Adopt-A-Stormy Day 2007!

Hey pups! It's Stormy - and today is the 10th anniversary of my adoption! Yeah - my Storm-aversary, my Gotcha Day, my Homecoming! It's ... Adopt-A-Stormy Day! Today seems like the perfect time to tell you how I got here! By late 1996, I had been on the road a long, long time. I won't tell anyone where I came from, but I was picked up by the local Animal Control people and landed in the slammer. (The same one Zim and Dave did stints in, but at a different time.) I had been on the road so long, my paws were bloody. That's a lot of time and a lot of miles. Yes, that means I'm a Roads Scholar. (Ha roo roo roo to those of you who get the pun!) I was adopted from there by a couple who had a rather unfriendly, large, powerful dog who did not care for me. Neither one of us got any exercise ... and that's just torture for pups - especially large ones and especially Siberian Huskies! That made a bad situation worse.

By March (1997), the people gave up on me and tried to return me to the shelter. They couldn't take "returns" and would have had to euthanize me! They pleaded with the people (God bless them!) to please just try placing an ad in the local paper - just one ad! Please?!? Fortunately for me, they agreed - and even more fortunately for me, my dad just happened to be perusing the paper that fateful morning!

Mom made the call - the only one those people got! - and she and Dad drove out to get me. They came into the house and the man there held my collar tight, like I was an attack dog or something. I wriggled free and threw myself at who I knew would be my new dad. "Let's get out of here!" I gave my future mom my best "Harp Seal Look" even though I was fairly sure I'd won her over already. They told the people they wanted me (me! someone wanted ME!) and we were on our way. The lady followed us out of the house and my new mom asked if I would like to go potty before we headed home. The other lady said, "Oh, I just had her out." Yeah, right. I shot her a look, then went potty for a long, long potty time. We got in the car and never looked back!

On the way home, we talked about a name. The other people had called me "Storm". My new parents were going to change my name, mostly so I'd get a fresh start, but as we drove onto Fort Riley, the military installation where we lived, a Kansas storm was blowing in. A detail of soldiers was lowering the American flag at post headquarters and was putting up a "storm" flag -- a smaller, tougher version. Ha ROO! Mom and Dad took it as a sign that the name fit, but softened it a bit by mostly calling me Stormy! Now I go by either one - or Storms. I was about one and a half years old when I came home.

Zim thought I should post a bunch of pictures of myself today; I've chosen ones of me with the rest of the Ao4! (Well... except for that first "artsy" one!)
Here is a shot of me and Amber from the other day! We had just been outside and were waiting for a cookie.

You've all heard Zim talk about the lessons I teach him at the Stormy Zoluschka Kryschtal School of Siberian Studies. Being a Roads Scholar, it's important that I instruct others! What you may not know, is that I also like to tell jokes on occasion. Here is a picture of Zim and me, after I told him a joke!

He obviously found it remarkably funny.

Lastly, here's a picture of me trying to snuggle up to Dad's feet. Dave just happens to be in the picture, too. Oh, ha roo roo roo, I'm just kidding. Dave isn't one of my puppies, but I do like to hang out with him.

We have a fun day planned - walkies, treats, and play time! Anyone is welcome to come over to help celebrate my special day!

Tail wags!
Stormy

Improved Parts?

Hey pups. It's me - Zim. Wow, everypupper sure seemed to like Dave's nice big paws from yesterday. Aren't his cool? I'm going to try to make mine grow.

I'm stretching my feet and toes - can you see them? Here's a closer view:

Maybe I'll get nice big paws like Davy if I keep stretching!

Play bows,
Zim

PS: Fu Fu: That coffee-flavored milk sounds divine! I'll have to see if we get that here in the US! Thanks for the heads up on it!

Parts II

Woo! Dave here, with some more of our "parts". Today, it's our paws. Mine and Zim's in particular. Here is one of mine:

And here are Zim's.

Note I have a dew claw and he doesn't. Some breeders remove them as soon as the puppies are born - sometimes it's done to present a cleaner look in the show ring and sometimes it's done so the pup doesn't catch his dew claw on a bootie - like if he's running the Iditarod or something!

