Goodbye my Sensei

My Dear Sensei,

I am so brokenhearted that I had to say Goodbye to you today. What a sweet angel you were, my boy. I am so lucky and grateful to have had you in my life. You truly were my Sensei, an amazing teacher. Thank you for making me take my training to the next level by demanding that I communicate clearly and respectfully with patience and understanding. I am so sad you are gone but so grateful that you were able to leave this world with dignity and comfort, in my arms while I kissed your head.

With all my love,

Your Student

Rescues, ruptured discs and haircuts

On Saturday, my student organized an Easter Egg Hunt to benefit One Pup at a Time rescue dogs. The hunt involved dogs hunting for plastic eggs full of treats. I am sure it was fun for them, but thankfully, Sensei wasn't subjected to it. With all due respect, I am simply not made for "sniffing". I am also not particularly interested in playing games when it comes to my food.

That being said, it was successful. Lilith Anne, the lovely, older Dachshund that spent a week with us, was adopted. Wonderful for her! Razzie, the wire was also adopted and went to her new home yesterday. It was bittersweet. We are happy for her to go to her new forever home, a on 30 acres with chickens horses and a barn, it sounds lovely. On the other hand, we quite liked having her here as well.

The wasn't the only thing that happened yesterday. Poor, dear Winnie began walking funny and with those, long, low Dachshunds, we know what that means. She has a mild disc rupture. She will probably be okay but will need to be on medication and crate rest for 6 to 8 weeks. We have been through this before and always came through successfully, so we are hopeful that Winnie will come through fine. Still, it hurts Sensei's heart to see her this way.

I saved the worst for last. Yesterday, my student clipped off all of my beautiful coat, save a few longer hairs on my tail and head! Something about allergies and skin and needing to grow it out all over again. I was further humiliated by being forced to endure a bath today. I do, however, feel quite nice with both the haircut and the bath, but I will never let her know that. So say Sensei...

Spring; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good
The lovely flowers. Sensei's favorite part about Spring is the colorful, cheerful, wondrous flowers. Soon my students will go flower shopping and will refill all the pots and containers with flowers and plants!

And, the weather! Welcome back to the sunshine! Warm sun, but still crisp and cool out. That is indeed the good.

The Bad
The unpredictable weather. Sensei prefers to plan his days ahead and I dread not knowing whether tomorrow will bring sun or rain. I like cool, I do not fancy wet. Definitely, the bad.

The Ugly
The dreaded allergies, just as they always do have come roaring back for Spring. My student is feeding me not one, but two pink pills a day to help control my hay fever. I quite like that they are delivered in delicious sausage slices, but even those don't make the allergies worth it. Undeniably, the ugly.

So say Sensei

Pearls of Wisdom

"Cleverness is not wisdom."
~Euripides

Another Holiday

My students are packing, which means they are going on holiday, which means my lovely Michelle will come, which means the dreadful pug will accompany her. You must accept the good with the bad I suppose. And now, she has adopted a handicapped puppy with no front legs. One would think Cheerio, as he is called, would annoy Sensei, strangely, he didn't and I am quite taken with him. He is a good little lad and I shall enjoy my time with him this weekend. She will bring Cupcake, the old pug as well. I mind her not. She is easy to live with. It should be an enjoyable weekend, minus the donut....

Rumble Grumble

Last night my students, the others and I were relaxing and enjoying some television together. All of the sudden, there were flashes of light and then the most earth shattering, rumbles and grumbles of noise! It was horrible! Sensei is courageous and brave, but I must admit, I was afraid. I ran screaming to my student and demanded to be picked up. She picked me up immediately and found I was shaking. I was so afraid I cried out and she held and rocked me. She explained that it was okay, only thunder and that she was there. There were no more rumbles after that and she held me until I calmed down. Quite a scare. I do not wish to experience a Thunderstorm again.

A Travesty

As I have mentioned before, I am not a fan of dog shows or of beauty contests in general. One should not be judged on their looks alone, but should be judged on who they are inside. Take dog shows, your honorable Sensei is not viewed as "show quality" and so, is not welcome to compete in a dog show, yet I possess more wisdom and charisma than a thousand "show quality" Pekingese. Not that I am one to brag, but it's quite true. But, I digress.....

