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This weekend I watched that documentary on Barbaro , that Kentucky Derby winning horse that broke it's leg and eventually had to be put down because of continuing health problems related to that injury. I thought, ahh, all horses are the same. What's so special about this one? Then I saw it's big brown eyes. Then I looked at Willie's big brown eyes. Nuff said, I was bawling by the end of the show. Oy.

What Does Willie Love More: His Ball or His Penis? Today I watched Willie play with his tennis ball. He lays on his back and literally juggles it in the air. Then the ball landed on the floor right next to his wang. He had to choose. Ball or penis? Ball or penis? Ball? Penis? Both! (I'm so not explaining this!)

Here's the difference between Willie and Frankie when it comes to having a drink of water: Frankie - drinks until HE'S done. Willie - drinks until THE WATER is done.

Now that Willie is retired, he still has one very important job in the house: he retrieves the three heavy food dishes for me. I sit in our pantry where the dog food is stored and he brings me the dishes one at a time... usually with much enthusiasm. It's what he lives for. Today there was a flashlight laying on the floor where the dishes were. After Willie brought me the dishes, I used my laser pointer to target the flashlight and asked him to bring it to me. All the while, Frankie was in a down/stay next to me at the pantry. After Willie brought the flashlight, Frankie got up and wanted me to give him the flashlight. So I gave it to him. He walked away with it, then came back to me and gave it to me. "See, Mommy, I can do that too!"

... except for one hotel, which I'll talk about later. This past holiday, we decided to make the big trip (3 days driving!) back to the northeast. With our new SUV and my mattress in the back, I rode in complete comfort. Even with all our stuff, we were able to fit both doggies (Willie and Frankie) in the back with me. Here's a few of our experiences: For the first day of the trip, Frankie was a bit stressed. He developed stress-related diarrhea (luckily no accidents!), and had a hard time settling down. But by day two, he was much better. We did find that Frankie wouldn't eat much in the hotel rooms. Not sure why, but he's not big on eating anyway. If there's a distraction, he's not interested in his food. Willie, on the other hand, would eat if the world was ending. Oy . We did have to stop more for doggie outings, which take longer than human "outings", mainly because you want to walk them a bit and let them stretch out. As far as hotel exp...

Willie gets a pill every morning for his thyroid. The pill is small enough that it fits into the hole in the middle of a Cheerio. Then I give him a handful more of Cheerios to wash it down. This routine takes place in our master bathroom. One day I decided that all those Cheerios were too dry. So I brought in a cup into the master bathroom to use to give Willie a little drink of water to wash down the dry Cheerios. I made the mistake of bringing in a cup that looked just like my own cup. One groggy morning I did it. I drank out of Willie's cup instead of my own. Needless to say, no more sippy cup for Willie. Is doggy breath contagious?

I was ready. I thought he was ready. But I was wrong. There, I just admitted in writing that I was wrong. Make a note. Frankie has been doing very well lately with his training. And it appeared that the bonding process was also going well. He still pays some attention to Rick, but the majority of his attention goes to me. The hubby has been off work for the past week or so. These past few days we've gone out, but I've haven't been feeling well enough to shop, so I've stayed in the truck. I decided those times we went out to take Frankie. Even though I didn't need him to work, I kind of wanted to show off Frankie's excellent behavior in the vehicle. The hubby hadn't had the proper tools to do this training (remote shock collars rule!), so when Frankie was transferred over to me, this was one of the first areas I started working on. I demand Civil Car Behavior from my dogs. Well, on these outings, Frankie's Car Behavior was spot-on. The hubby was...

For Christmas this year, the hubby got me a speedometer for my scooter. I had wanted one so I could see just how fast my scooter really goes. I think it kicks ass... ! Of course, I used it today to clock the doggies. Here's their times: WALKING Frankie: 9 mph Willie: 6-7 mph Barney: 4-5 mph RUNNING Frankie: 12.5 mph (as fast as my scooter will go on a slight decline) Willie: 9 mph Barney: You've got to be kidding! I think it's funny that Willie's top speed is Frankie's walking pace. No wonder Willie can't keep up with him!

