A Friend

"If you're alone, I'll be your shadow.  If you want to cry, I'll be your shoulder.
If you want a hug, I'll be your pillow.  If you need to be happy,
I'll be your smile.  But anytime you need a friend, I'll just be me."
                                            unknown

Happy Monday?

Because no one ever said TGIM

Community Service

We first need to say that we aren't often compelled to dress the dogs up.  But seriously.....we just couldn't resist this time!  We like to think of it as the pack's version of community service.  Happy Easter!   

TGI......?

"Is it Friday yet??"

Our Supervisor

It's a win for all of us when Shyla has a good day!  Yesterday she felt well enough to supervise color choices in the spare room/Mom's office re-do.  We're glad to have her opinion.

The Little Things

Anyone who's successfully cohabitated with a Siberian Husky will tell you, it's the little things that happen oh so quietly and spontaneously that confirm what you suspected all along....they really do love you.

Happy Birthday to........

MELEE!  

Tomorrow is Melee's 4th birthday and we're showering him with extra hugs and treats (all week actually).  We can hardly believe it's been 4 years already.  This guy has brought pure joy to our family.  He needed a little extra work in the beginning but it was definitely a worthwhile investment of time and energy.  He has repaid us with his love and endless humorous antics ever since.  Happy Birthday Melee!  We couldn't be happier to be your family!

Sharing is Caring

One of  Melee's most effective weapons is his monumental cuteness.  Will it work this time?

Treat Me Right bunnies!

Hi Friends -

Occasionally we'll be sharing some of our favorite things.  This is something Echo used to do and we'd like to continue that feature.  It would mean we'll have to dig our paws in and work hard to test for quality control and all that.  But for our friends, we'll make that sacrifice.  Look at what we worked on today:


 

I know what you're thinking!  That doesn't look like work to you does it?  You're looking at some of our most favorite treats. They're from our friends at Treat Me Right.  They have a fun website as well as a Facebook page.  This organization makes organic, all natural, human grade dog treats for the purpose of donating a portion of the proceeds to animal welfare and rescue groups.  A new featured group is chosen every two weeks.  How cool is that?!  These delicious bunny bites are made from peanut butter and honey.  The "bites" contain carrots, honey, cinnamon, and ginger.  YUM!  (**it should be noted that no real fuzzy bunnies were harmed for these treats).  Here I am working hard for this blog post this morning:

I am here to tell you - they get two paws up from me!  Once again the folks at Treat Me Right.....got it right.  Their fun treats change frequently and many are seasonal.  Mom says they're almost too cute to eat but we set her straight on that pretty quickly.

So - if you'd like to help out a deserving animal welfare group or rescue, hop on over to Treat Me Right and order a box of treats.  They'll arrive promptly and are well packaged.  See:

They even come with your name on the box so there's no mistaking who they're for.  You can also order some of the treats designating them to be shipped to the featured animal group.  We love that!

I hope you enjoyed today's review.  We don't receive any compensation for our Siberian opinions so you'll always get the honest-to-dog truth. Be sure to try them out and see for yourself!

                                                                                         Love - SHANUK

I Help

"What?!  You said you didn't like your toothbrush!"

Recovery

Hello friends!

Melee provided a visual recovery update following what appeared to be yesterday's traumatic experience.  As you can see he's doing just fine and is bouncing around the house as usual.  Except we don't know where he is since his toenails don't click on the floors now.  Just don't tell him we may have missed him while he was gone.

I Was NOT......

........DIRTY!

"Wait a minute......."

                                                   

"This is wrong!"

"Shampoo is stupid"

                                                                                                                                       

"Blueberry facial....really??!"

                                       
The good news is, Melee looks FABULOUS and smells fantastic!  Maybe he'll let us take pics of the finished product tomorrow.  A big thank you to our girl for making him look even more handsome than he was before.

The Chair

"May there always be an angel by your side"

Echo                                   Melee

I've often thought Echo sent Melee to me.  All that was missing was the big red bow. 

Where have we been?

Hello friends!

Now that we're back from our extended hiatus, we feel it's only fair to bring everyone up to speed on what we've been up to.  Over the past few years, we've heard from some of our past followers asking whether we'd resume blogging and the answer has always been the same....probably not.  At the time, it didn't seem as though we had much to say.  Echo was the driving voice and inspiration and we had lost our voice. But things do change as time marches on.  Inspiration has returned  (how can it not when you live with three Siberians??)  and we have a few surprises under our paws which we'll be sharing soon.  In the meantime, we'll bring you up to speed....

