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| ABC Dog School |
| Belle |
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| Gracie |
| The Lucky Ones |
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| Jasmine |
| Bernie |
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| Sula |
| Grizzle |
| copyright 2009 Carole J Sulser |
| Belle Starr ~ One of Star's puppies, she was about half her present size when she was handed over the fence the day of The Great Escape. She'd spent her first winter in the Yorkie pen with several others, a place that was described as "smelling like a sewer." And what a mess she was, but rolling in the grass in her new yard, sufficed to clean her up. I took to her right away, because of her coloring and her personality. I began to worry that her owner would somehow manage to give her away, and she would end up in another bad home. So I asked if I could keep her. She shares her digs with Gracie, and Belle's the boss. She's a digger, too. One day I went outside to feed Sula, and thought I was seeing double! Belle had dug out of her pen, crossed the dog yard, and dug into Sula's pen. They were having a great time. I was very proud of her when she went to the vet for spaying. She was very cooperative, in spite of never having been anywhere before. Belle really loves her toys. She always has one in her mouth. With her Booda Bone rope hanging down, she looks like a bearded old man. Her Nylabone resembles a cigar. And her Christmas present last year, a tire with a rope on it, looks like a strange growth around her snout. She's quite entertaining! |
| Sula ~ Sula is Belle's twin brother. He came to me with a horrible-looking eye, which was subsequently removed. Before he came to live with me, he had some very unpleasant experiences. One day I noticed him sitting outside the pen, having climbed out with only enough cable to reach the ground. And there he sat, or stood, the rest of the day, and all night, until late the next morning, as he didn't have enough cable to lie down. No water, of course. His owner then dumped him over the fence with one hand, not caring whether he tumbled or hurt himself on the way down. Another day, it appeared that he was tied outside the pen, and then crawled under a yard fence, where he lay all day in the rain. It was supposed to be pretty cold that night, and I had a pen available, so I went and got him. What a lucky dog! Sula is named after a Roman general under Caesar. |
| Bernie ~ I believe Bernie, so-named because he resembles a St. Bernard in coloring (his face, that is) is also one of Star's pups. He spent his first winter tied to a fence with no shelter. Then he was put in a strange pen made from skids, or pallets. I worried constantly that he was going to hang himself, as he was also on a cable. He had some close calls! He was one of the pups who was loose the day of The Great Escape, and was put into one of my pens, apart from the girls. His owner came to take care of him. One day she decided to take him home. Whenever he got loose, he came over for a visit. One day he came over when Sula had gauze sticking out of his newly repaired eye socket, and tried to pull the gauze out. So I had to tie him up, but he kept trampling my flowers, so I put him in a crate, and left for a couple of hours. When I came back, he was still here, so he spent the night in my basement. Another day, when the owner wasn't home, I found Bernie sitting outside a pen with very little cable to spare. He was in the same situation as Sula had been. I just couldn't leave him like that, so I brought him home and put him in his old pen. His owner left him here, but after she told me that he got out one day and ran down the road, I became concerned for his welfare and asked if I could keep him. Another lucky dog! |
| Grizzle ~ He's another of Star's pups, evident by his curly tail. He was over two years old when he joined my pack. Before that, he was tied to various dog boxes, getting loose sometimes, and not always having shade or shelter. Then he had to suffer in a pen in the sun, an event I call, Baking Buster (Buster was his former name.) After that, he had to sleep on the cold muddy ground in pouring down rain for hours on end after being tied in a stand of trees. There was a box, but evidently it was worse than the ground, or he couldn't get into it. Although, he did spend a day on top of it, getting drenched. The humane officer suggested he liked sleeping in the rain. He's never done that since he's been here. He really likes his dog house. After watching this dog suffer for months, I was delighted when he came to my house one day, and sad to see him back on his cable later, after dragging a lot of stuff out of my garage. His collar was so tight that I thought it was embedded in his neck, but he let me work it loose for him. A few days later, he was back, and this time he got to stay. Lucky dog! It was Christmas day, his owner wasn't home, and I was leaving, too. So I put him in a pen to keep him and my belongings safe. She left him here a week, and then said I could keep him. I changed his name to Grizzle, in honor of the late Grizzly, whom he resembles. |
| Gracie Anne ~ Gracie is one of the two blondies that was hoisted over my fence on that big day, smeared with black smelly stuff. Not sure where she escaped from, but probably the Yorkie pen. She came with a slight limp that lasted for months. Annie was Gracie's mother. The other blonde was Peanut, who was aggressively the boss, and the three girls played musical bowls at feeding time, with Peanut trying to eat everyone's and Gracie desperately trying to wolf down what she could before she got run off. Peace was restored when Peanut went back to live in the Yorkie pen. That sad story elsewhere. Gracie's owner liked to drop plastic containers of food over the fence, rather than walk in and use the bowls I provided. One day I came home to find little Gracie with her head stuck inside a plastic jug. It was comical to see, but could have led to suffocation or injury, so I got her out of that fix right away. I left her owner a note about using jugs for bowls. Gracie had a close brush with fame when I took her to an audition for the school play, "Annie." A replacement was needed for the original star, who'd had a fatal accident during rehearsal. Gracie doesn't look anything like Sandy, but she's the only dog I have that's the right color. As it turned out, a coworker of mine had the perfect Sandy, and two of my little dogs were chosen for bit parts. Gracie is a livewire. She shares a pen with Belle, and they both make a beeline for their crates when they come in for the night. That's where Gracie has toys that are truly her own. |
| Jasmine ~ Jasmine is Gracie's sister. She wasn't one of the original three girls rescued, although she was loose that day. She was the only one put back in the Yorkie pen, but not for long. Her next location was on a cable outside the pen, with a small plastic dog crate for shelter, which she didn't use. She was out in the rain and in the sun with no shade. After observing this cruelty as long as I could, I asked if she could come over here with the others. So she was brought over, but was attacked by Peanut, who then was taken to the Yorkie pen temporarily. Or that was the plan. So now we had a new trio, but they weren't getting along very well. Jasmine ended up in a pen by herself, Peanut came back, attacked everybody, and sealed her fate. It didn't take Jazzy long to figure out how to get out of her pen, and soon she was running around next door with a yellow male that was loose. I thought she'd gone over the top, which was six foot high, until I found the fence was loose from the bottom rail. She knew all about crawling under fences! Jasmine has dismantled two dog houses and found a plethora of nylon bones, buried by her predecessors. I call her the bone collector. Jasmine is a real beauty. I called her the beauty queen before I named her. A stunning black and tan, my favorite color. I began to worry that her owner would take her back or give her away, so she became my dog the same day as Belle and Gracie did. Although she doesn't bunk with the other two, they go in and out together, and have playtimes in the dog yards. She's my Jazzy Jasmine. |
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