm (or even really eats vegetables, I might add) would respect those trails, right? Well, you do not know FM real well then. Because sure enough, third time out on the snowmobile, she decided that the very carefully chosen trails put in by Rainer could use some modification. And she turned the snowmobile off of Rainer's trails in to the asparagus field and promptly buried it in a 4 foot trench. Here is a tip for any of you who might find yourself in a similar situation. When your front end is buried in a trench filled with snow, gunning the motor is probably not wise.

So after realizing that she was stuck and after realizing that even with Cynthia and Rainer trying to help her get unstuck it was not going to happen, we waited for John the farmer to come with his huge tractor to pull out the snowmobile. Which he did, but when FM started it again it had a noticable clunk going on. Hmmmm, wonder what caused that?

In interest of fair play, I do have to note here that despite this story being told far and wide and despite George and Kellie being told this story the day it happened and being told SPECIFICALLY to avoid the asparagus patch, the very next weekend George drove the snowmobile smack dab right back in the big ole trench that FM went in to with Kellie directing him on the back. He tried to play it off because he and Kellie were, eventually, able to get it out by themselves, though. But the clunk was a bit louder after his adventure.

Off the vet the snowmobile went. Of course FM will try and find some way to blame this one on us, I am sure.

I know, I know-I have been gone FOREVER. It really is not my fault. We have been out of town a ton and FM has been out of town on work and stuff tons too. And she takes the notebook with her, darn it. I need to get one of those notebook thingys for me so I am not relying on FM for this stuff.

Ok, so where did we leave off? Oh yea, I was running a race and then going to meet my not so secret admirer, Oak. So here is where the weather gods decided to play some major tricks on us. We got up to the race no problem and found out there was not enough snow to safely run the sleds, darn it. We Siberians like the sled much better than the rigs. But the race was called "Can't Depend on Snow" so even though we were on rigs, the race went on. And let me tell you, me and Ruckas just tore up that trail and were zooming along so darn fast that my buddy Karen almost fell off the rig a few times. We came in 5th place, thanks mostly to me, I think. So, the moment we finished the race, it started snowing. A lot. We were suppose to go right to the party to meet Oak, if you remember, but as we moved further south, the heavy snow changed to sleet, which changed to ice, which changed to freezing rain. So my date with Oak was postponed, darn it. Probably a good thing. I might have slipped on the ice or something and made a bad first impression.

So, that was the beginning of December. We spent most of December out on the trail training up for the 18 mile race in January. I was much in demand, I should add. Karen ran me in her team, FM ran me in hers and Cynthia took me out lots in her team too. I mean, I know why-I am really a good sled dog after all. But it was kind of fun to watch them all fight over me.

We had snow throughout all of December and even had a nice white Christmas. So what did I get from Santa Claws, you ask? Well, if you can believe it, he brought me a PURSE? A purse! For me, the athletic non girly girly dog, he brought a frilly purse with trim and all. I ignored it all day until I decided to, you know, just look at it. And then I played with it a little and well, next thing you know I just LOVE my purse! I know this is SO not like me. But I just adore my purse and carry it with me everywhere I go. It goes with my collar and my harness and my eyes, and oh, it is just wonderful. Here is a picture of me carrying my purse.

Well, don't be too worried that I Britney Spears out on you all. I am still the athlete, first and foremost. I just have impeccable taste in my accessories is all.

So that catches us up, really, for December. But hold on to your keyboards when you hear about my January!!!!! More coming tomorrow~

I think I have mentioned this before that I am quite a stunning looking Siberian. Now don't think I am vain-looks do not matter one iota to me. It is much more important, I think, that a Siberian is the athlete they are suppose to be than they are some beauty contest wannabee like some former foster follie blogger who shall remain nameless. But the fact remains that, despite my superior sledding skills that make me special, I am also quite the looker too. Can't help it-just the way I was born I guess. But I guess it is no surprise then that my looks have attracted some attention. I received this email from another AAHI foster dog, Oak, and, well, you can clearly see what he wants from me:

Single Black and White Male seeks Single Gray and White Female for sledding partner! Twinkie baby, my name is Oak, with a capital "O". I am a new foster here in Illinois after relocating from big city of St. Louis and I am as sexy and smooth as Barry White. My new FPs have shown me the zen ways of sledding but I, like you, sometimes have some issues finding the "right" partner. My FM and FD say I have issues with other males - hey, they might steal all the babes away from me - I gotta protect my rep ya know!

