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My Pack and non-IRN Flock

Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 11:12 am
by Melika
Here are the other members of the family. Geronimo is my babe, the rest belong to the family (we each have our own dog).



The late Geronimo, my doggie (12.5 yrs, passed away March 2008)
Nicknames (he comes to all of them): G-mo, Bubba, Babe, Baby, Love, Jyamoe, Geromio, Beautiful, Handsome

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During a bath, Geronimo has to sit with his shampoo on for a bit so he usually rubs in the grass then naps. Same thing when he's drying off.

"Are you going to dry me off now?"

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"Maybe if I hide, she'll forget to rinse me off..."

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Zoe, RIP, taking a nap. She was an odd one sometimes...
Nicknames: Zo Zo, Zo Girl, Scar

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Socrates, sister's dog (17yrs, passed away 2016)
Nicknames: Fluffernater, Moron, Idiot, Goofball, Go lay down

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Strider, dad's dog (12yrs)
Nicknames: Little Man, Fritz

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Crime...

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... and Punishment.

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The Aviary (all have long since passed away):
Killer (grey 'tiel), Persephone (pearl 'tiel)
Budgies from left: Neo, Rei, Storm

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Friend of the aviary (neighborhood kitty):

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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 12:53 pm
by nil
all are marvelous, you must be so proud for them

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 5:58 am
by BigChicken
Ha Ha, I swear, Srider looks like he is thinking of a funny joke! Birdies are too cute. What is it about birdies that could make a construction worker smile and make cute baby bird talk?

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 10:22 pm
by Lauren
:D They are such cuties! They must bring you so much joy! :wink:

Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 6:54 am
by Melika
I am proud and they do bring me great joy!

Yeah, Strider is a sly one- at least thinks he is. He's sleeping in the laundry basket right now on some sheets. He's fast too- if one of the other dogs turns their head for a second he's off with the bone. He did it once to Socrates (we call Socrates "Moron" as his nickname) and ran right between his legs while Socrates was listening to some barking down the road. He went to lay down with his bone again and stopped mid-motion. His face was priceless.
"Egh, it's nothing.
I'll just go back to chewing my...
Bone? Where is my bone? Wha?"
He looked to each side, behind himself, and finally moved to make sure he wasn't standing on it. Then he looked at us and we told him Strider took it so he went to Strider's cave (Strider gets his safe-place crate since he' so little and needs to escape the big ones sometimes) and Strider sounded like a badger defending his den. The dogs don't mess with him when he's in there.
Socrates was just too funny to watch! My sister and I were rolling in laughter for a good while after that one!

And when Zoe was a puppy she tried to chew my boor bubba's (Geronimo's) tail like it was a bone. Not to mention she thought Geronimo was a mommy!

The birds steal the dog's bones. They peck at the dog's feet until the dogs give up and walk away.

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 2:39 pm
by Melika
New pics, shown in first post. ^_^ Enjoy.

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 6:18 pm
by Lauren
Aww! Doggies always look soo guilty when they've been up to something naughty! :lol: Gotta love sleepy cats, just makes me want to get a blankey and tuck em in all ready for night night! :wink:

Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:11 pm
by Melika
If you're feeling emotional, you don't want to read this. I just have to share it with people who really care and understand. :cry:

My bubba died a few weeks ago. :/ He had cancer in his spleen/liver and one or the other burst and he was bleeding internally. My sister heard him whine (we presume this was the moment it burst) and when he wouldn't get up, she came and woke me. I had left him sleeping downstairs late that night, as he was sleeping so peacefully I did not wish to wake him. (:

His belly felt a little gushy so I took him outside, where he stood long enough to pee and then wouldn't stand after that. I checked his gums and they were grey. Within half an hour of my waking we were on our way to the vet.. I was trying not to cry too badly, as I was driving, but I knew I was saying goodbye. Sometimes you wish the vet lived a little further away.. more than five minutes would have been nice that day.. and not nice, as I did not wish him to suffer. I had to carry him to the car, and into the vet's office. He was still 'there' but fading fast. The vet tech asked if he had gotten into anything, and after telling her we had a miniature dachshund she believed me when I said that it wasn't possible. :lol:

The vet palpated his belly and (in the car I told my sister to speak for me if I couldn't when we got there, through the tears) when I saw the blood in the syringe I knew for sure I was saying goodbye. We immediately said that we were letting him go, I'm not sure which of us said it. There was very little wait, and he went easily... once they tried the third leg. He didn't have much blood runing around in his system by then. Stubborn to the last.

While the papers were being filled (thankfully quickly) my sister called my father and mother for me, to let them know. Dad cried and couldn't speak, mom wanted to come say goodbye but she knew we couldn't make Geronimo wait. He was my dog, but they loved him too.

If you know canines and cancer, you know even if you find it early it's a long road of meds and surgeries. The treatments are more for the human's comfort than the dog's. In most cases, your dog might survive a year longer. At his age.. I couldn't do that to him. He deserved more than that. He deserved to go with some dignity.

