It's been a while

I know, I know, I know, I have not posted anything in quite a while.

One of the reasons was that the flu hit me pretty hard and for a week I couldn't even get out of the bed, it was that bad. I am still recovering but doing so much better already. The only thing that is left is a bad cough.

Other than that I went to the new Rammsteim Mall. That thing is huuuuuge.
I also went to the dog club twice in the past four weeks. I had to stay away mainly because of the flu and my trainer said that I should stay home until I fully recovered.

I took some Schutzhund Classes with Zenzy and she's doing pretty good. To bad that she's 3 years old already but it shouldn't be a problem to get SCHH1 before we PCS.

Here are some new pics from my two monsters and me :)

"Tough Guys, Big Hearts!" - Rescue Ink

I just ran across those guys and I literally adore them. Those guys look tough and rough but they truly have a big heart.
The story of Rebel (his old name was Ribbon) is heartbreaking and hopefully those people that did that to him will rott in hell. Usually I am not a person to wish anyone anything bad but when it comes up to defensless animals I hope that karma will hit them hard.

TISSUE ALERT!

Make sure you've got some tissues close by, if you are somewhat emotional when it comes up to dogs you'll definitely need them. Amazingly Rebel did not lose his faith and trust in humans.

Keep it up guys, thank you for all you are doing. You are doing a great job!

Begleithundeprüfung (BH) & Liabilty Insurance

When you take the BH in Germany your dog has to be at least 15 months old, you have to take a written examination and you've got to have a dog liability insurance. I've been looking around and wondered if there is anything like that in the US. I know they have the BH in the States but I couldn't find any Insurance Company that offers dog liability insurances. I was told that it usually is covered via renters or homeowners insurance but that sure doesn't satisfy me.
I think there is a huge difference between dog liability in the US and Germany. In Germany you just have to have it. It's not because your dog is aggressive or a biter but because it is a legal matter. If you want to become a member of a dog club you have to prove that your dog is insured. If you want to take the BH you have to prove that you have a liability insurance for your dog.

A friend said I should simply get renters insurance and make sure that dogs are included but should not specifically tell them that I have a dog because they'd get suspicious and probably think that my dog is aggressive and a biter. Just great... all I want is a liability insurance once we move to the States. I always had one and don't want to go without it. It's not because my dog is aggressive. Think about it, you are at a friends place, she says "Sure bring your dog." and she's got a very expensive vase. Let's say a vase that is worth 50 000 USD and your dog breaks it. That is when liability kicks in and you don't want your dog to break anything expensive without being insured.

I never had that case but you just never know...

So maybe anyone out there can help me out on this one.

Catching up...

What a stressful week... sheeesh... stress, stress and more stress. Internet was down for four days and we've been literally cut off from the rest of the world. It's amazing how important the internet became for the most of us.
Most of the communication is based on e-mails and once you don't have access to the internet it's getting tough to keep up with all the information sent out by ACS or anyone else. Looking up a recipe to bake Argentinian Bread? IMPOSSIBLE without internet...

Isn't it kind of sad that we all relay so much on it? Looking up the movie schedule for TKS Movie Channel, Sky Cinema or whatever Movie Channel you booked with TKS is impossible without internet and it is a small thing. Looking up LEO to translate something, googeling the news or just looking something up for school absolutely impossible without the internet. So yah... what are you going to do without it? Is it really that important?
To me it's not. You simply move on and to be honest it is somewhat relaxing not to have it. You get so much more done without it!
The only thing that pisses me off is that everybody expects you to have access to the internet and sends important & vital information via e-mail instead of giving you a call.

Anyhow, let's move on to another subject. Yukon finally recovered as soon as he got antibiotics but now my parents dogs are very sick including Zenzy and guess who infected them... YUKON!
I still don't understand how the vets on post didn't get it.

I've also had a not so nice experience at Finance and I now officially hate Finance. They literally treated me like crap, like I was nothing, wanted to throw me out of the office and told me to shut up, that we don't have common sense and what not. It was ridiculous and I am still upset over the whole thing. No wonder everybody hates it and from now on I am officially a member of the "We hate Finance" crowd... LOL

Hubby got moved to another Unit. We are still part of the same Battalion just not the same Unit anymore. The funny part is that a day before my husband got moved, the Commander of the old Unit and me had a talk about the FRG. We've discussed fundraiser ideas etc.pp and nobody told me that he was about to get moved. When hubby told me I was like "Oh well... I guess that's it with the FRG."
He looked weird at me and I explained "Because you are in another Unit I can't be the FRG Leader anymore."
The following monday I showed up at the office to talk about the situation and our old Commander told me that she called the new Commander.
Long story short I got new appointment orders and became the FRG Leader of the new unit.