So whatta say, why don't we "hook-up" together one day and take the FPs for a ride they will never forget? Perhaps we can find a forever family that wants to have a matched set and we can run into the sunset together - come on Twinkie-Baby . . . Say, my FP's are having a party this weekend, why don't we meet in person . . .?

Hot and Bothered in Woodstock

So, what do you think I should do? I just got two new boys in here to play with so I certainly do not *need* another, but if this Oak boy is as good a sled dog as I am, then maybe it is a match made in, well, if not heaven, at least cyberspace?

FM said I can come to the party and meet Oak. I am very excited!!!! It would be nice to have a boyfriend a bit closer to me, doncha think? Stay tuned to see how this all plays out. . . .

Oh, and for those who are going to the Can't Depend On Snow race in Fond du Lac Wisconsin this weekend, please stop on by the big white and gold dog truck (it will be the one with all the chaos going on, I assure you) and say hi and cheer me and Karen on! I love to meet my public!

I am so excited!!!!! I am getting not one but TWO new roommates tomorrow!!!! And the bestest part of all? They are both boys!!!!! Ohhh, this is going to be good. Two new boys who will play hard with me and not be all girly and stuff and think I am being too "rough" when I jump all over them!!! I cannot wait! Ever since Kodak left to go to his new foster home, FM has been bringing in girl and girl here and it is really wearing me down. I mean, I am much much better with playing with all these dogs now but it is so much work to act all nice and stuff with the girly types. But boys-man they are so easy! They love to get muddy and dig in the dirt and stuff just like me! So tomorrow new boy Jonah is coming along with Grenada. I am sure I will have tons of stories to share about the three of us soon.

So, this Saturday I am going to be out at a race in Fond du lac Wisconsin and I really hope that some of you folks come out to say hi to me. I am going to run on Karen's team again, probably next to my buddy Ruckus and I thoroughly expect we will win the big huge first place prize and get my picture in the paper. Everyone who sees me run says I am such a good sled dog so I am sure I will be swarmed with people wanting to pet me and stuff after the race. Those who bring me treats can go to the head of the line. So come on out to the race this Saturday and cheer me on!

FM has assured me that I am NOT part of the Writers Guild of America and as such, I am not under any strike orders whatsoever. So I am free to blog away! I am sure you are all very relieved.

So I got a note from my ex boyfriend Kodak. If you recall, he left my side to go, gasp, to join my arch enemy Skycat as a foster dog in her house. Here is his report:

Glad to see you notice how good I look in my harness, Kodak. And I am doubly glad that you are having such a good time tormenting Skykitty. Keep it up. She needs a little shaking up if you ask me. Oh, and I am sure the name "tool" is a good thing. FM loses tools all the time around here and gets real upset that they are gone. So "tool" must mean "really valuable wonderful dog". I am sure of it.

Hey, maybe both you and I will find our forever homes in time for Christmas. Wouldn't that just be awesome? I know what I am asking Santa Claws for this year!

Well, first off I have to apologize for my absence from this list. It has been non stop events and more trips and training so I rarely can get a chance to boot up the ol computer. But I still have so much to tell about my two week vacation! After leaving Big Dog Bash, we headed over to Joyce and John's house for a couple of days where we were able to just hang out in their huge fenced yard and relax. Now Joyce and John are pretty smart people-they made their fence 10 whole feet tall and it goes in to the ground two feet too so there is no way whatsoever any of us could get out of the yard. Guess they have had Siberians a while, huh? FM could learn a thing or two from them I think.

So once we were all relaxed and rested, we packed up yet again and head out to the Dirty Dog Dryland Derby in Wisconsin. And we saw lots of our friends there, including my bestest bud Karen. Seems there was an official race going on and guess what????? *I* was going to compete in it!!!! Karen was going to run me on her bike (called bikejoring) with Ruckus! And here I am in the starting chute:

I wanted to run run run and was not really understanding why they were holding me back:

But they finally counted down and let me go and man, did we tear out of there! We ran for what I thought was a really short ways before we were being cheered at by FM and a bunch of other folks as we crossed the finish line. Karen kept hugging me telling me how good I did. Even Ruckus gave me a big kiss which I took to mean that I was simply the best partner he has ever run with EVER. I had so much fun and everyone said I did an awesome job. So, here I am to tell all you folks out there who are thinking "Hey, I own a bike and could do that" to get out and DO THAT! It is so much fun! And given I am all trained and stuff to do this, why not apply to adopt me? I will tell you how to do it, I promise. Just ask Karen-I hardly ever pulled her in to the woods to chase squirrels.

