Enjoying Mother Nature's Winter Art

"What is THAT up there ???"

As the holiday song goes, the weather outside has indeed been frightful here in our area! First it snows, which is just beautiful. Then it dips down into sub-zero temperatures, which put us on the "frightful" map. The past two days teased us with near spring-like weather of near 40 degrees Farenheit, and the sounds of melting ice dripping has caught our Sibes' attention! Now we are looking at not one, but two, more snowstorms moving in this week. At least the Huskies will be happy!

"It's pretty. Can I eat it?"

And what has all this cold, warming, then freezing temperatures done? Why it has created some beautiful works of frozen art, compliments of Mother Nature! Each day, the icicles here have formed and changed shape, some measuring almost five feet in length, and depending at what time of day we view them, they range from glistening frozen drips of water to sparkling reflective spears of ice. Some are quite beautiful and I've had fun photographing them. Well, almost as much fun as the FiveSibes have had eating the broken chunks!

As always, a note of safety - before I let the FiveSibes out, I do an "icicle check" where I walk the length of the house and perimeter of their domain, and using a broom, I knock down any icicles so they don't pose a danger. With the enormous size of some of the icicles, getting struck on the head from falling ice could do some harm, so I remove them to avoid their letting go and falling down, like spears, to the ground (and hitting any Sibe or Human who may wander under them).

In honor of Hey Harriet's "Shadow Shot Sunday" we love to participate in, I thought I'd share a few of my photographs of the amazing formations with you. 


On a warming thought (for us Humans at least), winter is one-third over!  ;-)

What are These Sibe Siblings Thinking About on This Wordless Wednesday?

FiveSibes Nominated for a Shorty Award and Hit the Campaign Trail!

Wolf, the Campaign Manager

We are VERY excited (hear those Sibe woos???!!!) to report that we have been nominated for a "Shorty Award" for social media for our Twitter tweets and our blog. 

http://shortyawards.com/FiveSibesMom

It's truly an honor! But the work is not done there, nope! The FiveSibes and Hu-Mom are now hitting the Campaign Trail to garner up some more votes for the "Shorties" to possibly have a chance at getting some national attention, which in turn will help us to continue to promote and support the breed of Siberian Huskies and all things canine and pet-related. So, if you enjoy visiting our blog, seeing our photos, viewing our videos, and reading our Twitter tweets--and if you have a Twitter account--if you wouldn't mind visiting this site (http://shortyawards.com/FiveSibesMom) and voting for us in the "social media" category, we would send many Husky hugs your way! 

Please be sure to complete the sentence explaining why you like our blog and tweets after the word "because..." or else unfortunately, your vote won't count. :-(

On behalf of myself, the FiveSibes, and our honorary Husky cat-who-adopted-us, Smokie, we THANK YOU so much for your readership and support! Campaign Trail, here we come! 

(Note to my FiveSibes): Let's go, kids, we have lots of work to do!

PS - Smokie, has volunteered to be Wolf's assistant!

A Sibe Patiently Waits for More Snow on Shadow Shot Sunday

Our Bandit dreamily stares out the window just waiting for more snow! I think this week she may be getting her wish with the forecast calling for a possible two feet more of the white stuff! And as the TV weather forecaster said, "We are just one-third of the way through winter, folks!" 

It's a Sibe's world, that's for sure! 

National Hugging Day: Happy Husky Hugs!

It's National Hugging Day!

 

Happy Husky Hugs from the FiveSibes!

The Puppies Turned Three!

It's so hard to believe, but our pupsters all turned three years old today - on January 19!!! It seems like just yesterday they were babies all cuddled and huddled together when my daughter and I first brought them home in 2008. Today, they are still very close and can be quite silly!

Chloe, Wolf, and Bandit celebrated their birthday in style with an ice cream snowball "cake," silly hats (which came off very quickly!), and Skineez toys!

As I did with Gibson for his birthday last week, I once again took a nostalgic stroll down Memory Lane and put together a little slideshow of the pupsters from when they joined our family at just 9 weeks old. That's when they met "Momma" Harley and older brother Gibson, and they all became the FiveSibes! I hope you will enjoy watching it as much as I've had fun putting it together.

