We are Legend

Did you really forget what we look like? Well, we have been gone for a long time. In case you need a cheat sheet now, here it is! Actually, we made this for our new dogsitter. We hope she can learn all our names!

Dirty Dozen

Interlopers! Who are these guys?! (Yeah, no, not us, hope no one forgot what we look like!) Sheesh, you leave your blog for a month or three, and some crazy mutts butt in and take over!Truth be told, these guys aren't just taking over the blog--they've moved into the house! Golden boy is Sammy and li'l miss is Angel, named after our very own. :) They're rooming with girl friend Frances Jean--no relation to Ethel Jean --picture forthcoming.

The trio, plus brother JoJo, comprise our dog sanctuary Free to Be Dog Haven. The sanctuary isn't supposed to actually be up and running until we move to our farm (more on that in a later post), but "someone" has been impatient, as usual. Long story short: we got a full house. More like bursting at the seams--and let us tell you, cheaper by the dozen it ain't. The more the merrier, right?Anyway, we're all here, one big, merry bunch. But this is no permanent deal, okay? Sammy, Frances, and Angel need their forever homes! If anyone is interested, they can contact us through our website or go through the Delaware SPCA, where all these guys are from.

And don't forget brother Stormy(not pictured here)--he's available, too! Through Echo Dogs White Shepherd Rescue!

If you'd like to see Sammy and Angel in action, you can view a video here.

How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm?, part 2

Look where we went!Little Theo got to navigate up to the Finger Lakes to check out this awesome farm for sale. We've been so jealous of Tucker's farm that we want one of our own! Whaddya think? There's crazy cold, snowy winters up there in New York, but we would have so much land to run around on. And summer on those acres would be amazing... Sigh. There's even a pond and creek and some woods. Lotsa playin to be had!Not only that, but we'd get us some SHEEPS! :) Yeah, not like these guys in the pics--we'd have cute, fuzzy ones. (But we'd kinda be okay if some of the goats wanna stay...)
We'd have our own little Beekman Mansion, though it wouldn't be a mansion. And we would need a Farmer John! Not only that, we'd finally be able to have all these foreign dogs move out of the house and have a house of their own. Theo doesn't like sharing!Besides, communing with nature is more our style. We're not into rushing, you know. :) Most important, Narra sure looks good in the country! (Actually, she looks good everywhere!)

How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm?

Ah, we love seeing little Tucker's cute face! Three weeks ago today, we took our little bro all the way down state for a trial run at a new forever home. Tucker and his new peeps had some issues, but we set scaredy boy straight, and all seems okay now--we're gonna call it a GO! Actually, don't call it a forever home--it's a forever FARM! Our boy done good: he's living on a 15-acre farm with a new border collie/lab bro! (And cats!) Most important, his new family loves him lots. They better love him as much as we do!
We miss you, baby bro--but we're happy for you. Have a wonderful, happy life!!

Wordless Wednesday

Scored the Ten Spot!

Just when nine started to feel normal, we find ourselves back at TEN! (And if Uncle Kidlat visits, we'll be 11 again!) Sigh. Good and bad, we suppose. Narra's new admirer is JoJo, a 7-year old DE SPCA parolee with a penchant for cranky behavior.

You can hardly blame him, though. His family lost their home due to the economy, and, after that, the family broke up. The only home JoJo ever knew was gone. When he ended up at the shelter, JoJo had a really hard time: it was so loud and busy, and with no one to pay special attention to him. JoJo missed his house, his couch, and his kids. In his confusion and anxiety, he's had a particularly hard time trusting new people. He feels alone and is always guarded. We thought he'd be okay when he went to his first foster home, but it wasn't his home, and JoJo took out some of his frustration on his foster dad. :(So JoJo ended up at the shelter again, and his health declined even worse. Not to mention his morale. The shelter did everything they could to find the right place where JoJo could recuperate and start anew, but no help could be found. JoJo's time at the shelter had run out.So, apparently, somewhere in our "papers," we must have an extended moniker that includes the name St. Jude--because someone has mistaken us as a savior for hopeless cases! Well... where else was JoJo gonna go?? Anyway, we'll make the most of it and help as best we can. And we hope that some day the right home will come along for JoJo, and he can leave his past behind him and be happy again.

In the meantime, at least he's easy on the eyes. But make no mistake, we're not sharing any bacon.

Historic!