FM said our little vacation really helped me get along better with other dogs too. She still says she wants me to go to a home that has only male dogs, though. But I got along with every dog I met throughout the whole trip. I tell ya, if I keep up this good behavior, they are going to revoke my Siberian card. I better go chew up my dog bed or something just to keep everyone on their toes!

I just love vacations. I highly recommend them. But it is nice to be home now too so I can get caught up on all my email and stuff. Watch for a post soon from my boyfriend Kodak!

So last I left you, we were packing up to leave the dog heaven they call Buttonbox. We were in the car for only a very short time before we pulled in to another wooded area where I distinctly smelled lots of dogs too. We found a great camping spot and FM started unloading all us dogs. I jumped out of my box (I am a pro at boxing, now, btw) and who did I see????? My bestest bud Karen!!!! She and John were camped next to us with all their dogs too! I saw my buddy Ruckus and Merle, who were very happy to see me. Oh, already this new phase is looking good. And Cynthia and Ranier, who were at Buttonbox with us, came here too. They really are neat people-they have 9 dogs that were *all* adopted from Adopt a Husky and all run on their sled team! How cool is that? And then, right after we got popped up and everything, Joyce and John came who have a bunch of Adopt a Husky foster failures too. This is getting to be a big party!

So, where were we? At a magical place called the Big Dog Bash. Oh, I know what you are thinking-us Siberians are not big dogs, right? But all the Malamute and Inuit teams that came thought having us Siberians along was not so bad. And FM said Tyco is an Inuit anyway so we qualified <g>. It was not as many teams as Buttonbox, but we all ran together twice a day going through all sorts of fun terrain. At one trail, we went through what the humans were calling mud puddles, but really, I thought they were mud lakes. Good thing I am not a girly girl type cuz I did not mind being muddy at all! And rather than run with FM and her team, I went out with Karen and John and their team:

I am in what is called the wheel position, which is the one closest to the rig. In my correctly fitted blue harness, completely unchewed. See that team on my left coming up? That is a Malamute team and please note how I am *not* jumping out to greet them or snarl at them or anything. And then when another Malamute team came by (we practiced passing a lot, which was kind of cool), I did not even look at them:

There are 8 Malamutes on that team and I just ignored them all. I think I am going to get sled dog of the year award if I keep this up.

We stayed at Big Dog Bash for four days and had a great time. Then it was time to pack up and head out for phase III . . . . . .

Oh my gosh, am I filled with stories! I have been on vacation for almost two whole weeks during which time I went to three different states camping out with a bunch-and I mean a BUNCH-of other dogs. Lets see if I can recap some of this for you, although I suspect it will take many diary entries to get to it all.

FM had a brilliant idea a few months ago and got herself a trailer called a pop up which is kind of like a dog truck for humans. So one day she loaded up a bunch of us in our truck, attached her pop up to the truck and off we went. We traveled so far that she had to stop at a motel along the way and sleep some. Not sure why she did not pop up that trailer but she was muttering something about enjoying a nice hot shower and indoor plumbing while she could get it. So we were up really early and drove some more to a cool campground place called Buttonbox. And she got us all fed and stuff and then popped up the trailer. Here is a picture of our truck and her trailer to give you an idea of our accomodations during this long trip:

You can't see me in this picture-I'm on the other side. The pop up is behind that big tower thingy. And this was not even at Buttonbox, which is a really pretty place. But you get the idea.

So, anyhoo, once we got all unpacked, it was hook up time. Or, really, I should say it was Twinkle harness fitting time because I swear I tried on at least half a dozen harnesses while FM poked and prodded and tugged to see if they "fit" me. Hello, they all fit me just fine and I liked the purple one she put on first. But she thought the blue that was number 4 tried on was best. Which, let's face it, works well for me given my pretty blue eye so I agreed and in turn did not chew it to pieces like I was planning on doing.

