Big Dog vs Small Dog

So here I am with my Great Dane Sampson, who is now in heaven.  He was an amazing dog.  It was really great having him for the short time that I did, he developed spinal degeneration at the age of eight.  I used to hear so many silly comments from people, it used to make me laugh at the things they would say about his size... "Hey is that a dog or a horse" coming from some dude with a big pie eating grin on his mug from across the street on a walk.  I'm thinking, really... seriously? Or there was always one of my favorite's "Hey do you have a saddle for that?" Again, some really "A" material on the big dog jokes don't ya think?

Since Sam's passing, I went in a totally different direction with my dog size choice. I now have three Pekingese who weight 8,10, 13 lbs & one little 4 lb Maltese... Collectively they don't even make half of a Sampson. Which is kind of handy seeing as though when I go on tour it's like having one big dog in four little pieces. So I was thinking about what makes people choose the pets they do, or do our pets end up choosing us?

I have always loved animals, even as a little girl.  I was out in the yard as early as four years old picking up snakes (yikes).  One time I rode my bike down to the local pet store (2 miles away) to buy a hamster with a $5.oo bill I found on the floor in a diner (yup I was even in the Greek diner's back then at age seven).  Or my personal favorite, hiding a kitten in my room thinking somehow my mom would not find out, what was I thinking? You see I'm allergic to cats, but I just could not resist a neighbor kid giving away a kitten, so home I'd go and hide it in my room.  Only to come home from school to find my mom sitting on my bed hold it asking "Ava, what is this..." Me: "ummm what, I don't know what it is or where it came from."...

Bobo sporting a party hat!

So it only stands to reason that this grown up Greek Girl has always had lots of fur kids around. To tell the story of how I ended up with four dogs, would be four totally different blogs.  We all know this Greek Blonde Girl loves to yap her trap but to keep it short I'll just tell you about my Pekingese "BoBo".  He was a rescue from Petfinder.com  It is a really wonderful option to choose if you are looking for a fur baby.  They have been around for fifteen years and have had over seventeen million adoptions. That's a lot of fur kids finding forever homes (well lets hope they were forever homes).  It's great because you can search in your local area for specific breeds of dogs, cats, horses, birds, whatever creature floats your boat.  It helps rescue organizations help more animals, as most have a nominal adoption fee that covers vet expenses, etc. and this helps them to be able to help more animals who need saving.  Pets really only want our love, and they have so much to give.  No matter what kind of muckery a day has brought there is nothing like coming home to the love of your fur baby.  Even Mr. Bricks has a wire haired fox terrier named Sunny, (he's adorable btw).  Gee I just hope Mr. Bricks doesn't feed him McRibs.

Mr. Bricks please do not feed Sunny any McRibs

*Please remember to spay & neuter your furkids....  just sayin.

Blessings ~

Ava xox

No Big Whoop

I can't believe what I am seeing. Who abandons a donkey?

I am not there yet and it is a place that I hope that I never come close to getting to. No, I'm not talking about Cleveland (please no hater comments on that, it was just a joke.) When I say I am not there yet and I hope I never get there it's because I'm actually not even talking about a real destination. I am talking about getting to a place in my little Greek noggin where I can just sarcastically blow something off and not let others know something is bothering me. Getting there means being able to just say, no big whoop. I can't get there. I really can't.

Part of the problem is that I am Greek and I am passionate about everything I get my fingerprints on or everything I place my eye balls on! Things like my morning coffee, my daily work out or run, the food I eat, a stray dog or even the sneakers on my feet. I have a strong opinion about them all. Don't look to this blond Greek girl to say no big whoop if I don't get in my daily work-out. Don't look for me to just say no big whoop if I don't get my morning coffee, heads have rolled for a lesser offense. Don't look for me to just say no big whoop if Facebook crashes in the middle of updating my status, that's not how I roll. I know people who go about their life with an attitude like, "oh, my hot water heater just blew up and flooded my house, I just lost everything...and then they say, "no big whoop, I have insurance." My house flooding would be a huge whoop to me and it would probably make my head explode.

I get it that it is in my DNA to be just as high-strung as Mr. Bricks' wire hair fox terrier. And I get it that I can create unwanted muckery when I see something like an abandoned dog looking for scraps of food on a hot summer day. But the alternative is a lack of compassion that is akin to being brain-dead and I hope I am never so cold or out of touch that I stop caring about others. What's so wrong with being passionate about everything and everyone?

Recently when I was in Greece visiting my Dad (did I ever mention I was Greek?) I came across a car, truck a piece of crap parked on a side street with a donkey tied to the door in the hot sun with no water or donkey kibble (I don't know what they eat). I know it was a fellow Greek who did this, but what the hell people? I am sorry but when it comes to animals I will never say no big whoop. I have had to rescue many stray dogs or had to rescue mistreated dogs because some people don't have enough brain cells to treat animals with compassion and when they get bored with them they just abandon or abuse them. So to me a donkey is just like a lost or abused dog and it is still an animal.

Most people certainly know where they stand with me or where I stand on any specific issue because most everything in life is a big whoop to me.

Blessings,

Ava

xox