Geronimo had been playing the night before, ate two cups of food, and was as he always was. I thought we would have a few more years together- he didn't show his age at all- but we did have a good long while. He was a stubborn mutt. Obedient... grudgingly and not without complaint. But I loved him for it. He challenged me at every turn and taught me quite a bit. I had Skippy for the first half of my life, and Geronimo for the second. I'd have it no other way. :)

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:42 am
by pinkdevil
Oh poor Geronimo :cry: :cry: Sorry to hear that. It is such a heart wrenching thing to say good bye, even whe you know it is for the best.

My thoughts are with you, your family and of course Geronimos furry friends.

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:50 am
by nil
i am so sorry for your loss melika!
i can understand you so much, i lost my lovely dog (10yo) lalle last year from canser ( sarcoma) after a 6 months with a lot of surgeries, medications etc
now has passed 7 months from this day and i cant forget her neither one day.
When i read your post my mind runs to my dogs last moments...
Now melika our dogs play in heaven
sorry i cant write more, its 9am, i am in my job and feel too sad
i hope some day to meet with her again
be strong melika, you have other babies who need you
:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 2:54 am
by Datsun and Family
Oh Melika, I am so sorry hun. I know how much you love your dogs and he was very special to you. :cry: hugs :cry:

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 6:29 pm
by Lene
I'm so sorry for your loss, Melika... [[[[HUGS]]]]

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:20 am
by Lauren
:( Oh no Geronimo! I'm so sorry sweetheart. It must be a devastating time for you. *hugs* Take care and stay strong wont you hun. :(

Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 1:56 pm
by Melika
I turned to my sister when we came home, coming up to the door when it hit me that my bubba wouldn't be on the other side of the door when it opened, and said, "The hardest part of saying goodbye is knowing you can never again say hello."

And the first few cold nights in bed... those were hard. I reached over the first time to nudge Geronimo and make him come lay at my feet, but he wasn't there.

It's getting better though. Aside from my dream I was petting Geronimo and I woke up petting my table above my bed... >.>

Thank you for your thoughts and words. :) It's difficult, but I know I can make it. Hane is getting a little more attention now. For a while I had little interest in any of the animals here... sort of in a fog so to speak. I'm making a new routine. I still try to call Geronimo to follow me up to bed sometimes (eleven and a half years of that are hard to erase). Socrates still runs around in the evenings, looking for my bubba to play with, as they usually did. I'm focusing more on Hane right now, but still have trouble with the other dogs. They aren't mine, they never were. I never treated them as my own. Nothing much has changed there. I'm looking at some akitas up for adoption. I'm not ready for another just yet, lol. I need to finish mourning. When I find the right one, I'll know it. Always did.

---

My sister saw what I was typing next, and told me, "You're typing the life of your dog. This is going to take two hours."

Hehe. XD

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I was eleven when we were at the SPCA looking for a new dog (my first dog, a golden named Skippy, had died) and I saw Geronimo and asked to see him in the yard. He didn't pay one lick of attention to me. :lol: Didn't look at me, sniff me, etc. Just walked around the yard marking it. I tried his name, which he didn't come to (I don't blame him, it wasn't a good name) and I thought, 'great, I can change his name!'. So I told my parents that was the one I wanted, lol. They were... unsure. They had me look at some other dogs, which I didn't like and still insisted upon Geronimo (I had already chosen the name before we went looking).

And so we got my bubba, parents still somewhat reluctant. He was a year old and had been there at the SPCA for six months- that was half his life. His previous owners said he had too much energy. -.- He was a puppy. Duh. We got him home and he just ran. For days. For weeks. I was quite proud of him, lol, as he had the most gorgeous physique after all that exercise. He had a lot and a half to run in and he took full advantage of it. After a few weeks, I managed to talk my parents into letting Geronimo be an inside dog. They eventually agreed- again reluctantly. Not that they didn't want an inside dog, they just weren't sure about him. Fortunately, he had no bad habits and fit right in.

Obedience training was a challenge though. o.O;

My first dog, being a golden retriever would fetch all day and had an overwhelming desire to please. I learned Geronimo was different. :D

I threw a ball for him, and he went to get it. After some coaxing he brought it back, and after even more coaxing he dropped it. I threw the ball again. He looked at where I had thrown it, looked back at me with an expression that read 'if you didn't want it in the first place, I wouldn't have brought it back to you' and he walked off. :roll:

So he wasn't a fetcher. Okay, no problem.

Skippy used to accompany me out into the alley when I took the trash to the dumpster. So I took Geronimo with me (off-leash, just like Skippy) and he didn't run. I came back into the yard and Geronimo wouldn't come when I called him. Now, with Skippy, when this happened I closed the gate and began loving up on our other dog, Molly. Skippy came to the gate and when he was desperately trying to get in, I finally let him back in, never had a problem with him coming when he was called after that. So I tried this with Geronimo. I was sitting, loving up on Molly, telling her how good she was etc. etc. Geronimo came up to the gate, took one look at me, at the gate, and then promtly turned and took himself for a walk. :o

I had a lot to learn about training dogs. And Geronimo sure taught me. He had a fierce independent streak and challenged me at every turn. And I loved it. I loved the challenge. He never did win, but he sure tried. :wink:

My Dad used to turn to me, while petting Geronimo, and tell me he was happy I chose him. That he was the perfect dog for us.

