That’s just beautiful, Leanne! Amazing work! Joanie will love it, I’m sure! :hug:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28155414@N00/3209170793/

Ferris, on the right, was rescued in 4/06. I received the call to rescue Ferris about 3:00 in the afternoon the day we put our Golden of ten years, Fenway, down after a long battle with cancer. I couldn’t believe it. We had put in to rescue long before, thinking that would be the medicine Fennie needed, but it wasn’t meant to be. I am not one who is into signs, but there ever was one, that would be it. When we heard about Ferris, we were also told about Cameron. Ferris was abused and Cam was a stray with a broken front leg. Something in my gut told me to take Cam too, although my husband was not so sure two dogs would be a good idea.

Ferris’ original name was Kyle and we had changed it to Ferris (the F for Fenway). I woke at 3am about a week after the call and woke up Scott and yelled, “We have to take Cameron in too!! Cameron is Ferris Bueller’s best friend in the movie!!”

Certifiable I am!

Ferris is our cowardly lion, but has grown so much in the 2 1/2 years we have had him. He has just learned to use his bark (not sure if he knew he had one prior to his abuse) and is definitely a mama’s boy. Cameron is our evil little gnome; getting into everything…including our hearts. They both needed us. Cam has horrible allergies and is on meds and shots. I am not sure how many people would take in a dog like that. A lot of hard work got Ferris to be the boy he is today…again much paitience. And, they love each other. They both would not be the dogs they are without one another.

Our home and hearts are full once again, but we’ll always have a piece for Fenway.

(FYI, Ferris is petrfied of cameras’s so this picture, as are many, was taken with the isight camera in my Macintosh!)

Wow Leanne, I love watching your drawings unfold, you are so good at it, I draw too, but no where near as good as you.
Cheers Debra. (Australia)

Oh, Leanne, you did a great job and I’m really pleased with the results! I know Miranda will be pleased and surprised as well.

Thank you!

Going back and looking again and again and again, I love that even captured that quirky little smile she and her brother have. Sigh.

[…] 1.20.09Thanks to Marcia for pointing out my error – we are indeed on Week 4, and I’m accepting entries through THIS Friday, January 23rd. (No comments […]

Okay, couldn’t pass this one up. Here’s two links, if we are the chosen ones then pick the one you want. The Chihuahua is Fujiman and the Schnauzer is Baby. They were such good babies for this photo shoot.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/simplysassy/54607798/in/set-1192276/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/simplysassy/54607800/in/set-1192276/

This is my boy, His name is Lobo and I delivered him on my birthday 5yrs ago. I stayed up all night getting the pups born, there was 8 of them and our female did not
do very well delivering them and so I helped her. I chose Lobo to keep because he was so quiet and just sat back and watched as things happened around him. I don’t have the mother anymore and his father had been stolen a few months after he was born. He is very special to me.
Here is the link I hope.

I didn’t win last week, so I decided to give it one more try… You do such BEAUTIFUL work!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nishona/3198963489/

This is Ratchet, he is a 3 year old Parsons jack Russel Terrier and Hank my 8 year old Beagle… I didn’t go into detail about how I got both of them last week so I figure I should so so here… The story behind us getting Ratchet is very bitter sweet. 4 years ago I had a jack Russel named Snoopy, Snoopy was only 10 months old when he bolted past my son through my front door and he ran out in the street and was hit by a car, a few hours later her died. We were completely devastated! About a week later a friend told us about a local breeder who had some puppies for sale, he was having a hard time selling them and was considering taking the remaining two puppies to a local shelter because he was getting ready to move and couldn’t keep them. We were hesitant, did we really want a new dog when our little baby had just recently died??? We decided to go and see the puppies. When we arrived at the breeders house there were 2 puppies, a male and a female.. there were people there purchasing the female and they were pretty much walking out the door with her when we arrived.. the male (ratchet) saw me and started jumping up on the side of the small pen he was in… it was all over at that point! We took him home and I have to say he was my salvation! I must admit I felt some guilt about getting a new puppy so soon after my other dog had passed away, it almost felt like I was trying to replace him, I soon got over that feeling for having Ratchet helped me to get over the devastating loss of snoopy… every time I felt sad over Snoopy I would pick Ratchet up and snuggle with him and it would help me to feel better. I know that a loved pup can never be replaced but even though he did move on to the rainbow bridge to wait for me life has to go on and there are so many dogs out there who are alive and need our love.

