Juneau Sploded!?!?

Oh My Dogness, MOOOOM come see, hurry, I thinks Juni sploded!

No, I didn't, I'm right here, hawoo hawoo! But my coat is still blowing fluff all over the place.

I'm in Wuv Wif a Bewootiful Gal --

Hi-Woo EveryPuppy,

Oh my heart is just beating wif joy! I found my one true luv -- & she is Summer frum Team Husky. Our lonely hearts just found each other. I asked Summer if she would consider me fur her boyfriend -- & she said YES! I knew that her bro, Prince, is very important to her. Sos I pawed off a pee-mail to Prince asking him if he minded me being Summer's boyfriend. And, he welcomed me to the family! A-Roo, was I in a dither until I heard back frum him. My paws were all sweaty!

My dear sweet, Summer, oh woo, I do wish that we could meet & be together!

I can dream about us being together, tho, & maybe sumday we can meet.

Til next time,
-Cosmos-

Pee Ess - Just fur the record, I am not a 2-timing guy! You can say that Codie & I are only at the friends stage. She has a lot going on at home wif her new bruther & her mom being busy. She hasn't answered any of my notes or talked to me fur a long, long time. Sos, Codie you are a great gal & I wish you all the best! I hopes that we can still be friends.

The Case of the All-Over Fluff

Hi Woo EveryPuppy,

Sherlock Cosmos here!

It has come to my attention that no sooner does mommy or daddy sweep the rugs in our house, the fluff falls faster than ever. Hmmmm & it is not from me as of yet, nor is it from mommy (wrong color - it’s not red!) or daddy (he needs all the hair that he has!), then it can be none other than from the demon-goliath-puppy, Juneau!!

We gots a new vacuum cleaner called the Hoover Legacy Pet Vac Rewind w/Pet Hair Tool. It does a great job, except hunks of Juni’s fur falls out faster than they can sweep. It has a special attachment to pick up our doggy fur. Sos Juni & I can visit & cuddle wif mommy & daddy on the bed & then they use the attachment to suck up all of the loose fur when we gets down.

This is what mommy got out of Juni after he was "furminated" & he is still dropping hunks all over the place.

Oh, the joys of having Siberian Huskies during shedding season!

Till next time,

-Cosmos-

P.S. Our family knows that Spring is a-coming. Not only are we starting to shed, but Cutter, daddy’s horsie, is shedding as well.

Snow Pup

Hiya EveryPuppy,

A friend emailed this youtube video to our mommy. Doesn't this look like fun! Wish we were there playing wif the Snow Pup, Bailey. We would have so much fun playing hide-&-seek wif him & building puppy snow forts!

-Cosmos & Juneau-

The Bestest Therapy for Our Mommy

Hi Woo EveryPuppy,

WOO HOO - isn't that a great picture (tho fuzzy cuz daddy took it wif his cell phone) of our mommy on her Charlie Horse. Yep, she isn't really allowed to ride. But, last night we overheard that daddy first rode Charlie around in the indoor arena to get out all of his excess energy out of the way. Then he stopped by mommy's chair & told her to go & put on her helmet. She gots to ride her Charlie around 4 times at a walk. Daddy said that Charlie went extra special slow as if he knew that mommy wasn't back to her old self yet. He's a good horsey! We're sure that if the pic was more clear it would show mommy grinning from ear to ear!

Til next time,
-Cosmos & Juneau-

UPDATE ON THE MULLIN CLAN

HI-ROO All,

WOO HOO UPDATE, UPDATE, UPDATE - Codie is my girl!!

I will not beat up Juneau, I will not beat up Juneau, I WILL NOT BEAT UP JUNEAU!!!

Yes, everypuppy, I did see what Juneua wrote on the last blog. I knows he meant well even tho he shouldn’t have. I did ask once a young lady if she wanted to be my girlfriend & she didn’t answer me. It hurt a lot. I’ll gets back to you on what gal I have decided to set my sights on as soon as the lady accepts. AND SHE DID - SEE ABOVE - WOO HOO!!!!!