So once I was properly dressed, we hooked up and off we went. Man, these were way nicer trails than the farmland stuff I had done before. I really wanted to explore the woods for the squirrels and skunks and porkies I was smelling but I was just so thrilled with running that I put my head down and pulled like a proper sled dog should. Don't believe me? Well pictures do not lie:

In looking at this picture, I see I am in harness version 6.2, the maroon one. That lasted one run before FM declared it was a bit too big and switched me over to the blue one. You will see in later pictures. But you can see how awesome I am pulling here. FM said I have a gorgeous gait and am a natural in harness so I was very pleased by that.

One night at Buttonbox we went out for a night run which was very cool. The humans need to attach light bulbs to their heads in order to see, but us Siberians see just fine in the dark. So we knew it was coming but when FM turned on to the trail to head back to camp, she was stunned to find more than a dozen huge big 16 dog teams heading out directly at us. She should not have worried. We weaved in and out of all those teams, never even thinking about tangling with them or trying to turn around and join their teams. FM said she was so proud of us and gave us treats when we got back to camp. I am telling you, this sled stuff is a piece of cake. FM says I am a natural and all, but really, I do not think it is so hard.

We stayed at Buttonbox for 4 days and ran and ran and ran some more while having bonfires and talking about dogs with people who really only care about talking about dogs so it was very cool. There were hundreds and hundreds of dogs here, which made our group howl at 2am really special. But apparently dog people don't care about group howls like neighbor people seem to do so the humans all just rolled over in their sleeping bags and let us sing away. What a great place, huh? I wish I could have stayed there forever, but soon we were popping down the pop up and heading out to phase II of our vacation. More to come . . . .

As you all have been reading, I am *just fine* now with other dogs after I get my initial frenzied greetings out of the way. I would venture to say I am a very very friendly girl now, although FM is still shaking her head at that one. I just love playing with my boys but the thing is, they keep getting adopted or sent to a different foster home right around the time I break them in. Case in point-Leno. I liked this guy. He is a very active and energetic boy and does not act his 8 year old age at all! He and I had a grand ole time chasing around the yard. So what does FM do? Yep, give him away to another foster home. So now MY boyfriend is living it up with Skylar and George and Pogo in their home and I have to break in a new guy.

Leno was bad enough, but the real REAL insult was Kodak. You only have to scroll down to see how wonderful Kodak and I played together. We did great and Kodak just loved his Twinkle time. You know where this is going, right? Yep, FM sent him to a new foster home too! Only this one was far far worse for me to take then sending Leno away. FM said that since Kodak got along well with me, he might even do OK with the supreme princess of them all. So my buddy Kodak, my first real boyfriend, got his bags all packed up and is now being fostered with, gasp, my rival, Skycat!!!!! Can you believe it? First she gets her own forever home and all and now she steals my boyfriend too!!!! Oh, it is almost too much to take. And FM was chattering away yesterday that Skycat and Kodak are best friends and that Skycat is in love and follows him everywhere and is perfectly fine sharing her humans with him. This is just too much. So here is what I want. I want Kodak to be adopted immediately so that he is moved away from Skycat. Can someone please do that? Anyone want to adopt a very active, smart, handsome white 2 year old boy who is housetrained and crate trained? Anyone? If so, please apply asap to adopt Kodak. Oh, and please be from the Illinois area so I can visit him and then tell Skycat all about it. Yep, that would be good.

Up in the box. Out of the box. Back up in the box. I am a box pro, now. So where is all this leading, you ask? So did I. And boy did I find out.

