When there were four ...

This is, believe it or not, the only picture with all four dogs together.

I think the picture is pretty much self-explanatory.

Puppy Memories - My sheltie beauties

Our friend, Amy, had the great idea of creating a day in which we share something about our dogs and write about our memories of them when they were pups. 

Say cheese, darling!!!

Once upon a time, in a far far land, lived a beautiful princess....

These two pictures of puppy Eva and her mama Hana are some of the last pictures that we have of two of them as Hana went to the Rainbow Bridge a few days later.

In the first picture, Eva looks so happy sitting beside her mama and  Hana is so proud to present her precious darling to us.

In the second picture, I always think mama Hana is telling her girl some stories and the little one is listening to them with her big smile on. May be she was trying to remember every word her mama had said.

It's always sweet to think about how happy they were together and yet my heart always aches as the time is too short for them being together. 

It has been already a year since Hana's passing and her little puppy is a beautiful young lady now. 

I wonder whether Eva could still remember her mama. 

Does she miss her?

I miss her though : )

Happy Birthday Hana!

Happy 4th Birthday, Mama Hana!

Just in case you don't remember this pic, I was 5 day-old here

Mummy and Daddy said you're always their angel :)

Are you happy in the rainbow land?

I'm sure you've lots of friends and you aren't lonely at all!

Oh, I always see you and Grandma Laura at night because you're the brightest stars in the sky.

Letters to Hana

Our Dearest Hana,

Today is Valentine's Day and everywhere is full of cards, roses and candle night dinners but today is also the day you left us over to the rainbow bridge.

Hana girl, we miss you a lot and we still miss you a lot!!!

We hope you're happy and running free with Laura over the bridge. Life is different without two of you nowadays, please tell Laura that we really miss her monotonous barking.

Hana, thank you so much for giving us your precious puppy who is not really a puppy but a beautiful young lady now. Eva is growing up well; she is a little bit naughty and crazy, quite barky and jumpy, a good zoomer and a fast and greedy eater; she is also pretty understanding, quite clever, hard working when there is plenty of treats and she is a sweetie pie at home. She is spoilt but well-loved!!!

We love you, Hana dear!

Lots of love, licks and slobbers,
Mummy, Daddy, Rosie, Mika and Eva


VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Dear Mama,

I don't really know how to start this letter  because I don't think I really remember you as I was just a tiny little one when you left me.

However, I also feel that I know my mama very well. Thanks to those humans at home and Uncle Mika; they always talk about you. They say we are so alike but we are also so different from each other too!!! It sounds weird, doesn't it?

They say you were gentle but I'm rough, you were well-behaved but I'm naughty, you're taller and longer but I'm shorter and shorter, you're an angel but I'm a little demon; however, both of us are beautiful and fluffy, both of us adore foods and we eat fast, we are brave because we dare to challenge the God of Thunder, we both run fast and we both bark, oh there is something which always makes our humans amazed is we have no problem of taking meds, be it in syrup form or tablets. I think we used to be a good mother and daughter team   : )

I remember I liked to walk beside you, played with you and slept beside you as I always felt safe whenever I was with my dear mama.

I miss you a lot, Mama Hana. Sometimes, I think I see you and Grandma Laura at night because both of you are the biggest, brightest and the most beautiful stars in the sky.

Guess what, mama? I think there are something that I can do well but I doubt you knew anyone of them, that is TRICKS!!! You won't believe it that I've learned so many of them and I keep on practising them because once I do it well, I got super duper delicious yummy treats. I'm a very hard working girl too, I watch the house and do my daily duties diligently, unlike Uncle Mika, I never fall asleep when I'm guarding the fort.

By the way, I'm 14 months old and turning 15 months old soon. I'm a big girl now and I've beautiful coat just like you. I guess you are proud of me, aren't you?

I love you, mama. I love you so SO much, mama Hana!!! Oh I miss you now!!!

Zillions of licks,
Your little Eva girl

A day to remember - Hana

Picture was taken on the day Hana joined us

Picture was taken on her whelping day

Today is supposed to be our first anniversary of Hana gotcha day but we can't celebrate the Happy Gotcha Day with her as she left us three months later on 14th February 2010.

However, I always feel that she is with us and she's watching us and Eva over the bridge all the time. Therefore, today is still a day to remember our sweetie pie, Hana.

She was a sweet little darling and won my heart immediately once she stepped inside my house with her ex-owner. She was so lovely, gentle and beautiful. A surprise came three weeks later and as you all already knew, Hana gave us her precious puppy, Eva who is turning to her 1st birthday soon.

Our 11th month-old Eva

Saturday Smiles

Who are those two beautiful girls, I wonder?

Hard to believe it's been a year since Hana came to us. 

Eva has inherited so many beautiful things from her mother like their looks, but most of all, their personality. 