We have no idea why Zim's were removed. Both of the girls and I have them, front ones, and they're the only nails we ever have to get trimmed. We do a lot of walking on sidewalks, so the concrete acts as a giant emery board, filing our nails down. Pretty cool. I don't mind having my dews trimmed, nor does Stormy. Amber isn't thrilled by it, but she figures it's quicker than a brushing! Woo.

You can't tell in those pix above, but my paws are lots bigger than Zim's. Remember the shot of us together in the "The Boys of Summer" photo the other day? You can tell there how much taller I am. Anywoo... here are our paws together:

That's Zim's on the left, mine on the right. Zim is "breed standard", I am from Texas. Woo.

Have a great day, everypup!

Luv,

Dave

Blocked Entrance

Ha roo, pupperoos! It's Zimmie! Hey, remember when I went under-cover and found the entrance to the not-too-secret HQs of the C(un)IA? Well, we did some exploring over the weekend - up where the Giant leaves his stuff around. Looks like he's on to the C(un)IA! Check out what Stormy found!

Yeah... it's a "Keep the Cats Out" device. Gotta be!

No... no cats down there! We've got to let Arwen know!

Cool, huh? Arwen - you might want to try this with Bowie and Ryker! Block their entrance to their not-too-secret headquarters!

Play bows,
Zim

Odds and Ends!

Ha roo, pups! It's me - Storm. We love all the comments everypup leaves us and love leaving comments on your blogs as well! We try to respond to all the comments you leave us - and sometimes, we let you know that we have a picture that explains something or answers something or basically that we think you'll "ha roo roo roo" over. That's what today's post is all about!

First, to our friend Marvin! We saw an email your mom sent our mom - and in it, she asked where we sleep. Your dad wondered if we sleep outside? And your mom didn't think so. First of all - your mom should put down an interesting wager, like a week's worth of doing the dishes or something! Secondly, we have this "all for one and one for all" thing around here. Where we are, the bipeds are. So... basically, if we slept outside, so would Mom and Dad. Ha roooooo! Thirdly, a picture is worth a thousand words:

Ha roo! That's me, the Z-man, and Dave curled up in a husky doughnut. At night, Dave and I get on the bed. I snuggle for a few minutes, then jump down to MY bed, in the corner by Mom's dresser. Amber likes to sleep in the carrier at the bottom of the bed, and Zim has a puffy polar bear blanket by Dad's dresser and the windows. Dave sleeps on Mom or Dad's feet.

Your mom also wondered how Mom keeps the house looking clean? She has help, as pictured at left. That's right - Zim's got his own vacuum. Mom's got 4 of them, and since Zim is so infatuated... she lets him pitch in.

Butchy & Snickers! I can't remember who said they'd show you this picture, and Mom's brain is still in slow-motion with the time change thing.... but I had made a note to show you this little bookmark Mom made - pictured at right. The heart blocks have about 20 pieces in them (or thereabouts!) and were paper foundation pieced. You can tell by the ruler how tiny everything is!

I like the red. Red is my color. My collar and leash are red. It's a powerful color!

Jasper, one of our newer friends, posted pictures of one of his favorite toys. Amber got some toys that looked just like that one time! The person who sent them sent one for each of us. Here is Am with all of them:

Mom never buys us plush toys like that, because we're ... well, basically because we'd rip them to shreds unless it was one-on-one playtime with Mom. Check out the next picture of Ammy:

They're pretty ... but what am I supposed to do with them?

She was afraid of hurting them! And well... she probably would have. She's got great jaws!

China commented on Dave's cool DCU scarf the other day. Dave told her that Zim used to have a BDU one until it met with an untimely demise. I must admit, the boys looked cool in those uniforms! Since China and Madie's dad is in the Army, we thought they'd enjoy this picture from the Ao4 archives:

They DO look cool, don't they? Hey, Holly! You can see the spot on Dave's tummy in this picture! Not unlike yours! (How are your hot spots, by the way?)

Last, but not least ... to our friend Nanook. Nanook was recently neutered and in order to prevent him from messing with his incision site, his parents resorted to putting him into a pair of his dad's undies. He's not a happy camper and is concerned that his fanny looks big. Dave let him know that Mom put him into a pair of boxer shorts just for kicks. (They had cartoon-like Siberians on them.) What really got to Dave was that Zim laughed at him. Zim saw the pix of Nanook and didn't laugh... so Dave assured Nanook that he was good to go.