One Sunday FM got me up a bit earlier than I care for and boxed me up before I could even greet the outside world appropriately. Once I woke up, we were rolling down the road. The other dogs all around me were very excited and seemed to know exactly where we were going. I HATE being the last to know, darn it. But pretty soon we pulled in to this parking lot and I saw my bestest friend Karen standing there waiting for me! Oh, this day is looking up! I love Karen. Out of the box I went and FM hooked me up to a real short leash attached to the dog truck. Karen came over and oogled appropriately over me and kept lifting my legs and putting some harness thing on me. OK, that was fine I guess. Red is my color. So I was trying to get off my short leash while eating my harness (not as easy as it sounds, trust me, but I love multi-tasking) and suddenly FM grabbed me, unclipped me from the truck and brought me over to where Ruckus was standing. He was in a harness too (I think his was grey) and attached to this long line that was attached to a bike thingy and standing on the bike thingy was Karen! My good buddy John was holding Ruckus and FM hooked me next to him and then Karen said "Let 'em go!". Now, let me give all you Siberians out there a little hint. When you get put in a harness and hooked to a line and told "Let 'em go" it is not a cue to run back to say hi to Karen. But c'mon-it was Karen! I love Karen. I thought it only right I go check on her. I mean, she was back there all by herself, right? But I guess she was fine back there by herself cuz I got dragged back up in front and told "GO GO GO!" So I ran. Well, I mostly ran. I did try and nose Ruckus a few times to play and I might have tried to grab a flower along the trail. And hey, I am telling you, Karen did look REALLY lonely back there by herself so I just had to try and go say hi to her again. But once I figured out that everyone, including Ruckus (well, mostly Ruckus) wanted me to just keep running next to him, I hit my stride. By the time we went around the big loop (they said it was a mile or more but man that time just flew) FM was heading out with her team and she said I looked like I had been doing this for years! I guess I am a natural at this running in harness stuff. Here is proof:

Um, I do not want to brag, but please notice that I am a pulling a little bit harder than Ruckus in this picture, thank you very much. Rucky seems to be posing a bit, doncha think? But me, well, I am pushing on pulling away, showing what a natural I am in harness.

So, given FM chooses to live in Ill Annoy rather than the much more appropriate Alaska, we have to deal with hot hot weather now rather than the nice cool weather that lets us go out and do this every day. I have not been out running with Ruckus since this picture was taken. Oh, where is the cold weather???? I want to do this again, I tell you! And now that I know how to do it, I think I would make the PERFECT dog for someone who likes to run or bike or stuff. Grab me up now just in time for the winter, I am telling you! I bet FM will even send me home with that cool red harness. And it has hardly even been chewed, I swear!

Hi Twinks,

You don't know me, my name is Cedar. I had to take care of your FM for a while (just like you are now) until I found my "Forever Home" five and a half years ago. You have to watch out for her, she's sneaky. She'll have you pulling her around on a sled or something before you know it. She even tried that out on me once. I found out that if You just trot around and enjoy the scenery and let the other pups do the pulling part, it isn't so bad. But I also discovered that laying on a nice, soft double bed is a heck of a lot more better!!

Any way, what's with this "Box Training" you're talking about? Is your FM getting you set up for a job delivering for PetEx? Or does she want you to do her Christmas wrapping for her or is she setting you up to live in a box like some people have to? Crate training was bad enough without living in a box.

One good thing, you probably have one of the nicest FM's even if she has run into one tree too many.

Love ya,

Cedar

Well, Cedar, I found out first hand what box training is a few weekends ago. I have been so busy since that I have not had much time to write so I am sorry for that. But in order to explain box training, I think I need to go back in time a bit.

Remember back when that little prancy girl Skycat was writing here instead of me? She posted a picture of her, posing of course-that girl thinks she is Paris Hilton or something-in FM's dog truck. Now that sounds pretty interesting, right? A truck dedicated to us dogs. Sounds like party city. But in fact these dog trucks are made by the humans to keep us all separated and in nice order while they drive us all over the country. And in order to keep us all safe and stuff, these dog trucks are filled with these things called dog boxes. Which is really just a fancy term for a crate. Except these dog box crates have straw and stuff and windows out so we can see the world rolling by which is pretty cool.

So FM had a red dog truck but I guess it was kind of old. She took it to the vet lots of times last year and kept talking to it, saying "just hang in there". But apparently it did not listen and for the longest time it sat on the driveway doing not much of anything. Then a few months ago she packed up a bunch of dogs in her regular car (not me, darn it) and went away for a few days. She came back with a NEW dog truck that is pretty cool! It is a double decker with dog boxes all over the place! She could fit an army in this thing. Which is pretty good cuz we seem to be assembling an army of sorts around here with all these Siberians that seem to come out of the woodwork. So here is the NEW dog truck:

Now that table sitting out there is a pretty important piece of the equation. Most mushers just lift their dogs in to those dog boxes. But FM, of course, must try and find an "easier" way. So she trains us all to jump on that table and then we just trot on in to the box. So she started "training" me about a month ago. I, of course, figured it out lickety split and now am a pro at "table":

So now, the next logical step, is moving to walking in to the dog box, right? You would think this is an easy next step. Trust me when I say it is not. FM will tell anyone who listens it was NOT! But I did it:

And I did it many more times that day. Because all this training led up to something pretty cool. That will have to wait for the next entry because I am being called now to go out and teach the new dog some manners. Don't worry, I'll cover that topic in my next entry as well.