Soon after Meeka and Echo abruptly left our pack (that was a rough year for us!) we realized Shyla was lonely.  She had never been without her Siberian pack and needed that canine companionship. Shadow - the matriarch of our pack - was still with us but was happier keeping to herself.   So, the search was on for just the right friend.  There were some necessary qualifications of course:

• The new candidate must be a rescue or shelter dog
• Charming - the new guy (we wanted a male) must have it and know how to use it to win Shyla over
• Cool confidence - This is Shyla we're trying to impress after all.  Hurt feelings when she disses you is not an option
• The ability to mend a few very broken hearts

That was a tall order.  We decided we would screen the potential candidates and let Shyla make the ultimate choice.  Many suggestions came rolling in but one name kept coming up....Shanuk. After some conversations with his Foster Mom,  a meeting was arranged.  The previously posted video was the result.  A depressed, sad Shyla tried her best to ignore him but his infectious personality and persistence won her over.  He kept trying despite her unwillingness to pay any attention to him, as you can see in the video.  Mom got a few drive-by kisses which completely sold her (this guy's good!).  So, another meeting - just to make sure - and a couple weeks later, Shanuk became an essential member of our new pack.  He had BIG paws to fill but that didn't bother him.  He got right to work and before long we were trained to endure his endless and somewhat relentless mischievous antics.  He was young, energetic, and tall.  Nothing was out of bounds for this guy's mouth! But he was charming and even managed to win Shadow's approval.

We were assimilated (as any good Siberian owner would) and life continued.  Time passed and Shyla's laundry list of serious health issues robbed her of her physical ability to play as much as she did before.  With the support of a dedicated team of vets, we found meds that have made her more comfortable but life had changed somewhat for her.  It was apparent that our young boy needed a new playmate who could keep up and burn some of that snarky teenaged Siberian energy.  Enter a bouncing fuzzy baby - 18 week old Echo's Melee arrived on the scene.

 He came to us straight out of a filthy puppy mill and was absolutely terrified. Shanuk had a new job and adapted to his role as "Mommy" without any hesitation.  Everything Shanuk did, Melee did.

With Shyla's sweet, gentle nature,  and Shanuk's endless patience Melee's personality gradually emerged.  Our new pack was complete.  With their help we have healed from our losses as much as we can.  It's still tremendously hard.  Looking at pictures from our years with Meeka and Echo is still difficult some days.  

At an amazing 17 years of age, our Shadow left for The Bridge.  We miss her.  She tolerated numerous young, obnoxious Siberians, foster dogs, and an invasion of privacy for years.  She kept everyone in their place but was tired.  Over the years, some gray muzzle hairs appeared but she wore them proudly.  She certainly earned them.   With the greatest respect, we peacefully let her go.  Her whimsical confidence will always be in our hearts and there will never be another quite like her.

So here we are - Shyla, Shanuk, and Melee.  The two human kids are grown.  One is married which added a daughter in law whom we love (she doesn't mind dog hair!).  Our girl still has Logan and Niko - her two beloved and very  handsome horses and is a talented dog groomer. How handy is THAT?!

We look forward to sharing the new pack's antics and adventures with all of our friends and appreciate the warm welcome back.  

Unveiling

Hi friends!

Thanks to our very talented Kyra, we have a new look!

We really love it and are so grateful that she offered to help us out. Kyra, of K Wensing Photography, specializes in photography services in the suburban Philadelphia region but is also a talented artist.  You can see some of her work on her website as well as on Facebook.  We particularly love the  photo shoot she did with our furry cousins after a recent snowstorm.  Thanks Kyra, for helping us make Echo's blog look even better!

TGIF

Road Trip Recovery

Hello friends -

You may have noticed we've been off the grid for a few days.  Road trips are occasionally necessary and sadly, the pack can't accompany us.  This is rarely something they understand and in true Siberian style, they usually let us know exactly how they feel about it.  As resilient as they are, when we pass the initial euphoric reunion we prepare for retribution. That's okay though.  We're just as happy to see them as they are us.  Just don't tell them.  We'll get a brief reprieve today as they catch up on their sleep.  We'll enjoy the peace while we can.