sleepydog

Putting This Toy Away

2005-08-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can't I?

It's time to close Tasha's blog. I can't put her bed away yet, or her water bowls, but she's not here to write for her Web site anymore. She had a very unique writing style, though, don't you think? I think she'd say, "Dat's wite, Kyo. Snif ya later."

PUTTING OUR TOYS AWAY

Thank you for fighting to save me,
thank you for letting me go.
I tried so hard to stay and when
at last I had to leave your arms
I didn't know you'd cry so much,
for such a little friend.
I saw you put our toys away.
Don't you want to play
with the ball or the squeaky bone?
Maybe it wouldn't be as fun
to play with them alone.
That place you made in the yard
is nice, with flowers and a teddy bear.
I'll try to get my teeth on that
and drag it laughing through the air.
I watched you find a photo of me
and put it on the fridge.
I will remember your face as well,
and I'll meet you at the bridge.

© 2000 Kyle Kimberlin
-- Kyle, Tasha's best friend

Time To Go

2005-08-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

I know dis will make ebberbuddy sad, but dis is my wast message to you. Tank you for all yer luv and gud thots. I know Kyo is vewy sad too, but it's time for me to go and be wif my fwend Stella at da wainbow bwidge. I know you all wuv me, but I'm just so old and sick, and I want to go run and play. Please keep takin gud care ub all da aminals. I will say hey to all yer brij kids fur you.

Love and cookies,

Tasha

ben thik

2005-08-03T15:09:00.000-07:00

I ges you node I ben felin a wittle thik last couple daze. I'm twyin to feel beter. Kyo's givin me medisins. Im stil prity weak. Pawray for me, ok?

An tanks to all da nice peeples out dere dats ben riting to Kyo to hep him, cuz he's hepin me and he's perty stressed out. He's like a nervis dog watching fireworks frum inside a kettle drum, during the 1812 overture. An you didin think I new stuff like dat. I watch TV too!

Anyway, we wuv you.

Snif ya later.

ramblin dog

2005-07-30T20:11:00.000-07:00

Tasha camper 073005
Originally uploaded by kylekimberlin.

I like to ride in my camper. It has soft carpet and a big waterbowl. We go all over da place.

Sniff ya later!

sniffin twees

2005-07-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

sniffin twees
Originally uploaded by kylekimberlin.

Sometimes I gets ta go to da park and snif da twees. I like dat. See dat twee twunk behind me? I sniffed dat bout an hour ago. Maybe I'll sniff it agin tamorrow. God knows. I don't think Kyle knows, but maybe he duz.

Da wind is rufflin'my fur.

Don't wery, I wasn't weely off da leash. Kyle took it out in fotoshop. I can't see, so I'm not gonna run out after a cat or nuffin, but Kyle uses da leash to keep me from bumpin' inta things. Like twees.

Sniff ya later.

Happy Place

2005-07-28T23:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Place
Originally uploaded by kylekimberlin.

Here's my fwend Happy, sittin inna chair an lickin' her face. Dis was taken on Kyo's birfday, May 31. We bofe needed bafs dat day, an Happy had been out inna grass rollin around. Dats whut she likes ta do. An dats why she looks like such a ruf muffin.

She's a perty gud fwend I guess. She always comes to da door to greet me and sniff my face. She sez come in come in, hab sum water an poop inna yard. Make yersef at home!

I Didin See No Dang Rainbows!

2005-07-12T22:34:00.000-07:00

Rainbow Bridge?
Originally uploaded by kylekimberlin.

Wail, I gots to go fur a long a ride in my camper today. We went to Ojai again, to take me to da vet lady fur acupuncher fur my kidnees and stuff. The ride was gud, ‘cept the rode gits kinda bumpy sumtimes and it’s hard fur a little dog to keep a lookout thru da window. But I hads my bed ta lay on and da soft carpit and my bowl fur water. Pretty soon, we got dere, and had my treatment, which doesn’t have nuthin’ to do with treats, I tell you right off.