The story of how we got Hank is interesting as well… We were living on a military base about 6 years ago… we had some neighbors behind us who had a beagle (hank). hank used to be tied up in their back yard in 105 degree heat with no shade or water… I had pretty much made up my mind if I saw him tied up in their backyard like that again i was going to confront them, then one day my son came into my room and looked out my window and he asked me “Who’s dog is that?” I had no clue what he was talking about so I looked out the sliding door and there was a VERY muddy beagle looking back at me.. it seems he had dug a hole under our fence and he seemed to be saying “Hi, I am bored and hot and thirsty at my house, do your dogs want to play?” Well one thing led to another and I gently suggested to hank’s owners that we would LOVE to watch him while they were at work every day, this way he would 1. get to play all day and 2. he would have ample water and food and be able to stay cool inside my house… they agreed. The wife loved Hank but the husband didn’t think he was a “Macho” enough dog for him… it got to where hank spent more and more time over at our house, his owners finally realized how happy he was with us so they gave him to us for Christmas! It was a great day!

well those are the stories of how I got 2 of my babies.. even if I don’t win it was nice to share.

Thanks!

Week 3, awesome as well!!! Such a beautiful girl and you portrayed her so well, according to her pic.

Well, I am enterine Brandie again. Here she is:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3317/3211403229_5313f0afbc_o.jpg

This dog is a TV Junkie. We will all be sitting around watching something and suddenly she will get up and frantically claw at the armoire that the tv is in. She will whimper and try to find whatever is in teh tv that she wants. Horses and dogs are especially attractive to her, but she also loves Paris Hilton (don’t know why, it may be the voice). Her other favorite thing to do with my mom is to watch the Sacramento Kings games with her… she really will sit and watch them. If a movie is interesting, she will sit like a human either in front of the TV or on the couch and watch very intently. This dog reeks the word love, loves everyone and everything, and the only time she ever gets annoyed is at my mom’s chihuahua when she tries to bug her when she is watchign TV and then she gets snarky…. It is hilarious. Sometimes if we see something and Brandie is not in the room, we go, “Hey Brandie, look, look at the tv.” and it begins… I never seen such a thing. It seems like this is a pug thing though as anyone that I have ever talked to that has pugs, their dog does the same thing.

We love her.

Sue

My entry for week #4 is my 15 yr old Rat Terrier- Barkley. Barkley belonged to a family who no longer ‘wanted’ him. They put him out to roam the neighborhood hoping the ‘dog catcher’ would take him. He roamed quite successfully for approx one month. At the time, I had 7 cats and was not especially interested in taking on a dog. But I could not shake the fact that this cute little critter no longer had a home or anyone to care for him. So when it was obvious no one else in the neighborhood was going to step in, I decided it was time to take him to the Humane Society for a forever home. So on one magical Friday evening 13 yrs ago, I was outside feeding the squirrels and spotted him out and about. I coaxed him over with peanuts and cheese. He ate both and then I secured him in our courtyard for an overnight stay until morning when I could take him to the shelter. I did not want to bring him inside the house not knowing if he had fleas or how he would get along with the cats. To my surprise, he was an angel overnight. No barking and nothing was disturbed. He simply laid quietly curled up in a corner. Seeing that, I wondered……..7 cats & ONE dog..why not? So, off to the vet we went-instead of the shelter. He got a bath, a check up and vaccines then home for the big moment. He easily took his place as #8 knowing instantly that the 7 cats were boss. Of course, Barkley had found his new ‘forever’ home! Things have changed over the past 13 yrs (we currently have 11 cats, Barkley is very hard of hearing and has trouble seeing) But make no mistake-he never misses a meal and he still respects the fact that the cats are boss!

This entry is of my precious little girl Lupita Margarita Chiquita Banana or Pita & Petey Pie for short! She is a girl with many fun names, of which all have their own silly tale behind them. Pita is a 4 1/2 year old Rat Terrier & is truly the love of my life.

Pita was found roaming the streets of Cleveland abandoned & completely emaciated, but with a wagging tail & a forgiving heart. When Pita was brought to my house 4 years ago to foster she ran up my driveway towards me & I knew right away that we were meant to be together. She was prancing around the yard with this strange pride as if she knew her life was finally changing for the better.

