Lucy and Gigi Say Thanks

Lucy and Gigi had a great Thanksgiving. Their friend, Charlie, the white Maltese, came to visit and they all had a wonderful time. The grownups got to visit with each other, and Jim did some mightly fine cooking. There was turkey, broccoli puree, stuffing with mushrooms, yellow pepper soup, cranberry chutney, and carrot and currant salad. Oh problem is that we are all stuffed, so we all have to exercise more. Gigi and Lucy got to play with Charlie, and even stayed with him when everyone went out. The girls were sad to say goodbye to Charlie yesterday, but they hope he will come back for a visit real soon. Charlie is very well trained and even went wee wee on his pee pee pad. No messes from Charlie.

The Northern Virginia Sheltie Rescue will be at the annual Scottish festival next week in Alexandria. Lucy and Gigi are certainly looking forward to that.

Gigi's Article Creates Nice Buzz

Neighbors and friends have written us very nice notes and comments about Gigi's Northwest Current article and she has been so happy to hear from them. Listen to what Gigi's friends and fans have been saying:

Mehret writes, "Wow! Thanks for sharing. Very nice article...I checked out the blog and loved it."

Suzanne chimed in from the beach, "Fantastic!"

Paula wrote, "What a nice news article!"

Mary from Pa. wrote, "What a great article--what an amazing story! I managed to print out both pages of the article and I am going to give them to my mother to read. She will love it!!!"

Nancy, her foster mom, said,"That Gigi is going to go down in history. Great article..."

Eliza stated, "I read the article and I enjoyed it alot. I liked the picture as well."

Sue from Tennessee wrote, "What fun. A very nice article..."

Gigi gets especially excited when she knows that her many friends and neighbors are gettting a kick out of her exploits. So keep those cards and letters coming!

Right now, she and Lucy are getting bathed at the groomers. They both said they want to look especially nice for their Thanksgiving visitors. A very nice, young Maltese named Charlie is coming to town, so they have to look good.

Gigi Said Wow!

So the article came out from the Northwest Current. Gigi read it and said, "Wow, that's really good!" She was really excited because the man that wrote it was 99.9% accurate in the retelling of her story, and she appreciated his point-of-view. She thinks if her article can help other lost dogs and their owners to mount campaigns as vigorous as hers, then there will be alot more dogs who are found and who will reunite with their owners.

Gigi Goes AU-Current

Gigi is especially excited today. It's because yesterday she was interviewed by a very nice young man writing an article about her blog for the Northwest Current. For those of you who don't know, the Northwest Current is the newspaper of Northwest DC neighborhoods--AU Park, The Palisades, Chevy Chase, Friendship Heights, etc. He wanted to know all about her rescue during Snowpocalypse and alot about all of the escapades and adventures Gigi has had since then. The article should appear this Wednesday, or he said it might come out next week. Anyway, he was awfully nice to spend so much time with Gigi and her parents. Gigi is looking forward to the article with great anticipation.

Gigi and Lucy wish everybody a Happy Halloween!

Gigi is Scared of Balloons

Last night, I brought home a balloon given to me by one of my staff members for Boss's Day--a nice gesture on her part. I put the balloon in the kitchen, and tied it to my footstool so it wouldn't get away. Now Shelties are very superstitious dogs, one of their more idiosyncratic traits. When Gigi saw the balloon, she became very scared, started to bark at it, and crept away from it. I thought that was funny but Jim reminded me that Gigi may have been tormented, since we do not know the story of where she comes from. Jim released the balloon, and now it is on our kitchen ceiling. Gigi stares at it and is fixated by it, but goes out of her way to creep around it. Something happened in her past--and it just may have involved a balloon. We just don't know.

Gigi is a December Calendar Girl!

When we were at the Northern Virginia Sheltie rescue (NVSR) picnic, I wanted a few things to benefit the organization, so one of the things I bought was the 2011 NVSR Sheltie calendar. I was perusing all of the photographs of the beautiful 2010 adoptees, and to my delight, Gigi's picture graced the December page. It is the one Nancy T. took in the snow where Gigi looks like she has a hind peg leg. She is gorgeous, nonetheless. She shares the page with two other Shelties, and that's okay, but now, I refer to her as our 2011 "December calendar girl."