After dat, Kyo said we was goin’ to da store fur erbs to go in my fud. I like my fud da way it is, so I didn’t care ‘bout dis. But we wint.

We parked outside da store an Kyo gibs me sum water and pets my head and goes inna store, an I look out da window at da sign onna store. Holy Milkbones! Look at da picher! Kyo took me to da Rainbow Bridge an left me inna camper! Was I freakin’ out? Does a cat hab an ass?

They gots no shame at dis place. Look at da picher (you can click it for bigger) den look at dis web site. It just sum store, and dey call it dat? Where do dey git off scarin' all da aminals dat go by dere?

So after a cuple minites, Kyo came out an’ let me see da bottle of erbs and sniff it an we went home. But I don’t think I'm lettin’ dat buttlicker Kyo drive ta Ojai enymore, ‘cuz dere’s sumppin tweaked goin’ on, I tell you whut.

Snif ya later.

weely sleepydog

2005-07-07T00:13:00.000-07:00

sleepydog
Originally uploaded by kylekimberlin.

Here's a picher Kyo took of me last night when I was sleepin on my blue blanky in da libin room. I was pretty happy to hab it bak. It's bin inna laundry, but it's nice an clean now.

I'm feelin better an a little better ebery day. Kyo givs me my flooids an medisins an cookies. I gots soft places ta sleep an weely clean water. Since I gots sick, Kyo washes my bowls a lot more offin, and I gets bottled water which is pretty good!

I'm getin vewy gud cookies. People cookies like aminal krakers an nilla wafers. Dey are so much btr den Milkbonz, which I usta luv.

Wail, Im sleepy agin. Sniff ya later.

still waters run deep

2005-06-29T22:06:00.000-07:00

Wail, I'm feelin' a little betr. Kyo took me to da vets almost two weeks ago, an' dey said my kidneys is failin' cuz I'm an old dog. You shudda seen Kyo. He gots perty upset. I gess he's usta havin me around.

So eber day Kyo puts me up onna table an' pokes a sharp needle in my back and water runs in. I let him do it, cuz he asks nice an it makes me feel betr.

Yesterday we went onna trip in our pickup truck, to a whole nuther town I never been to before. We met a really nice lady who listened to my innerds and poked me with weely little needles and petted me a lot. I liked her. I hope I gets ta see her again.

Anyway, I'm not frowin' up an' I like my food and I'm spendin lots of time with my friend Kyo. Today I gots a baf and Happy too. And here's a pitcher of me today when I got home from da baf and got onna table to gets my flooids. Dat guy in da pitcher is Dad.

Sniff ya later!

I don't feel so gud

2005-06-16T21:48:00.000-07:00

I habnt been feelin weely great fur a few days, at least inna mornins. I bin frowin up yeller stuff eber day inna mornin since munday. Kyo's been gibin me medsin and speshul fud, but taday I barfed an din Kyo put me inna kitchen where ders no karpit, while he wint ta git dwessed. An whin he came bak, I had peed and pooped onna floor.

Kyo said sumbuddy call Bill Cosby, we gots Jell-o puddin', but he didin laff. An he called da vet, and I gots to go to da vet tomorrow.

Dis suks, huh? Ting is, I been eatin' my fud real gud all week, and I don't seem sick. I just barf inna mornin' and now I gots da puddins. Kyo sez itsa tummyake. I tink it's incipient gastroenteritis. Wail, we'll see what da vet tinks.

Pray fur me! I wuv you ... sniff ya later.

Big Sleep

2005-06-03T13:54:00.000-07:00

Wail me and Happy finally gots our weekly bafs at da vets taday. An' our houses and yards have been de-fleed. So we're taking a good nap -- goin' to da vet is stressout time, even just fur a baf. An a hole lotta fleez is takin' a nap too - a reel long nap.

Sniff ya later.

