How to use this Page

Cookie is a 2.5 year old purebred Pug. She too is a misfit.

 Cookie has a tracheal tube that collapses into an asthmatic fit when she gets hyper-excited and her allergies are bad. We give her Bendaryl per the vet’s instructions when this happens. She also has an elongated upper palate that reaches down her throat and further complicates her breathing problems.

We bought Cookie at a pet store. My guess is that she was a puppy out of a mill. She is the most wonderful dog and we will never regret buying HER but I don’t advise buying puppies from a pet store, no matter how good the guarantee and how well you’ve checked them out.

Cookie became deathly ill within 24 hours of bringing her home. She had kennel cough, an e-coli infection and another bacterial infection. She had to be hospitalized. She was so tiny as a puppy that she slept next to me with her head and front paws upon the side of my neck. When she couldn’t breathe in the night, as she was recovering, I would rub her chest and back to help her. We are very attached to each other.

 Cookie hears for us who do not always hear so well. Pugs cannot smell very well and many times, Cookie does not recognize us from a distance. We have to talk to her and tell her who we are as we approach while she charges us, barking like mad. If she were a big dog, she’d be very frightening.

Cookie is a strong-willed little dog, but very loving. She loves to snuggle with us whenever someone sits down. Since she is a Pug and has her breathing problems, she cannot spend much time outside in weather extremes. If it is raining or snowing, we have to drag her outside to go to the bathroom. Sometimes we have conflicts over coming back inside, especially on cool but sunny days as she likes to sit on the patio in the sunshine. If we know someone is coming over, she has to come inside because she thinks she can take on a motor vehicle.

She is very playful. She loves to play ball and she can hold her own when wrestling with dogs four times her size. When she gets very excited and is playing tag, she scoots around the house in mad circles, her bottom pressed flat against floor. She barks and barks and sticks her curly tail out straight behind her so that it drags across the floor. This is a stunning and amazing event to watch for the other dogs.

Cookie is very good with all of the other animals. She helps to herd the chickens, the turkeys and she visits the rabbit now and again to say hello. She is the best little dog in town.

This is what I picked out of my organic berry patch today. Sarah, 11, helped only until her legs got sore. Berry picking is hard work. This is my second bucket and it is only June 13th. I am predicting I will need to pick at least two more times.

Today, I will wash through them all. The ones with defects, I cut off their tops and the defects and put these in a container. I then slice the remainder of the berry into a 2 cup size bowl and add maybe a 1/4 cup sugar. This will be topping for shortcake and angel food cake, and some of us just eat it out of a dish.

The container of berry tops and bad parts will be shared between the rabbit and the chickens.

A small portion of the rest will go in another container for fresh eating.

Cookie Loves Eating Strawberries

I will freeze the remainder. First, I pull the tops off — not cut them off — then I set them in a single layer on cookie sheets that I’d covered with wax paper. These cookie sheets will be placed in my freezer. In a couple of days, I will then bag the frozen strawberries into freezer plastic bags. Frozen strawberries are used in my house in fruit smoothies, strawberry margaritas and as snacks. All of my kids have always eaten frozen berries as a snack.

My strawberry patch is about 20 feet long by 10 feet wide. It is a raised bed made from recycled railroad ties (recycled in that they were pulled off other people’s yards) and we filled the strawberry side of the bed with sandy soil. My berries are both June-bearing and everbearing and I planted many varieties. I probably have about 150 plants. The spray I generally use for pests is Neem oil or other organic pest sprays and I fertilize my berries using the all natural Spray-n-grow products.

Strawberry and Blue/Black Berry Raised Bed

The strawberry patch is combined with our blueberries and blackberries and it is fenced with also 2′ of chicken wire running along the bottom. Steel hoops were placed over the top and the entire area was covered in a netting that in its former life was used in a pond to keep the leaves out in fall.  The netting has holes large enough to allow the bees in and out, but small enough to keep the birds out. 

We did run a water line out to the patch, the spigot can be seen in the left front corner. I do water my berries once weekly, if it did not rain enough. It is especially important to keep well-watered new strawberry plants their first summer.

Strawberries are very easy to grow. This year, I grew Borage from seed and placed several of these plants in the strawberry patch to help repel pests. But pests have not really been a problem in the berry patch.

I am making strawberry shortcake tonight — with homemade whipped cream!

House Bill 4173 was passed in June 2008 to name portions of Highway US-127 in Lenawee and Gratiot counties, Michigan,  the Annie Oakley Memorial Trail. This was introduced by Rep. Marie Donigan of Royal Oak, my old hometown.

According to the Women in History website Annie Oakley was born in Darke County, Ohio, her parents were from Pennsylvania and Annie died in Greenville, Ohio in 1926 at the age of 66. She met her future husband and beat him in a marksmanship contest in Cincinnati, Ohio.  They joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in 1885.

Yeah, she was a totally cool and totally awesome woman.

But where is the connection to Michigan?

Okay, I see Lenawee County down by the Ohio border but Gratiot is smack dab in the middle of the lower penninsula.