Gigi and Lucy Get Blessed

Last Sunday, October 3, 2010, we took Gigi and Lucy to the annual Blessing of the Animals at the Washington National Cathedral in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. It always happens the first Sunday in October.

I asked the rector to bless Gigi, as it was her first time. She stuck her laurel (I think) into the Holy Water and gave Gigi a big dousing. Water rippled down both sides of her snout. For Lucy, it was her second time. I asked the rector for another exorcism just like last year. She asked, "Why? Has Lucy been bad this year?" And I said, "Oh, yes, she has." We both laughed. It isn't that Lucy is devilish; she just likes to be mischievous once in awhile, and then she laughs about it later. Both dogs loved going and were very happy to be out and about with the other dogs and people at the festival.

The Cathedral is a special place. It even has a chapel for children with wonderful pillows in needlepoint of different kinds of animals. My mom used to needlepoint. What a lost art!

The Sheltie Rogues' Gallery

I thought it might be fun to share all of our Shelties with you. Our first Sheltie was Libby. We did a bad thing and went to a petshop and bought our first Sheltie there, based on looks and not research 30 years ago. Boy, was she cute. Libby lasted only two weeks. To our deep sorrow, she developed distemper and died during the holidays. But on Christmas morning before she got sick, she opened all of her presents. That's her above. Golly, she was a smart dog.

Then came Albie.



Albie was short for Albion's Angel. I always had a thing for the Romantic Poets--Blake, Coleridge, etc. Hence the name. Albie lived the longest of all of our Shelties--to 17 years. He loved to run in figure 8's with his buddy Brittany and could catch the frisbee just like a border collie--only faster. Albie developed dementia and one day could not recognize me as he came out from behind the heater in our basement in Evanston, IL. Then he took a chunk out of my hand. I did not want him to hurt anyone else, so we unfortunately had to take him to the vet's. The last day before he died he was the spryest he had been in months.



Brittany was a really sweet Sheltie and Albie's pal for 8 years. Brittany loved to be loved on. She also liked to herd Jim and me in our backyard when we played badminton. Both of them really enjoyed this. Brittany got a bone infection we thought when she was 8. We took to an orthopedic specialist and he plied her with antibiotics. A year later we were going to France--to Brittany of all things. We contemplated not taking our vacation with Brittany so sick, but our vet told us to go. We were staying in Pont Aven where Van Gogh painted. We were in a lovely old mill, the Moulin Rosmadec, by a babbling brook. It could not have been more serene and idyllic, and the hotel was renowned in Brittany for fine dining. I called the vet's to ask about Brittany's condition and found out that she ate that morning and then passed away from none other than vertebral cancer. It was not a bone infection as we thought. Of all the bizarre things--a dog named Brittany who died when we were in Brittany. We were heartbroken, but our vet told us she was better off, given the misdiagnosis by the specialist.

Lilah and Hannah came to us from Karen Munster in Joliet, Illinois, a small town out- side of Chicago. Karen is a well-known breeder of Shetland Sheepdogs and her Shelties are always happy and healthy Shelties.



We always referred to Lilah as our beautiful blonde bombshell, because she was outrageously pretty. Her mother was Madonna and her father was Ringo, so I guess being outrageous was in her blood. Lucy's kind of related to her, because Ringo was Lucy's grandfather.



Hannah was always sweet and very, very calm. Gigi's personality mirrors hers. Lilah and she were inseparable.


Hannah was very petite, but boy, she lived life in a big way. She ate the foam stuffing out of our sleeper sofa and was extremely fearless. Lilah, on the other hand, was a princess. But her claim to fame was hurling herself against the front door when the mailman came. I am surprised she never went through the glass.

Hannah died three years ago on November 1. She had hemolytic anemia, and we were fortunate to keep her alive through the miracle of cyclosporine, a cancer drug. When she did not have a quality of life as I was feeding her through a pipette and with baby food, we knew it was time.

