Goodbye Sweet Boy-Ares

Ares 

In the fall of 2014, we met a wonderful woman & her sweet husky pup named Ares.   Around this time we found that Duchess was a Husky mix, so we were invited to join a local Husky group. 

Over the next year we'd attend a handful of Husky and get to know Stacey & her boy Ares.  Soon she added another Husky, Akira, to the mix.  I adored these handsome boys.  They were very vocal when coming to the meets.    

In 2016, after bringing in Peryn, we began to meet up with Stacey & her boys regularly.   Ares and Akira were Peryn's first friends.  Akira was often Peryn's wrestling buddy.    

Throughout 2016 my three, Peryn, Duchess, & Athena would meet up with Stacey's two, Ares & Akria.   I jokingly called Ares my boyfriend cause I just thought he was so handsome. All of Peryn's buddies, outside of the family, were huskies.   He learned to play rough.

My kids got excited to meet up with them.  When Lada joined, her first meetup with them was quite memorable because he put big ole Akira in his place and they were BFFs after that. 

Outside of our meetups at the local dog parks, our pups attended daycare together.  My kids always greeted them with enthusiasm and I always made sure to say Hello to my sweet boys.  

Except for Ziva, all my kids have met them.  Ziva was too young & the boys began having various health issues. 

Stacey let me know earlier this year that Ares was not doing well.  Eventually, after numerous tests, cancer & diabetes were the culprits.   When his health began to decline significantly, I made a trip to visit him in October.    

He reminded me of Athena.  Once a healthy robust pup, now a skinny shadow of himself.  He was partially/mostly blind, but still had his spunk.   I got lots of loving from the 2 of them.   It was heart breaking that his time was winding down.  His diabetes was out of control and his tumors were growing.    

It was a good visit. 

Last week Stacey reached out to me to let me know it was about time for Ares to meet up with Duchess & Athena and the rest of my pack he had yet to meet.   On Christmas eve, I took another trip to visit my sweet boy. He was completely blind and much more subdued than my pervious visit.   It broke my heart.

This once majestic dog who was so full of life and attitude was a shadow of his former self.   He was happy to smell me & it just hurt to see him, knowing this was my last time.   I had wished I could have brought Peryn & Lada, but it wasn't the time or place.   

Today, around the time this posts, Ares is making his journey. He'll be reunited with all his past husky pals and my pack.  He'll be free of pain and be able to see again.  He'll see his big sibling, Malibu, and he'll leave my sweet buddy Akira.   I hurt for Stacey and her family as they say goodbye to such a ball of life.   
Ares was a very vocal singer and just loved to play and swim with all his friends.  

At any park or meetup you could always tell when Stacey & her boys arrived. They would go nuts and could be heard from the parking lot when they arrived. Going to miss his sweet face & voice.

I'm going to make sure I pay Akira extra attention now that he's going to be an only pup.   I'll have to make sure Lada spends time with her BFF (cause she adores him). 

Ares, my sweet boy, run free of pain & suffering.  Have fun with all your pals waiting for you at the end of the Bridge.

Stacey, We love you.  We're sorry you have to go through this and we're here if you need.   

All our love

Peryn, Lada, Volos, & Ziva

Rich & Laurie

We're still here

Hello.  It's been awhile. I've been busy and so have the pups.  We've been taking them to parks to get a workout and the Man has been taking them on walks.   Didn't mean to neglect the blog.

They're doing quite well.  They're looking healthier than they have in ages. They're definitely happier and more relaxed over all.

We went to 2 Husky meets (an official and an unofficial) this month.  Both were held at this fabulous dog park a bit of aways drive.   It's beautifully upkept and the gating is great.  Plus....the best part...it tires the little blue monster out.     Love it.

Turns out Peryn REALLY loves water and playing with other dogs. Oh and fetch....oooh does he looovvveee fetch......a lot.  Like A LOT.   ;)

Peryn got to meet his grandparents earlier than planned. It was an unfortunate situation that made it happen, but he got to meet them and see Uncle Davey again.