Here is one connection:

This is Annie Oakley: Pug Rescue Network would like to welcome PRN #219 Annie Oakley is a sweet, 7 year old young lady. She was surrendered when her owner found himself with too many Pugs and no one to help care for them. Annie appears to have had a few litters in her 7 years. She is now out of the puppy producing game as she was recently spayed. She is also microchipped, up to date on shots and had some dental work done. Annie is a bit shy, but is being socialized to help her overcome this. She is also learning that marking in the house is not proper behavior for a lady. Annie is ready to move on with her new life without puppies. She just wants to be a companion Pug now. To snuggle and play. Go for a walk or just hang out. Are you the person or family for Annie? Fill out an adoption application today! 6/17/2008: Annie is a great little girl that is housebroken and ready for her forever home!! Annie would like to snuggle on your couch and has very good manners. She does not jump on you and will sit and wait patiently for a treat. Annie is still a little shy but has came a long ways.Annie could be yours just fill out an adoption application! Update: 7/2/2008 Annie is doing great! She is not having any accidents in the house and is getting her confidence going. Could you be Annies forever home? Please submit an application and Annie could be yours. As you can see Annie is about 16 pounds of pure joy!! 

• Pug Rescue Network
• Walled Lake, MI
• (248)432-0102

I found Oakley, Michigan. It is in Saginaw County.

I went to Rep. Donigan’s site and couldn’t find any information as to why she thinks parts of a Michigan road should be named after Annie Oakley. I guess I could contact her.

Is there a Sojourner Truth memorial highway? The abolitionist and women’s suffragist moved to Michigan, died here and was buried here in Battle Creek, Michigan. Yes:

“1976 — As part of the nation’s bicentennial celebration, the Calhoun County portion of state highway M-66 is designated as the “Sojourner Truth Memorial Highway.”

That’s good. There is also a Clara Barton Memorial Highway:

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(rsynph45uzt42a55lr2exe55))/mileg.aspx?page=getobject&objectname=mcl-act-142-of-2001&queryid=2481172&highlight=

I went to Clara Barton Junior High School in Royal Oak (it used to be Royal Oak High School) and then they tore it down to build a senior citizen complex. Rep. Donigan is probably glad to learn that I don’t live in Royal Oak anymore as I’d be a pesty constituent. I do have family in high places there, though.

Here is a website with famous Michigan women: http://hall.michiganwomenshalloffame.org/  Annie Oakley isn’t on this list.

From the Michigan Women Hall of Fame site: “Cora Reynolds Anderson was the first woman elected to the Michigan House of Representatives, serving one term from 1925 to 1926. She is also believed to be the only Native American woman elected to the Michigan House or Senate, and remains the only woman ever elected to the State Legislature from the Upper Peninsula. “

Is there a Cora Reynolds Anderson memorial highway? I couldn’t find one.  Should there be one, looks like it.

So, what’s up Michigan legislature with the highway naming?

Somebody explain Annie Oakley’s connection to Michigan for me? And don’t validate this by saying there are other memorial highways named after persons of national importance because those person’s life work had an impact on Michigan, such as Martin Luther King Jr and Cesar Chavez. What was Annie’s impact on the lives of Michiganders?

From the site http://www.annieoakleyfoundation.org/ : “Hundreds of inquiries about Annie’s early life led us to encourage Governor Taft to rename US Highway 127 as the Annie Oakley Memorial Pike. It passes where Annie Oakley’s girlhood home stood until the early 1950’s when it was razed for road improvements. Personal testimony before the Ohio Senate and the House of Representatives let to the unanimous approval, and Govern Taft’s signing, of House Bill 481. The Dedication Ceremony was held in Greenville, Ohio on July 28, 2000. “

Looks like Ohio already remembered their famous woman, Annie Oakley.

Do you love dogs? Do you enjoy short, sweet books that will give you the warm fuzzies?

Scholastic books has in paperback a series called The Puppy Place — Where every puppy finds a home by Ellen Miles. Each book features a different dog: Black lab, golden retriever, Jack Russell terrier, German shepherds, and mutts to name a few and how the Peterson family helps these dogs in need.

Last night I read Pugsley about a (yes, you guessed it) PUG! Pugsley goes to doggy day care but he is a very naughty puppy. Who will take Pugsley in when his owners decide to give him up because they can’t handle him? And can fourth-grader Lizzie Peterson turn Pugsley into a dog someone would want in their home? I enjoyed reading this well written chapter book for any age.

Here is a picture of my pug, Cookie, when she was a puppy. She was so tiny, she could lay across the top of my shoulder and rest her head on my neck when we slept at night. She was very sick for awhile when we brought her home and when she couldn’t breathe at night, I would massage her ribs to help her. That was why she laid near my face. Isn’t she the cutest little puglet?

This is another favorite picture of Cookie because it shows her perfectly curled tail. If you touch her tail at all, she will turn her face to it and make sure it stays curled!

 Tell me which of The Puppy Place books are your favorites and why?