I know you're all chomping at the bit to see it ... so without further ado, and just to make Nanook feel better, heeeeeere's Dave!

Oh, go ahead and laugh. Dave doesn't mind. And Zim certainly did! Ha roo roo roo!

Have a great day, everypup!

Tail wags,

Stormy

Sunday Salute - Dogs of the Iditarod!

This week, our Sunday Salute goes out to the dogs who are running the Iditarod this year! Here is a picture of our VERY favorite team - Don Smidt and his pups! Go, team, GO!

Mr. Smidt is running one of two teams (that we know of...) in this year's race that are ALL SIBERIAN HUSKIES! Ha rooooo! His partner, Denise Cwiok of Howl n' Wind Siberians, gave us permission to post these pictures - thank roo, Denise! On her site, she has some outstanding pictures of these athletes, so please check that link to see more!

Here is the team burning up the course:

Look at those happy faces! You can tell they love what they do!

Check out this guy, CAN/INT. CH. AM. CH. Pointed Troika's Orion! He's wearing Green Bay Packer booties that some middle school kids made him! How COOL!

Orion looks like he likes them, doesn't he? They'll help keep his feet protected! Oh, and if we understand his titles correctly, that's Canadian/International Champion & American Champion!

Another all-Siberian team is being run by Karen Ramstead; she writes a diary from the trail that you can read on her site! Another great way to follow everypup's progress is through Cabela's coverage.

We'd like to wish ALL the teams good luck! The course this year has been very icy and challenging, from what we've read. They are running the Iditarod's southern route, which is 1131 miles. That's over 300 trips to the park and back for us! WOW!

We would be remiss if we didn't also salute the mushers themselves! These bipeds not only go through incredible conditioning and training with their dogs, and face harsh elements right along side them, (well, actually pretty much behind them...) but they take GREAT care of their dogs.

Thanks for taking such good care of everpuppy!

As of this writing, Mr. Smidt and his dogs have mushed 444 miles! They are currently in 62nd place! We wish everyone a great run. Travel safe, and we'll "see you" in Nome!

To the dogs of the Iditarod - and mushers alike - we salute you!

The Army of Four

Doing Our Part(s)

Ha roo, pups! It's Storm! Thanks for all the good wishes for Dave yesterday - his check-up went well. He will respond to each of your comments later on, but we're getting a slow start today.

We've enjoyed seeing all the "parts" some of you pups have posted, so we thought we'd start to share some of ours. Being Siberians, everyone is always fascinated with our eyes - so we thought we'd begin there. We posted a cool "artsy" collage of our eyes in one of our early posts - "The Eyes Have It". Remember? That's pretty cool. But here are actual un-touched photos! We made sure to get Dave's pickle nose in his shot, as somepup seems quite captivated by it. (Ha roo roo roo!)

Here I am: Mom kept re-taking mine, trying to show off the flash of blue in my brown eye. I didn't feel like cooperating, so you can't see it too well. Refer back to this photo for a better look! It's in the inside corner. Pretty cool, huh?

Here's everyone's favorite sweet potato, Amber:

She did get her name because of her beautiful amber-colored eye, in case you were wondering! Notice my brown eye is a much darker brown! Our vets always like using me, Am or Zim to show students the difference in pigment between blue and brown eyes. I mean - we have one of each, right there to compare! We like to help out!

Zim has the lighter amber-colored brown eye, too. Here he is:

And last, but not least, here is Dave:

Nice close up of his freckles, huh?

Those are our parts for now. More to come Monday, after tomorrow's Sunday Salute!

Tail wags,
Stormy

Beware of... Kitlers!

Woo, everypup! It's me - Dave. Remember Ammy's post from a couple weeks ago? She mentioned she had gone to the vet's for a big check up and posted some pictures at the vet hospital. I had told you she went in for her first Senior Care Appointment. Well, guess where I get to go today!?!?