A lot has been going on wif us:

Mommy had her surgery on February 5. This time around they inserted the new joint. She stayed overnight in the hospital & came home the next day. Her face isn’t as swollen or as colorful as it was last October when they took the defected thingee out of her jaw. Her surgeon & his team are very happy as to how the surgery turned out. She is not allowed to lift anything over 20 pounds (she can give us lots of hugs, though, hawoo!) & she can only eat liquid/pudding type foods or mushy ones after being put in a blender.

My “GOTCHA DAY” was on on Sunday, February 10. Above is a pic of me then when mommy & daddy first brought me home from my Mapaw foster family, The Stoutino Inn & Foster Kennel.

Here is a pic of me today. I looks like I have done great wif my mommy & daddy.

Mommy saw her doctor Yesterday, February 14, & he said that he was very pleased at how well she is doing. She is allowed to start to eat soft foods & as she can tolerate. She had for dinner meatloaf wifout mushing it wif cooked carrots & tatoes. She said it tasted so good! Daddy made her a milkshake for dessert wif lots of whipped cream. She is set up to have therapy for her jaw starting next week. This will help to break up scar tissue so she will be able to open her jaw more fully. She is also allowed to start using her mouth exerciser. Her only concern is that her lower lip goes sideways a little (she calls her “popeye effect”). She asked the doctor about this & he said that when the swelling goes down & she exercises her jaw, that should diminish & go away. She sees the doctor again on March 13. I knows that she will be asking him then when she can ride Charlie Horse again. Daddy took her to see him last Saturday. She gots to brush him & sat on a chair while daddy rode him. Brrr-puppy weather set in on Sunday wif the temps in the single digits & lots of snow, so she hasn’t been out to the barn since then. Hopefully, by this coming weekend, the temps will be better for her to go out fur a visit wif Charlie & Cutter.

Oh yeah, I forgots to mention that I got red-puppy-pawed caught in the act yesterday! Mommy was calling Juni & I in from the side run & she caught me chewing the gate to the back yard. I had a piece of the covered chain link fence in my mouth & looked right at her. So it is not all Juneau’s fault about messing up the gate – I ADMITS IT! (& you should cuz I get blamed fur everything Cosi! -J-)

Well, I’m going to paw this part over to Juneau cuz he gots sumthings to say.
Till next time,
-Cosmos-
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This is to my Girl, MayaMarie – HAPPY ONE-DAY LATE VALENTINE’S DAY!

MayaMarie sent me box of pressies for Valentine’s Day.

Oh, Lookee – she sent me a squeekee futball wrapped up wif a Hugs & Kisses ribbon & a card

And, her mommy made Cosi & me sum yummy cookies!

Thanx you, too, MM's mommy fur the yummmmy cookies!

Thanx you, my very special Valentine Gal!

-Juneau-

Matchmaker, Matchmaker Find My Bro a Match!

PSSSSST, all guys and gals I needs yur help! I needs a Yente (gal) or a Yentel (guy?) to helps me play matchmaker!

Valentine's Day is coming up. I would really like to find a special girlfriend for my bro, Cosi. He is really a great guy, but very, very shy. Alas, when he gots the courage up to ask a gal if she wanted to go steady wif him, she never answered him back. He was very hurt and disappointed. One thing Cosi or I would never, never do is approach another guy's gal. So please let me know who is available and would like to meet my bro. Cosi is sleeping so he doesn't know that I did this.

Shhhhh, this will have to be done in secret!

The Wooer,

-Juneau-

Fiddle-Dee-Dee-Woo-Woo!

Hi-Woo EveryPuppy,

This was more or less a laid-back puppy weekend! It was brrr-puppy cold on Friday here in PGH!