When your dog is most excited, what are they actually saying? Here are my doggie's famous quotes: Willie: "Ball-eee Ball-eee Ball-eee Ball-eee...!" Frankie: "Watch me... look what I can do!" Barney: "Love me NOW!" Willie : "At your service, ma'am" Frankie : "Whatareyoudoing Whatareyoudoing Whatareyoudoing?" Barney : "I didn't do it... it wasn't me" Willie : "Fooooooooooood" Frankie : "Yeah, sure, I could eat a little something" Barney : "Do you realize it's 2 minutes past dinner time?"

How many nicknames do you have for your dog? Here's mine: Willie Wiggle Butt Buddy Boy Big Head Big Boy Villie Villaman Frankie Frank Franklyn Franklyn Green Beans Raymond (see story ) Wiggle McWiggles Dick Head (that's the hubby's fave) Little Boy Barney Bernard Barn Barn Super Barn Barn Barnmeister Doofus Lump Head Handsome Boy Little Man I'll add more as I remember them... What nicknames do you have for your pets (please give original name too)? I have one friend out there (you know who you are, girl!) who better reply. She has TONS of dogs with TONS of nicknames for each and every one... and expects me to keep track!

I think the hubby is in love. And I'm jealous. He's fallen in love with Willie. I can see it in his eyes. Willie can do no wrong. Willie is the "golden child". I saw this look in the hubby's eyes when he was training Frankie. He's able to bond so well with which ever dog he's working with. He's a dog trainer at heart, he just didn't know it until he met Frankie. Luckily, I've fallen in love with Frankie thru this bonding process. Even though I still feel guilty not working with Willie as much, Frankie is a fun dog to work and I'm really enjoying it. And so is he. We're such a weird family.

Why is it that I feel guilty when I give some lovin' to Frankie? Why is it that I look to see if Willie is watching? Of course he's watching me, he's always watching me. I feel like I'm cheating. I need help. Oy.

This weekend, I was watching the movie "Contact". You know, the movie with Jody Foster where she hears an alien radio transmission, they build an alien thingy, she travels to another planet and talks to an alien that looks like her father, then comes back and no one believes her? That movie. While watching the movie, every time they played the alien radio transmission sound, Willie would perk up and stare at the TV. Hmmm.

Mock-fighting between Willie and Frankie is usually the norm of the day. Actually, at least a couple times a day those two boys go "at" each others throats pretending to kill each other. Because Willie is the alpha-dog in the house, us alpha-humans make sure to encourage him when he's mock-fighting with Frankie, even though it usually looks like Frankie is winning. I swear, Frankie mock-fights like he's a UFC grappler (for those of you who don't know what Ultimate Fighting is, see here . Yes, I'm into UFC fighting. It started with the first season of Ultimate Fighter on SpikeTV. Those dudes are true athletes. And I'm a true Reality TV Whore!). Frankie likes to maneuver his entire body over Willie, laying on him and rotating his body to get some good nips in Willie's "soft spots". Mucho fun to watch. The reason I bring all this up today, tho', is because when I was taking the boys out to potty (no running in the backyard today, too muddy. ...

Here's the reply I received from Willie's breeder. It just goes to show that one should never think their options are limited when looking for a Service Dog candidate. Organizations are great for people who cannot train. But if you have the ability to do the training, this is a great example on how to find a suitable puppy to work with. I just hope you are as bless as I was in finding a wonderful and generous breeder like I did. The WillaWoman Link to Part One ------------------------------------------- The Reply from the Breeder So glad that you found our website and enjoyed it! The answer to your question is yes, I do donate to service dog organizations and to individuals most especially. I am also a professional trainer, who does a little bit of everything. My specialties are behavior rehab, K9 training (I work with the Austin PD K9 Unit on occasion as a matter of fact!), and I have done some service and assistance dog training in the past. I do not ever charge for this kind...

