It's after Christmas

Hi All,

It's me, Gracie. I thought I'd talk a little about how things have been going this past week since we lost Stylle.

It's been a week today since Stylle crossed the Rainbow Bridge and things are getting back to normal.

Vinnie was walking the halls looking for Stylle but couldn't find her. He looked every place he thought she could be, even in the last place MOM had her (MOM couldn't bury Stylle until the next day because it had started to rain shortly after she passed). MOM had wrapped Stylle in a pale blue sheet and had her in the utility room and Vinnie was allowed to be in there with her to say his good-byes to his sister. MOM said he smelled her and then kissed the sheet (MOM said it was very touching to see him do that). Chloe was allowed in there after Vinnie was finished and she said her good-byes, too. Chloe said we (Travis and I) were too young to be in there so she said good-bye for us, too.

For the next 3-4 days, Vinnie would walk the halls and go into all the rooms looking for Stylle and got upset because he couldn't find her and he would whine about it. MOM let him do as he wanted because he and Stylle were form the same litter and she said they knew each other longer than any other of us.

Things finally settled down on Saturday after MOM got home from work. SHE talked to Vinnie and told him where Stylle was and that he would see her again. He seemed to be calmer after that.

I miss Stylle and I know Travis does,too. She was a nice older lady dog, unless you were a young dog  then she would snap at you if you were not behaving yourself. She would give some of the best ear washes and face cleanings ever.

Well, better close for now. MOM is sitting on the sofa with a movie on and I plan on sitting next to her (even though Travis thinks he's going to do so).

Talk to you again real soon.

Gracie. 

Stylle (a.k.a.Duegar's Just My Stylle)

Hi Everyone,

It's with a heavy heart that I must say that Stylle lost her fight against cancer and old age today at 3:30 PM. She was 14 yrs 8 months old ( She was approximately 91 years old in human years) and had been living with breast and mast cell cancer for over 3 years.

She was a very loving and friendly lab who didn't know a stranger and always had a smile, wagging tail, and doggie kisses for anyone she met. She was born here on the farm and had moved into the house in about 2001, after the death of her mom (Duegar's Hyjinx of Amen).

Her brother, Vinnie, is still here in the house and was at her side when she passed quietly across the Rainbow Bridge, along with Chloe and myself.

Stylle was never a show dog but she loved living on the farm, digging up the fields and hunting rabbits in the backyard.

She was always close if she thought something was bothering you and was always quick to put her head on your lap to comfort you in your sorrow or if you were ill.

All of us here at Duegar Kennels would hope that anyone who knew Stylle, or any or the rest of us, would please help supprt the Morris Foundation in their battle to cure canine cancer. When a dog develops cancer, the cure (anti-cancer medicines) are very hard on the dog to tolerate and may just barely extend their lives a few months if at all. We have had 3 dogs (Tillie, Trouble, and, now, Stylle) die of some form of canine cancer since 2004. Tillie was diagnosed with end-stage mast cell cancer 6 weeks before she passed; Trouble was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma cancer (a cancer found in the abdominal cavity and organs) and passed 4 days after diagnosis; and, now, Stylle (even tho she was never "techincally " diagnosed, she showed all the signs of breast and mast cell cancers with mets).

I hope anyone who reads this blog will support The Morris Foundation (www.morrisfoundation.org.) and "like" their page on facebook in Stylle's name or in the name of a dog you know that has suffered with this terrible disease.

We thank you for all your support in this time of our grief.

Benita, Chloe, Vinnie, Travis, and Gracie.  

Updates from Travis

Hi All

It's me, Travis here with some of the things that have been going on around here since we last talked.

Well, Gracie has been in heat and (thankfully) is out of it. She was really nasty this time. She got mad about something and was screaming at me and she came into MY crate and was chewing on me!!! I have no idea what got into her but MOM and Chloe had to pull her out of MY crate and off me. It was not pretty. MOM made her get into her crate and cool off. MOM said that she had thought about letting Gracie and me make some puppies now that Gracie was 2 yrs old but decided not to with the she was acting.