On Friday night, mommy gots to finish watching the end of an 8-hr. mini-series on DVD called Scarlett, the Sequel to Gone Wif The Wind, that she started to watch last week. Daddy found it for her while rummaging in the $5.00 DVD bin at Walmart. He knows how much she likes to watch the older movies. She started to watch the the 2nd DVD late Friday night & didn't go to bed until 3:00am. I think she also watched the section on how they made the movie, too. She really enjoyed it. Daddy wouldn't watch it wif her muttering sumthing about a "chick flick" - whatever that means. Juneau & I stayed wif her, but we saw more of the back of our eyelids than the movie itself.
Juneau & I picked who we thinks of the leading men in the Gone Wif The Wind we would be more like. I would be more like Scarlett's first love, Ashley Wilkes. This is a photo from the original movie, not Scarlett. We both have light colored fur/hair & have a laid-back disposition. Juneau really has to get me riled up before I git after him, or I finally just walk away. More like a southern-disposition of the Old South.

Now Juneau would be more like Rhett Butler, the scoundrel, the black sheep, the good-time guy, & the ladies man (don'ts worry MayaMarie he's been true to you!).

Above are sum pictures of how we kept mommy company sleeping beside her recliner. Look how he has his pawsies wrapped around mine! Juneau likes to cuddle wif me, or on-the-other paw - this way he can keep track of what I'm doing if I get up. I don't mind a bit cuz he wasn't hurting me.

This video is me wooing to our grandma. She came over to eat & visit wif us on Saturday. We were both on our bestest behavior (not like Thanksgiving when I jumped in her lap on the recliner to gets away from 'the demon').

Til next time,

-Cosmos-

HOORAY - We Gots Snow!!

Greetings Everypuppy,

I wants to thank all of you fur yur support on my jail time. I knows my girl, MayaMarie, was thinking about ways to "breaks" me out of the slammer, but I didn't want her to gets into trouble. So, she did talk to Sheriff Cosmos on my behalf. Sheriff Cosmos let me out cuz I finally owned up that I did the crimes (Who else did it - not me cuz I'm past chewing stage, not daddy, & mommy couldn't especially wif her jaw problems! -C-) & that I would try to be an upstanding Sibe in the future. However, he dids tell me that he will be keeping both of his eyes on me. I still think that DEMON is still in me & comes out from time-to-time. He was to blame, that's right, he made me do those things!

The temps in PGH Saturday night thru Sunday were BRRRRR-PUPPY outside. So I snuggled up wif Cosi & we took it easy. (Yeah Juni, I realize that you like to be wif me, but can you keep a little distance between us - I AM NOT YUR PILLOW!!!! -C-) It was in the low teens on Sunday, single digits in the very early morning. Daddy took mommy out to see the horsies & to give them their treats of carrots n' apples. She didn't ride cuz the horses were warmer in their stalls wif their blankies on & the air was too cold fur her wif her breathing & asthma.

And today, we finally gots snow in Pittsburgh - hoooray!! Here's a little video of us playing out in the backyard after mommy came home frum work. Our neighbor, Mr. Rubin, got into the act. When he saw that mommy was videoing us running around in the snow, he did a little dance.

Well that's it fur now - til next time.

-Juneau-

A Tale of the "New" West

This is the tale of Sheriff Cosmos. He is wuved by all, a Sibe for justice & an alright pretty, nice guy!

Sheriff Cosmos

It was brought to attention that some crimes had been committed. He had to bring the varmit who done it into custody. Let's look at the crimes --

HMMM, a fence gate chewed up!

Mommy's, I mean the Victim's, chair being chewed up.

It could be none other than Black Bart-Juneau! A lowly varmit who doesn't care where he parks his teeth.

Now to bring the varmit into custody!

I gots you now, you little varmit chewer upper!

To Sheriff Cosmos utter shock, "Hey, you are in my crate, not the right jail cell!!"

Don'ts worry, Sherrif Cosmos, you won't be able to hold me here fur long, hawoo-hawoo-hawoo-sneer-snicker & all that," replies Black-Bart-Juneau.

THE END (until the next time)

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, More Bad, & the Excellent!