♥ Happy Birthday, Pups! We love you! ♥

A Snowy Shadow Shot Sunday

In the quiet, peaceful early morning following a recent snowstorm, Wolf was looking out over the freshly fallen snow.

Blog the Change: Help Huskies in Need

Today is a day for joining other animal lovers across the globe to blog, tweet, and share a good cause or person who benefits, helps, or cares for animals during the Blog the Change hosted by Be the Change for Animals.

There are so many causes that are near and dear to my heart. Today, I would like to talk about Siberian Husky rescues. Throughout each state across the country and the world, there are volunteer rescues who depend on the funds and service, including many Siberian Husky rescues. While there are wonderful breeders out there, if you or a friend are thinking about adding a beautiful Sibe to your family, maybe think about adopting one from one of the rescue shelters. You can do a Google search and click on the website of ones in your area and check out photos of the beautiful Huskies available to loving, forever homes. If you can't adopt one at this time, maybe you could think about fostering one until a Hu-family is located. Donations in the form of money, time, and services are also always, always welcome.

Nikko is living at Siberian Husky Rescue of Florida and is ready for his forever home!

As I have said many times, it is a sad fact that all too often folks fall in the love with the beauty of the Siberian Husky without first doing research into the needs and characteristics of the breed before buying or adopting one. Then, when they hit the age of approximately one to two years old, there is a high rate of people turning them into shelters as they can not deal with their "destructive," "aggressive," or "energetic" ways. This is sad. First, a Sibe is not aggressive by nature. Any Sibe owner can attest to that fact. People make or allow Sibes to be aggressive. They are not born that way. Recently, there was a very sad Sibe story right here in my own hometown. A one-year-old Sibe was brought in to a vet's office after being hit by a car. Sad enough.  But then the owner informed the vet he wanted to put the Sibe down because he was "aggressive" toward him. I heard about this story after it had all been done. How heartbreaking - a beautiful one-year pup is hit by a car and then instead of receiving help, it gets a death sentence because some ill-informed owner did not properly train his Sibe.


Another case in point, a couple living in a large city buys a husky pup from a breeder. They kennel it all day as they both work. Sometimes work last long into the evenings, or there are events after work and they can only make it home to take the Sibe out for a quick walk to relieve him/herself. Then back into the kennel, or let loose in the apartment. That is the extent of the exercise and family bonding. Why then, would they be surprised to come home and find that their leather sofa has been chewed up, the clothes ripped apart, plants dug up, and more? Where does the poor, confined Sibe wind up? At a rescue or shelter...or if they are not so lucky, worse. Thank God for the rescue and shelter volunteers. They take in the homeless Sibes and care for them, see to their health needs and vet checks, and love them all while trying to find them a forever home.


Rescue and shelter Siberian Huskies are not any lesser of a dog. Some started out as pups from a breeder's litter, some are mixed bred, some come from owners who have passed away, some Sibes are runaways, and some have been abandoned. Whatever the reason they wind up homeless, these Sibes have so much love to give, and that is all they want in return...with a side order of food and exercise!


If you are thinking about a Husky, please check out a rescue. And remember, you are not limited to your specific locale. Many of these wonderful folks will transport the dog part or all the way. So please, pick up a phone and give them a call...and a donation and huge "Thank You" too!

Here are several Husky rescues that I list on my blog's sidebar that are worth a vist, and there are so many more.  Stop by one today!

 

http://siberescue.org/

http://www.siberrescue.com/index.html

http://www.siberianrescue.com/

http://adopt-a-husky.adoptapet.com/

 

http://www.nbrescue.com/

http://www.taysiablue.com/

http://www.sibes.com/

http://huskyhaven.org/

 

http://www.snowypaws.org/

http://www.sos-srf.org/sossrfmain.html

http://www.iamshome4theholidays.com/landing.do?method=displayLanding

As I said on a slideshow I produced for the Siberian Husky Rescue of Florida posted here in December, please "Have a Heart; Help a Husky" today. The love and licks you will get for providing a forever home for a homeless Sibe are so worth it. I guarantee it.