Gettin' Older

2005-06-02T02:12:00.000-07:00

I needs ta tail you guys da truth. I'm almost ready for my fifteenf birfday. I can't see 2 gud enymore. Speshully at night. Sometimes I hab truble finding da cookie dat Kyo is holding in his hand. And if it's dark inna hall, and sumpin's in my way, I stop an can't find my way around it. And my hearing ... wail I can hear Kyo whistle if it's pretty loud, or if he claps his hands. Dats about it.

Sometimes, Kyo lays onna flour and puts his mouf right up to my ear and says he wuvs me an I'm his bestest fwend. An he sez long as we're together, eberthings gonna be alwite.

Tamorrow, I hope I'm gunna hab a baf at da vets. Kyo's sprayin' da yard cuz dere's lotsa fleas in da grass. I hates fleas.

But hey, I still luv my fud, if its got da good canned stuff in it. And I still likes tummy wubs an ridin in da pickup truck. Life is gud. An here's a new pitchr of me. Click it for the big size.

If you look in da reflecshun inna window, you can see Kyo's pooperskooper. An dats da name of dat tune.

Love and Kookies,

Tasha

Peace

2005-04-29T22:24:00.000-07:00

That they may have a little peace,
even the best dogs are compelled to
snarl occasionally

--William Feather

That's a good quote, Mama! Thanks. Mama sent that too me.

I haven't written on my blog for a while. See, I'm weely gettin' on in years now. I'm 14 anna haf. An I'm eben more sleepy den I eber wuz. I can't hear much or see to gud. Which makes ritin' onna compooter harder ta du. But I still gots my kolar tag dat sez I AM LOVED. An Kyo doesn't eber let me furget it.

OK, snif ya later!

Baf Day

2005-01-09T01:01:00.000-08:00

Me an' Happy gots a baf today. Kyle took down to the lady who does our bafs and when he came back later, we was clean. The lady is nice. She gives us cookies an' has chewies and woobies and soft places ta lay down an' lotsa water ta drink. She brushes us a lot. It was a good think, but den it rained all day an it's still rainin' so we didn't get to go out inna yard and run around an sniff stuff.

Kyle just took me out for walkies when he heard a break inna rain, and now I'm sleepy again. It's funny, but I'm even sleepier on days when I don't gets no exercise. Why's dat?

Nite! ... Siff ya later.

Troubles

2004-11-16T15:16:00.000-08:00

I've been havin' a lot of troubles taday. I'm gettin' pretty old, and I gots arfritis. Sometimes, when I try to go up or down a step, or through door, my leg goes out and I fall down. Kyle comes and picks me up, but it's still not good. Kyle gave me a pill a little while ago, rapt up in sum bread. I like bread. I shared the bread with Happy, but not the pill.

You wanna hear sumptin funny? Dad wanted malt-o-meal for breakfast, but he didn't wanna go to da store. He didnt feel gud. So when Kyle finished sum stuff he was doin', he went to da store an got sum malt-o-meal, an sum apples.

Dad was cookin' da malt-o-meal. He asked Kyle if he wanted to learn how to make lumpless malt-o-meal.

Kyle said life is full of lumps, and shouldn't malt-o-meal be like life, even if you're eatin' it at 1:45 in the afternoon?

Dad said, "Sometimes life's the shits too; you care for some of that?" Kyle laughed and said, "I gotta write that shit down," and later he helped me type it into my blog. Sometimes, people don't make any sense.

I'm getting really sleepy now. Maybe it's dat pill. I hope it helps my leg.

Sniff ya later.

Cold Comferts

2004-09-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

I habnt posted on my blog inna long time. Kyle sez we been OBE - Obercome by Evints. I guess so.

I'm 14 now. My birfday was in August. But we habnt had my party yet. Dat bites, huh? But last night, I gots some Frosty Paws ice cream fur dogs. Uncle Joe gots it fur me atta store. Kyle put it in my bowl and I werked on it for quite a while. ... Good stuff, Maynard!

