Asher

Me and Gene

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Ash

Gene Kelly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This isn’t the best shot of either me or Gene Kelly, but if you look close you can see we both have some serious hang time.

Maybe you don’t know much about Gene Kelly. He was born and raised in Pittsburgh and spent his freshman year at Penn State.

He learned to dance when he was a kid. After college he went to New York and got discovered by the movie business. That’s how come he made one of mom’s favorite movies, “Dancing in the Rain.”

Here’s some funny coincidences. Mom was born in Pittsburgh. Her dad went to Penn State and knew Gene Kelly. There’s definitely some Gene Kelly in our background. Then there’s me.

I never knew Gene Kelly but I like his dance moves. He was a jock and wanted to play professional baseball, but no team wanted him so he went into dancing.

Gene wasn’t some sissy kind of dancer. He was an athlete. Like me! He spent a lot of time in the air. Like me!

When you watch old Gene Kelly movies you wonder how he did his stuff. He was really strong and graceful. What makes it even more impressive is that he did a lot of his air dancing in a suit and tie. Unlike me.

You should see him tap dancing in roller skates. Now that’s a little more than I care to try.

So how does Gene Kelly relate to life at Asherpark? I’m learning to dance. Yeah, really. OK, so I’m not too good at it yet, but I’m learning. It’s part of my home schooling. While I practice heeling I’m also learning some dance steps. Right now mom leads. Maybe when I get good she’ll let me lead.

Anyway, I like dancing and Gene Kelly is my new role model. Me and Gene. I like that. Gotta dance!

 

 

 

Uncategorized

Sick As A Dog

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Ash and Tess

Our world has been goofy lately. Mom was making strange sounds. One morning she couldn’t talk.

That was fine by us. She couldn’t tell us no or interrupt us when we were making too much noise. Oh, she would shake her finger at us but we just ignored her.

She tried explaining that she had the flu but we weren’t buying it. Mom still got up when we told her to and made us breakfast. But then she didn’t want to go outside and play.

I brought her all sorts of dirty laundry to cheer her up. Tess curled up on the couch with her and Jack just stood and stared at her. We were sort of worried about her but didn’t know what to do.

Finally mom decided  she wasn’t getting better so us dogs took her to see her vet. Mom came out with some pills and cough syrup. Tess was really glad mom was gonna stop coughing because all that hacking kept Tess awake at night.

I know it sounds kinda selfish. Us dogs are so used to mom taking care of us and we’re not too good at taking care of her.

We figured out if we wanted to hang with mom we were gonna have to take a nap with her. So every afternoon while she was sick we all had a time out. It wasn’t much fun but at least we were together.

Good thing our lives are back to normal now. We have lessons to catch up on. Mom says we have to make up the ones we missed. Tess isn’t liking the idea of so much schooling. Stay tuned ’cause I’m learning some silly fun pet tricks. Gotta run!

Ash

 

 

 

Jack

All For Me

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Jack's Mug Shot

This is my mug shot from the shelter. They took it right after I was arrested in September 2009. I was kinda skinny, had pussy eyes and lots of fleas.

Here’s another picture of me taken in the summer of 2010. I’m standing in my front yard at Asherpark.

Jack

You can see my eyes are clear, my fur shines and my ribs don’t show. I think I’ll always have that watery look around my eyes. People say it makes me look sad. I think it’s kinda weird that my “dry eye” condition makes my eyes water.

Lately I’ve been having a few health problems. My bad ear is infected and I’ve got an allergy going. I scratch all the time. I worry I’m causing a lot of trouble. Every night I get eye drops, ear drops and a pill for scratching.

Yesterday I went to a groomer for the first time in my life. She brushed out my loose undercoat and scrubbed me with sea salt to get rid of my dandruff. Then I got washed with some fancy shampoo. The lady used a blow dryer to make me look sleek.

I couldn’t believe all the fuss people made over me. They knew I was deaf but they kept talking to me anyway. Good thing I can read lips. The groomer told me I was wonderful and brave and looked very handsome after my spa treatment.

In the afternoon I went to see Dr. Brad. He said my bad ear still wasn’t healed up so I have to continue with my ear drops. I got more allergy pills and some lotion to help me stop scratching.

When I got home from the vet I was so tired I fell asleep and started dreaming. I dreamed I had a forever home. In my dream people fussed over me and made me feel important. I knew someone truly cared about me. Despite my old dog problems, I was still a valued member of the pack.

I awoke to Tess smelling my bad ear. Ash barked at me to get up for dinner. My people rubbed my head and told me they loved me. That’s when I realized I wasn’t just dreaming. I was living my dream. The trip to the groomer and the vet were all for me. Me, Jack, a worn out old mutt. A happy mutt. I’m barking thank you to the universe.

Jack