About 7 years ago, I knew that my first Service Dog JoJo was going to be retiring in about 2 years. Since it takes 2 years to train a puppy to be a Service Dog, I needed to find my next dog. But I was wary about using organizations. They have very long waiting lists, charge fees, and some don't allow the handler to have other dogs in the house. There was NO WAY I was giving JoJo up when she retired. So, I decided to look for lab breeders near the Austin TX area and just simply ask the question: could they donate me a puppy? It couldn't hurt to ask, I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. The following is a reprint of the very first email I sent out. It was also the last email I had to send because this email was sent to Willie's breeder. I will post her response soon. Enjoy. Link to Part Two ------------------------------- I saw your website and wanted to ask you a question about your organization. I noticed that you have a "Police Donation Program". Have...

Yesterday, the hubby and I worked both doggies. I worked Willie for the start of the outing, and then decided to give Frankie a try since he had done so well a few weeks ago (see here ). Frankie always starts out pulling like he's going to a fire. But then he finds his rhythm and pulls at a slower pace. Unfortunately, his "slower pace" is pretty dern fast! When we got home, I undressed Willie and Rick undressed Frankie. We both have our undressing rituals: after I undress Willie, I say "thank you for helping me" over and over and he rubs on my legs like a kitty cat. An 80 pound kitty cat! Rick undresses Frankie and then says "give me a hug". Tall Frankie jumps up and puts his arms on Rick's shoulders and they hug. Well, when we got home yesterday, Rick said "give me a hug"... Frankie ran over to me, jumped up and hugged me!!! That was a first! I guess he remembered that he worked for me and wanted to give me some lovin'. ...

This is the story of the first time we visited my grandparents with Willie. My grandmother had numerous stuffed toys, dolls and figurines, many that she made with her own hands over many years. Some were very precious to her and I had suggested she put those away, or at least up high so Willie couldn't see them. Willie does like playing with the stuffed toys we buy him, but they typically last about 5 minutes. Then they are reduced to stuffing, eyes, outer covering, and a squeaker. In other words, trashed. When we arrived, Willie took one look around at the remaining toys and statues and he was in heaven. My grandmother had put away some of the stuffed toys in the closet in the room we were staying in. It was a closet with a sliding glass door. Later that night, Willie came slowly walking out of our room. He had one of her stuffed toys in his mouth. He walked slowly up to her and sat down, still holding the toy. He just looked at her... as if to say: "can I play with this?...

The other day I found these emails archived on my system. I knew it! -The WillaWoman ----- Original Message ----- From: "Frankie" [frankie@dogzrule.com] To: "Willie" [Willie@ServiceDog.com]; "Barney" [Barney@GoodDogs.com] Subject: Bored Dudes! Wake up! I found the coolest web site with hot babes . I'm bored, let's do something. Let's put all the pillows on the floor and then jump on them. Then let's move all the rugs around. Then let's lock ourselves in the bathroom. Oh, by the way... One of us has to figure out how to escape from the bathroom. I can't do it all, ya know! Frankie ================================================== ----- Original Message ----- From: "Willie" [Willie@ServiceDog.com] To: "Frankie" [frankie@dogzrule.com] Subject: re: Bored I'm so telling on you. If mommy ever finds out you were on her computer, she'll have a fit and not feed us or something worse. Maybe she won't play...

This past weekend, my hubby and Willie and I went to Home Depot . Because I've never come across another working dog while I was out with mine, not even a Seeing Eye Dog , I did not expect to come around the corner in the toilet seat section and wheel into a dog. This dog was on a long lead and was obviously not a Service Dog. Not because it's handler did not "look" disabled, I'm not that naive, but because the dog did not appear to be trained. This was a "pet" dog. In Home Depot. I went to a clerk and asked if he could find out if it was a Service Dog and if it wasn't, if he could ask the man to leave. He got on the store phone and a minute later there was an announcement over the store's speaker system. I didn't hear the verbiage, but the clerk came over and said an announcement was made that there are no "pet" dogs allowed in Home Depot. A bit later, I was wheeling up to the front of the store, and there was the guy with the dog!...