Happy New Year to all of our 2-legged & 4-legged blogging friends!

I meant what I said - at the end of 2007, I was going to tear up the calendar. It was an awful year for our family. Welcome 2008!

THE GOOD: The University was closed during the week between Christmas and New Year's. I spent the days with Cosmos & Juneau. They are the best company. I love watching Juneau play with all the toys in their crate. He takes each one out to decide which one will be the favorite at the moment. Haven't quite got him to the point where he will put his toys back when he is all done. But, I couldn't quite get my kids to get the hang of that when they were young! When Cosi wasn't trying to wrestle & pin Juni down to the ground, he spent his time laying by my recliner or putting his head on my shoulder when he wanted hugs. I went to see the horses in the evening when Joel came home from work. Since we have an indoor arena, I was able to ride & work Charlie in spite of the weather outside. Joel bought me a new set of dishes from Macy's. It is the Homer-Laughlin Fiesta dish line. When he heard that their factory was in Newell, WV, he took one day off so we could drive down to visit. He was like a little kid in their Seconds Warehouse!
Armed with a towel for wiping off the dishes, he went from bin to bin looking for good pieces to add to our set. 3 hrs. later, we left with another 6 colorful place settings, matching sugar & creamer, & serving bowls. This section has dishes from the line that have a few imperfections, & at a great savings. It was a great that my phone has such a good battery because I played lots of card games & blackjack while watching our crates full of dishes while the "big kid" was on his search, ha-ha! We also got to see some movies - The Golden Compass & National Treasure 2.

THE BAD: I just haven't felt up to blogging. Have kept all of you in my thoughts. I have been worried about my job. Not sure how long it will run. There haven't been many new postings. Though I did have an interview on Tuesday (keep your fingers & toes crossed for me!!) & I just got called for another one next week.

THE UGLY: Last week I noticed a little pimple with a white head on my stomach just under my right breast. The head came off of it & I had an angry, sore mark. My doctor did a culture & it turned out to be my 3rd bout with that awful new infection called MRSA. It is so painful. The last time I had it was last summer. I'm seeing my doctor's almost every 2 days to check it. I got one on my right breast as well. My son had the infection first last winter. My doc said that stress could have set it off in me again as well as the warm, crazy weather we have been having. She changed my meds yesterday. I would not be able to have surgery until I am all done with this. I feel like such a mess!

MORE BAD: My surgery was re-scheduled for Jan. 15. This past Monday, I called my surgeon's office to see if the joint was in PGH. It has not left California yet & that the company is still working with it. Even worse news - my medical insurance company reneged on approval for my first TMJ surgery (after the fact) to get the failing joint out. I knew something was up when I got a bill from my surgeon's accounting dept. with a balance instead of showing what the insurance company paid. The insurance company also said that they wouldn't pay for the 2nd surgery or for my joint. My doctor's assistant told me not to worry (better said than can do, especially with me!) & that they are fighting it. The insurance company back in March '07 had called their office & gave them an approval # for authorization of the surgery. They were waiting for another call from my insurance company. If the "great" company (who has ads on billboards around PGH as well as on TV commercials saying that they are good for the wellness of your whole body - YEAH RIGHT) does not give approval, my surgeon suggested that Joel & I talk to the newspapers & news media. When most insurance companies see the initials TMJ, they deny coverage in spite of what is written. I couldn't wait until January thinking 2008 will have to start out better than last year - boy, was I wrong!

THE EXCELLENT: Joel called me a little while ago. He heard from my surgeon's office. They got approval for both surgeries from my UPMC medical insurance as well as payment for my joint- HOORAY!!!!!! My new TMJ joint might not be in PGH in time for the new surgery date of Jan. 22, so it is now set for Feb. 5. By that time I hope to clear up this infection & be ready to go.

-Marlene-

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Wasn't that great news for our Mommy! She said that it was our turn to add to our blog.

We wants to thank Echo , Team Husky, & Tasha & Eva for the "You Make My Day Award".

