Meet Jasmine - Home From Iraq - Entry # 4

UPDATE: We started with the photos of Jasmine as a pup earlier today, and then Michelle sent in photos of Jasmine today and the rest of her story!

Jasmine now!

From Michelle:

Since coming home to Indiana, Jasmine has been a great dog--crazy and active and interested in everything!  She went to puppy classes and did some basic training.  She won first place in the sitting contest...although she only sits for treats!  She's really inquisitive and plays well with other dogs especially Gussy her brother (a short stocky Lab mix who is 7 years older than her). She also enjoys company and loves to run in the snow.  I think this is the first time she's ever seen snow and she just has fun running and being crazy.... crazy is her favorite way to be actually.  Some of her antics include chewing up a pillow to get to the fuzzy stuff inside, bringing me a calculator when I needed it...even though she really didn't know what it was and wasn't supposed to touch it, and freeing herself from the backyard to run and find some new neighbors to play with.  She is always finding something to get into and running laps around the back yard.  I love her dearly and she has become a perfect part of the family.  Now Jasmine, Gussy, and I are just waiting for Michael to come home and go for a walk!  We thank Operation Bahgdad Pups for all they have done to get her home as well as our local vet and the Indiana State Vets Office for making her trip and acclimation here in the United States as smooth as possible!

Original Post Earlier Today: From Mike

Jasmine as a pup

Jasmine's photo was sent in by Mike who is serving in Aghanistan. Jasmine is one of the pups from Operation Baghdad Pups!

Jas has been one of the biggest highlights in my life. She's full of life and is so curious and loves her new brother Gus, and the next door neighbor dog Rocco. We also got to take her on a family vacation to Hocking Hills. She's so cute on a drive she like to stick her nose out the window when it's not too windy. She has been so happy and it's a far cry from what she was use to in Iraq. Michelle has been the key to getting her home and Jas has kept us all on our toes. I wouldn't give her up for the world.

Note: The photo of Jasimine is when she was a puppy. Stay tuned for a recent photo of her soon.

Thanks Mike for serving your country and for sharing Jasmine with us.

Contest Entry #3 Wyatt

Wyatt graced the pages of our premier issue of "Writer With Dogs:The  Magazine Where Dogs Meet Art". Here he is in his favorite spot - the garden!

Wyatt helped start tomato seeds early last spring. Then Wyatt helped prepare the soil and plant the tomato plants and water the tomato plants.

Little did Wyatt know, that we would have an extremely cold summer and the tomatoes would never get ripe! But Wyatt is a dog and he knows that sometimes the journey is it’s own reward!

Plus, green tomatoes are like tennis balls and make for good fun!

Happy Digging,

Wyatt

Visit Wyatt's blog Gardening With Wyatt.

Remember to vote for your favorite dog by leaving comments. Contest ends Feb. 14th and the photo with the most comments get the grand prize of  $300 for the winner's favorite animal rescue group.

#2 Ruby - Second Entry In The Love My Dog Contest!

Ruby- The Smart Lab - Being Caught On The Furniture!

Entry number two is Ruby! Her person is creative coach, Elizabeth Cassidy. See another great photo of Ruby and Elizabeth on her web, Coaching For The Creative Soul.

Remember the dog with the most comments win. You have til Feb. 14th to leave comments.

#1 Our First Contest Entry From Writer With Dogs Magazine

Cheska: entry number l in Writer With Dog's Magazine Contest.

(See side bar to link to magazine for contest details. The dog with the most comments on Feb.14, 2011 wins!)

Our dog, Cheska, is a rescue: we found her on PetFinder.com where she was listed by a lady who had gone to the animal control shelter in Harlem, NYC to pick up a golden retriever, and they begged her to take this sweet dog, also, because she was due to be euthanized because of overcrowding there.

We've had her DNA tested and she is at least 25% German Shepherd, at least 25% Chow Chow, and (to our surprise) at least 25% Labrador Retriever.

Since we've had her she's survived cancer (lost one of her back toes in the process), xylitol poisoning (she "counter-surfed" and ate some sugar-free gum while we were out), and anaplasma (tick-borne disease with ultra-high fever).

She may have racked up some hefty vet bills (in the thousands), but she more than justified the expense last year when she prevented our house in upstate New York from burning down:

One morning around 6am she was pacing nervously and woke me up.  I assumed that a thunderstorm was approaching (she's terrified of them), so I went downstairs to shut off our battery backup units (so their alarms wouldn't go off if the power went out).  Cheska followed me, and stood at the top of the basement stairs staring at the door and doing the classic "Lassie Whine".  Curious, I opened the basement door and heard a strange and ominous crackling sound.  It turned out to be the electrical panel, which was sparking loudly/dangerously!  We called our electrician who told us to turn off the main breaker to the entire panel/house immediately and he'd be right over (on a Sunday morning, no less!).  Long story short: due to a badly installed gasket in the electrical meter on the outside of the house (by our local power company), water was leaking in and down the cable directly into the panel.  If Cheska hadn't warned us, the entire house could have burned down!  (The entire panel/meter had to be replaced.)

So it turns out that we have rescued each other - talk about manifestation of good karma! :-D