FIRST FRIENDS
on Saturday
~ ALL IN THE FAMILY ~
We are closing our week of visiting FIRST FRIENDS with "all in the family". For all shown here, live the good life with our close family members, in different parts of the country. None have "blogs", though I've known a few to appear on social media pages from time to time. All are ~ of course ~ special, loved and doted upon as it should be.
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From the Sunshine State, sharing their lives with my son and his wife, and two grandchildren (high school and college ages). Choose big or small, their home offers both! Two Samoyeds and one new little pup, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Top row: CHEWY, the first to arrive in the family, energetic, bold, fearless and loving his pool time! But sofa lounging (he'll take it over) is his thing too. Middle: FIONA, not really as shy as she pretends to be here. Smaller, fluffier (someone in the family likes to add hair bows and ribbons!), she can be a lover and has "adopted" the little newcomer as her own. LAST ROW: Hi, I'm XANDER and I hope those great big pups don't step on me as I am teeny-tiny! So far, everybody loves me and I love everybody, and pretty soon I think I'll rule this world! Right now I go on walks by without the sammies, cause my little paws can't keep up with their big ones yet ... but you just wait, yes, just wait!
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Now, meet Grand Dog DOUGIE DOG. For any who followed Zoolatry in years past, Dougie Dog will be a familiar face, and a handsome one. He "owned" this blog for many, many years during the time I lived with family elsewhere in Maryland. When everyone went off to work and school each day, Dougie and I became best friends. Play ball ~ the everywhere, anytime tennis ball, what Labrador doesn't want endless tennis ball tossing. Dougie is a very big boy, so walks were not usually my thing, but thankfully the big yard was fenced. I could always count on him to be beside me as I worked on my laptop, or curl up with me for an afternoon nap, close and warm. When I would look into his golden eyes, I would see love, as I loved him, then and now. So many photos of Dougie can be seen by visiting the Dougie Dog labels on our sidebar.
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And how about these two Hoosier dogs? Yes, they're family, too! That's OLLIE on the left, handsome, fun. Though I can't help but wonder if he might be a little bit sad these days. His home used to have the hustle 'n' bustle of two teen twin girls, but not long ago one headed West and one headed East, each to pursue college degrees in nursing! Ollie might be counting the days until college vacations come 'round and his "girls" come back with arms of cuddles. Until then, he'll have to be satisfied with the attention of my niece and her husband. And over on the right, meet TEGAN, who, by the way, just "stole" that bone from a much more imposing d.o.g. at the neighborhood dog park! Now, Tegan, might be small, and he was rescue and has overcome some health problems, yet he has definitely made his place in the world, and makes it known to all! No bones about it! Tegan owns my kid brother, who just happens to be the best brother in the whole wide world, and no one can tell me different!
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All in the family would not be complete without sharing our BRANDY and our CHESSIE (Chesapeake Red). Both lived with us when my children were young, growing up. Brandy was a pure bred basset hound, and with us when we lived in northern Virginia. Tragically, during a major move from Virginia to Michigan, he either escaped (or was stolen) from our fenced back yard. The moving van would arrive in 2-days. No effort was overlooked to find him, everything tried, even our local police assisted as all knew time was critical. All to no avail, and the time came when we had to leave. We can only hope, and always did, that Brandy lived out his life in a new, and good home. After settling into Michigan, we adopted our little 12-week old, red-and-white beagle from a breeder of hunting beagles. We'd always loved the beagle breed, though didn't realize there was a difference in those from "hunting" lines, and both of her parents were national award winners! Over our years together, we learned Chessie walked with "five feet on the ground, one being her nose." And all interesting smells, or strange movements made her want to run, run, run. And there we were, wanting her to be a simple house dog! Her name was chosen as we'd just left our many years of living in the Chesapeake Bay region behind, and her coloring, she was AKC registered. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Chessie was that she grew up in Michigan with our young children. She then moved to Florida with us, as our children had grown and moved on with their lives. And then ~ Chessie became the first dog to be introduced to my first grandchild, and they shared time together for several years! Chessie had a long and good life, spanning two generations of children in our family. Interesting photos of her with my grand daughter show her to be nearly a white beagle in those years, just Chessie. Fade away the red. Angels now.
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I have certainly enjoyed this week of First Friends,
sharing with you many of the dog bloggers we visit, know and care about.
What I realized though, in putting this "week" together
is that there are so many more!
Far more than I could ever fit into one week.
Yes, I am a cat blogger.
But I have loved and had dogs as a large part of my life.
So ~ I think another week, and another, of First Friends will come along.
How could it not? There are so many of you out there ~
woof, woof ~ love you all.
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