Today is Memorial Day in the United States of America
I repost their story every year because soldier dogs are truly amazing heroes and we must always honor our troops and our service animals and all the fallen spirits that have been taken, for oh, too many reasons. Take a moment, right now, just a few seconds, and be thankful for the wonderful service people that work so hard to stop some really terrible things from happening around the world and remember those that gave their lives for our freedom.
These are some of my favorite images from the book Soldier Dogs. There are more pictures in our slideshow today.
Military Working Dogs play a crucial part in America’s armed services. The best known “Soldier Dog,” Cairo, put crucial canine skills to work in the SEAL Team Six operation that killed Osama Bin Laden. Other Military Working Dogs serve as everything from bomb sniffers to troop companions to search and rescue dogs (and also serve in darker roles, such as duty at Guantanamo Bay). Their handlers and trainers, devoted dog lovers down to a man, form an unusually close-knit fraternity within the military.
Dogs are not only our best friends, but they are also an incredible asset to our safety forces. Thank you to all the handlers and animals that keep us safe around the world and on this MEMORIAL DAY to all those who lost their lives in service – Your friends at DogDaz Zoo
Spring is an especially itchy time here at the DogDaz Zoo. All the dogs started on allergy medicine several weeks ago when the first crocuses started pushing their heads up out of the snow. Sofie tends to suffer from terrible skin problems in the warmer weather. I give her an antihistamine (this year it is Zyrtec) before her scratching starts to get too bad. Hopefully, this will delay the heavy duty expensive medicine (Apoquel) that we end up having to use by mid-summer (or she scratches her skin off). Louise and Charlie are sneezing and runny too, so everyone is on something every day until this passes.
Aren’t we lucky to live somewhere that everything that grows in the northern US, and everything that grows south, grows here?
What have you tried that helps keep the itch away? Spring flowers are lovely, but oh, this pollen!
Sometimes I need a free hand to be able to pick stuff up. I let them take care of each other. I thread Charles’ leash on Sofie’s, and then Sofie’s leash on Louise’s. As long as I have hold of Louise’s lead since she is the heaviest link in the chain, I find that this works. Sofie hates that Charles pulls on her, so usually, she will sit down and keep him in place (which she did right after I took this shot).
How do you control multiple dogs when you need a free hand?
Another month under wraps. I can’t believe how fast April came and went. The animals did not enjoy the pollen but loved to sniff the flowers and to sit in the yard and in the open windows on the warmer days.
The Zoo had a fun time helping the not-so-little humans find the eggs that the not-so-young ones hid all around the yard. They say that it is getting harder each year because there are fewer eggs and they are hidden higher and lower. Sofie decided that she was going to plant herself in the fern bed. We wanted to help eat all the candy but Mom said her usual, ‘NO,’ so we settled for some really yummy dog and cat treats. Though we do have bunnies living in the front yard, they were smart to stay away while we were hunting. We hope you had a festive weekend.
By the way, no one found the afikoman the night before, so they searched for that too.
Squash & Lulu under Big Tree January 2011 (he passed in February)
Lulu under the big tree 2012
Sofie and the tree shadow 2014
In honor of EARTH DAY, I am looking back at the big tree that has provided us many years of shade in the yard. The big maple towers over the house and must be many many years old. Many a dog has lazed in the shadow of her leaves, Tons of squirrels have raised their young in her upper boughs. Robins, wrens, blue jays, crows, nuthatch, chickadees, sparrows, cardinals, woodpeckers, finch, and even hawks have all used your branches. Thank you big tree for all you do for us.