Pita’s a spoiled lil pup with the best personality. She loves going everywhere with me, playing dress up & she’ll even let me swing her on the baby swings at the playground. She will stretch out for a good massage & will even lay perfectly still in my lap for a pedicure! She enjoys everything that life throws her way. Pita brings me so much joy & my life wouldn’t be the same without her.

Since this weeks theme is pets (or any animal) I found this picture perfectly fitting. This picture was taken before Pita left to make her big debut at my family’s annual clambake. Don’t worry, as tempting as it may have been no one tried to eat her!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34278013@N05/3214614043/

The cat with the crazy eyes.

Salvadore Dali came to live with us as a tiny kitten some 19 years ago. He was named Salvadore Dali, by my daughter, after her favourite artist and because of his crazy eyes.

Here at the farm he made sure that all the other cats in the area knew that it was his territory, his shouting and screaming in the depth of the night were something to hear. He loved all our dogs, meeting the Pugs in the morning with a flat head, when he rubbed forheads with them, and was often to be found rolling around with the GSD. He never ran away from a dog so I think that the dogs didn’t recognise him as a cat.

He was a hunter par excellence, squirrels, rabbits, rats, mice, voles and even on one occasion, a mole, were his prey of choice. He rarely touched the bird population, although the odd bird may have just fallen into his mouth, we always used to say that he didn’t like the feel of feathers in his teeth.

Occasionally he would disappear for a while, and usualy, when I had removed his photo from my computer desktop and decided that he wasn’t coming back, he would appear and shout at me for food as if nothing had happened. He was a big cat, and always seemd to be hungry, demanding food off anyone who he thought would feed him. His demanding was extremely loud so he usually got what he wanted.

Over the years he was a big part of our life, he enjoyed having visits from the family, although it was dangerous to let him get in a suitcase, he was very likely to pee in it !! The grandchildren used to love having him snuggle up in their beds and he used to love Christmas and would sit on their presents and examine them in detail.

He was a wonderful cat, nver poorly, he only went to the vet for his jabs and to be neutered in his youth and for his final journey to the Rainbow Bridge December 2008. We miss him so much, I still catch a glimpse of his tail and he crosses the kitchen and I have been known to get up to open the door for him.

Here he is …….

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16665787@N05/3214538855/sizes/l/

Our cat with the crazy eyes – Salvadore Dali

Ok, Here goes!

Here’s Rocky my 12 year old Tabby.

Now cats are said to have nine lives, my dear Rocky has used a few of hers already.

About six years ago, on a Saturday afternoon Rocky found our clothes dryer door open as I had left it that way since it overheated. Sometime later my son, unknowingly shut the door and started the dryer. Within minutes we heard a thumping come from the dryer, and I made the comment I hope that’s not the cat! My son ran to the dryer and carefully laid my beautiful Rocky down, she was barely breathing. As any pet lover knows, you will do anything for your pet when they hurt. I grabbed a towel, soaked it in cold water and wrapped her in it and ran out the door heading to the vet.

Being that it was late Saturday afternoon, the vet was closed, but I could see him in there so I banged on the door…. hard! He told me later that he knew he better answer the door or he’d end up replacing it!

It didn’t look good for Rocky, her core temperature was 106 and blood starts to clot at that temperature, but our vet was doing everything he could to help. I left with a heavy heart.

On Sunday morning I got the call that Rocky survived the night but he didn’t give me any reassurance. Her ride in the dryer caused her to burn the pads off her paws, scratch her eyes, cut her tongue, burn the skin on her nose and we didn’t know the extent of the internal damage at that point. She wouldn’t eat or drink. The vet told me I could come up and see her if I would like. As soon as I walked up to her cage, she cautiously stood up and hobbled to her food and water dish, taking a few sips and a bite a food. The vet looked at me and said, “She’s going to be just fine!”

And she is.

Thanks so much for your entries this week!! I’ll post the winner tomorrow (Saturday) – stay tuned!

[…] of week #4 of my Custom Portrait Giveaway is Nicky. The life she shared with Salvadore Dali, her tuxedo cat, […]

[…] to Week 5! Last week’s winner was a beautiful tuxedo cat named Salvadore Dali who lived happily for 19 years on a farm with her […]