Lilah became very depressed after Hannah died. Her most stalwart companion had been taken away. That's when we decided to get Lucy--again from Karen Munster. About a year after Hannah died, I noticed that Lilah occasionally coughed and appeared to have loud breathing. I took her to the vet's who recommended a cardiologist. We went to CCVA and learned that Lilah had congestive heart failure and that her kidneys were on the fritz too. Despite her beauty, she had always had awful teeth--like most Shelties do. Bad teeth can give dogs heart ailments. Lilah died on July 19, 2009. Her downhill slide was very sudden, and we whisked her to Friendship Animal Hospital. Jim said she died in his arms on the way.

What's Gigi really like?

People always ask, What's Gigi like? Well, I'll tell you. Gigi is very shy and reserved. She is demure and fawnlike, but she has the loudest, deepest bark. She sounds like a male dog. She remembers her life on the streets, and those were not pleasant memories. When we walk her, she crouches and becomes very alert and furtive. She hates loud noises--especially cars.

One really funny thing--Gigi loves her comfort and food. She has a special place on our bed on top of alot of comforters. She also loves to eat. Heaven forbid, we don't feed her by 6 pm on the dot. Then that bark starts. She also likes to go out and play with her buddy, Lucy. She loves her big yellow ball that Nancy T. gave her, and Lucy is teaching her to dig. Lucy loves dirt and likes to dig out all of her dad's plants in the garden. Sometimes the holes are so big I think she may just get to China yet. Lucy is the exuberant one, who adores people, and Gigi is more guarded and laid back. I am glad they are opposites.

Gigi meets other Sheltie Pals at NVSR Picnic

On September 25th, Gigi and Lucy attended the Northern Virginia Sheltie Rescue annual picnic. Boy, did they both have fun. There was lots to do and see. They met the Shelties up for adoption; they played games, they went to the Silent Auction, and they even reunited with Sam and Salsa from Pure Gold Pettrackers. They listened very intently to Sam's presentation on how to keep your Sheltie safe. They were the two who tracked Gigi to the Swedish Embassy during Snowpocalype. Gigi also got to see her dear friend, Nancy T. who was her foster mom. An NVSR member took a cool video of the NVSR parade. Gigi had a great time joining in the shibboleth of Shelties. Lucy barked the whole time on the sidelines, because she wanted to be in the parade too. To see the video, click here:

We have asked Martha Heisel, the NVSR Director, if she can think of some more fun events like the picnic for the holidays. Gigi had such a swell time; she wants to see her friends again. Lucy had a lot of fun too. They slept all the way home in the car, because they were so worn out.

Gigi gets invitation from Japanese Embassy

One of the really fun things Jim and I did this summer was go to the Japanese Embassy summer barbecue, thanks to Gigi. Jim and I both love Japanese culture, and we lived there. Well, when Gigi was holed up at the Swedish Embassy during Snowpocalypse, she used to travel into the Japanese embassy grounds just to take in a different venue. Because of that, we met Madame Ambassador, and she asked us to attend the picnic. The picnic occurs annually, and the grounds of the embassy are opened to government and AU Park residents by invitation. Well, it was truly a smash. The food was fabulous, and we met alot of nice people. We love Japanese food, and there was sushi, tempura prawns, kobe beef, grilled vegetables, yakitori, and other foods for the folks who didn't wish to try the Japanese food. We met the Ambassador and his wife in the receiving line, and they were most gracious and remembered us because of Gigi. Gigi hopes she can land another invitation for next year, because her folks had such a good time!

Gigi has a double

We we were at the Northern Virgina Sheltie Rescue (NVSR) Picnic a couple of weeks ago and Martha Heisel, the Director of NVSR, told us that she had once had a rescue named Skye that looked exactly like Gigi. Well, she sent us his picture, which is posted here. What do you think? I think he could be a deadringer.

We're reprising Gigi's blog!

Tons of Gigi's friends have asked us to bring back Gigi's blog, so we have decided to. Folks want to know how Gigi is doing and what she has been up to. So in response to those individuals, this is the first installment. Lots of things have happened to Gigi, since the rescue, and so as Gigi begins to grow up, we will be filling you in on all of the fun and exciting stages of her development.

