I now have a Facebook page

Hi All,

Well, I FINALLY talked MOM into getting me a Facebook page so I can tell everyone what I'm doing. And you know what, SHE did it!!!!!

I'm so excited I can hardly sit still. Now, the whole world will know me and know how great I am !!! (Now, don't let it go to your head. You aren't THAT great - Gracie)

Let's see, what's happening in the near future. Well, Gracie will be going to her 1st show this year in a couple of weeks. She's going to the place I went to when MOM took me out to be shown, I just hope she handles it better than I did.

Chloe and MOM are working on some blankies (they are quilts, Mr. Smartypants - Chloe). Chloe said the top is almost done and I, being the wonderful brother that I am, volunteered to try it out, but Chloe said I couldn't. (She's so mean to me.) (Yeah, right I'm mean to you, WHO ran off with the brightest colored fabric I was going to use so it could be put into HIS blankie??? - Chloe). ANYWAY ...

Can't think of anything else off the top of my head (I'm surprised your head hasn't fallen over with how big it's getting - Gracie), so I'll close for now.

Talk to you all later,

Travis.

Shows and Stuff

Hi All,

It's me, Travis. I finally got the computer away from Chloe and Gracie.

I hope all of you have heard that the Westminster Kennel Club dog show will be on TV in about a month (2/13 and 2/14, Valentine's weekend).

We are getting ready for the show - MOM is gathering up HER knitting, Chloe is getting the blankies washed and ready to cuddle under, Gracie is getting her voice primed and ready to "tell" the dogs what to do, and I plan on relaxing and wait for the girls to do all the work and I'll sit back and enjoy the show.

MOM said that Gracie has her first show of the 2012 season the Saturday before Westminster and MOM said that all she needs is 50 more points and to have a little more competition and she will be a champion (OMG, there will be NO living with her when she gets it and she's hard enough to live with now). I'm glad she likes that kind of stuff.

MOM was telling me that, since the AKC is recognizing English coonhounds now, that I can go to those shows and become a champion. SHE also said that at AKC shows they don't use benches, that the dogs simply stack themselves on the floor. HMMM, I can do that (MOM has been working with me to stack on the floor) and SHE says I can have snacks while I'm showing. It's about time that this started. I might even try a paw at these shows. Who knows? I might even become a CHAMPION myself !!!!

Any way, it's cold here and my blankies are calling me so I'd betteer go for now. Have fun and I hope you watch the WKC show with your dog.

Bye for now,

Travis

Chloe and Gracie in TROUBLE

Hi Everyone,

It's Chloe today and I can't be on here very long today because I (and Gracie) got in tons of trouble early this morning.

MOM has had HER hands full trying to get rid of the mouses that have come inside for the winter. Almost every day SHE yells at them for getting into HER fleeces and roving (that SHE uses to make yarn) and, one day, SHE was in the utility room beating some mouses on the washing machine (SHE wouldn't let me in to help HER with this job).

SHE had put the mouses's bodies (SHE had about 4 in the bottom of an empty dog food bag) and was waiting to fill the bag before taking it outside. After SHE got the bag outside, SHE left it in the backyard until SHE took it to the dump.

The bag had been outside for about 3 days and Gracie and I would smell it every day but we didn't move it because MOM would get real mad at us and we'd be in big trouble. Well, today MOM wasn't listening to Gracie when she scratched on the backdoor and she (Gracie) decided to check out the bags next to the steps. I thought they smelled good too, and so I carried this one (with the dead mouses in it) about 4 feet from the steps so we could check it out better. Now, I don't know what made MOM come outside then (maybe it was Travis because he was looking out the windows and we all know he's just a tattle-tail) but MOM comes out the backdoor took 1 look at what we were doing and then came down the steps. SHE asked us what the heck we thought we were doing and to get away from that bag. As SHE came toward me, Gracie decided to grab what I had in my mouth and eat it real fast, but she forgot that MOM had the 30 foot lead in HER hands and the next thing we knew MOM was swinging the end of the lead at BOTH of us and telling us to get up the stairs and wait at the door.

Well, we flew up the steps and stood there not daring to move a muscle. After MOM let us in the house, we got a big talking to about getting in the trash, AND MOM said there was a bait glue board (SHE said it was something SHE put out to help catch the mouses) and that we could get very sick from it. SHE left a few minutes after looking in the utility room for the box the glue boards came in, because SHE said the box had the information SHE needed to make sure we don't get sick. SHE said SHE had to go to Wal-Mart to find the box and get this information. I was getting scared because I didn't want to get sick and make MOM sad like SHE was last week after Stylle left us to go live with Grandma and Grandpa and Momma Dee and Catcher and Rosie and the rest of the dogs that crossed the Rainbow Bridge. I kept telling MOM how sorry I was that I did this and that I didn't want her to be upset and I wasn't going to the Bridge because I wanted to stay here with HER. I even started to cry, I was so upset.

MOM left for about 30 minutes and came back and called someone at the Pet Poison Control Center to talk to them about what happened. Then SHE called our doctor and then SHE called the people who make the mouses's poison stuff and talked to them. I was soo worried I couldn't think.

After MOM talked to all these people SHE called me and Gracie to her and told us that we would be OK but to NEVER touch anything that we were told not to because it could make us sick and cause us to leave MOM. Gracie and I both cried and said we'd never do that again. MOM gave us big hugs afterwards.

So, all you pups out there, if your mommy or daddy tell you not to touch anything DO NOT TOUCH IT. It can make you sick and cause you to leave them. I guatantee I won't be touching ANYTHING that has to do with mouses ever again (Gracie says she won't either).

Well, I'd better go for now. MOM said SHE would sit on the sofa with me and we could wrap up in one of HER really soft blankies and watch TV before we have supper. I like to cuddle with MOM. When Gracie and Gtravis aren't fussing with each other, they cuddle with MOM under the blankies,too.

Remember, pups, stay away from things that are for mouses so you don't get sick.

Bye for now,

Chloe.

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