"Keswick" (AKA "Wicki")
Wicki is a Corgi-Cross, but we're not sure what he was crossed with.  He was rescued from a local humane society in 1992 and is now about eleven years old.  He has trouble with recurrent tumors, and has had several operations to remove them from his shoulder, legs, hip and skin.  In 2003 he had emergency tumor surgery and later had to go in to have a tooth extracted when it was broken off during a fight over a supper dish. Wicki is a real trooper, and a sweet but very protective dog.

This is "Chubacca Endarko Hanson" (AKA "Chewy") a purebred Welsh Pembrooke Corgi.  She was purchased from a pet shop, but we believe she might have been a "puppy-mill" puppy as she came to us with a severe respiratory infection, and excessive skin on her nose and pads (which make them very thick and rough).  She was born in September of 1998, and came to us at age four-months when she was all ears -- literally!

Despite "defects" that made it impossible to show her, we love this feisty little girl, who rules the dog pack with an iron fist (er... paw). 

This is "Neelix" (named after the character in "Star Trek: Voyager").  He's a Chihuahua/ miniature Pincer-cross who was rescued from a local humane society.  His previous owners abandoned him because he was a "tinkler" (unable to hold his water when he got excited).  Some strict crate-training has all but eliminated that problem, and Neelix, who is about three years old now, is a loyal and loving dog who likes to snuggle against your chest or under the blankets.  Although he's smaller than the other dogs in the house, he's the most aggressive of them, and is first to go after any intruder on the property he doesn't know.  A handsome little man, he has a lot of self-esteem.

This is "Frodo", named after the hobbit in "Lord of the Rings".  He's a hobbit-sized Schnauzer-Terrier-cross that we rescued from the local humane society.  He's about 1 year old.
Frodo has a very sweet disposition, especially when it comes to smaller dogs and puppies.  He's incredibly nurturing to smaller animals, and often grooms and plays with the puppies in the house.  But he has a stubborn streak, too, and if he gets mad, he'll pee all over your shoe!

This is "Sergeant Margie" a Pomeranian-Poodle cross.  At the time this page was put together, he was about 9 months old.  He was given to me as a gift by a friend who mistook him, as a tiny puppy, for a female.  The friend named "her" Margie, after my mother who had died just before Christmas in 2002. (The puppy was born in December of that year.)  When the dog came home with me, though, we realized "she" was a HE.  My vet suggested the name "Sergeant Margie" to help butch the little dog up a bit, and the name stuck.  What can we say about this baby except that he's a fun-loving, frolicking ball of fur that loves to bring me "treats" of shredded paper and toilet paper tubes!

This is "Tigerlily" a Rat Terrier/ Jack Russell Terrier cross.  She was the runt of her litter, a "failure to thrive" puppy, and her owners were going to have her destroyed because they didn't think they could ever sell her or give her away.  I intervened and took Tigerlily into my home in early 2003.  Like, Sergeant Margie, she was born in December of 2002. When I got her she was runty, severely dehydrated, had a swollen belly and goop-encrusted eyes, and was a horrible-looking mess.  A couple of weeks of special diet and care, however, and she turned into such a beautiful little dog her owners wanted her back.  No way!, we said, she's ours now! She's energetic, wiry and full of pep... and has a bark like a blood hound that reverberates through the house!  Ah-ooooo!

This is "Pozey" (short for "Mariposa", but she never answers to that name).  She's was billed as Beagle/ Border Collie cross at the pet shop where we got her, but we think there's some Pit Bull in there, too.  We got her when she was about 3 months old.  Two days after bringing her home, we discovered she had Parvo.  I took two weeks off of work to stay at home and nurse her back to health, while keeping her isolated from the others dogs.  It was touch-and-go for a while, but she made it through her illness.  She has a little trouble digesting food properly, and seems to suffer from a doggie version of ADHD, but otherwise, she's a rambunctious brat that we love having around.

This is "Waukegan" (AKA "Waukee") a Border Collie cross.  She was one of those in-a-box-in-the-front-of-the-supermarket dogs.  We got her around the same time as Pozey, and though Waukee and Pozey were separated during Pozey's illness, the two became partners in doggie crime afterwards and are now practically inseparable.  Pozey is the leader, and Waukee the follower in all their antic.  For being part Border Collie, we were surprised at how mellow this dog is.   During her first visit to the vet, she yawned when she got a shot, and licked the vet's hand...  She has a "Native American" spirit; a very soulful little dog with beautiful black-brown eyes.