Vinnie is still with us. He amd Stylle are now 13 yrs old. Vinnie does his own thing, just kinda walking around trying to figure out how he can sneek outside for a while. MOM says he is just too old to be climbing up and down the steps, so he and Stylle stay inside with MOM and sleeps most of the day. If I start to see if Vinnie will play with me MOM keeps saying I have to be nice to him because he's older than I ever will be (not a clue what SHE means by that).

MOM is upset with the people who made my and Gracie's crates. SHE says that for as long as SHE has been in dogs, SHE has NEVER seen the pan, in the bottom of the crate break into. Mine has 2 long cracks in it big enough that I can get my food pan slid under it and Gracie's has some cracks in it,too. MOM says that SHE now has to buy some new crates for us to sleep in because these can cause us to get hurt if the cracks try to pinch us. If my pan starts to try to hurt me I'll just bit it really hard and make it quit.

Well, it's been raining all day and I heard MOM tell someone that we (Gracie, Stylle, Vinnie, Chloe, and me) have been out in the ark riding around in it and water skiing off the back end. I don't know where MOM gets HER information but I'm here to tell you THIS has NEVER happened since I've been here, altho it does sound like a lot of fun. I think I'm going to see if I can find out how this happens and try it for myself.

Talk to y'all later.

Bye, Travis.

Hi All,


Well, last weekend was the 2011 Autumn Oaks coonhound show at Richmond, IN.


MOM and I went up on Thursday so I could scope out the lady coonhounds, er, so MOM could see all the hounds. It was really hot. We sat in the supposedly air conditioned main building that had the rings in it for a while, then we went for a walk. I had to pee soooo bad that I stopped at the first light pole I found.


After I took care of Mother Nature, we walked around and bought some new bells. I don't know why MOM bought 2 of them but they had a nice sound, not like the one I wear at home, but she said if we have puppies this winter or next spring, we will need bells so SHE can find us easier. I told HER that I'm not hard to find and SHE said I wasn't as long as I had my bell on. Oh,well.


MOM and Gracie were supposed to go to the show on Friday but MOM got up sick, SHE said SHE thought it was from getting so hot the day before, so SHE and Gracie stayed home. Boy, was that a long day. Gracie was mad because she wanted to go to the show and MOM wasn't feeling too well, so they got into an agrument about it. And Gracie bitched, and bitched, and bitched, and bitched all day long. I asked MOM if SHE could tell Gracie to stop but SHE said that when Gracie was in this type of mood the best thing to do was to ignore her. Easy for HER to say, my crate is right next to Gracie's and she will scoot next to my side and bitch real quite like so MOM can't hear her but I can. I had a headache after about 5 minutes of Gracie and finally told her to shut up which set her off even more.
I finally asked MOM if I could come out of my crate and sit next to HER on the sofa snd SHE let me out. I HATE it when Gracie gets like this - she's sooo hard to live with then.


MOM said to Gracie that, in the new issue of Coonhound Bloodlines, there were 3 shows she could go to in October and that finally shut Gracie up. It only took 6 hours to do it, but what a relief it was. I couldn't even sleep when she was acting so silly. She, Gracie, keeps telling me that she's a big girl but you sure couldn't prove it by me last Friday.


Anyway, things are pretty much back to normal around here. It's finally cool enough that MOM can let us out back and hunt rabbits again. It's been so hot that we are only allowed outside to go potty and then we have to come back inside into the air conditioning. I hope it stays cool like this for a long time. I don't like it when it's hot, I want to be outside hunting rabbits and MOM won't let us when it's hot. Oh, some nice man who sat down beside us, I made sure he was nice when he talked to MOM, and he asked me if I hunt coons and MOM said no that we hunt rabbits in the backyard. He said that he knew I'd be able to hunt coons and continued to scratch my head. He was a nice person and I liked talking to him.


