Zena"s New Friends

You go first Lady Olivia

Mon Cherie and Lady Olivia

My mom's new friend, Heidi, sent us these pictures of Lady Olivia and Mon Cherie using a Puppy Stairs ramp.  The first thing I thought was hey, "you two are on my ramp '.  I know that I am the star model for Puppy Stairs but I didn't realize that other puppies could actually have them too.

Practice makes perfect.

Look at me, nothing to it.

I'm going to ask my mom to ask Heidi if Lady Olivia and Mon Cherie would like to be friends and come over and play with Raphael, Zeus, Isis and me.  Our garden is so fun; it has rock paths to walk on and tall flowers and bushes for us to explore.  We are pretty careful to stay on the paths so we don't break off any flowers.  We love to chase each other and run through the flowers and shrubs which are all sized just right, compared to our sizes, to call it a forest.  Our very own secret forest.  

In the picture below you can see our beautiful garden forest just before the icy cold weather and winds came and took the blooms of our flowers.  We miss smelling our favorite blossoms but it is quite an adventure to walk through the foliage and brush a plant that is laden with rain drops and get a delightful shower.  I hope that Heidi will let Olivia and Mon Cherie come over and play with us.

Our special corner of our garden

www.puppystairs.com

                                                

For the Love of Raphael

                                                              
When we first moved here, Raphael got really sick and couldn’t even stand up or walk.  He had to be carried around like a little baby.  The doctor didn’t give my mom much hope and we were all very sad when he said that Raphael had suffered a stroke.  But Raphael just tried as hard as he could to get up on his legs and stand and our friend Wil stayed right with him and encouraged him day after day to not give up.  Finally one day he actually stood up on all four legs at once for a few seconds and then tipped over.

The next time he got up he stood a little longer and each time he tried he did better, and one day Wil said, “I do believe that he will walk again.”  Every day Wil sat on the ground and coaxed him to stand and take a step by putting his arms out to him and then move them back slightly when Raphael, with his legs shaking and trembling,  would use all his strength and will power to reach Wil’s out stretched hands, and as he started to fall, Wil would gather him up in his arms and praise him effusively for being such a good boy.

  Then one day when Raphy stood up in his usual precarious manner, Wil stepped back a little further than usual, and Raphael actually ran a few steps to him.  That was a day of rejoicing for all of us.  Sure, his legs were all wobbly but Wil said they would get stronger, and sure enough our Raphael can walk and even run, with an unsteady sort of gait for sure, but he can run.  He’s still a bit wobbly and sometimes falls down, but he gets right back up and tries again.  Sometimes I see my mom get tears in her eyes when she is looking at Raphael .

Raphael tries to play with us and likes to run after a toy that has been tossed.  He falls down often but he gets right back up and still tries to be the one that gets the toy in his mouth first.  The other day Raphy and Zeus both had the same toy in their mouth and they played tug on the toy for a while, but then I saw Zeus gently let go of the toy so Raphy thought he won.  He looked so happy it made me happy, and I thought it was really nice of Zeus to let him have the toy.

www.puppystairs.com

Zena Returns From Her Sabbatical

It has been a long time since I have written on my blog and I have missed all my followers and the kind comments they often left for me to read.  So much has happened and there is so much to write about that I don’t know where to start so I will just tell you a little about my new
surroundings.  My whole family moved to a beautiful, peaceful island where we have a big fenced yard, a beautiful flower garden that is tended by our friend Wil and a glorious panoramic view of the ocean from our front windows.  We love it here.  We have our whole yard to play in; I especially like to walk on the paths in our garden that wind around and under the plants and flowers.  I adore getting up each morning and going out in the garden and smell the Posies (that’s what Wil calls them).  The flower I like the best is a yellow and violet pansy that has a pungent, spicy aroma; I even took a little bite one day and it tasted good.  I pretended like I didn’t hear when my mom said, “do I see a puppy eating my pansies?”  Raphael ate the spinach plant before they even got it planted.  Mom said oh well, spinach is good for him, it has lots of iron.