A recent cool thing happened. PetsDirect in the UK gave gigishope a "best of blog" award for 2010. Criteria cited for the award were:

A Unique Blog From A Whole New And Interesting Perspective.
A Useful And Unique Blogger Resource
Great Literature And/Or Informational Quality
Helping The Preservation And General Well Being Of A Specific Breed Type.
Showing A True Love For A Specific Breed Or Pet Type

Gigi was very excited when she heard that folks in the UK liked her blog. She is still trying to recover from the excitement, and wants to thank PetsDirect for the award.

First, we will give you a glimpse of what Gigi now looks like. The photo is of her and her sister, Lucy. We will also mention funny things about Lucy from time to time, because she is a very important part of Gigi's life--being her lifelong pal and companion.

Gigi has found her (basso profundo) voice

For a long time, Gigi never barked. That changed in the last week. Now Gigi is slim--downright skinny. Her legs are very long for a sheltie. Nancy and I think she looks like a fawn. But when she barks, it reminds you of what they said about Tallulah Bankhead: "Her voice is one octave lower than laryngitis." If you didn't see her, and just heard her woof-woof-woof-woofing, you'd think Rottweiler, even though she looks a lot more like Bambi. Now she's barking much more frequently, which we get a kick out of (but probably not our neighbors).

I think it's a general sign of growing self-confidence. Though on a walk, Gigi remains apprehensive, crouching and moving from side to side, seemingly alarmed by noises she cannot see the source of.

We've now had her back more three and half weeks, and are thrilled to have her.

Gigi is doing well

I know we haven't posted in a while. Gigi is doing well and visibly gaining weight. She and Lucy continue to play tirelessly, tracking in dirt, digging up house plants, shredding tissues and generally having fun.

Though still skitterish, she's much bolder. She used to avoid certain parts of our large kitchen. Now she runs around the whole space. She also eats her food then goes for Lucy's. Most important, she's demonstrating and demanding affection.

The play imperative

The role of play in Gigi's rescue led to the following thoughts from Jim.

A semi-famous philosopher named Johan Huizinga wrote a book called (of course the title was in Latin) Homo Ludens. His core idea is that what really distinguishes mankind from all other animals was our joy in and inclination to play. Not opposable thumbs. Not tool-making. Play. It was a lovely idea, because he does make a strong case for the important role of play in mankind’s achievements in law, science, philosophy, and the arts. It was also a profoundly stupid idea from a man who obviously never had a dog in his life or observed dogs (or otters or dolphins or chimpanzees, for that matter) without blinders on.

The truth is that dogs love play, from the moment they can walk to well beyond the point where they can barely pull themselves up off the rug. They signal this love with the classic play-bow, that unmistakable posture where a dog lowers the front if it its body to the ground, with its head, tongue out, with its butt and tail up, the latter wagging. It is not something they schedule, like a play date for a child, who is more cared for than loved. It is not something they have to remind themselves to do. It isn’t even something they need to have someone else do with them—hence, the unbounded joy of chasing your own tail. A sense of play springs from them naturally, effervescently and unbidden. It doesn’t need a set of rules, a ball, or a joystick.

The great mistake we as humans make is to separate play as something we consciously do at specified times or to think of play as one of those childish things we "put away" as we become adults. Huizinga was partly right. Play is in our human nature.To play is to be child-like. It is not childish. A sense of play is the essence not just of a full life, but a creative life. At work, it leads to the non-linear connections of inspired innovation. Play is the essence of brain-storming. I have even known a sense of play to add laughter to a funeral. When my step-grandmother died, I met some cousins of hers for the first time. She was a famously unhappy, bitter woman. Cousin Tommy Dunn looked at her in the coffin and said, “Hmmm, same nasty scowl she’s always had.” We figuratively died laughing, and it released in me my pleasant memories of Grandma Mary and freed us all from the need to pretend she wasn’t an old battle axe. We had a great time at the wake. Play is why we often use our dogs to bring family members, who are barely speaking to each other, together. But we don’t need to put this burden on our dogs alone. We can and should re-discover our own love of play and playfulness.

Robert Frost wrote one of the loveliest, shortest, and most profound of poems. It’s two lines:

The old dog barked backwards without getting up.
I remember when he was a pup.

I have known this dog. And I also know this. As he lays sleeping and dreaming, his legs race as he chases and barks at a bird far overhead. He dreams of play to the happy end. I hope I follow suit.

