PRINCESS
My Labrador's full name is Peeples' Royal Princess, and her call name is Princess. She was born on Leap Day -- February 29 -- 1988, and we got her as a cute little black bundle of energy in April of that year. Officially she belonged to my mother though for all practical purposes she was my dog. Recognizing this, my mother graciously gave her to me when I left home to attend vet school. She is an incredible Labrador, and I firmly believe there will never be a dog as amazing as she is. Hopefully, she will be with me for many more years to come. She stands 23 inches tall and her "fighting" weight is 63 lbs though she is about 71 lbs right now. Princess is getting old and rather than uproot her and move her with me I am going to leave her at my parents' home where she can enjoy the 4 acre pond with Canadian geese and 25 acres of woods to sniff in. I will miss her but her happiness and comfort is most important. Unfortunately, Princess passed away on October 20, 2000. I will always miss her and treasure in my heart her memory! Please take a moment and read her Tribute Poem!
NANZENJI OR "ZEN" for short
My Akita male is the first dog that has been solely mine from picking out the puppy to house training to obedience classes. His full name is Rachel's Azor Nanzenji, Zen for short, and he was born February 23, 1997. He is fawn with a black mask and white markings in an Irish pattern, i.e., white chest, feet, and tip of the tail. All the white markings have a black outline giving his chest a tuxedo look. He stands 31 inches tall and weighs in at 100 lbs. Having had Labs, Chows, and an Akita, I know that the Akita is the breed for me. As amazing as Labs are, there is something about the Akita that strongly attracts me. I will continue to love and appreciate Labs, but my breed is definitely the Akita. Zen is truly the most intelligent dog I have ever worked with. Not the easiest to train or the most attentive for that is not the Akita way, but unquestionably the most intelligent. I look forward to many years of enjoyment with him.
LADY GUINEVERE OR "GUIN" for short
One of my mother's female Labs OFA'd only fair so we decided to spay her. Once she was spayed, I decided to keep her as a companion for Zen. She has become an excellent playmate for him, and they spend many long hours chasing each other, wrestling, and generally having a good time. She was born on January 12, 1996. She stands about 22" tall and weighs in at a very trim 58 lbs. Her favorite sport is leaping into the pond after any thrown object. She is quite the athletic girl and runs circles around poor Zen.
MY CAT -- ZARIA
Zaria came into my life in September 1999 when she and her four kittens were found at a putt-putt golf course in Atlanta, GA and were brought to the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia where I was a senior vet student. She and her four kittens were in remarkably good health and the kittens were absolutely adorable. The kittens (two of which look like their mother with seal point coloration with white markings and two of which were grey and white) very quickly obtained homes. I fell in love with the mother cat, spayed her myself, and then brought her home. Upon arriving at my house she very quickly established herself by swatting Zen on the nose for daring to enter "her" room (he by the way was an absolute angel and just looked at the strange cat in his room as one more trial for him to endure as the pet of a veterinary student). She is one of the most relaxed and even-tempered cats I have ever met and loves to have her belly scratched. We estimated her age in September as approximately 10 months. She has proven to be one of the best decisions I have ever made and I am very thankful and lucky that she came into my life.
MY NEW PUPPY -- INORI
Inori, aka Dancin Bear's Inori-Kanae, is a lovely Akita female that was offered to me by her breeder, Fran Cox, after the loss of my beloved Princess on October 20, 2000. I brought Inori home on New Years Eve 2000. She is a beautiful, sound, smart, friendly, and oh-so-adorable Akita. I have great hopes to earn both agility and obedience titles with her and to that end we have already started training. She has very quickly adapted to my household and wormed her way very tightly into my heart. She has her own journal. Click here to read it. She is growing up very quickly and is becoming a very beautiful dog.
My extended pet family includes Lord Magnum a black male Labrador; two yellow female Labradors -- Lady Aislinn and Lady Serena. Aislinn, who is 8 months younger than Zen, is Zen's special buddy when we visit my parent's home. He and she spend many hours playing tackle tag. The other members of my extended pet family are our cats. Giovanni weighs 17 lbs, is gray tabby and white, and half Siamese. Garfield weighs 9.5 lbs, is orange tabby and white, and is a domestic shorthair cat. Giovanni is affectionately referred to as the "Grey Lab" due to his affinity for sleeping with the Labs and for his going on walks with them. Garfield as a kitten was anti-dog as a cat could be, but he is mellowing as he gets older. Both of the cats are great hunters and keep our house free of mice and bugs.