YEAH! I'm not real happy that I didn't get my breakfast, but oh, I love seeing all the people there and giving them hugs. I like that part. And getting tummy rubs and hugs back and all!

I don't have cool pix yet like Ammy did - since I haven't been there yet - but here are a couple photos of me in the exam room last time.

Don't I look cool in my DCU scarf?

When Ammy thanked everypup for the congrats and all on her great check up, she said that not all cats are bad and posted a picture I'd seen on campus. She's right about those cats ... but lest you think we're letting our guard down, I wanted to give you a quick heads up about some other cats that might not be quite as innocuous. (Paws up to Storm for that word!) It's a group of cats that ... well ... cats that look like Hitler. And they're all OVER the place, these KITLERS! Beware, pups. These cats look like bad news!

Anywoo, wish me luck, everypup! Catch you guys this afternoon!

Luv,
Dave

Big Score for the Ao4!

Ha roooo! It's Zim today! We hope you all enjoyed our days of puppy pictures! Thank you to everypup (and Tierre) for the nice comments you made! We'd love to see YOUR puppy pix - how 'bout it, guys and gals!?!? C'mon! Show us your puppy pictures!

Check out our sidebar! See the cool new graphic!?!? Charlie and Opy's dad, Greg, made it and was kind enough to send us the code! COOL, huh?!!? Thank roo SOOOoooo much!

Speaking of Charlie the Big Dog - remember a couple weeks ago when I mentioned that Charlie and Opy got to have YOGURT and even had a cool video of them enjoying it? I posted OLD pix of us getting yogurt, hoping that Mom and Dad (who have been known to read our blog) would see them and get the hint! Well, guess what!?!?

SCORE!

See... Mom had too many bananas get ripe all at the same time and "had" to make some of her infamous banana bread. I know, I know, she could have given the bananas to us, but she said we get enough bananas every day and don't need more. But here's the cool part - her banana bread recipe calls for yogurt. 8 ounces of yogurt - and gee, what a shame, yogurt comes in 6-ounce containers. Are you doing the math with me? (Yes, Stormy teaches us math, too!) If you need 8 ounces, and you have to add 6 and 6, that's 12 and that means subtract 8 from 12 and you get a TON of yogurt for each member of the Ao4!!!

Here's Storm, enjoying hers:

Mmmm, vanilla!

Here's Am:

Oooh, it's so YUMMY!

Here's Davy:

Woo!

And here I am again!

Wowzers! Thanx, Mom!

Let me anticipate your question - why did I get a little bowl AND get to lick out the container? Well, it just so happens that I was on KP (I usually am!) and I felt it was my duty to clean it out. Just to help, you know? I'm a great help in the kitchen; Mom always says so.

Thanks again to Charlie the Big Dog for posting his great video! That planted the seed that got the whole thing going for us!

Play bows,
Zim

Day Four of Ao4 Puppy Pix - Dave!

Wooooo! It's me - Dave! And it's my turn to post my puppy pictures! Woo!

I was about 4 years old when I got here, so that's how old I am in my puppy pix! I shared a few of those early photos with you in my "Hi Everybody! I'm Home!" post, along with my adoption story. Here's a picture of me and Amber from that same first family walk we took!

I don't look too bad... not like Zim was when he got here, that's for sure! But I didn't have good muscle tone and was a bit underweight. I was in need of good nutrition and exercise! One of the things Mom supplemented our Supper-Dupper with was SALMON! Oh, sweet salmon! I'd never had any before - here I am cleaning out my first bowl full. I had to hold it still with my paw so I could lick out every last little shred of that yummy fish!

But really.... if you want to know what I probably looked like as a wee boy, go back to this post and click on my twin brother of a different mother Harley's dogster page! There are a couple puppy pix of him there and seeing as how we look so much alike NOW... there's a good chance we looked alike as little guys, too!

In my "Adopt-a-Dave" post a couple months ago, I posted a picture from when I first got here - all of us at one of my first Banana Formations! Woo. Zim really helped me out there. He's a very good Drill Sergeant. Click that link and check it out!

Here's a good shot of me smiling once I came home:

I look very happy, don't I? I was! And I am!

