A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....05-21-03....All Creatures Great and Small...FreeperPets

Dutchess and Billie | Gizmo,Codee and FredtheCat

[dutchess]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, daisyscarlett, dansangel, dutchess, Mama_Bear

How precious we "creatures" big and small are. We bring fun, laughter and comfort to you, our human family and friends. . .. and yes . . . aggravation too! We hope you enjoy this weekly thread and also hope you will allow us the honor of featuring your special furry (or not so furry) FreeperPets.

All Creatures Great and Small...Our FreeperPets

Welcome Freeper Friends. I'm Gizmo and with me are my sistahs Codee and Fred the Cat. Today....we'll tell you a little about us....in the coming weeks and months we hope to feature many more of our FRfinests "gifts from God"

Why Are We Doing This????

Gizmo: We came up with this idea as we live in Mom's study anyway; at least since she discovered FreeRepublic! She is always telling Dad to come in and read various FR Threads AND ALWAYS the Finest. We decided it's about time to feature us....the finest FreeperPets and praise our own. After all, it is FreeperPets (ALONG with FreeRepublic) that keep our human Freepers sane!!!

The Beginning

Gizmo: It all started with Dutchess in 1975. Mom and Dad just graduated from college and were getting married. They didn't have much but got a shot at a free dog named "DUTCHESS" (thus mom's screen name). Dutchess was a University of Michigan college pup who was "found out" by administration, was banned from her owner's dorm and sentenced to the dog pound. My folks adopted her and shared a wonderful life with her for the next 13 years.

Duchess died suddenly and unexpectedly at age 14 from cancer that no one knew about. She seemed healthy until the end. They were devastated and decided no more pets for them.

Enter Codee...

Four weeks later Dad saw an ad for a Shelty pup in the local newspaper . . . a breed he always was fascinated with. He brought one home and put it in bed with mom. Mom and Dutchess LOVED to cuddle. She expected that with Codee right from the start. NOT!

Codee: I was a pretty rotten puppy. I was too energetic, hated cuddles and got along well with dad but mom and I were not a mix.

Gizmo: Then one day mom was cleaning out files in her study and started reading the daily letters she wrote to Dutchess in the days after she died. (that was before the internet and "RAINBOW BRIDGE." She still has these letters and sends them to friends when they lose their pets)

Codee: I heard her start to cry and went into the study. I felt so bad I laid on her feet and looked at her face . . . she looked at my face . . . and . . . we finally bonded. We have loved each other ever since.

Gizmo: Codee and Mom insist that Dutchess did that devine intervention.

and then came....Fred the Cat

Gizmo: Okay . . . then Fred shows up as a kitten. Mom and Dad are not big cat lovers and tried to ignore him but within two days mom started sneaking bowls of milk outside. (you all "know the drill") Turns out "him was a HER" after she gave birth to 4 kittens. Good homes were found for all, Fred was immediately "fixed" and worked HER way into the house within the year. She now is a fixture on couch and bed!

And....My Story….

I was a "dumped dog." Don't know why, but I was. I was lucky that I was dumped by someone who cared enough to find a neighborhood of doglovers. I started my search for a home at "mom's" house. Just started throwing myself on her screen door. She came out, gave me some water and then shooed me on my way figuring I belonged to someone.

Two days later, after they made lots of calls to the humane society, newspaper, and radio, it was obvious I was an orphan. I was running down the middle of the street in circles when Mom said "I can't take it anymore" and brought me in. That was six years ago. This family has been a blessing for me . . . and I HAVE BEEN A BLESSING FOR THEM TOO…

So that's our story...the next step

Now...I'm packed and ready to go….to meet and profile some of our special FreeperPets. I just ask that when I come knocking on YOUR door…you make sure to have LOTS of doggie treats and a warm lap to rest my weary head….THIS STUFF WEARS ME OUT….Until next week…this is Gizmo signing off.

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 05-19-03...Military Monday 05-20-03...EnviablyRabidRalph

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me an FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

[dutchess]

[dutchess]

Hi. We belong to Dutchess and are proud to be the newest weekly contributor to the Finest Thread. We hope you enjoy this as much as we do...Afterall....no matter how bad your day...FreeperPets can't help but put a smile on your face!

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Dutchess.

[Aeronaut]

[dutchess]

Awe...good morning Aeronaut....always anticipate the flyover...what a special treat...seeing your special friends. What a precious picture. Have a great day!

[PistolPaknMama]

The FReeper pet for this household (which also includes Freeper L8Pilot) is a 5-month old blonde cocker spaniel named Shaylee. "Shaylee" is Celtic and means "fairy princess of the field" -- and she lives up to her name - she rules!

In her short 5 months she has taught herself to play fetch...only in HER game, she throws the ball and YOU fetch it. As my 4 year old grandson said, "I have never seen a dog do that!"