Oh, I've finally learned how to bake. Being persistent finally paid off and I am pretty good in baking bread, German rolls and brownies.
Today I cooked Pinapple-Applesauce and baked Cinamon-Bread. It is so good and I know hubby is going to get a kick out of it.

Yukon has a cold

So Yukon is sick. I am pretty sure he catched it at the dog park. We went to see the vet and they said that there is nothing wrong with him and that he is perfectly fine, tested him on heartworms and sent us home. WTH? Come on people, just because he is not coughing right there doesn't mean that he is perfectly fine. He is not! He is coughing, has a stuffy nose, has breathing issues and they tell me that my dog doesn't have anything? That there is no need for medication?
Heck, we've infected my parents dogs, probably the entire neighborhood including the dogs from the dog club because I've been there the day before he started coughing and they say "Nope, he is okay...?"

Right now I am giving him ACC with his water. He's got it for a WEEK now and it's not getting any better but hey... according to the Vets on PHV he doesn't even have a cold...

Anyhow, tomorrow I am heading over to moms place, let's see what our Vet says once she checked him out.

Found some of my old drawings...

I've been thinking a lot these days. Especially since I wrote this post. I knew that some of my old drawings had to be out there. I loaded them up on PBASE but PBASE already deleted all of them. So I used google, hoping that there'd be at least preview pictures on there. And guess what I stumbled across? My old drawings, shrinked down but big enough to get the idea.

Maybe I should get back into drawing...
Back then they told me I had talent but meanwhile I am thinking that I am to old, plus I barely can get anything on the paper anymore. I still have the blockade and I have no idea of how to overcome it.

Day of the Open Barn Door

Yesterday my parents participated in the "Open Barn Door".
Anne, two other friends, my two dogs and me went there to have a fun day. It was a full success for my parents but for us it literally ended with a shock.

When I picked up my two dogs... wait a second, did I actually introduce Zenzy to you?
Zenzy is Yukons half sister. They both have the same dad who is Orkan von der Maineiche.
I took Zenzy because I figured that Yukon needs a partner dog. As a puppy Zenzy lost a little bit of her nose. She's so full of energy, has so much temperament, is wild and sneaky... gawsh she's perfect. She's more than perfect she's like my old dog Rekja who happens to be her mother.

So yeah, I took her with me and now I have to decide which one of them is going to be castrated. My dad said Yukon should be castrated because Zenzy has far more potential but than again some other people say that she can't get "geköred" because of her nose, my dad says she can because we have testimony that it isn't a birth defect. All I know is that I have to make a tough decision. I don't want to castrate either one of them but if I don't want an accident to happen one of them has to get it done.

AAAANYHOW!!! Let's get back to yesterday. We were ready to leave and wanted to pick up my two dogs from our very own dog park when Yorkan (Yukons brother. His kennel is on the way to the dog park and you can't get to it without having to walk by) went nuts and literally jumped from one wall to the other. You can't call it wall because it is more like a fence with a roof on top of it. However on one site the fence got loose and he literally pierced his paw and yelled like a child. He was screaming in agony and pain. Anne saw it first and she ran to the Kennel. It's twin kennels and Zenzy used to live in the one next to Yorkans. So she ran into the Kennel, I ran after her tried to loosen the fence more so she could get the paw out but than we realized we couldn't get it out because he pierced it. He was standing on two legs, the paw pierced and screaming. I tried to go into his kennel to calm him down but I couldn't get close enough to him. My dogs were running around in front of the Kennel and it upset him even more. So he was barking at them, screaming in agony, trying to free himself. My friend Alex ran for my parents, my sister stopped by and yelled for mom. Mom yelled at my sister to get my freakin dogs out of the way and to get Dad. Mom went into the Kennel while I was with Anne. Anne held Yorkans paw while I held his collar. So my hand was inbetween the fence and his collar which was a dangerous situation. My mom took a leash to tie his mouth so he couldn't turn around to bite her while she was helding his neck when all of a sudden he tried to free himself again and pulled back and that is when my fingers got squished inbetween the fence and his collar. I was screaming because it hurt so bad. Mom yelled at me in German "GET YOUR HAND OUT, GET YOUR HAND OUT!" and I yelled back IN ENGLISH(!!) "I CAN'T, I CAN'T!!!" ( I have no idea why I yelled back in english, I didn't even think about it which is kind of weird because after all German is my mother tongue)... anyhow, she calmed him down and he relaxed so I got my hand out. Mom leaned on the fence and I pulled while Anne finally got Yorkans paw out of the fence.

And guess what... Yorkan didn't even limp. Once he was out and free he was the same ol' tough Yorkan. Mom put him in Yukons old Kennel that has a paddock in front of it. So he can run in and out as he wishes.

My hands were shaking... Anne was pretty calm while I was upset and a little bit in shock. When we left I had to stop at a gas station to get some cigarettes and I usually don't smoke very often...

All in all it was a fun day and as you can see it NEVER gets boring on a farm...