We really enjoy reading about you on yur blogs & being friends wif all of you. Here we are wif our Josh!

Til next time,

-Cosmos & Juneau-

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL & A VERY HEALTHY & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

-Marlene, Cosmos, Juneau & the Rest of the Mullin Clan-

WOO HOO, THE STILLERS WON!!!!

Our daddy was so happy that the Stillers won 41 - 24 & beat the pants off of those Rams. He posed wif us after the game wif the original 'Terrible Towel.' I bets Joey & Tanner were happy that they won again.

Shanna Maidel (1997-2006)

I can't believe that it was one year ago today that we had to say good-bye to her! Time certainly does fly - TOO FAST! Here is our Shanna's story --

It was in June during the week that Joel laid his dad to rest that he suggested why not get Cinny a companion. Through word-of-mouth we were given the name of a breeder, Amaroq Siberians, that had a litter of Siberian puppies soon to be weaned. We were invited to come out & see the litter. Oh, they were so cute - a bunch of little squealing & mewling black & white, adorable puppies. I got down on the floor among them & I was in ‘Sibe puppy-heaven!’ One came over to greet me & I thought that I had found the one that would eventually come home with us. While I was playing with this little fur-ball another smaller puppy came over to me, climbed up on my legs, & walked onto my lap & plopped down, closed her eyes, & went to sleep. Well, this little one had picked me! The breeder called her ‘2 stripes’ on account of she had 2 stripes running down to her nose (notice something similar in Juneau’s pictures?). We named her Shanna Maidel, which means ‘pretty little girl.’ We were told that we could come back in 3 weeks to take her home. The breeder took us down to her kennel to meet the mom & dad of the litter. They were beautiful & very friendly. She also had a red & white female named Origa who looked much like our Cinny. When I called her name she talked & wooed a whole story for me. In Origa’s run was a dog house. She didn’t like to sleep in, but rather sit & sleep onto it. I was very impressed as to how clean & maintained the kennels were kept. When we went back to get Shanna, the whole family went - Joel, me, Josh, Erin, & my mom & dad.

At the first visit with our vet, Dr. Sweeney looked at Joel & told him to be prepared. He looked at me & told me that he thought that we should give her back to the breeder. She had a heart murmur & sounded like an open valve in her heart. Since we had dealt with health problems with our other Sibes in the past, he didn’t want us to start out with her knowing she had a problem. Well, I started to cry (he knew me & that’s why he told Joel to be prepared, smart ass!) He said that he would give her 1 month. Sometimes this happens with puppies, like humans, & as they grow the valve can close. At the next visit if the problem was still there, we should return her. I agreed & when we went home I called the breeder. She told us that she would hold back Shanna’s sister from being sold until she heard from us. Well, at the next vet visit there wasn’t any heart murmur & the valve had closed.

Cinny loved her little adopted puppy. They were inseparable. Shanna’s birthday was May 10 (the same as mine), and Cinny’s birthday was May 18 (our wedding anniversary). Cinny loved to nap in her favorite spot in front of the bookcase, Shanna slept on the first shelf right above her until she couldn’t fit anymore. When Cinny tore her ACL in her leg & didn’t heal, Shanna learned to play by herself since Cinny wasn’t able to anymore. After Cinny crossed the Rainbow Bridge we thought about getting another companion for Shanna, but she didn’t go through the mourning stage as did our other dogs in the past. Shanna was my companion. She loved everyone in the family, but she was constantly by my side. She was a very healthy Sibe, didn’t eat socks or scrunchies (like a lil demon we all know!), loved to play in water, loved to play with her toys, but didn’t do much ‘talking or wooing.’ She would sit, lay down, give you one paw, then give you her other paw. She loved to eat apples with Joel, taking pieces very daintily from his fingers. Shanna was an obediance school drop-out. I had a trainer come to the house for 8 weeks to work with me & her. The woman agreed that she was 'one stubborn girl!"