My best dog ever was a black cocker named O'Malley (all my animals have Irish names). He died 7 years ago and I couldn't bring myself to get attached to another animal and I couldn't replace my Malley anyway. But little Shaylee has brought a lot of fun and love. I'm very thankful we found each other!

[PistolPaknMama]

Thought y'all might like this thread! :-)

[rabidralph]

That German Shepherd looks like John Kerry.

[Aeronaut]

That German Shepherd looks like John Kerry.

Careful..., I love my dog.

[dutchess]

Goodmorning rabid. Hoped you enjoyed your day in the spotlight yesterday....Gizmo is just waiting in anticipation to interview your little pug in the near future! :o)

[TaxRelief]

Two of our brood:

[dutchess]

What a sweet story....Our dutchess has been gone over 15 years...the "pain" is long gone...but when we look at the sky and see a particular cloud formation...we can't help but smile and see her "waiting there at rainbow bridge".

Gizmo may have to take a trip to your house sometime to meet Shaylee (wink!)

[dutchess]

Cute pup but what the heck is that on the right???? (actually it IS kind of cute...well...in an only a face a mother can love kind of way)

[rabidralph]

G'morning, Dutchess. What a wonderful story about your pets. I'm sorry about Dutchess. We had several dogs growing up. The best one was Ernie, a cantankerous beagle. He ran away after we got wall-to-wall carpeting installed in the house and my mom said he couldn't come inside anymore. He hated my mom.

[DollyCali]

Hey Pet day! Great

My contributions:

Cali (abandoned/dumped on my porch with 3 litter mates - all with eyes closed so under 10 days) and adopted by me - 14 years ago in NC is one of many felines in our household. She is the Cali in DollyCali

Cali is the reason for ALL of the typos & spelling errors. She is the computer cat.

One dog .

I found him as I was in my 50s and NEVER had a dog before. Only LOTS of cats... he fit in perfectly & "mother's" the cats as well as plays with them. As I was kayaking, found Oliver in sewer pipe in Cuyahoga Sept 23, 2001. He had been "dumped" apparently. He was about 6 mo old. He does almost all with me.. Skiing, hiking, some biking (no her runs!!) I BIKE; all sorts of water activities. Here we are tubing

at the Arcola Estuary, right off Lake Erie in Lake County.

[DollyCali]

I posted this late yesterday for you & your pooch RapidRalph..... but it seems appropriate to post again HERE and TODAY

Notice to people who visit our home.

1. The dog lives here. You don't.

2. If you don't want dog hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture.

3. Yes, he has some disgusting habits. So do I and so do you. What's your point?

4. OF COURSE he smells like a dog.

5. It's his nature to try to sniff your crotch. Please feel free to sniff his .

6. I like him a lot better than I like most people.

7. To you he's a dog. To me he's an adopted son who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly. I have no problem with any of these things.

8. Dogs are often better than kids. They eat less, don't ask for money all the time, are easier to train, usually come when called, never drive your car, don't hang out with drug-using friends, don't smoke or drink, don't worry about whether they have the latest fashions, don't wear your clothes, don't need a gazillion dollars for college, and if they get pregnant you can sell the pups.

9. The same applies for the cats, except they will ignore you... until you're asleep.

Dogs have owners. Cats have staff.

[GailA]

Good Morning ALL..Coffee's on

[dansangel]

What a great idea, ((((((dutchess)))))))! The introductions to your pets are very touching. But then anything that involves God's creatures is very emotional.

My Ms. Smokie and Sylvie, the ornery kitty sistahs, look forward to an interview someday. Oh the stories they could tell....LOL!

[lonestar]

This is going to be my favorite.

Weinie thinks, "It's about time we have a show of our own."

(I don't know how to put her picture back up.)

[DollyCali]

Kitty story:

The Pastor's Cat

(this has been around a bit but it is still a funny story)

Dwight Nelson recently told a true story about the pastor of his church. He had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his backyard and then was afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, etc. The kitty would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car and drove away so that the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten.

He did! All the while, checking his progress in the car frequently, he figured if he went just a little bit further, the tree would be bent sufficiently for him to reach the kitten.

But he moved a little further forward, the rope broke. The tree went "boing!" and the kitten instantly sailed through the air-out of sight.

The pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they'd seen a little kitten. No. Nobody had seen a stray kitten.

So he prayed, "Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping," and went on about his business.

A few days later he was at the grocery store, and met one of his church members. He happened to look into her shopping cart and was amazed to see cat food. Now this woman was a cat hater and everyone knew it, so he asked her, "Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much?"

She replied, "You won't believe this," and told him how her little girl had been begging her for a cat, but she kept refusing. Then a few days before, the child had begged again, so the Mom finally told her little girl, "Well if God gives you a cat, I'll let you keep it."

(Can you see where this is heading?)

She told the pastor, "I watched my child go out in the yard, get on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And really, Pastor, you won't believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten suddenly came flying out of the blue sky, with its paws outspread, and landed right in front of her."

Never underestimate the Power of God.