While I am not a fan, I do occasionally fancy watching a dog show on television now and again. I made the mistake of spending the last evening watching the Westminster Kennel Club show. At first, when the Pekingese Malachy won the Toy Group I was quite pleased and thought that I might actually enjoy this, until he was robbed of the Best in Show award! It was a travesty, clearly he was the best dog there, he is, of course, a Pekingese. So say Sensei.

Close Call

She trapped and bathed four of the others today. Sensei only narrowly avoided being number five! So say Sensei!

Pearls of Wisdom

"Breed not a savage dog, nor permit a loose stairway."
- Talmud

Shoes of the Lion

My student considered purchasing some Pekingese shoes she found. Unfortunately, they most insultingly did not have them available in black and tan. The nerve. So say Sensei.

Under the Weather

It has been a while since Sensei has written. I do apologize, I have been busy as of late. The fact is I was feeling quite ill for a few days which was just dreadful. As my student was leaving town last week to attend Clicker Expo, a large and exhausting conference she realized that I wasn't feeling well. I had a horrible stomach ache and couldn't eat for days. I thought for a moment that she wouldn't leave Sensei, but I let her know it was best that she go. That left my other student to care for Sensei. He is not nearly as diligent or thoughtful as she is. He always believes she "overreacts" when Sensei or one of the others is not feeling well. There is no overreacting when it comes to Sensei's health and well being!! Can you imagine? I suppose I should mention that in an attempt to make me "feel better" and "clean me up", he gave me a bath, unfortunately, he does not realize that Sensei absolutely abhors baths. In the end he did schedule me an appointment to see the most wise Dr. George, however, I improved greatly prior to the appointment, thus, I did not have to be seen. It was a most awful few days though, I was quite under the weather. I wonder why they refer to being ill as "under the weather". Sometimes, on crisp, cool, sunny days it is quite nice to be "under the weather". Perhaps they are referring to the rainy, blustery days when being "under the weather" might not be as pleasant....

The Matriarch

Ivy is the Matriarch of Braveheart. Warm and caring to all puppies and new students, but tough as nails when she has to be. She is a dear friend of mine and I have great respect for her. So, it is my pleasure to be able to congratulate her on newly attained Field Championship at the grand age of 13 years old! Last weekend, Ivy, Grand Lady Red, went out into the field to track rabbits with dogs 1/2 her age and younger. We always knew she could do it, it wasn't a matter of whether or not she "could" it was a matter of whether or not she felt like. You see, Ivy doesn't always feel like hunting and when she doesn't feel like doing it, well, then she's just not going to do it. Last weekend, however, she felt like it. She won her third first placement (only one is required for her championship) and best of winners. She narrowly lost Absolute but an amazing runs all through the day nonetheless. Congratulations my dear friend, you have made Sensei proud....

Tails and Turkey

You have not heard from me lately, for I have had quite a difficult week actually. I developed quite an itch on the base of my tail. I couldn't help myself and chewed and scratched until my tail was raw. Undignified I know, but I had no choice. It was very uncomfortable. My dear student realized the problem and wrapped my tail so that I couldn't get to it to further upset it but it was too late. The following day she completely clipped and cleaned the area down and removed the scab and dried coat. She then applied a healing ointment and wrapped my tail up. In addition, I was given medication for the pain and itching. My gorgeous plume is back to it's perfect self and Sensei can get on with my life.

Thanksgiving was quite nice except for the fact that my student slipped and fell on black ice and had to be taken to the emergency room. I encouraged her to go as head injuries can be quite serious, and thankfully she complied. She was checked out and sent back home to cook us a delicious Thanksgiving turkey dinner. I was offered only the turkey and that was just fine with Sensei.