Well, better close for now, MOM says SHE needs my blankie so it can be washed - I get scared when SHE takes my blankie because I'm afraid blankie won't come back. MOM takes Gracie's blankies and when SHE'S done with them they are different. I think it's becasue Gracie chews on her blankies til there is very little blankie left. I don't chew on mine anymore because I am a big boy, I play and wrestle and snuggle with my blankies but I don't chew on them. I guess Gracie is still a baby (I HEARD THAT, TRAVIS!!!!!).


Well, now that she is awake I gotta go.


Talk to you real soon,

Travis

Chloe's business

Hi All


It's me, Travis, and I was asked to talk to you about what Chloe is up to.


It seems that she has decided to have a business of her own making clothes and blankies and beds for all the doggies out there.


She says she wants all the dogs, and their families, to have nice clothes, with dogs on them of course, so they can show how proud they are of their furry kids. She said that she will be making, with the help of MOM, t-shirts and sweat shirts, dog beds (she said I could try one out), blankies and quilts to snuggle under, and, naturally, some dog clothes (coats, sweatshirts, things like that) and all of these things will have dogs on them. She said they may be charactures (whatever that is) of dogs or sillouttes of real dogs. I hope she makes good on this because she is driving me nuts and this would get her out of my hair.

So, I told her that I would tell everyone about this and even model (and who can resist such a handsome guy like me) so she can get off on the right foot.

Now, what I need from you is to go over to her blog, www.chloessewingroom.blogspot.com, and check things out. She says she hopes to have some sketches to post during the next few days of what she'll have to offer.

Please go there so Chloe will leave me alone for a little bit - she has been yapping about this for the past few days and it's really starting to get on my nerves - she even has Gracie signed up to be a model.

Help, please.

Travis.

Upcoming show.

Hi All,


It's Speed Racer, um I mean, Gracie here. I've been "flying" around the back yard hunting rabbits that MOM has started calling me "Speed Racer".


I was talking to MOM the other day and SHE said the coonhound dog show is next week and if I was a good girl (I told HER that I am always good - but SHE just laughed???), I could go to the show and actually be a show dog.


I've been to this show (Autumn Oaks at Richmond, IN) a couple of times - once when I came home with MOM and last year when I came to look around. But, MOM said I was going to be a show dog at the show this year.


I LOVE being in shows. I get all kinds of people talking to me, petting me, having me walk for them (I always have my "strut" on), and looking at my teeth (MOM keeps reminding me that I am not to bite when the judge looks in my mouth). I like to see all the other coonhound pups there and talk to them about what they've been doing. After I show, MOM usually gives me a cookie and lots of scratches and pats and other people come around and pet me and tell me how pretty and good I am.


Travis said he likes to go to the shows but DOES NOT like to get up on the bench. I called him a chicken and we got into a fight and MOM made us get in our crates and we continued the fight thru the wires til MOM came in and stood in front of the crates til we stopped.


I can hardly wait to go. But, I have to have something called a bath before I go because MOM says I'm dirty. I don't know where SHE got this idea - my white areas are still white and my red spots are still red, and Travis says I don't stink.


Well, better go because the computer is typing weird, maybe I can say Travis caused it.


Bye for now.


Gracie

Hi All


Well, now I am 3 years old. My birthday was last Saturday, July 2, 2011. MOM said she was going to hold me while Gracie "beat" me. I was a little worried, but when it didn't happen, I knew MOM was only teasing me.


Actually, Gracie was nice to me - she didn't bark at me as much as she usually does. MOM let me climb into HER lap when we were outside (until MOM saw a tick on HER lap), and SHE even scratched me in my favorite places. It felt so good, I gave MOM kisses after.


Gracie chased me around the backyard and then she found where a rabbit had been and she asked me if I wanted to help her find it. I was fun running around with our noses to the ground even tho we didn't find a rabbit.


Stylle let me smell her without her trying to bite me. Vinnie just looked at me, MOM keeps reminding me I can't play rough with him because he is old.


Better go see what Gracie is doing. MOM put an air conditioner next to my crate and now I stay really cool when it's hot outside. I think I may just lay in my crate on my back and sleep.


Talk to you later, Travis