Hattie tears into the Christmas presents

It was a good Christmas at the Linn-Gust house. My coconut cake (as pictured) was a hit (the amaretto doesn't hurt!) and the dogs had a good day. I had bought them several toys months ago for $2.00 each. As pictured, it only took Hattie about two minutes to kill the first one. We started with four and now are down to two. Last night, Daisy found a new "hiding" spot although you can see she doesn't fit very well...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

The dogs are eagerly awaiting their gifts in their stockings (Chaco and Hattie are looking forward to tearing them up, I'm sure, so Nestle can bark at the vacuum cleaner....). Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the entire Linn-Gust crew!

Ginger gets a sister!

Mom shocked the heck out of all of us the other day when she announced she wanted to adopt Daisy, a dog who had had been surrendered to the Knollwood Hospital for Pets in Schaumburg, my sister Karen's veterinarian clinic. Daisy's family could no longer care for her and wanted her euthanized. She is a yellow lab around 11 years old and the veterinarian set to finding Daisy a home instead. Karen had met Daisy when taking one of her dogs for an appointment. She mentioned Daisy to me but I knew better, that Mom didn't want another dog. Karen told Mom about Daisy and then Mom told me she couldn't stop thinking about Daisy. When I called Karen to tell her, she was in shock for about five minutes. The storm kept us from getting up to Knollwood until Saturday morning. Mom knew she wanted to take Daisy, but we were unsure if Ginger wanted a sister. She surprised us by clinging to Mom (she isn't a very affectionate dog) and then pretty much not being interested in Daisy. We brought her back to my house in Naperville and had Linn Family Christmas several hours later (fondue). A photo shows Daisy sleeping while the rest of us are eating. She and Ginger look a lot alike although Daisy is skinnier and a little taller. Daisy and Ginger stayed with me last night (and Karen and Trevor) and we moved her to Mom's house today. When I talked to Mom on the phone tonight, she said that Ginger and Daisy were sleeping on each other's beds. Merry Christmas, Daisy!

I met Hattie's sister Trina...finally!

We're in Maine for business and I finally got to meet Hattie's sister Trina. If you've read GG, you know all about Trina. They have some of the same mannerisms although they don't really look alike. We all wish we could get Hattie and Trina together. Ah, maybe one day. I'm also adding a few other photos and Joe, his friend Craig, and me taken on the coast of Maine today.

Pillowed Hattie

I was cleaning house yesterday and had put new sheets on the bed and had taken the comforter outside to give it some air in the sunshine. When I returned to the bedroom to put the pillowcases on the last two pillows, Hattie was surrounded by the pillows. She was sitting up so I'm not sure if she was using them to lay against or not. She looked pretty comfortable though...

To Pancreatitis and Back

We thought the turkey adventure was over, but on Sunday night Nestle began to show signs that she was not herself (that means that she was quiet). On Monday morning, after throwing up all night, she managed to toss up a corn cob. We're a little baffled as we hadn't had corn since the previous Monday. We took her to the vet where she was diagnosed with pancreatitis. She came home yesterday afternoon, Dr. Salas saying, "keep her away from stray turkeys." She's slowly recovering (as are we from the bill) and glad to be home, especially because today is her birthday. She has been with us five years today although I think she is about 5 1/2 years old (the shelter where she came from said she would be 6 today).