- Food & Recipes
-
- Guide: Thanksgiving Recipes and Leftovers
- Checklist: Essential Kitchen Tools Checklist
- Video: How To: Melt Chocolate
-
- Home & Organizing
-
- Guide: Low-Cost Ways to Freshen Up Your Home
- Checklist: Childproofing Checklist
- Video: How To: Remove Ink Stains
-
- Beauty & Fashion
-
- Guide: Fall Clothes Shopping Made Simple
- Checklist: Wardrobe Basics Checklist
- Video: How To: Tie a Bow Tie
-
- Holidays & Entertaining
-
- Guide: Thanksgiving Potluck Guide
- Checklist: Honeymoon Packing Checklist
- Video: How To: Wrap a Present
-
- Health
-
- Guide: Stay Healthy on the Go
- Checklist: Weekly Workout Plan Checklist
- Video: How To: Stretch at Work
-
- Work & Life
-
- Guide: Saving and Budgeting Basics
- Checklist: Identity Theft Prevention Checklist
- Video: How To: Pack a Weekend Bag
-
- Magazine & More
-
- Subscribe: Subscribe to Real Simple Magazine
- Try Real Simple!: Get a Free Preview Issue of Real Simple
- Give a Gift: Give the Gift of Real Simple Magazine
-
 | |||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
| Featured:
Adventures in Chaos|
Nearly Wed|
No-Obligation Book Club Categories: Food & Recipes |
Home & Organizing|
Beauty & Fashion|
Holidays & Entertaining|
Health|
Work & Life|
Technology
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
The animal lovers of Real Simple, whose pet tales are shared here, would love to hear about your pets and the way they enhance your lives. Share your shaggy dog (or cat or hamster) stories by posting a comment, below.
Posted by: DSprague| January 21, 2009 at 05:02 PM On September 16, 2008 Andrea, Chad and their dog Copper was driving down an old forest road when an animal, possibly an elk stepped out in front of the car. Andrea did what her father always told her not to do, she swerved. She instantly knew her mistake and told Chad, “hang on, we’re going over”. What they didn’t realize until daylight was that “over” meant a 150 foot cliff. After what seemed like eternity the jeep finally came to a rest upside down. Andrea was unconscious and covered in blood, the windows were blown out and Copper was missing. Chad woke Andrea and got her out of the seatbelt, they climbed back up to the road. Chad went down 4 times looking for Copper, he found nothing. They sat on the service road and built a fire for the night waiting for daybreak. Again Chad went down and looked for Copper and found nothing. They ended up hiking home as no one stopped to help them. Later at the hospital they discovered that Andrea had 2 broken vertebrae, gashes in her head and 2 lesions on her brain. Chad had 3 cracked ribs. All they could think of was to get out so they could get back to looking for Copper. Copper was after all, their child. The next day a car club got together and spent four hours pulling up the wreckage from the gully below. No one saw or heard Copper. They brought squeaky toys and called for him days after the accident. Still nothing. They posted on several sites, hung flyers and even posted on Craigslist four days after the accident. Someone saw the posting and forwarded it to a group called Wags to Riches Animal Rescue and Sanctuary in Union Gap, Washington. They had been involved in an eerily similar rescue after a rollover car accident not 30 days before. They found that dog after ten days. It was alive. Wags contacted Andrea and told her, “Have hope, we will find him”. Four volunteers set out on Sunday, 5 days after the accident. They were told that because no one had seen or heard the dog that this could be a body recovery. But they needed to do it, for the family, so they would have closure and could begin to heal. Bob Chism, Kim and Chris Wertenberger and Jennifer Ray spread out and went over the cliff to the gully. They methodically started to comb the area. The girls went together and the men went on the outer corners. The brush was so thick that a machete had to be used to make a path. At the bottom of the gully was a small creek. The girls jumped over the creek and went up and around to walk on the other side. One yelled out “Copper”. A few minutes later they heard barking. Mama Bear instinct came flying out and they threw all caution to the wind as they ran and wildly scraped at the branches and brush trying to get to the dog. All the while yelling “It’s okay baby we’re coming. Good boy Copper!” When they got to him, he had made a little nest for himself right by the creek. When they realized he was not going to let them put a leash on him they sat down beside him and spoke soothingly to him. Bob drove down to where Andrea and Chad were staying to tell them Copper was found but they needed someone to come and call him to motivate him. In the meantime Chris cut a path through the brush for Copper to go through. After 20 minutes we heard the car pull up above us and they started calling for him. The look on Copper’s face when he heard his momma yelling his name! His ears flew back, he barked in reply and stood up to come out of his hiding place. After a bit of confusion, a lot of encouragement and praise, Copper made it up that cliff to his waiting parents. Everyone was crying and hugging. Copper was alive and well. Standing on that cliff side, looking down, it’s hard to believe that all three made it out alive. The love and devotion of a dog, a family’s hope and a group’s determination had reunited them again. www.wagstorichesanimalrescue.org