My puppy misses me. I got an email from adorable puppy Nevis, who, unbelievably, is still available for adoption! Wow, I sure thought he would be snapped up quickly. His sister sure was. But he is having a good ole time in his foster home, it appears. Here is what he has to say:

I think I need to meet this Cobalt. He sounds like fun. The three of us could have a good time! Maybe we can arrange a play date soon. I miss ya, bud! Hope you find your forever home soon.

I finally got to meet former foster dog Drummer (now called Ruckus) and, as expected, we got along just fine. I did my usual enthusiastic greeting and tried to leap all over him and Ruckus told me not to do that and after the fifth or sixth time of him telling me, I finally stopped. See, I am totally friendly with other dogs. Eventually.

So, now Ruckus and I are just fine with each other which means that I can run on the bike with Ruckus' Mom Karen. And because I was doing so well with Ruckus, Karen introduced me to her 6 month old puppy Merle. And you all know how excited I get with puppies! Needless to say, Merle and I are good buddies now too:

So now Karen can choose to run me on the bike with either Ruckus or Merle. Or maybe all three of us???? Oooohhhh the fun we can have with that! There is not a brake big enough to handle all three of us! I think Karen is brave enough to try it. Wait for pictures of that!

And before you get thinking that Karen should just foster me or adopt me herself, I have been assured that cannot happen. Karen has a few alpha females at her house as it is and my big personality would definately clash with those divas! So I am very much available for adoption for anyone who wants to run me yourself on your bike.

So now that my team is put together, I need to start training. But these super hot days have not left so training is waiting a bit. But my FM is starting me on "dog box" training. I do not know yet what that means but I can tell you it involves lots of leaping on the table and getting treats when I do it. So I am loving this training. Look for more info on my training next time.

Oh, and I am feeling really lonely because no one is emailing me! I thought for sure that after my song, Hollywood would be sending me contracts and stuff, but so far, nothing. So feel free to be my pen pal. My email is twinkle@adoptahusky.com Kinda easy to remember, right? Hope to hear from some of you adopted AAHI dogs out there.

Hard to believe it seems quiet around here with all the dogs we have, but it is. Our own designer dog, Jack, the rare Colliberian puppy was adopted over the weekend. And while Jack has an absolutely great home with a new sister Baka and his very own new parents, we sure miss him here. Jack was everyone's friend (but he liked me best, I am sure) and he sure had FM wrapped around those still growing paws. She really thought about adopting him herself, especially when he showed a great new skill. Loyal readers of the Foster Follies will recall how former foster Skycat was very good at killing the invisible snakes in her forever home's couch. Well, Jack took it one step further. Jack actually stalked, attacked and killed *real* ones! Don't believe me? Well, here's proof:

Obviously, with such a great skill as this, FM had to think long and hard about letting him go. But she ultimately said that he is such a nice dog, he needed to be out in the world showing everyone how wonderful us rescue dogs really are. Funny how she does not say that about me, though . . . . . . .

So Jack got adopted and his new home is as much in love with him as all of us were/are. It was sad to see him go, no question. Every human who ever met him just adored him and every dog loved him too. But he is so lucky that he got such a good home. One of these days, I am going to be that lucky too.

And speaking of lucky, another of my playmates left today for their forever home too! Excel, the little 10 month old guy who came up from Tennis See and who commandeered my blog not too long ago also got adopted!!!! Oh, and let me tell you, this boy is going to be loving his new life, that is for sure. He left hot hot hot weather, which we Siberians just hate and went up this morning to the North Woods of Wisconsin, where he is going to get lots of snow and cold weather. Just perfect for him!!! Oh, and he gets to play with a new GSD sister and two, count 'em, TWO other Siberians!!!!! How lucky is he?

And the mass exodus continues. Supposedly, Nevis is going to a new foster home tomorrow now that he is all healthy and stuff. And Kitt is going to her forever home this weekend. Those puppies just love me so I think they are going to miss me big time. You should have seen them today-they were trying so hard to come in to my run to play. But FM said they still are healing from being "altered" and that play needs to wait for a few more days. Well, hello, in a few more days, they will be gone! I better get cracking to figure out a way to set up a play date pronto. Those puppies need some Twinkle Time before they leave.