All our dogs have very good dispositions, but sometimes there are a few growls here and there if they are annoyed (not at us humans, but at other dogs).

Eva has never ever growled in an angry way in her entire life at a dog or a human. She has never been aggressive or showed her teeth. Even when she is reluctant to do something, she still does it without any fuss. She is naughty and cheeky, but in a very innocent and naive way. Meanness is not in her vocabulary. I think that's what is very beautiful about her.

Like Mother Like Daughter

As Eva grows older, we see more and more a resemblance with her mother.

Here are two photos in which they look very very alike.

Apart from the color (in which Hana is still darker), their expression is so similar! And of course, Hana still looks older and wiser!!!

Even Eva's favourite resting spot at home used to be Hana's favourite resting spot!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Now back to an update on Mika.
First of all, I would like to say a big thank you to all those who came and commented yesterday and kept their paws crossed for him.

We visited him at the vet twice today. His blood test results came back to say his insides are ok which is good. However, he hasn't pee-ed yet for 24 hours!!! We have taken him out to walk and stretch his legs. He only can walk on three legs now.
He's been having injections to ease the pain and antibiotics. Tomorrow, he's going to be anaesthised so that they can do the xrays and also hopefully put his leg back in its socket.

Poll

After having so much feedback from everybody about Eva's sheltie quirks, I'm beginning to be curious on how many of you who own or have owned or know shelties who have these problems:

1. Barking a lot especially at silly things
2. Chasing cars, lunging at cars
3. Jumping and spinning in circles when they are excited
4. Being hand shy
5. Slightly wary of strangers 

It'd be great to get feedback from you on this :)

Here's another thing we found out about as Eva grew older:

Even though mama Hana isn't here to teach her of her naughty ways, she is EXACTLY like mama Hana in ALL her naughty ways!

• She chases cars (when at home)
• Barks at our neighbours cats
• Chews on pebbles and rocks

Do mama dogs teach their daughters from heaven? 

They are starting to look so similar too!

comparisons

Greetings! Eva here! 

Life with the gal hoomans back has been exciting - full of fun and games! 

On the down side, they are much stricter than hu-dad! They always say 'NO' to me! 

I wonder what I'm doing wrong?

They told me I look like my mom.

I guess you can see the similarities ... kind of 

I guess it's ok to look like her. She's really pretty :)

But apart from the looks, me and my mom are also alike in that we both love food ... A LOT. 

Our personality, on the other hand ... we are just complete polar opposites.

I'm out-going, crazy, noisy, naughty, you know all the bad stuff.

And my mommy on the other hand was very calm, sweet, not that noisy, and well-behaved, but unlike me, she was quite afraid of sudden movements and loud noises.

Well, I guess the hoomans are just gonna have to make do with me right?

Too bad hoomies!

Oh, and did you know! 

It seems Uncle Mika has taken a fancy on doing tricks, or at least Rosie said that he's much cleverer than me! Now, he can do paw, high five, stand on two feet, stand on two feet and walk backwards, and shy! 

It seems he's going to take over my tricky t-days for the time being, not that I mind.

Monday is for memories

We found some of Hana's pictures from folders we haven't looked at in ages. 

They are not in the slideshow either.