My bed changed. I got home last night, after spending about a week at my gramparents house, 'cuz Kyle was sick and stuff, and my bed was differint. I usta have a big thick quilt on top of my old fuzzy blue bed. But Kyle took the quilt and washt it an put it away, 'cuz his Grandma made it an' he said there won't be no more quilts like dat in da werld 'cuz Grandma went to heaven, so we are gonna save it.

This is really weird, because I wrote a poem about dis 5 years ago. After I wrote it, and a long time went by, an I couldnt git up onna bed enymore, Kyle let me use the quilt fur a while. Now I gots da old blue bed and a soft beach towel, folded up. An Kyle is looking for somethin' bigger an' thicker, like

THE LOVE QUILT

I'm not supposed to be on this bed,
but the man isn't watching.
Not supposed to be on the grandma quilt,
the mostly yellow one with squares
of red and blue; the man thinks I'm
color blind. The little tassels of yarn
tickle my nose. I hope the man doesn't
see me sleeping here. He says this quilt
is just for love, like a leash between people
or a toy just for later. A dog needs this
love if she lives with a poet.

Tasha
July 13, 1999

Dog Gets the Mail

2004-07-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! News - Dog Gets Mail

Dis is pretty cool. I don't weely have a job ta do. I gets ta go ta town wif Kyle an' keep him compny an' stuff.

Dats it. My big stepsister Stella usta go git da paper wif Dad. So dis mail-gettin dog is lucky.

Snif ya later.

a sleepy dog day

2004-06-26T00:39:00.000-07:00

I spent most of da day sleepin' inna house an onna deck. A pretty normal sleepydog day. But den dis afternoon, when Kyle had ta go werk onna compooter, he said later we'd go to da Seal Fountain.

an' we did! I gots ta go an hang out wif Kyle an Dad and see other dawgs and growl an bark at dem. And so many smells! We gots no downtown smells around da house. It was great. An now I'm sleepin agin.
Sniff ya later.

Yappy Birfday!

2004-06-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

Yappy Birfday to Merlin, our big buddy in Illinois. An' hey to Vicki and all our furends there. Looks like it was a good party.

Uncommon Senses

2004-06-14T10:06:00.000-07:00

(from DogFancy Magazine):

The average dog detects sights, sounds, and smells that are inaudible,
invisible, and, well, unsmellable to us.

Dogs spot distant moving objects better than we can and have wider fields
of vision. But it's at night their eyes shine--literally. A reflective membrane
in the back of each eye improves vision in dim light--and creates those scarey
"devil dog" snapshots. But don't let dogs choose your clothes; they can't
distinguish green from red or gray, although they can tell blue from yellow.

Dogs hear high-frequency sounds we can't......Dogs hear sounds farther
away than humans can, so they recognize a familiar car coming to your
house several seconds before you hear it. Also, dogs have more than a
dozen muscles to tilt, turn, and raise their ears to improve reception.

Dogs have about 25 times as many scent receptors as humans, enabling
them to detect a single drop of human blood in five quarts of water.

Smart Border Collie

2004-06-13T14:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a story 'bout a dog dats almost as smart as me.

I'm still here

2004-06-03T09:57:00.000-07:00

Wail, I habnt been writin' much lately I guess. It's been 2 months since I did. A lot has been goin' on.

I got a owie on my leg that wooden go away, an I had ta hab sergry on it. I had a banage on my leg for bout six weeks. Dats all dun now. I gots da stitchees out on Saterday, when Kyo took me to da vet. Dere is bit kitty kats in da vets place. Weely big kats.

Speekin of kats, I gots ta go fur a rode trip wif Kyo and da Mama, all da way up to da house inna woods, where da little boy lives wif da kats. We gots ta sleep inna motel room, an' we had ta poop onna leesh.

Today, Kyo's goin' back up dere agin wif Joe, but he sez I can't go dis time. I gots ta stay here wif my gramparents an da Happy dog. I gess I'm gonna miss Kyo, an heez gonna miss me.

Old Dogs Get Senior Center

2004-03-20T15:27:00.000-08:00

I tink dis is a place I wud weely like to go. Kyo sez its way far away, but we can go to our park when ders nobuddy dere. Dats almost as gud.