Don't worry-Kodak is still here to play with me. And whenever dogs leave here, they are very very quickly replaced with new ones. So I am sure I will be updating about new additions soon. Stay tuned . . . .

Well, it has been a crazy week, that is for sure. I now know why they call this state Ill Annoy. Because I gotta tell you, I am annoyed big time at the weather we have been having! I am a Siberian-a sled dog by nature. Not a Portuguese Water Dog. No webbed feet here. But it seems that if you were not swimming or boating or kayaking around here lately, you were not going anywhere. I have been cooped up indoors all week because the big yard was flooded (still too sloppy to go out, FM says. Or maybe that was her excuse for not mowing it this weekend) and the regular yard was a mud pit. Now I would have been perfectly fine playing in the mud-I am not a girly type of dog who does not want to get her paws dirty! Nope, fine with dancing in the mud that is for sure. But FM said no way, ain't gonna happen and I, instead, have been forced to stay indoors babysitting the puppies. Oh, and to add to the insult, FM *still* won't let me play with the puppies because she says they are too little still. Man, the way they are chowing down on all that food that she *constantly* gives them you would think they would be as big as a bear by now. I mean, it seriously is like "Oh, Kitt and Nevis, you finished that last kernal of food so let me fill up your bowls to the brim again" while Excel and I sit there, staring at our empty bowls and wonder why we only get filled up once a day. What's that all about?

So, more on those puppies. I really really want to play with them. I think we are going to be great friends. But FM says it is at least a week away before I formally meet them given they got "altered" yesterday. Not sure what they got "altered", though. I looked and looked and could find nothing different about them. But she said they have to take it especially easy for a few days which means no Twinkle Time. I guess I do not really know how to take it easy <gggg> You can read all about the new puppies on the IL/WI available dogs section. And you will also notice a certain big lovable goof of a puppy off that section as well. But that is such a big announcement, that it will have it's own diary entry soon.

Other than a power outage, a flooded basement (which FM did NOT let us pups swim in, darn it) and lakes where yards used to be, we survived the storms here in Ill Annoy. But one of our trees did not:

No, you are not seeing that wrong-the tree really is laying on it's side like that. And it is not suppose to be. But here is the good news-it was an apple tree. And now there are apples everywhere and us Siberians can easily reach them! Of course this is not in *our* yard, darn it-it is in the front yard which means we need to convince FM to take us out for walks pronto. But I am working on it. Oh, I can just taste the apple cobbler, apple pie, apple sauce . . . . . .

Dear TwinkleToes,

This is Salem here…yup, the ultimate foster failure here, has finally trained my human to drive from Tennis See back to Illinois whenever I want (I just have to carry around things in a show ring like a dumbbell and do jumps – seems too easy doesn’t it!). And this time, I brought up Excel with me…he’s really a very cute puppy who LOVES to play with other dogs. He also loves swimming pools (he is a Tennis See puppy). He’s never ever seen snow!! So I’m relying on everyone here in Illinois to show him how to be a proper husky who knows how to frolic in snow! Right now, he lived with Cajun, a golden retriever who showed him how to swim in a swimming pool – now come on, a Siberian who WANTS to get wet?!! Next thing you know and he’ll be jumping into the bathtub for a bath – pullleeeeezeeee. Well anyway, I really like it up here – it’s much cooler, and here I get the whole living room to myself – don’t have to share with anyone, and the living room has 4, count ‘em 4 couches for me to pick from. I’ve been jumping from one to the other picking just the right one. And then there is the box of toys! Yup, I’ve picked the bus, the octopus and the apple for my crate….I’ve got my eye on a couple of the other toys, but I’m trying to be a good house guest and wait till I’m offered one of them, shouldn’t be too hard, I just have to look cute and the humans practically fall over themselves to give me a toy – these Siberians here sure have them well trained, I’m going to have to pick up some training tips. My mom only gives me toys when I “earn” it by doing something special like going in one of those show rings and helping her do her “stupid human tricks” for a judge (this is where she runs around a ring missing all the jumps and dog walks and tunnels and I try to show her how to do it – I mean how many times can she miss doing a tunnel or jump, they’re not exactly little things you can miss!) Anyway, I’m back to Tennis See tomorrow – no snow here, so I’m gonna go back home to make sure that Cajun and Roofus and the rest of the dogs aren’t getting into trouble while I’m gone.