These have been some trying times... You might've guessed as much from our blogging absence (but then again, who'd miss our inconsistent bloggin?). First, we suffered a major loss: our trusty ride--those special wheels that took us on innumerable adventures--finally succumbed after 222K miles. RIP, baby. But we got a new ride! It's sweet! A younger, peppy-er version of our dearest, not a replacement, just new (er, used)--welcome to the fold!

Anyway, we finally got to take it out! Um, not all of us, just the anointed ones, Narra and Tuchuck. Destination: Valley Forge National Historic Park, old stomping grounds of brothers Tsamba and Buko--and baby Narra, back in the day.Speaking of old stomping grounds, we thought Valley Forge was an ideal spot for us to march in solidarity with our homeys back in Wisconsin! They've got quite a battle on their hands, and they're fighting for history! Not to mention collective bargaining rights and workers' rights, in general. We won't even get into corporate greed, public services, etc. Oh, humans, why are you like this?? On Wisconsin! In the name of "Fighting Bob" Lafolette!

On a more pleasant note, doesn't Tuchuck look like our buddy Norwood in this (blurry) picture?!Sure felt great to be out there again, for sure. But, next time, can we all go? And can we get rid of those damn leashes? We promise not to chase the deer--promise!

On the Road

We travel this road every day--wherever we are.

Rosie, you're alright

New gal pal Rosie is a husky Husky--just more to love! And she's just full of love, too! She stopped by briefly on her way to Virginia, to our new friends at Pet Harbor rescue.She has a new name: Posi, and she's all set to embark on a whole new world. After two stints at the Delaware SPCA, she's onto the promise of a better life. She's 8-years young, loves everybody: kids, cats, dogs, and is super fun and affectionate. Hey, we really wanted her to stay here! But if you know anyone who's worthy of her, send them to Pet Harbor!But we want to know--yet again--how come only Narra and Tuchuck get to be on the welcoming committee?! (Not that the rest of us want more committee work...)

Rosie from 4dogart on Vimeo.

Who's the cat that won't cop out when there's danger all about?

Tanner! Right on! Can you dig it?

In our quest for a more dapper 2011, big bro Tanner joined the fashion forward with a bold and elegant collar choice. He's the strong, silent type so didn't go in for the bright, colorful statement the collies made.This pattern from Bison Designs is called "Tribal." We're all about that, dude, we're totally the TRIBE (minus the racist overtones and mascot)! (The collies' collars, btw, come from a Sun Valley outfit called A Tail We Could Wag.)Sister Narra loves her sharp-dressed bros! We think Tim Gunn would approve. :)

Li'l snow, lotsa pics!

What's down in the dark will be brought to the light

We watched 2010 ride off into the sunset--literally. Actually, we were so inspired by Mattie Ross, Rooster Cogburn, and especially Joel and Ethan Coen, that we wanted to get a jump start on a gritty 2011, full of action, adventure, and brilliant writing. At the very least, we wanted to get out while the human's knees could still manage a reasonable bend. As it turned out, those feeble knees didn't get moving til late (as usual), so we ended up going for a walk where we knew we could at least enjoy the sunset. An expansive natural resource area is pretty close to our house--but far enough that we get to rev up the van--and it does showcase spectacular sunsets, New Year's eve or not.
Going out was also a good way for Tuchuck and Theo to show off their cool new collars. Another resolution for 2011: be more dapper (cuz we really can't get better lookin). Then again, dusk doesn't offer the best light for admiring snazzy duds. So we just ran around for a bit, resisted the temptation to chase deer--ahem--and watched 2010 fade away.You might notice, at this point, that not everyone got to go. :( Boo! The human promises that 2011 will bring a more equitable distribution of fun to the pack, but we remain unconvinced. We get that sistah Narra gets to do everything--and the rest of us can live with that--but, c'mon, boys just wanna have fun, too!Anyway, brutha Theo was happy for the ride and the horse-poop eating, plus he enjoyed the dubious distinction of New Year's eve at Uncle Kidlat's house… While Uncle Kidlat can be quite demanding, extremely vocal, and incapable of pausing, he did get more snow than we did--so snow zoomies were a big bonus! We'd like more of that in 2011, too, please.
And we'd like less losses. We lost our Angel and Wally, as well as beloved humans: our human's "surrogate grandma" and the Peppy Sheppys' Gramps. We have other friends who suffered a lot of losses, too; our thoughts are with them always, and we're hoping for a stupendous 2011 for everyone. In fact, we're determined to make this year the BEST!

After a little nap. And perhaps a snack or two...And BACON. Oh, yeah, definitely need more bacon in 2011.