He was a good dog. Simple as that.


- - - - - - - - -


I do miss him. A lot. With Skippy, I had a month to say goodbye, after his meds stopped working. With Geronimo, I had a hurried half-hour. It wasn't enough. :cry:


*realizes she is depressing with her writing* >.> lol

Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:34 pm
by pinkdevil
That is a very moving story. Even though sad I really enjoyed reading it.

Thanks.


:)

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 3:47 am
by Melika
Thank you, all of you. (:

Typing that out, sharing my doggie with ya'll really helped. Up until then... I hadn't really grieved. I needed to, to get out of this funk, lol.

I feel much better now. Thanks again for 'listening'. I don't have many animal friends IRL. You're the closest I have to REAL animal people in my life. :)

This has been a bad year.

Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2016 12:20 pm
by Melika
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The hardest part of saying goodbye is knowing you can never again say hello.

My wonderful Amadeus recently passed away in July 2016. He was nowhere near old enough. He had sudden liver failure of unknown causes- he likely would not have survived to diagnosis, much less through treatment.

Some people say they are like children... I disagree. It is like losing your best friend.

Amadeus was my best friend for almost nine years. Three months after Geronimo died, when I was walking down the aisles in the SPCA, there he was, not barking or jumping. He was sitting there tilting his adorable head and looking up at me. He had none of the bad habits that untrained dogs normally come with. I was baby-sitting my nieces that summer and needed a dog that wouldn't need too much un-training and wouldn't harm my nieces as they were still quite young then. I never thought I would adopt an australian shepherd. My sister had one and I didn't like him (as a personal dog for me, I mean). But Amadeus was so different. SO different. He wasn't hyper, didn't bark, didn't jump. He did mouth a little bit but that was easily un-trained within a week. He was quick to learn but didn't like to repeat things over and over (an aussie trait).

He was nearly impossible to get pictures of- I swear he would awaken from a dead sleep and move just as you hit the button. He was always cheerful, playful, and brought smiles to everyone's faces. He rarely barked and was very obedient but also interminably silly. He brought so much joy into my life. They way he would trot into the room alone would make you smile.

He was a dragon, meaning a hoarder of toys. He would pile them up and lay upon them as he slept. Amadeus never was one for fetch, but he loved to carry toys around. He also did not like sharing them with other dogs. He was stupid when it came to doggie body language- but he still made friends with other dogs and could go to the dog park just fine.

He was my husbands first dog, really, and he was great. I used to tell my husband that I had Amadeus longer than I had him. My husband didn't expect the loss to hurt as much as it did. He was a great dog. I am glad he was a part of my family. I am so glad my husband got to share in his life.

There are so many things I wish I could share about Amadeus. I don't even know where to begin. He was with me through so many changes in my life. It is an understatement to say that he is missed.

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- - - - - - - - - - - - -

My boss told me that what I needed to do was get a parrot because they live so long- to which I informed him that I had one, and Hane had passed earlier this year.

This has been a bad year. I also will likely receive a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis this year. Oh and my dad had a stroke in January. Like I said, it has been a bad year.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

For the past two years, my husband and I had been talking about getting a second dog. And I had been looking. I visited numerous dogs and just never found the right one. I told my husband that I wasn't sure I wanted another dog, but a few months before Amadeus' sudden death, my husband told me that I should always have a dog. He told me that I needed one, that I'm simply not me without a dog. So since I had already been looking, I continued searching and shortly after my doggie died I did find another companion. Then my husband found one too at a different shelter- so we decided to get both.

Here are Atreides and Jashka (Zsa-Zsa for short). Atreides has one ear that is stuck erect. It's adorable. I told my sister that he's a freaky mix between Geronimo and Amadeus and she, having known both dogs, agrees. He has a lot of quirks (he had been returned twice to the shelter) but is also easily trainable, whereas ZsaZsa doesn't require as much un-training but is hard-headed. She is a good first dog for my husband to train. Atreides is a good challenge for me and keeps me occupied and moving, which is good for both my mind and body.

Atreides (left) is from the Humane Society and Jashka (right) is from the SPCA.
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They're great dogs and indeed they have been good for me.
My husband knows me almost better than myself sometimes. :)

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Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2022 6:41 am
by Bynccunse
This whole post needs to go on the banner AMAZING finds Congratulations, they all look great but the PATINA on that 1827 is dreamy Must have been fertilizer-free farming because that looks better than 99 of yard coppers Thanks for sharing and please show pics of all the non-coin finds too.

hi!

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2022 3:04 pm
by Bynccunse
Aww! Doggies always look soo guilty when they've been up to something naughty! Gotta love sleepy cats, just makes me want to get a blankey and tuck em in all ready for night night!

The nice answer!