The Southern Belle, Salem

Hi Y’all! This here is Excel, also known as Mickey…cuz I’m little, and my FM says she couldn’t call me Mini for obvious reasons…or maybe not so obvious anymore since a certain “tutoring” surgery I had which my FM said would be really good for me – though I’m still waiting to figure out how it’s good for me. Well anyway, I came from Tennis See to come see snow, and what do I see? Rain…hey, now we don’t have rain in Tennis See either, but I really wanted to see snow…so where are you hiding it? The humans tell me there is snow up here, and once again – they’ve stretched the truth and then wonder why I ignore what they say when they say things like snow is in Illinois and tutoring is good for me. Well anyway, I came up with my big sister Salem who promptly dropped me off with a dog named Twinkletoes or TwinkieEyes or TwinkieTail or something like that (and y’all think our southern names are funny sounding?!!) Still waiting for her to show me snow…it wasn’t in her run, and it wasn’t in her crate. But I did get my own toys for my very own, and my FM picked up 2 puppies for me to boss around – well ok, they’re sort of bossing me around, but more on that later. But that other puppy Jack is pretty kewl to play with, but I counted toys, and he’s got 3 more toys than me. I’m plotting on how to get into his run and steal all those toys. I’m really good at hiding toys in my crate! Anyway, I’ve had a long drive up here, and I’m gonna take a rest and hope that there’s snow in the morning waiting for me to play in, otherwise I’m putting my demand in for my personal swimming pool like I had in Tennis See!

Excel

The list of my admirers is growing. Excel came here on Friday from Tennis See, and he is quite enchanted with me. He is a funny little man-he absolutely adores other dogs, although of course I am his favorite. But any other dog, male, female, little, big-he just gets so excited and loves them all. He and Jack were just rolling all over today, going back and forth stealing each other's plushy toys. Ok, wait, side note here-I am protesting big time. Jack has 5 squeaky toys that are 'his'. New dog Excel has two squeaky toys that are 'his'. The new puppies (more on them later) have 3 squeaky toys that are 'theirs'. How many do I have? Zero, nada, none. FM says that I destroy them faster than she can give them to me so she says I only get them on special occasions. How unfair is that? I am surrounded by dogs having grand ole times with their plush toys and here I sit, plushless. It is not my fault that I am smarter than most and realize that each and every stuffy needs heart surgery urgently. I am not destuffing them, I am *fixing* them. But FM apparently does not see it that way and here I sit, plushie free. Feel free to mail me stuffies, please. Oh, and feel free to send me email at twinkle@adoptahusky.com too!

Ok, that rant is over. Now, where was I? Oh yea, new buddy Excel. He is so funny. He really has no desire to be around humans. He is not afraid of them, he just ignores them and will prefer instead to play with other dogs. Oh, unless you have food. Then Excel thinks humans are just fine! But if you are treat free, he really does not want to deal with the humans. But he loves other dogs! He is a little man-I am even bigger than him! Jack is bigger than him! Well heck, Jack is getting bigger than all of us <g> But Excel can hold his own while playing, that is for sure. I am sure going to like having yard time with Excel going forward, even if he has to drag that silly leash so FM can catch him if need be.

So, FM, who swears she does not "do" puppies, got two new puppies this Friday. It is a really long story for another diary entry, but I am sure that I will be talking about Kitt and Nevis soon. Oh, they both like me a lot too, although FM would not let me play directly with them yet. Too little and all. But from the way I saw them playing with Excel and Jack, I think they will be just fine with me!

Nite all. With puppies in the house again, we are back to the early bedtimes. But with all the commotion, it is probablly for the best!

My lasted admirer? That would be fellow foster dog Kodak! Kodak is a very handsome white dog with striking blue eyes who came out to play with me in the yard today. And while Kodak had some opinions of me jumping all over him, he politely told me to stop and I did. Well, it took him telling me a few times to stop before I did, truth be told. But really, I did listen to him eventually and we had a ball running all over the yard playing. Here is the proof:

As you can see, Jack also joined our little group outing. But we all had a great time. It is beyond me why three nice dogs like Jack, Kodak and me are all not snapped up immediately. I mean, you cannot get better than us. Hey, maybe we can do an adopt two get one free special! After all,