When she was 8 yrs. old on a Saturday around 6:30am, Josh came running up to our bedroom to tell us that Shanna couldn’t get up off the floor & was screaming. We ran down to his room in the basement & found Shanna in a lot of pain. We called our vet & found out that he didn’t have Saturday hours any more. So, Joel wrapped her in a blanket & we took her to our horse vet’s small animal clinic. All of the vets there were at a conference. They gave us the name of the vet who we are using now & who is also an emergency clinic. They told us to bring her at once. Nothing showed up on the x-rays. They said that she probably just bruised her leg & gave her doggy motrin & pain medicine. The vet showed us Shanna’s x-rays. She said that there were no signs of hip dysplasia & that her skeleton was strong. She bounced back from whatever had happened to her.

It was just 9 months later in the evening in March 2006 that she slipped on the ice on the side run & couldn’t stand. Joel & I rushed her to the vet. Shanna had torn her ACL & their orthopedic specialist would be able to do her surgery the next day. I was a basket case over this remembering what we went through with Cinny. They didn’t understand why I was so scared about her having the surgery since they didn’t know us at the time Cinny went through this. Joel talked to her while I was in the bathroom. The vet took me aside & said to remember that Shanna is much younger than Cinny was & that she had strong legs & back. I agreed for the surgery. Met Vet Animal Hospital was great - they did everything they could for her, but it was a nightmare. She rejected the stitches & they had to go back in 2 more times in 2 weeks. They wouldn’t let her leave the hospital until they thought she was ready. Joel took me out to visit her during her stay there. We got through the healing time period, but her beautiful fur did not grow back over the surgery site. Her thyroid stopped working right which showed up on the blood work. Once she started the meds, her fur grew back fully. Erin & I noticed that she wasn’t walking very well. She wasn’t in a lot of pain though. During her hard rehab, she had developed hip dysplasia on the side where she had the surgery. I had a gut feeling that we wouldn’t have her through another winter.

One year ago today, I had left her in from the side run. I went upstairs to ride my exercise bike. All of a sudden I heard howling & shrieking. Shanna had been coming upstairs to be with me, had tripped on the landing, & I knew she tore her ACL in her ‘good’ back leg. I sat on the landing & held her & cried. I helped her downstairs & called Joel. He had been taking my mom food shopping. He came home & we took her to Met Vet. This was it, I knew it, Shanna wouldn’t be coming home with us! The vet took x-rays & came out to tell us what I already knew. She had torn her ACL, she would make it through the surgery, however, she would not be able to deal with the recovery because her other leg would not be able to support her through it. Well, this time was the hardest of all others in saying good-bye! She was only 9-1/2 yrs. old!! But, she was in so much pain I couldn’t put her through the surgery just to buy her some time with me. I laid on a blanket on the floor in the examining room for 2-1/2 hrs. holding her until my daughter was finished with work & my son could also be there. Shanna was a member of our family & all family members including Carter wanted to be there. I held her in my arms until she crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Shanna Maidel was a wonderful, loving companion. I would sit on the floor & she would come & cuddle up in my arms while I watched TV. I still miss her. AND, thankfully, I have Cosi & Juni to keep me company when Joel is not at home. The house would be too, too quiet. I have never been alone in the house without a furry companion by my side.

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Oh, the tears are falling as I write this! But in getting it out, I do feel so much better. Sorry this is so wordy. I’m not a great writer - just write down what comes from my heart!

Cosmos was the fellow that I needed to help me get through losing her & I am so thankful that he came into our lives! We decided to get him a buddy & now he has Juni to wrestle with - AND THE SAGA OF THE MULLIN CLAN CONTINUES!

Juneau's 1st Snow Play

Juneau & I had a great time in Pittsburgh's first snowfall Thursday & Friday. I had a great time wrestling him down in the snow. But yesterday, all of the snow melted away. And today, all we have is stupid cold wet rain. WE WANT OUR SNOW BACK!!

-Cosmos-