Although I don’t post on Tuesday, I had to write this post as it was one year ago today that my beloved Ninja earned her wings after a long respiratory illness. It’s taken hours to pen because my eyes got too swollen to finish and hot a day has gone by that I haven’t thought of her. She was a quirky dog with a load of baggage. Being a puppy mill mama, she was 95% feral when she was adopted on September 16, 2016. Here was the first post I wrote introducing her. Her spirit was fierce and she was not easily impressed but once you gained her trust, she was as devoted as any dog I’ve ever known. She made you earn her affection and respect and of all the Standard Poodles I’ve been fortunate enough to be owned by (people don’t own poodles, they are owned by them), she was without a doubt the most beautiful. With gorgeous conformation and dark brown eyes that reminded me of a baby gorilla, and a luxurious curly coat, she had a very impish side to her. You can read about her escapades of munching my reading glasses over the years-it was legendary. Here are a few of the casualties over the years. I always swore she thought wool socks were a food group.
Long time readers will recall Elsa was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy a mere two weeks after she was adopted. It was a crushing blow, not because of the condition but because she had experienced such a rough life as a puppy mill mama and this was one more thing for her to have to endure. She turned me into an advocate for dogs with epilepsy where we showed people that dogs with epilepsy could still enjoy a normal life. Her vet was always impressed with her calm and easy demeanor whenever she visited and mentioned she was one of the easiest dogs to draw blood from of all his patients. She never flinched or balked and he and the vet tech especially loved her sweetest for that reason.
Like Wilson, she had a ‘thing’ about squirrels and would chase them up trees every chance she got. She came close a couple of times to catching one who clearly had no idea who it was messing with. Stealthy fast, she’d go into attack mode and often leapt in the air to try to reach one of the tree rats and tried her best to climb the tree.
Elsa wasn’t a fan of any the photos sessions but she took each one in stride, even when I needed to repeat a pose because I was laughing so hard at her expressions. and kept blurring the image. She loved eviscerating squeaky toys. Anything with protruding parts was fair game for being chewed off and the animal hospital was constantly repairing toys.
She was a bit of a unicorn when it came to dogs. So unusual, definitely mysterious yet ever so loyal. I can tell you when I took this photo wearing the unicorn headband and collar for Halloween one year, it took forever to take one that wasn’t blurred from all my laughter. She stood there patiently waiting while I broke up multiple times. She was always such a good sport for all our photos sessions.
When our online store was connected to the blog, she was often my model for the bandanas. Again, patient as could be and while she was a black dog and thus hard to photograph, she always did a fantastic job posing.
Walks with her were a wonderful adventure but unlike all the male dogs, she almost never sniffed at plants for a spot to pee over a previous dog’s visit. But on a few occasions, she’d flop down and do a hearty face rub on the turf showing me she was at peace with her life. I loved those moments as she was fairly skittish when she was first adopted. I was always grateful for Sam who taught her how to be a dog and to Norman who taught her to wag her tail with joy.
Elsa loved riding in the car and was one of the best passengers I ever had. Here she was when I drove to Missouri to pick up Wilson.
This memorial post has brought a flood of tears but also tons of smiles. I hope Elsa is giving Norman and Sam a break and not bossing them around too much. But I know they loved you as much as I did and wouldn’t have minded if you were lording it over on them.
Elsa has been missed every single day this past year and she’ll always be my beautiful Ninja. Until we’re all reunited, just know I love you as much today as I did when you first came to live at the Ranch. To our readers, I hope you enjoyed this loving look back at this sweet girl who touched my life in ways I can’t even begin to express.
Live, love, bark ! 🐾
Welcome to the last Friday of February where we’re joining those kids from 
Wilson here. I know Mum whines a lot about the lack of moisture (for which I apologize about that) but seriously, have you ever seen 148 vehicles melted from a vegetation fire before? It’s quite alarming when the sky is black with smoke. But we soldier on…it’s all we can do…and pray Mother Nature takes pity on the West and stops dumping mounds of snow repeatedly on the East coast. We heard there is another system set to hit again this weekend.
The Mum: It’s kind of depressing, although I was delighted to see a few bulbs emerging around the neighborhood that we walk through every day. This small clump of crocuses caught my eye from quite a distance away since the landscape is so very brown. I felt like I needed to water the newly installed landscaping because things looked extremely parched and have notice others along our regular walking route also resorting to supplemental watering. I just grateful the development we moved into has not installed any turf–only trees, shrubs and drought tolerant perennials. I’m making a list of the kinds of plants I hope to install (and bulbs for next spring) once the risk of frost has passed. Still it’s hard to conceive spring is just three weeks away.
Happy Monday. Today is Wilson’s favorite day. Not because it’s Monday but because it’s International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day (also known as National Dog Biscuit Day). Woof, woof! What’s the story behind this special day? We did some digging and hope you enjoy the back story. Plus, in honor of the House Pony’s favorite day, we’re sharing a few recipes from our dog treat cookbook that you can make for your own dog’s favorite day.
Greetings mates. While you’re reading this post, I’m at the vet’s office getting my teeth cleaned. Ugh. It may be Pet Dental Health Month but for me, like everyone else…I. do. not. like. to. go. to. the. dentist. Period. Come to think of it, I’m not much of a fan for going to the vet. Wilson here and through modern technology (aka Mum getting her bum in gear to post this), I am likely snoozing while my vet and his assistant are making me have pearly whites again, as you read this. As we always do on Friday’s, we’re joining Rosy and Sunny from the 