Please join us to remember those beautiful moments and memories.

~~~~~~~

Who's who?

We were looking through some pictures of Hana's breeder in Korea, and look at what we found!

Guess who's who?

Eva looks almost exactly like her mother, there's no doubt about that. Both pictures were taken when they were around 4months of age.

To make it easier for you, here are the Similarities:

• The white collar and front legs which are completely white.
• Hind legs have white socks.
• Tail is black with a white tip.
• Their expression.
• Coat color.
• Their 'chin' has a white line, and above their nose is also a white line.

Differences:

• Eva's white collar has a patch of brown on it, while Hana's is fully white.
• Their head shape is slightly different - Eva has more of a stop while Hana's is almost completely sloping.
• Eva's face (although you can't see it here) has a white line that goes through the middle of the head. This marking is exactly the same as Hana's father, Chopin, in this picture. If you look at some previous Eva's pictures, you will see almost the exact same white line.

Personality wise, we don't see any Hana or her father, Sunshine in Eva.
Hana was a very calm dog, even as a puppy. Sunshine is quite shy in public, although we hear that at home he is the alpha boy.

Here is a picture of Sunshine, Eva's daddy:

It's quite touching for us to see how similar Hana and Eva are - we really do have a Hana baby :)

Hana's Birthday!

Today was meant to be Hana's 3rd birthday....to think that she wasn't even three when she left us is very heartbreaking. I never even got to see her coat fully grown.

I thought today I'd like to tell you a story about how and why she got here. Because in the three months that she had been with us, our lifestyle had changed ... dramatically ... in a good sense.

My daughter, Rosie, had been talking to a sheltie breeder for some time and they got to know each other pretty well. Anyway, we were going to meet up with her when Rosie came back for her holidays, but who knew that my husband and I would meet her before Rosie did! Well, she asked us if we would like to adopt a 2 yr old sheltie who was recently diagnosed with a enlarged heart condition for free, but of course with medical costs, etc. This means she has to take tablets for the rest of her life to prevent her heart from growing bigger and suffocating her.

This was the picture that made us say 'yes'. 

Hana had this beautiful regal look in her....she was really beautiful.

Actually she was going to be sold to another woman, but after hearing of her diagnoses, she didn't want her anymore (and I'm glad she didn't!).

Here are the first few days on Hana's arrival (emails that I sent to my daughter) 

Day 1

She's so calm and sweet. She drools too, : ) I walked with her for 3 minutes around the house introducing the garden and the compound to her. She didn't pull me at all!!! Just walked beside me, so SWEET!!!!!!!! So impressive!!!!!!

Laura was very excited in the beginning and with Daddy around, she calmed down very soon. Laura is such a good girl that you've to believe she's not an ordinary rottie.

Mika was like a jumping monkey. He was way too excited and he frightened Hana a bit in the beginning. He once showed his teeth but was scolded by everyone. I think he tried to tell Hana that he's the alpha at home.

Rules for taking care of Hana:

1. a bath for every two weeks

2. Heartworm tablet once a month - Interceptor

3. brush and comb daily

4. feed twice daily, morning and evening

5. no table scraps

6. except dried food, only yoghurt

7. no BARF

8. yearly vaccination 

9. 1/2 heart tablet every day in morning

Day 2

It was amazing! The most pleasant walk with a dog I've ever had in my life. She walked so elegantly, yes, 'elegantly' is the right word. She looked around sometimes, always kept an eye on me to see whether I was beside her, no sniffing, no pee and poop. It's so good!!! I tell you, I love her, really love her. You know me that I never like nonsense and she's so gooooooooooood! How could I not love her??? I just couldn't!!! 

I spent 1 1/2 hours on feeding, grooming and walking all 3 of them. What a day, I was so exhausted!

The newspaperman was so surprised to see such a beautiful dog this morning; he was so naughty and he said 'woof woof' to Hana because she was looking at/ watching his every movement. Mika was jumping up and down barking at him but the newspaper guy didn't even bother to give him a look. He just stared at Hana as if he had never seen such a beautiful dog in his life before. He kept on saying 'woof woof' to Hana, well, may be it's his way to introduce himself to Hana ; )

The dustbin truck came in the afternoon, as usual, all the dogs in the neighbourhood went crazy whenever it comes but Hana didn't bark at all. She was at the gate with Laura and Mika who were barking and running around. Hana just stood there and watched. I think it's her temperament or she's new here, she doesn't bark much but I feel that she's quite alert.

Hana likes the little corner next to the gate in the morning, it's shady but I told her to come inside as she's so beautiful and I'm worried someone might steal her from me, silly mummy, uh? LOL!!!

After the meal, I gave her the heart tablet. She took it gently from my palm, chewed it and finished it. Trouble free, fantastic!!!

She's no trouble!!! The problem is she has no problem now!!! hahaha.

Day 3

Hana is much more at home now. She came to me immediately this morning when she saw me, Mika too. Laura was lying there waiting for me to greet her first which I did.

Hana started barking too. Funny voice, don't know how to describe it at the moment. 

Oh, there is a little episode here. Hana was talking to Velvet and Snoopy (bty, these are our neighbour's dogs) this afternoon. They barked first and she barked back and Lizzie tried to crane her head out to see what's going. It was so funny and cute.

I guess Velvet and Snoopy asked Hana where she came from and ...etc etc and so she told them everything. Poor Lizzie, it's  a bit too far for her to do the catch up game and she can't see much. Laura was in the house and Mika was sitting at the gate. He was quiet. I think he was listening.

Day 4

Today, when I patted Laura and Mika early in the morning, someone scratched my leg!!! Hahaha, someone was trying to tell me that she was there too. I told her to be patient as I would come to her as soon as possible. Besides, she has to respect Laura and Mika as they are her seniors. She loves grooming too. She just sits and waits for the moment to lie with her 4 limbs up. She loves the belly massage, I guess. 