Bak ta normul

2004-03-15T00:56:00.000-08:00

Wail, ebrythings bak ta normul 'round here. No more tummy upset, an I'm bak on my reglar fud. Which is gud. We habnt been doin' much, jus hangin out at Happy's house an' stuff. We had compny an da littlist humin was der. He's not very big an he neber goes to da stor and brings cookies, so I'm not sher what's he's gud fur. But Kyle and da other humins are real fond of 'im, so i've desided not to bite him or nufin. OK dats it. Snif ya later.

wastin time

2004-03-08T00:30:00.000-08:00

Kyle is such a butthead. Look at all da time he wasted, updatin' my blog page. He hasta do it in html, which I guess is like worse'n fleas. He gave me a new motto, "The Leash of My Troubles," and fixed all da culers n fonts and stuff, and built a link on my piktur. An now we don't hab no time lef fur writin nufin.

... Sept maybe dat I habnt been feelin reel good last coupla daze. Kyle gave me sum stoopid cookies dat upset my tummy. But taday was prity gud. I gots ta lay inna sunshine almost all day, and in da shade and it was warm an' I drank lotsa water 'cuz of my tummy. Dats it.

A Patch of Sun

2004-02-27T23:26:00.000-08:00

I am a honey colored dog
and my friend says nothing
is as sweet as me.
I like to sleep in soft
places and I like my freedom
in the afternoon
to find the sun as it passes
looking here and there
to find me. But I don't go
far. I look back from the sunbeam
I find in a patch of grass.
How I can not be afraid
he might leave?

by Tasha

wote a poem

2004-02-26T23:50:00.000-08:00

I wote a new poem taday. It's about what color I am, which is huny. I'm huny colored dog, an it's about dat. But Kyo, who is so furgitful, left da poems book we rite in down inna twuck inna twuck woom under da house. Butthed. He sez weel pwublish it tamawo. Otay.

my vet visit

2004-02-24T01:03:00.000-08:00

Kyo took me to da vet today. I was weely nerbus. So I'm goin' ta bed an I'll let Kyo splain it.

The vet says Tasha has a neoplasm on her hootyhoo. A perianal tumor or a rectal polyp. Because of her age (13) he doesn't wish to rush surgery. It's not a problem right now, though if it grows it will be. So we have to watch it and follow up in a month. If it doesn't grow and doesn't bother her, we'll just keep watching. But if it grows, she'll have to have surgery on her hootyhoo.

Please pray. Cute words don't make this funny.

dey moved my door

2004-02-20T23:43:00.000-08:00

Dere is peeples at Happy's house bildin stuff, making da eatin room bigger, so us dogs hab more room to stand by da table an git stuff to eat. Wail, dey moved the door to da outside, to da yard wif da grass where we run an chase an pee an lay inna sun. First, where da door was, dere was just dis big board an no door, and we had ta go out dis udder door, which we neber go out of. Now our reglar door is back, but its inna difernt place!

I dont know how dey spect a little dog to figger dis stuff out, but whin it's all dun, we better gets lots of treats. Or sumbuddy's gittin bit but gud.

Kyle loves little dogs

2004-02-19T23:00:00.000-08:00

I don haf a lot to rite about tonite. I spint about haf da day inna bedroom at Happy's house, cuz dem peeplz der is biltin us dogs a bigger dinin room. Derz all kinds of carpinter men and lectrishuns and stuff. So we dogs gottz hide so we don git mad an bite nobuddy.

So you shud go reed bout Kyle's advenshers wif a big dog , an why he loves little dogs like me. Dat big dog's lucky I wasint dere. I wuda set his clock fur him. Runrunnin around all crazy. Gives us cibilized dogs a bad name.

ho hum

2004-02-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

Today I didn't git to do nuffin good. I just laid around all day, an it rained. No walkies, no ridin' inna pikup truk, nuffin. At dinnertime, Kyo had soup an I nebber gits to hab soup. But one ting dat was gud was dat Kyo had deeze lil bitty krakers an he gave me sum 'cuz I was outta kookeez agin -- I tol you, it was one of dem daze -- an dem krakers was deelishus.

