Family and Friends

I love frogs and toads. I have a huge collection of frogs and toads in glass, ceramic, wood, wax, metal, fabric, etc. Every Christmas and birthday I receive frogs and toads. We even have live frogs and toads living in the yard. When we had a pond, we stocked it with bullfrog tadpoles each year and a few of them stayed. We're building a pond here and hope to hear more frog music in the evenings.

We have lots of animal friends that should be introduced, so here are some of them.


This lovely lady is Grace, one of our pups that now is the little sister of Splash. They live near a lake and Grace has recently started swimming. She is a true water dog.


Here are Splash and Grace. Obviously, Splash is quite bored with the photo session.



I love this picture. These are my Sister-In-Law, Michele's, dogs. The tall one is Bo and the short one is Mya. They're waiting for dinner to be served.


This is the front of Bo. He's a ten year old German Shepherd/ Golden Retriever mix and is a wonderful gentle dog. He's named Bo because my brother's favorite baseball team is Boston.


This is Bo's baby picture. The cat is Cali, who is no longer with us.


This is the front of Mya. She's a one year old Miniature Pinscher.


Here are Elmo and Emma. They belong to my niece, Ann Marie.


This is Elmo as a baby.


Here are Winston and Rusty on vacation in Myrtle Beach. That sea air really tires a dog out. Winston is the dog we fostered. These two dynamos live with my Aunt here in Missouri.


Before Winston came into their lives, my Aunt and Uncle had this fellow, Looker. This picture was taken shortly before his death. He had a long and happy life.


This pretty little girl was a drop off. Rob and I found her and I called her Spot. We wanted to keep her, but we were at our three dog limit, so my cousin adopted her and called her Cookie. She is a Pit Bull and also one of the most loving, cuddly dogs you'll ever meet. She loves to sit next to a person and rest her head in their lap. There just can't be enough petting to satisfy her.



This is Maxine, my Uncle's dog. She lives in the country in Central New York and spends her winters in Myrtle Beach.


Here are Ellie and Dylan. Dylan has died since this picture was taken, but Ellie still lives with my friend Sue.


This is Ali. He also lived with Sue, but has died since this photo.


These two are Brody and Callie. Their human Mom is the friend that helped deliver our pups. She used to live across the street, but has since moved to another town. Callie was a rescue from a puppy mill and is terribly shy. She is a truly sweet girl. Brody is currently attending obedience school and we are going to his graduation, tomorrow.




Spooky is a Japanese Chin. He lives directly across the street from us and is a fierce defender of his property. He and Lucy have an interesting relationship. They seem to be attracted to each other because they're the same size, but they are each very territorial.


This is Ashes. She lives with Spooky. Ashes is getting quite old and likes to just relax on the deck.


This is Gabriele. She lives with an old friend of Rob's in Long Island.

Not all our friends are dogs and cats.


This is Lizzie. She is an Alpine Goat and is a Champion many times over. My Aunt raises dairy goats and shows them around the State. Lizzie is very smart and very sneaky. She can open almost any pen and let herself out.

These are some of the kids. I'm not really sure which ones these are. Little goats are so cute. I love to bottle feed the babies.


I don't know this fellow's name. I liked his beard and he was very friendly. He really liked having his head scratched and his neck stroked.


This is Oscar. He used to visit my Sister every day and beg for food. My Sister isn't really an animal person, but she couldn't resist Oscar and started feeding him. That only caused Oscar to come around more often.


This is a picture of Cheep Cheep, the robin we raised. His story is in the post on our feathered friends.


This little guy was raiding the bird feeder when it started to rain, so he took refuge under the bird bath on the deck. We have a number of squirrels living in the nearby trees. They provide the dogs with endless entertainment.


These are a couple of our backyard toads.


Senator Ted Kennedy has been in the news recently. We don't know him personally, but he has a couple of Portuguese Water Dogs, Splash and Sunny. A couple years ago the Senator wrote a book featuring his dog Splash. My Samba sent Splash an e-mail congratulating him on the publication of the book and received a very nice e-mail in return. The Senator donated the proceeds from the book to the Portuguese Water Dog Foundation which does research on the health issues of the PWD. We thank him for his generosity. The Foundation has greatly improved the lives of our breed.

Our thoughts and good wishes go out to Senator Kennedy in his battle against cancer.


One of our garden frogs.