As Ammy mentioned in her "How We All Got Here" post, once I got here (about 5 months after Zim!), I took it upon myself to teach Zim how to play. (Stormy taught him the rules and Ammy taught him how to trust and love!) Our play got the little guy really tired - and for some reason, that pleased Mom and Dad. Go figure! Here we are, after a rousing play session:

I could barely keep my baby blues open! In fact, it's about time for my morning nap now, so I'd best get to it. Hope you enjoyed my puppy pix!

Luv,
Dave

Day Three of Ao4 Puppy Pix - Zim!

Ha roo, it's me - Zim! Stormy said it's my turn to post some puppy pictures of yours truly. Keep in mind, I was about 1-1/2 years old and a pretty messed up guy when I was adopted. Am gave a brief summation of that in her post about how we all got here. You can also read my adoption story, if you'd like. Among others, it has this picture:

one of the first ones taken of me and my sisters. Remember Am's post the other day... when we looked so much alike? Look at how different we started out! That post also has an early picture of me and her. Yeah... the one of me giving her a smooch. You have to know how sweet she is to understand. There is another early picture of me in a post we made about Stormy teaching me the Sad Eyes Look.

But now ... for the first time (ha roo roo roo) here are some other ones! Here is one of me and the girls lining up for a drink.

Girls first!

Note I was still umbillical corded. When I got here, I didn't know the rules about being in a house (I'd never been in one!), so Mom kept the leash on me until Stormy taught me things like "We don't jump on the dining room table", "Centerpieces are to admire, not to eat", and "We don't lift our legs on the ____ (fill in the blank)". I caught on pretty quick - 'cause when I did what the girls did, I got called a "good boy!" and I'd never been called that before and I liked it! Here I am, drinking with Am. You can see the contrast in our coats again.

Even though I was umbillical corded, Mom would let me roam around after a while, to see how I was doing with the rules. Here I am in the bedroom with the girls.

Umm... I have no idea how the sheets and comforter got so messed up. Really. Besides, if you didn't see who did it, you can't blame anyone. Ha roo! I think Amber and Stormy are trying to cover it up for me. I love my sisters!

I look pretty skinny there still, don't I? I was adopted in July - and here I am around Christmas!

I look better already, don't I? Good food, good shelter, good health care - and I was good to go.

Tune in tomorrow for Dave's puppy pictures! We adopted him about a month after that picture of me and the girls was taken!

Play bows,
Zim

Day Two of Ao4 Puppy Pix - Amber!

Hi everypuppy, it's me - Amber! You might remember from Stormy's post on Saturday that we're each going to take turns posting our puppy pictures! Today is my turn, since I was the second of the Ao4 to be adopted!

I've posted a couple of my puppy pictures before, with a little bit about how we all got here. Since Mom and Dad got to meet my bio-parents on the farm, I also posted a picture of them and me saying good-bye to bio-mama Nikki. I thought that Preston (from D'Azul Siberians) and I might be related, but we aren't. Anyroo.... here are some you haven't seen before!

Here I am with my daddy - one of the first pix EVER of me! Mom says I look like a little sack of sweet potatoes! Dad says maybe a lemur. But I'm just me - Ammy!

When I got home, I immediately met Stormy and great-brother Booter. I loved BOTH of them right away! Here we are, hanging out on the deck together.I loved doing all the Siberian things with Stormy, but I also loved doing all the Aussie Shepherd/Lab things with Booter. I wanted to be JUST LIKE both Storm and Booter when I grew up! Here I am with Boots:

And here I am with Storm. That's one of her favorite poses.

Here's another shot of me with my Nylabone. I had very strong teeth right from the get-go. You can tell my ears are starting their growth spurt here. One of my nicknames is "Zichick", which is Ukrainian for "rabbit". :)

And here's the last one for now - it's Booter and me from my first Christmas!

He's chewing on one of those rope toys - we used to call them "chickens" because he and Stormy used to play this cool game where she'd sneak into a room, grab a "chicken", start shaking it, then run past him! Oh, no! A fox stole a chicken! And Booter would play the good shepherd and would chase her. It was the first game Stormy ever played! Anyroo..... we don't get chickens anymore, because ... um... I started chewing and swallowing huge hunks of them. Mom was worried about something called "intestinal problems". Oops.