Hello, We have a chessadore (1/2 chocolate & 1/2 chesapeake retriver) puppy who now weighs about 80 lbs but is still only 8 months old. When he gets outside he is fine for awhile and then it's like someone throws a switch and he goes nuts, racing back & forth, attacking our feet, clothes, leaping and flying 5 or 6 feet through the air into you, not really biting but barking & growling. I've had Labs before and have seen this reaction after having a good bowel movement or when they first get to the beach but not to this extreme. Many times I have to go and save my wife from this psycho dog because she is scared. It is only a matter of time before "Lakota" accidently hurts her or me. Any ideas on slowing this 80 lb pup down or will he just grow out of it? A year after finding our kitty cat Bidge in a gar-BIDGE can in Brooklyn, we realized we needed to get her a friend. I searched petfinder for her new best friend and came upon Williger at the Humane Society. Williger was a black and white tuxedo cat who was just gorgeous, and I thought he would be a great little boyfriend for our little Bidge. When we arrived at the Humane Society, they asked us a series of questions about what kind of cat we were looking for. They also asked us what kind of people we were. After some conversation, they realized that Williger was not a good match for us. "Williger loves dogs! It's crazy, but he needs to be adopted by someone with a dog!" We were a little heartbroken, but realized they were trying to pair us up with a cat who was perfect for US. We ended up adopting Oscar instead (who we later named Sneetch) and I am just in love love love with him. He really is the most perfect cat for us. And Williger?? We adopted Katie (Katherine Hepburn) and Spencer (as in Tracy) from the St. Joseph Animal Shelter. My husband and I RV a lot and always take the "babies". When my husband pulls the RV up in front of the house Katie and Spencer go wild and run to the door to get out to the RV. They consider it their big dog house on wheels. Who can argue? Very good site. Thanks!!! I was sitting on the couch two years ago, when my brother came into the room, with a mortified look on his face. Then he shouted "Buddy just pulled the lawnmower out of the shed!" But the funny part is that Buddy is a 15 pound Boston terreir that stands not even a foot high! I was divorced in 1998 at the ripe old age of 27. I was totally lost and lonely and I had never lived on my own. A few months after my divorce I moved into a friend's house while he worked out of state. He had this precious black lab named Parker. I asked him what would become of Parker and he said "When it comes between my livelihood and a dog, the dog has to go." I knew he did not want to give up Parker so I offered to take care of him for the year he would be away. About two months later my friend came home to do some yard clenup and brought a friend to help; a much older man. At this point I had become so attached to Parker I could not bear the thought of him coming back a year later and taking Parker from me. I told him he either took Parker back with him or he would have to officially give me the dog. Well, he did not like that ultimatum and said he'd think about it while he and his friend hauled off a bunch of yard refuse. When they returned I was cooking breakfast with Parker right there by my side as the bacon cooked. My friend looked at me and said "I've decided what to do with Parker." My heart sank because I just knew he and his friend discussed Parker returning to Indiana with them and staying up there. He looked at me and said "He's yours". I burst into tears and hugged Parker's big head and was the happiest woman alive! I asked him later what made him make his decision. He told me his friend looked at him as they drove off with their haul and said "I knew when I first arrived that dog belonged to her. If you take him from her you are going to rip her heart out and the dog's too." That was all that was said between them on the matter. Parker is now 10 years old and I have since bought my own house. He is on arthitis medicine for his osteoarthritis, has moderate hip dysplasia, and a bone spur in his left hip. He is barely gray and still loves to chase squirrels, tennis balls, swim in the river, and run through the woods. He is the best thing that ever happened to me. Nice site. Thanks:-) Very good site. Thanks!! Very good site. Thanks!! Nice site. Thanks:-) Nice site. Thanks:-) Good site. Thank you! Nice site. Thanks! Nice site. Thank you!!! Very good site. Thank you!! Very good site. Thank you. Very good site. Thank you! Nice site. Thank you! Cool site. Thanks!! Nice site. Thanks! Cool site. Thank you! One day I had a few friends over for lunch so as we ate & talked my side door bell starting ringing I didn't pay any attention to it . then one of the girls said Marie someones at the door but I assured her it was only my dog Todo . She'd ring the bell to come in after she had enought of being outside. From that day on my friends call her Avon. Cool site. Thank you. |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
Get the RSS feed
In The MagazineON REAL SIMPLE. REAL LIFE.
Inside Real Simple
Real Simple Products
Copyright © 2009 Time Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
I currently have two bulldogs, a rescued persian and a tortoise but the story I want to share is about a little puppy in the news that was brought into our local Emergency Vet clinic last week. Clyde is a 10 week old puppy - he was beat into critical condition be cause he had an accident on the floor...To make it worse this was done in front of a child. Clyde is lucky, he is going to make it and find a new home. There are many many more stories just like Clydes. I am giving away a custom pet portrait to help raise funds for the Animal Emergency Center. Please click on the site below to learn more.
Thank you!
http://web.mac.com/deborahsprague/DocWyatt/Clyde.html