I’m putting some photos of Raphael, Isis, Zena, Zeus and me on here for you all to see.  In case you don’t remember, Raphael is my Uncle, Isis is my Momma and Zeus is my daddy.  They all said to tell you that they like it here too and that they think it is special to have their picture on my blog.  Zeus wants me to tell you which one he is in the picture so you can see how cute he is.  Now they all want you to see that they are cute too, so I’ll start with the pup on the left in the picture that shows all four of us.  First pictured is Isis, next Zeus (he wants me to say he is the handsom one), then Raphael and me, the last one.  Mom says we are all totally adorable and with that I’ll end for today…more tomorrow.

Zena
 P.S.  You can see the four of us at our job as famous models at www.puppystairs.com

In Memory of Chi Chi (Final Episode)

The relationship between Chi Chi and my mom was so close that they were inseparable. Each day at 3:00 Chi Chi would sit on the stairs leading to the street from the house and wait for my mom to come home from school. Mom always ran all the way home filled with excitement to see her special friend and was greeted joyfully with puppy kisses. Some mean boys walked by every night and told mom that Chi Chi was mean and would bite her; that thought was totally incomprehensible to her.

Almost every night before dinner my mom's mother would send her to the corner store for items like milk and bread and Chi Chi would joyfully follow her. About half way home he would routinely lie down on the sidewalk and cry to be carried home so mom would put the groceries down on the grass parking strip, pick Chi Chi up and tenderly carry him home and then go back for the groceries. Her mom said Chi Chi was getting old and was tired at age 12 but mom didn't understand and thought that 12 sounded pretty young; after all, her mother was 30; that was old.

Sometimes when my mom was sad and felt like no one in the world understood how she felt, Chi Chi would quietly sit by her on the same stairs where he waited patiently every night for her to come home from school and be the greatest comfort to her. When mom would cry because of some injustice that had been heaped on her Chi Chi would gently lick each tear from her face and snuggle close. Mom felt no embarrassment or judgment from her precious pet and would bury her face in his fur and unashamedly sob out all her pain and heartaches. Mom said that she felt that God had sent Chi Chi to her and felt that he must love her very much to have given her such a magnificent gift.

Then one day mom’s world was shattered and her faith in God was rocked. When she came home from school for lunch her dad told her that the bull dog belonging to the neighbors that gave Chi Chi to mom had bitten him in the eye and since he was so old the Veterinarian thought it was best to put him to sleep. Mom said everything turned white and that she could hardly stand up the shock was so great. When the tears came the loss was even more profound because there was no Chi Chi to comfort her at this hour of her greatest heartache and need. She asked her dad if he thought that Chi Chi was in heaven and her dad said that if there was a doggy heaven that surely Chi Chi would be there. That was some small comfort because her dad was a minister and he knew about these things.

That afternoon mom’s dad held a little funeral service for Chi Chi in the back yard. Her beloved pet was wrapped in a little blanket, put in a shoe box and buried under the lilac trees in the back yard. Mom made a little cross with her dads help, painted Chi Chi's name on it and put it on the freshly dug grave.

It is said that you never forget your first love; mom says hers has enriched her life forever.

http://www.puppystairs.com

The Story of Chi Chi Continued

My mom told me tonight that there is much more to the story about Chi Chi than she told me before; he was the best friend she ever had when she was six years old.

One day, not too long after Chi Chi was given to my mom to have forever, she decided that Chi Chi should come to school with her. She missed him so much when she was away from him all day and she was worried that Chi Chi missed her too. Mom convinced her mother that is was ok for Chi Chi to visit her first grade class because Mrs. Snodgrass, her teacher, said that maybe there could be a special day dogs could come to visit. Since Chi Chi was so special, and she knew he would sit quietly under her desk and not disturb anyone, she was sure there would be no problem. I guess that mom misunderstood the concept of “maybe there could be a special day” and took a little liberty with the facts because she was sure that as soon as Mrs. Snodgrass saw Chi Chi she would fall in love with him and realize how special he was. Mrs. Snodgrass was always so kind and sweet that mom was heartbroken when she sent her home with Chi Chi and expected her to come back to school without him. She cried all the way home and felt so sad and wondered why adults just don’t understand very well what is really really important. How could she go back to school after such a severe disappointment and why didn’t everyone understand that Chi Chi would be no trouble. Her mom said, “I didn’t think that the dog would be welcome at school but you were so convincing.” And there again was that lack of understanding that Chi Chi wasn’t just any dog and that he had feelings too.