I hope you liked seeing my puppy pictures! Tune in tomorrow for Zimmie's!

Love,

Amber

Sunday Salute - Kito and Auntie Laura!

This week, our Sunday Salute goes out to our cool friend (and Zim's cosmic cousin) Kito and his mom - Auntie Laura! You may remember Kito from earlier posts and even a Sunday Salute! Yeah! Kito, Luna and Timber are our friends who made it snow in Miami! Ha roooooo!

Zim got a great series of emails from Kito this past week where he told him all about helping his mom raise money for the Humane Society! They got pledges and went on a cool road march! As Kito told us, "You guys have no idea, I had SUCH a blast this weekend!!! Mom decided she wanted to participate in the Humane Society’s Walk for the Animals. It’s an annual fundraiser here in Miami to benefit, well, the Humane Society!" Isn't that a cool coincidence! Kito said he was the one who got to go with her, explaining, "She said she took me cause I needed the exercise the most; I don’t know what she means by that though…" Kito, Dad says that about Zim sometimes, too. We haven't figured out, either! Auntie Laura said she wished Luna and Timber could have gone too…but she didn’t have enough arms. Ha rooo!

Kito had so much fun and Auntie Laura said he was really well-behaved. Of course - he's a Siberian! He met lots of other pups, and had a ball and told us all about his cool adventures!

Kito said, "We got there and the first thing we saw was this white Husky I met. He was SO cool. His parents gave me treats." We like the sound of this already! After he met the white Sibe, he and Auntie Laura went and sat by a tree, to wait for the walk to begin. His mom found a cool bandana in the goodie bag and ... here it is!

Doesn't he look great?!?! Kito said, "It says I support the Humane Society! Which I do! That’s where Timber came from!" (Timber is his blind brother!)

After this, Kito met MORE Huskies! He said it was SO cool! Auntie Laura told them all about Husky Rescue ~ way to go, Auntie Laura!

Okay, this is where it starts to get REALLY cool. He met this big blue thing called the “Ocean”. He said, "I don’t know what it is but it went for miles and miles! It looked neat and I wanted to get closer, but mom said no…check out the pictures attached… "

Whoa! Cool!

Does that look great, or what? Zim really is intrigued with this whole "ocean" thing and asked our mom if we could get one here in Kansas. It doesn't sound too likely, but you can't blame him for trying!

THEN he met this cute little dog halfway through the walk, after he met the ocean. "She was adorable and she just wanted to be my friend," Kito told us. Does this sound incredibly cool? He continued, "By this point I was EXHAUSTED! Zimmie knows what I’m talking about…my cosmic cousin knows what it is to lay down and say 'I’m done!' I didn’t want to leave that spot! I was so relaxed by that ocean thing, I just wanted to stay there… " (Kito - Zim here. I'm totally with you on that, cosmic cuz!)

Here they are - she is cute, isn't she?

Kito said, "I was SO tired, I didn’t even care that she tried to stand on my head!" Kito - you are so totally like Zim, it borders on being scary.

Kito said after a brief rest, "I finally got up and decided to let mom finish the walk since it meant so much to her… " Way to go, Kito! You ARE the PUP!

In closing, he sent us a GREAT photo of him and Auntie Laura! He admitted it's "the COOLEST picture, EVER." His mom told him she wanted a picture of them by a palm tree -- check it out! A husky in the tropics! Ha roo roo roo!

Kito was really tired after the walk and while Auntie Laura stopped to chat with some girls, he decided it would be a good place to plop down again….RIGHT by the water bowls! Works for us! He wrote, "They thought I was so handsome, so I just hammed it up and drank their water."

"Soooo, I hope you guys enjoyed my adventure! I know I did!!!" We DID, Kito! Thanks for taking us along via your emails and photos! Kito hopes he and Luna and Timber can go to the walk next year. Great plan! He closed by saying that when he got home he slept the rest of the day! We hear ya! (Mom muttered something about that being a side benefit for Auntie Laura ... but we're not sure what that means!)

Kito and Auntie Laura - thank you for walking to raise money for the Humane Society and for all you do! We salute you!

The Army of Four