Gigi's first full weekend with us

Gigi played and slept hard. She's acting more confident. Yesterday, Nancy, Gigi and I made a brief visit the Jonas, Eva and Nalle Hafstrom at the Swedish Embassay residence. We dropped off a small gift for all their help. Gigi was a little nervous, and we held tight onto her leash. We don't want her running into the backyard!

Also, the wife of the Japanese ambassador, Yoriko Fujisaki,who also kept a watchful eye on Gigi's comings and goings, reached out to us by phone. The Fujisaki's apartment in Tokyo is near Friend's School, where Nancy taught English many years ago. It's in the area around Tokyo Tower.

Jim's first dog

Gigi is sitting at the moment with Nancy on our living room sofa, as a fire burns in our fireplace.

Jim is working on completing a book about the dogs I have known and what I have learned from them, which I had put aside for several years. Inspired by Gigi and the love of dog demonstrated by the many people who helped us in our search for her, I've decided to make final revisions to the manuscript and see if I can get it published. Here is the story of my first dog: Salty. It is brief, since Salty died when I was young. One photo is of my older brother and sister, Ed and Judy, Salty, and me (the youngest--on the right). The other is, need I say it, of Salty.

Salty was the first of ten dogs who I have shared my life with. Gigi is the tenth.

My first dog was Salty, a black and white female English Bull Dog. My parents got her when I was a baby. I have no memories of life before her. She gave me my first slobbery, sloppy French kiss, with her huge tongue lapping out of that smashed face with the immense mouth which always seemed to be a in a perpetual grin. Certain stories about Salty have become favorites in my family.

For those unsmitten by and uninitiated to English Bull Dogs, they can (I don’t really understand how) appear scary and mean. We had a corner lot and my brother, two sisters, and I were always outside, along with dozens of kids from the neighborhood. Of course, Salty was always there with us. Adults would walk down the sidewalk, see that massive head with the pronounced under-bite and lower canines jutting out and cross the street, avoiding the perceived canine menace. Children were children. They ran into our yard and literally jumped on Salty, rolling around with her in the grass, gleefully and unconvincingly protesting as she licked them smack in the face. We are saw her real beauty—the beauty of a creature that is completely authentic. And when Salty ran through a crowd of us, like a speeding, furry bowling ball on short, bowed legs, knocking down everyone before her like bowling pins, we laughed and hooted and got up and hoped she would do it once again. She did.

Salty’s forbearance and patience were legendary in our clan. My younger sister thought it was really fun to try to lift this sixty-pound dog by her ears. She’d grab those floppy appendages with the vice-like grip of a toddler and do her darndest to hoist her up, Though there was little chance of that since Patti was only thirty pounds at the time. Salty never, ever objected. Not a snarl nor a growl nor even a twitch. Of course, if you’ve ever had a massage or facial when the therapist pulled on your ears, you may understand why Salty didn’t object. She was on to something.

Salty also provided me with my first experience of loss. Since she was my own age, it was like losing a better part of me, a loving, fuzzy non-identical twin. My parents had her euthanized because of a chronic, incurable illness. She was only six and half years old. And since I was the same age, the circumstances, the how and why of their decision, remain forever shrouded in mystery and lack of remembrance. But the pain, if I invite it in, remains sharp and vivid many decades later, though balanced and brightened by all the joy Salty gave my entire family.

Copyright 2010

Gigi is acting more like a dog

Last night she was sneaking slippers and chewing on them. She and Lucy, our other Sheltie, are rough-housing everywhere, picking up detritus from our evergreens in the yard and tracking it throughout the house. And this morning, she really barked for the first time. We were surprised that this skinny little thing has a deep, "manly" bark--octaves lower than Lucy, who outweighs her by ten pounds. Who knew? So our house is messier, Nancy's slippers are a little tattered, and it is noisier. But we are excited, because Gigi is so much less shy and timid. She's always been so sweet. Now she's acting happy. More like a dog. (We're still watching her like a hawk--we want no repeats of her great escape.)

Just photos

Nancy H and Gigi together. Salsa, the scent dog, who tracked Gigi around AU Park, Tenleytown, Frienship Heights and Spring Valley meet tonight in our home. Sam took the photos.