Wail, I gots ta spelchek dis an go git on my bloo bed. Nite!

I met new peoples today

2004-02-15T22:30:00.000-08:00

Tonight I gots to ride inna pickup truck wif Kyo. We went to dis place didn know an I waited inna pickup and fur a while I barked. Kyo wen in to talk to sum peeples, an inna while he came out and got me out and set me onna ground. Sum peeples cam up and pettid me an said oh whata kut doggie an stuff. I didn bite nobuddy, but I thot bout it. It was fun an den we went home.

Kyo's not feewin too gud. Sez he had a bad day. Poor Kyo. But he's got kookies for me, so dats gud.

angel mutz

2004-02-14T22:06:00.000-08:00

I menshuned that Kyo volunteers for helpin' pets. Our furind Mutz was a pet in need who had cancer. Kyo got to hep his daddy raise muny for treatmints. Mutz fot very long and very hard, wif lots of hep from his daddy and frinds. Now he dosint hav cancer enymore, cuz he wint on to da rainbow bridge. Happy and no pain wif all da pets dere. Wanna see? A very nice lady made a angel page for Mutz:
angel-mutz ... its beootiful.

Dogs come frum Asia?

2004-02-13T21:12:00.000-08:00

I thot all dogs came from Scotland. Kyo sez a lot come frum mo-zeree. Turns out we wuz bof rong.

duh troof herts

2004-02-13T20:37:00.000-08:00

Kyle was sittin’ here working at duh compooter, but he has to get up an take a brake. He was firsty, and ‘sides it was gittin sad. His dad dusint think he otts to git sad fur other peeples pets, but he duz. He’s just bilt dat way, I guess.

So he wuz goin through a bunch of e-faxes, cuz he volun-tears to help pets that git sick an hert and dere people don’t have muny for duh vet. An Kyle starts reedin all deez names, like dudly, bud, red, willie, sofee, dakota, eley, scoobie, and Kyle sez that when a peeple names a pet they know but try not think about the fakt that someday, dey gunna see dat name on a big bill frum duh vet. Sumday, dat names on a little plate on the lid of box. An dat’s the troof, Kyle sez.

Kyle sez it’s a choice of love over nothing, of grief over nothing. And between grief and nothing, he’ll chooz grief.

I say yeah. Dogs just love. We nose bout time goin’ on, and peeple alone, but we just love. So enyway, you wanna theenk a little less about that vet bill, dat little box? Spay and nooter yer pets. Take care of us. No joke.

A Song for Rascal

2004-02-12T20:32:00.000-08:00

DOG SONG

My song begins at sundown
when the twilight wind comes up.
A cold wind, brushing
my hair and my tail.

Butterfly light is shining.
Butterflies lift me at nightfall,
and nothing hurts me now.
Look, the light is brighter than ...

See the little dogs come running!
See the bigger dogs come running!
See the kitties and dogs run together,
and all the animals singing.

by Tasha
based on a Pima Indian song

a sad day

2004-02-12T13:20:00.000-08:00

Wail, I was gunna tell you bout gittin ta go inna pickup yesterday an stuff. But dis is not a happy day. We wanna say goodbye to Rascal. We needs ta say goodbye, cuz he was a good buddy onna innernet. He was 17 but he was wittle an not takin up much room inna werld or nuffin an its not faer. So we are sad. We are down in the grass sad. We are way back in the place under the desk sad.

Bye Rascal frend. We are raisin' a long howl for you and for your mommy and daddy. Right now Kyo is takin' me to da vet fur my arfritis and stuff. Later, we will light a candle to help you find the bridge before it gits dark, and we will put your picher in dis place. Go wif love. We will not furgit you.

They found a good place for your collar and leash,
and your toys are all set aside.
They made you a place in the shade of a tree,
and then they all sat down and cried.
~Tasha