Next week we will be attending a Cattle Dog cookout /meet up.  The girls are staying here as they do not travel well and we'd rather not have to deal with them that day. They'll be taken care of so no worries there.

Peryn is the chillest of passengers in a car.   Love that little dude.  He's a joy most days. He's also a little monster..

so handsome

Duchess

Duchess and Atlas playing

Brother & Sister

Having a blast

Oooh Look, I can dig!!

MINE!

Mommy! Stop ignoring me!

This is comfy

Just let me sleep

I love the park!!

Was my good summer dress shoes

Pawsing from play 

What?!

June 12,2016

Hey! Thanks for checking in.

just chillin

The pups are doing well.   Actually, right now Athena is a bit off.
Last night Mommy had a bunch of girlfriends over and she was in the middle of all the craziness.   I think it took a lot out of her. Today she's been dragging.   Hopefully she'll be up and at 'em tomorrow.

Peryn....Well, the day after the last post we attended his first Husky Meet.   For those new readers who are saying "But he's not a Husky",, you are sort of correct. He's an "honorary" husky. His big sis Duchess is half husky and we belong to a wonderful group called N.O.H.M.E.   We went to their May meet, which was also Peryn's first REAL forray into a busy dog park.   Crazy huskies everywhere and he was in LOOOOOVVVEEEE.  Never seen a dog so happy.  

Thanks to all his practice with his big sisters, he wasn't too fearful of all the big dogs. He's a little cautious when meeting a new dog, but he'll still play.  Thank goodness!

He's gone to the dog park several times since being cleared and clearly loves it.  Many love him as well with him being a puppy and a Cattle Dog at that.  You don't see many ACDs around here, so it's a novelty to many.

Peryn & Breck 

Today he went to a mini-puppy meet with the NOHME group. He has one husky that he's played with several times now, Apollo.  They played for quite a bit today. While Peryn isn't knocked out, he is rather 'chill', which is unusual for him.

He loved my get together last night. So many women, so little time.    LOL.

He's getting to be such a handsome pup. He's 35+ lbs of energy.  He loves life...Such a happy little guy and so friendly.  I adore my little boy.

I'm really anxious to find out how big he's going to get.  I know his parents were in the 45 lb range, but it doesn't necessarily mean he'll be that exactly.    I want him to grow a little bit, he's still too small and sneaky...

Right in the middle of things

Duchess...... well in 2 days we are celebrating her Gotcha Day.   3 years with us. So much has happened in that time.   The face of the family has changed drastically.

At the time we had Galen and Sheba. They were 14 and 13 respectively. We knew Galen was deteriorating and that Sheba would NOT handle the loss well. She had never been an only dog and Galen was her bonded brother and best friend.    

TO prep for that time we decided to get an older dog (non puppy) to help ease the loss when the time came.
We were looking for a calm dog that would not be too energetic with our old fogey's.

Duchess (w/Athena) and her "people'

Along comes a forwarded post on FB about a "german shepherd" mix. I call for a meet & sniff. Took Galen & Sheba to meet the dog.   Fell in love with her on the spot. Came by 4 days later to pick her up and take her home.

She was wonderful with them and did the job when Galen left us 7 months later.

Oooh. Cool my tootsies

She is very smart, house-trained, and knew all her commands.

Duchess at the 5/29 Meet

While she's not an overtly affectionate dog, she does love us.  
It was quite a surprise when we did the DNA test to get back that she was not even shepherd-She was half boxer and half husky.   Once we knew what to look for we can't believe we didn't see it earlier.    There is no doubts in our mind now that she is indeed a "boxsky".

I wish I knew how old she really was, but I'm also fine with not knowing "how much time" I may have left.   I love this girl and she is my baby.

I'm going to leave some photos here of Duchess in celebration of her Gotcha Day.   If you'd like to see newer pics of the pups, check out the New Photos page.