Hana doesn't really like cats and she would try to jump up to the wall in order to frighten them and chase them, of course, she could never get them but she would constantly bark at them.

A snapshot of what she used to do:

And when Hana became a mother ....  

everything came naturally like it was meant to be.

Even on the first day, 

Laura and Mika came to check the new pup out :)

Laura curiously watching

The beautiful mother

Happy girl

Now for a picture Rosie drew for Hana

(she apologises for her low artistic talents)

May you always be in our hearts and of those your dear furfriends.

Hana's ashes rest peacefully in our garden.

Thankful Thursday

In today's thankful post, I would like to thank everybody for your wonderful condolences to us. We really appreciate it and every comment we received was very touching to us.

First I would like to thank my sister for bringing Hana to the vet and visiting her everyday, taking care of her, and being with her before she died. It must have been the hardest thing for her to do.

I would also like to thank Josie for her most beautiful memorial for Hana and thank you for the wonderful poem.

Thank you to our dearest blogger friends - Sara, Bandit, Ricky, Emma Rose, Diana, Lian, Josie, TanukiMaxx and Hero for your constant support through this rough time for us.

We would like to present you with this thank you note.

Hana and me

This is going to be a very emotional post and please ignore it if you think it's too much for you to digest. I've been asking myself whether I should sit in front of this laptop and do the post; my rational part tells me I shouldn't because I'll cry again and I might talk nonsense but my emotional part of me won the game and I'm here starting to pour out the random thoughts I've at the moment.

It's really hard for me to accept the fact that Hana isn't with us anymore and the worst part is that we weren't with her when she was sick. I can't stop imagining her alone at the vet's and she might be scared and wondering where we were all the time. I managed to talk to her before the vet gave her the jab and according to my sister, when Hana heard me calling her over the phone, she tried to sit up and she pricked up her easr to listen; she even looked at the phone and her mouth was moving like she had so much to tell me. I could only tell her that I love her so much and I was so very sorry that I wasn't there with her; I told her that she was a good girl and a good mummy and we will always remember her.

There are many things that I don't understand and I'm trying to find the answers out but it seems all these are impossible now. Hana was so young, not even 3 years old and we were planning to celebrate her birthday with Laura and me as all of us were born in March and I was thinking we would have the big birthday celebration in late March when Rosie comes home for her Easter break. I keep on asking why she had kidney failures and how it happened. Were there any signs before her collapse or is it that they were actually some signs which I didn't notice at all. I really can't stop blaming myself for not being able to spot those problems out earlier which we might be able to save her life.

When we got Hana home last November, we knew her skin was a bit sensitive and she had a heart enlargement problem but she had her heart tablet everyday. As I told you all before, 3 weeks after joining our family, she gave us her wonderful Eva which we love and adore so much since she was born. After the delivery, the hormone changes caused her lose her beautiful coat but her coat was recovering very well. I was waiting to see a Hana with a full grown coat.

We were really careful about her heart condition and took great care of her skin, while we were thinking we'd covered up every health problem of her, we didn't know there were the kidney failure and liver infections. I really don't know how it could happen within a short time. The vet did tell me that if I really wanted to find out the cause, he could send Hana's body for autopsy for the sake of getting the truth. No, I couldn't bear the thought of letting her suffer again and I told the vet to just let her rest and I think it was what she needed at that moment.

Hana was a very sweet girl. I still remember the day she became our family member vividly, Laura and Mika accepted her on that very day too. She was so gentle and calm. She made no fuss at home except she liked to nibble on those little twigs and dried leaves and she liked to dig and made some deep holes at one of the corners of the garden.I loved to have a walk with her as it was so easy to walk her. She would heel automatically and walk alongside you, without sniffing, pulling, or peeing. She was such a wonderful and well-behaved dog.

When Hana became a mother, she was allowed in the house (the first dog I had given permission to), and she would only sit if we lay down a blanket for her. She was confined to a small area in the kitchen but she never crossed the boundaries. She showed us what a wonderful mummy she was and always amazed me by the ways how she took care of Eva and how she taught and played with Eva. She's a fantastic mummy and I know Eva loved her very much too. It's always sweet to see both of the smiling in the pictures and knowing that they were always happy together.

With Mika, Hana was like a pup again. They would play, and she could keep running around him, begging him to chase her. They would nip at each other, jump at each other, and play just like pups. They were best friends.

When Hana first joined our family, she was very close to Laura. Laura was also very kind to her. They would lay close together, but Hana would never disturb her like Mika did. And if Mika tried to annoy Laura, she would pull his tail as if telling him to stop.

I don't know how to end this post and I think I will just stop here...

RIP Hana

Dear everybody,

Thanks for your kind prayers. We appreciate them deeply.

However, Hana was PTS on Valentines Day. 

Her kidneys were failing and she really didn't stand a chance of living a decent life without pain and misery.

Dear Hana,
For the three months you've been with us,
You've brought us nothing but joy and happiness.

We'll miss you, our beloved girl.

Thank you for bringing us your gift from heaven.

We hope you will run happily on the rainbow bridge and one day we'll see you again.

RIP Hana 

(13 March 2007 - 14 Feb 2010)