The Bed

This morning Sensei was quite lonely, whining and pitifully looking for some one on one attention. My student was in bed but heard me and came to see if I was okay. Then, much to my surprise, she picked me up and carried me to bed with her! For reasons I do not know, they do not take me into bed with them. They take others, but not Sensei. It could be that they do not feel that they are worthy of sleeping beside me. Or, it could be that they are afraid I shall create rules with the others concerning the bed, either way, I have not yet been invited.....until this morning. It was quite nice! It was still dark and everyone was asleep. They have many soft covers on the bed for Sensei to roll around in. I rolled and rubbed and snuggled into them. Unfortunately, I sneezed on them quite a bit as well. It was a nice morning indeed.

Dalai Lama

She went! My student went and saw the Dalai Lama speak, without Sensei much to my dismay. She reported that the experience was overwhelming and profound. The message was that kindness and compassion for others makes us healthier, stronger and more happy. Do what you can, no matter how small it seems. Every little bit matters. Money and possesions don't make us happy or content, that comes from peace within. Powerful stuff. So say Sensei....

Clean

She gave me a bath. Dreadful. There is nothing I hate more. As usual the towel drying felt quite good, and it is a warm day. Perhaps not so bad. She said I have to be prepared to accompany her to a lecture she is giving tomorrow. I wonder why Sensei is being dragged to her lecture instead of the Dalai Lama talk on Thursday that I really want to attend. But, I digress....

His Holiness....

My student will be attending a public talk of the Dalai Lama. As you may have noticed from Sensei's Pearls of Wisdom, I am quite a fan of His Holiness. I am a bit hurt that I was not invited to attend with my student and her friends. I am sure that no other Pekingese has spread the word of the Dalai Lama as much as Sensei. I am sure His Holiness would be happy to have Sensei in attendance, but alas, it is not meant to be. So, I will not attend, but Sensei shall be there in spirit....

Pearls of Wisdom

"The kind of behavior that really is spiritual practice consists of refraining from falsehood and abiding by the truth, neither humiliating nor mocking others, being humble, and having a good heart and helping others."
~Dalai Lama

A Basset? Seriously?

Wait until you hear what she has done now. My adoring student can make some downright stupid decisions for such an intelligent human. This time her heart has completely disregarded her head when she brought home a 3 1/2 month old puppy. A Basset Hound mix puppy no less! The animal in question is Jenny, a young puppy who has had a rough start in life. Her mother, a purebred Basset Hound wandered into someone's yard and gave birth to a litter of puppies. Two days later she and her littermates were taken to the local animal shelter. Shortly after that they went to their first foster home. Jenny's mother was not particularly interested in her puppies or caring for them which was too much for the foster home so off they went to their second foster home where they were to stay until they were old enough to go to suitable permanent homes. This poor pup had a pretty rough start, but was so desirable looking that she was quickly chosen by a family looking for their first dog. Despite the fact that Jenny was cowering and afraid, they chose her. By the second day after she had began growling at the family and friends and had a frightening episode at the vet they realized that she wasn't the puppy for them. Enter my student.... She was contacted to evaluate the puppy and Jenny came here and is here to stay, at least for a while. She is doing much better, but it still a very fragile and fearful little thing. Sensei is trying to be patient and compassionate, but puppies...ggrrrrrrrrr. She has a lot to learn about Sensei's space and boundaries! That will come with time and lessons from Sensei I suppose.

Lionlike

If you school yourself on the topic, which all of you should by the way, you will find that in China, the Lion is a symbol of greatness. 2000 years ago, the people of China had never seen a Lion, only heard about them from travelers. Through these reports and through their own experience seeing wolves, they began to depict the lion in what became known as Fu Lions which is basically a creature with both dog and lion features. The Fu Lion became a symbol for pride, strength and prosperity and statues of Fu Lions could be found outside of palaces, temples and tombs. It became realized that they could create dogs that looked like lions as well, so became the Fu Dog, the first Pekingese also called "little lion dogs of Peking". Pekingese were owned only by the wealthy and royalty. It was very prestigious to live with a Pekingese, or lion dog.

So, when my student decided to trim my gorgeous coat into a lion clip I wasn't at all offended. For I understand that she only wanted to help me to remember my ancestors and to remind people of what Sensei is, a little lion dog of Peking who represents strength, pride and prosperity.