To be continued

www.puppystairs.com

The Story of Chi Chi - Photo of Zena and Jeanne

I have a very special story to write for my blog today. My mom told me about her first beloved dog that was named Chi Chi and how much that little dog meant to her as a six year old little girl. It made me so happy to realize how much my mom loves dogs and the best news is that I realized I am the most special puppy of all and that my moms life is so much happier and richer because of me.

When she was little my mom liked to dress her cat in doll clothes, put the kitty in her doll buggy, cover the cat with a doll blanket and skate around the block pushing the buggy.

One day while taking her kitty on a skating trip around the block in the buggy a Pekinese dog came down his front steps to the sidewalk and started following the procession. Mom was a little scared of him because the kids on this block said he was mean and would bite so it was with trepidation that she skated the two blocks home with the dog following her. She got home safely and when she looked in the buggy the kitty was still laying on his back wearing his baby sweater and bonnet and with his paws out over the top of the blanket just as he was when she tucked him in for the ride.

The next day the dog was waiting for her when she reached his house and the lady that owned him told mom that his name was Chi Chi. Chi Chi followed her home again and sat on the stairs going up to her house and whined until she petted him. She sat down by him and he layed his head against her leg and she petted him until her mom called her in for dinner.

The next day and everyday after that Chi Chi was waiting for her when she came home from school. From then on it was Chi Chi that got dressed in the doll clothes and taken for a buggy ride around the block every night.

When my mom was a little girl they didn’t have measles vaccine and my mom became seriously ill with the measles. In fact she was so sick that they had to call the doctor to come in the middle of the night because her temperature went up to 105 degrees. Chi Chi was so worried that he sat and scratched at the back door until her mom let him in. My mom was sick for two weeks and that little dog sat on a chair by her bed and would only get down to eat and go out for a potty break a few times a day and then back again on the chair to be close to her.

One day, not too long after my mom got well from the measles, she was skating around the block with Chi Chi all dressed up and tucked all snuggly into the buggy and when she came to Chi Chi’s owners house the woman came out to talk to her. Mom was scared because she was afraid that she was mad that she had Chi Chi with her so much and that she wanted him to stay home. Mom couldn’t believe her ears when she said “would you like to have Chi Chi? He won’t stay home anymore because he wants to be with you.” Mom was incredulous that anyone could possibly give up such a prize but quickly said , “yes, yes I do want him.” She skated home as fast as she could because she was afraid that the woman would change her mind and take him back since he was such a wonderful and precious pet. Mom said that was one of the happiest days of her life.
http://www.puppystairs.com/

Zena develops Psychic Abilities

It all started with a day just like any other day except for one thing; upon awakening I realized that I suddenly had psychic abilities. Yesterday I was running around the yard with Zeus, Isis and Raphael chasing our favorite squirrel that we call bandit because he is always stealing all our nuts. We have a big English walnut tree in our front yard and that pesky squirrel always runs up the tree and drops nuts on our heads. I was so intent on catching Bandit by the tail that I crashed head first into the tree trunk and was knocked out cold. Mom put me to bed because I had a very bad headache and I didn't wake up until this morning when it got light.

The first time I noticed my new talent was when we went out in the yard to play this morning. Bandit was there as usual and all of a sudden I could hear him making fun of us and laughing at us in his mind. And then I could hear Zeus thinking that he would catch the squirrel and make him sorry that he had caused me to get hurt yesterday. Isis was just thinking that she wanted to go in and eat her breakfast and Raphael was wishing he wasn't getting so old because he surely would have been able to catch the squirrel in his younger days.

I would like to use my new abilities to help all my friends and for us all to all have fun at the same time. Just send me an email asking me a question at askzena@gmail.com and I'll use my psychic abilities to send you an answer. Please send a photo of you and your mom and or dad if possible.

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Please check our blog often to hear about Zena's latest adventures with her new psychic abilities. Zena's greatest desire is to use her talents to help all of her animal friends and for everyone to have fun asking their questions.