This is "Crumpet" a Dalmatian/ Basset Hound cross.  She had been through the quarantine and adoption periods at one of the local humane societies, and no one wanted her because she was pregnant, depressed and filthy, with a cherry-eye.  The humane society called me and asked if I wanted to foster her during her pregnancy, so I went down to meet her.  She was so depressed, she didn't lift her head from the floor, and was terrified of getting into the car.  I had to literally carry all 40-pounds of her out of the building.  Still, we got her home, and nurtured her, and during that period the humane society decided to take her puppies from her and have her fixed (because they were less than half-term, and the crew thought the births might be too much for her in her present state of depression and trauma).  After her surgery, and several weeks of in-home care, the "real" Crumpet emerged: a bounding, bouncy, amber-eyed, flop-eared girl who loves to play and nap the day away!

She's full-sized in body and head, but her legs are VERY short.

Even with the cherry-eye, she's a beautiful dog.

This is "Reichen" (pronounced rye-ken), the newest doggy-person addition to the horde.  He was named after one of the winners of the 2003 television show "The Amazing Race".  In that show, the man Reichen was one of a gay pair who was described by his partner, Chip, as having a "beautiful face and sweet demeanor".  That seemed to describe OUR Reichen to a tee. He came to us in August of 2003 at the age of two month.  He was billed as a Beagle/ Cocker Spaniel cross, but he looks very Border Collie to us... maybe his Cocker traits will show up more as he ages.  He's actually very similar in markings to Waukegan and could pass as her offspring.

Reichen is a very bright little boy (and cute, too!).  He learned his name and how to "come here" within seconds of coming into the house.  He's self-assured and self-assertive, too.  He has a very sweet and playful disposition.
 

This is "Giuliani".  He's a male Chihuahua/ Silky Terrier cross and was recently acquired as a "freebie" from a local pet shop, one of a litter of about seven pups.  He was born on September 11th, the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon, so I felt I had to give him a name that was associated to that event in some way.  So, I called him "Giuliani", after the then mayor of New York City, Rudolph Giuliani.

Giuliani is far smaller than any of the other dogs in the house, and has to be careful not to get under their feet when they're wrestling or galloping around the living room, but he's very assertive, and tells everyone when he doesn't like being bugged by them -- in his tiny, yappy voice.  He loves to snuggle with humans or the other dogs, and likes chewing on the buttons of anyone's shirt or sweater.  He's just a funny, precocious little thing!

Giuliani with his "brothers" Sergeant Margie and Neelix... seeing himself in the mirrored glass of one of the living room doors for the first time.

HAMSTER CITY!

Hah!  This is "Red" a female teddy bear hamster we got when she was about the size of a fifty-cent piece.  no more!  she a chunker of a hamster who has out-grown two cages already!

"Space Ghost" the lighter hamster in the picture below Red's, was purchased at the same time Red was.  they've grown up -- and out
-- together and enjoy each other's company.

There's seldom any fighting between these two, who sleep on top of each other in their nest ball, and share treats like fresh lettuce, dried fruit, and sunflower seeds (their favorite).  But when one of them gets pissed-off, look out!  The seeds and pine-shreds-bedding go flying!

They're both about two years old now.

And here are the two newest additions to the hamster clan, "Whe-Whe" and "Jho-Jho".  They are Siamese hamsters who are currently about half the size of Red and Space Ghost. Whe-Whe (pronounced way-way) is almost pure white, but with faded mottling over her back and rump.  Her most distinctive markings are the black "racing stripes" on either side of her neck and the back "mascara" around her eyes.  Jho-Jho (pronounced joe-joe) is about the same size as Whe-Whe, but he is mostly russet bown on top and white underneath.  Of the two, Jho-Jho is by far the shyest and doesn't like to be disturbed unless it's supper time. The two of them have the habit of sleeping, crammed head to foot, in one one the tunnels of her hamster habitat instead of in a nest ball.  Whe-Whe surprised us, about a week after we got her, with a litter of seven babies!

We ended up keeping three of the seven babies, and gave the other four to a local pet store to sell.  The ones we kept were a strawberry blonde one named "Isaboe", a reddish-brown mottled one called "Motley", and a grey and white one called "Argyle" because he looks like a sock!

Isaboe drinking water.

Motley sleeping.

Argyle sharing lettuce with Whe-Whe
 

THE TURTLE-PEOPLE

These are two of my land turtles: "Gamera" a box-turtle (top), and "Ivan" a Russian tortoise (below).  Gamera has a very "bird-like" face and bright red and orange coloring that makes her very distinctive among our turtle population.  Ivan, although not as brightly colored, is the most energetic of all of the turtles and literally "runs" when food is presented for him.

This is "Clive" another breed of box-turtle.  He came to us with an upper respiratory infection, and no toe nails.  I spent about 10 days giving him injections of antibiotics and vitamins with a tiny turtle-sized hypodermic needle to aid  him back to health.  He's a "dreamer", slow, sweet, and never pushy.