Okay, I know that you won't believe this, but I swear its true!! Jade has had Ricky under her paw since the day I brought her home. We have had more arguments about how many treats she should have and when. I have a strict rule. NO TREATS until she eats all of her dinner!! Of course, that rule has been broken too many times.! She will eat a little bit of it and then come and whine or bark at me, trying to get a treat. I will look at her bowl and then tell her no, she has to eat it all. Then she will eat a little bit more and try again. It is a drag that goes on every night until its finally gone and she gets her treats. Last night though, she did something she has never done before and it was so deliberate that I was shocked. Her buddy, Bob, was here. (The black lab from up the street). He came in the dog door right after I had given her dinner. She was eating and so I told him that he would have to wait outside until she was done. He went. She had eaten about 1/3 of her dinner when she came and got me. I looked at her bowl and told her no, she had to eat it all. I went in the living room and sat down. I saw her looking at me and then I saw her go out. The next thing I saw was her coming back in with Bob in tow. She took him to her bowl and stood there watching him eat her dinner. When he was done, she escorted him back out and then came to me again. This time, of course, her bowl was empty and she was so proud of herself! I was flabbergasted! I knew that she was smarter than the average bear, but I never thought that she could do problem solving like this!! She blew me away. Now, I have to watch her the whole time until her food is gone so I will know who ate it!!

Yes, that's her laying on the couch. BUT not only on the couch, but on the pillow too! Nothing is too soft or too good for Jade! Without a doubt, she is Queen of the house! A while back, my daughter bought me a case of the most wonderful dog shampoo in the world. It was Oster's Black Pearl for black dogs. (If you look back at her puppy pictures, she was almost all black). Not only does she smell wonderful for two full weeks or more, the black parts actually sparkle like diamonds!! It is so wonderful and I loved it!! Guess what? They discontinued it!! Claim that it didn't sell! Seems people with black dogs don't wash them? At any rate, I noticed that Walmart is now carrying Oster dog shampoo. So, what I am asking everyone to do is, go to your favorite Walmart and ask the manager if he can get Oster Black Pearl Shampoo! I figure that if enough Walmarts ask for it, Oster will start making it again! What do you think? AND everyone with a black dog should buy this product!! Its amazing. I promise you will LOVE it!! Look, even the brown parts on her shine!

For those of you that have been following this blog, (Probably one or two of you), you will remember Jade has had some memorable moments in her short life. She has saved her Daddy's life, jumped into a trunk to make sure she wouldn't be left behind, eaten paper towel tubes, just to name a few. One thing that I have never mentioned though is her uncanny ability to know where she is while traveling in the car! Every dog I have ever had, has been content to hang out the window or sleep if the trip was long. NOT JADE!! She is alert to every turn. The only time she sleeps is on the interstate and then, only if you maintain the same speed! The second that you take your foot off the gas to slow down, she is up and on the console, checking out where we are going. AND she remembers!! A good example is Jekyll Island. As soon as we get on the off ramp of 95, she knows! She gets excited immediately. The closer we get to the Island, the more excited and she will start to whine as we cross the bridge. Another example is the park here in Newport, or any of her favorite spots. She will get excited when she recognizes the route we are taking and then, if we turn and go a different direction after she has decided that we are headed to the park, she will have a fit! She will whine and pout! I could list about 15 different places that she recognizes long before we actually get there. If she jumps on the console and starts looking around and you say to her, "Jade, do you know where you
are?" Her ears will go up and she will look all around . You can tell
the minute she realizes whereshe is. Its amazing. If she could
talk, I wouldn't need the Garmin!

I just have to tell you all about "THE BIG FIX". Newport, Tennessee, is a little town surrounded by a bunch of even littler towns. We would be lucky to have one of everything, but we don't. Its a wonderful place to raise children though. Little or no crime. Absolutely beautiful scenery. And, more than anything else, a community that cares. Our local shelter put on a two day event where anyone who could not afford it, got their cat, dog or both, neutered/spayed and a rabies shot for free. Puppies also got a Parvo virus shot. Over Saturday and Sunday, 7 or 8 Vets; innumerable volunteers put through 140 animals a day for a total of 280 pets. It was amazing. Ricky and I volunteered on Sunday. Never again!!! From now on we will be there BOTH days!! It was the most fulfilling and wonderful thing I have ever done. We were blessed with recovery. We got the dogs after the operation. Our job was to make sure that they woke up in a reasonable amount of time and that they were breathing okay and everything was fine. I got to take care of Chihuahua's and great Danes and everything in between. I got more kisses in one day than I had in my whole life! If you have ever worked for someone and been taken for granted or not appreciated, you have to do this! You will leave with no doubt that you had performed a service that you were genuinely LOVED for! We were given breakfast and lunch of some of the best food ever! A man who didn't even have a pet brought in a quiche that was fantastic! I thought I had done something wonderful by being there for 8 hours until I saw a man that had put in 14 the day before!! I am so proud to be a part of this community. Please! Please, go to www.animalrescuesite.com , click like crazy and then go to the Shelter Challenge and vote for the Newport Animal Shelter!! They sure do deserve it!! If you are ever out our way, please stop in and see the best little town there is! We are nestled in the middle of the Smoky Mountains. Ya all come! Hear? :-)