Loving Life's Little Surprises!

Chloe says, "Thanks for the prizes, Cooper & Lola!"

So this has been a really great week! My daughter (and the other Hu-Mom to the Sibes) celebrated her birthday. We've had lots of snow, which makes the FiveSibes very happy. Then a package arrived from our furpals Cooper & Lola, who ran a drawing on their blog for a first aid kit, and notified us that we had won it! What a terrific surprise! Chloe was there to help me open it up and check out the goodies inside. In addition to a great little first aid kit, there was also a nice red frisbee, which the FiveSibes will love to play with, a cute (and very handy) magnetic petsitter pad, and an adorable photo of Cooper & Lola themselves! Thanks guys!!! 

Big Bro Buster all comfy at home.

Buster enjoying the Montana snow!

"It's a small world after all." How true are those words! In one of those interesting and coincidental life moments, we discovered just how connected we all are. My family and I were out at our favorite pizza place one night, when we bumped into my husband's cousins, aunt, and uncle, all of whom we hadn't seen in many years, and were in town to celebrate one of the cousin's special birthday. It was fun catching up, and we had the opportunity to speak to his one cousin's children, who I hadn't seen since they were little! Well, they are all grown up now, and as we were talking to my cousin's son, who was visiting from Montana and mentioned that he had his Husky out in the Jeep. Naturally, we mentioned how we had five Siberian Huskies, and would love to meet his. Before we went out to meet handsome Buster, we discovered after some discussion, that he came from the same breeder as four of ours and was the older brother to our Gibson, and to his younger siblings (the "pupsters") Wolf, Chloe, and Bandit! And...you may notice Buster's strong resemblance to little sis Bandit!

So Happy Birthday, to the very handsome (and maybe camera-shy?) older brother to Four-out-of-FiveSibes, Buster! (Who just happens to have our second cousin as his Hu-dad!) 

Talk about a small world and a week filled with happy surprises! Until next time, stay happy, healthy, and safe!

This Wondrous Sibe Waits in the Snow on a Wordless Wednesday

It's a Siberian Husky's Snowy Dream World

It's been a Siberian Husky dreamworld here as another snow storm came and dropped about eight inches of the fluffy white stuff, just enough for the FiveSibes to have a blast in! 

It's amazing to see the sheer excitement that fills their eyes when they know they are going to run on their "play" side of the yard - but add a mass of snow to that, and well, there were just beautiful Sibe smiles abounding! 

Just a few reminders for some safety and health tips for us all to keep in mind for when our canine companions are busy romping in the snow:

•  Never run them on a full stomach. We wait a good hour to two hours before letting them run. By the same token, don't feed them dinner right after a good run. Give them time to rest. Again, we always wait about an hour to two. Our feeding schedule is a split of their daily intake into two feedings on in the AM and one in the PM, and exercise in the middle of the day, if possible. Running them on a full stomach or right before eating can cause them serious intestinal distress, and possibly bloat. Very dangerous situations. To be safe, err on the side of caution.

• Protect their feet. Ice and snow can get packed in between their toes and frozen onto their fur thereby chapping the pads or even give them an ice "burn" on their pads. Salt is another culprit. If you are de-icing walkways, steps, and driveways, use a pet-friendly type of de-icer. Most pet stores sell this pet-safe product. If you are walking your dog and it's road salt, be sure to clean their feet off upon returning home and use a conditioner. Before I send the Sibes out, I use a nice spray liquid protectant that contains all natural ingredients (I am not a paid product endorser, but I really like Paw Pro). Just spray it onto the foot pads, leg, tail, and even the underbelly for some nice snow and ice protection. Their paws will be a little slippery, so just keep an eye on them going down steps.

• Be sure to keep lots of water around to keep them hydrated, especially in the colder temps when water bowls can freeze. Running in the cold doesn't make them any less thirsty.

We sure hope your furbaby had some snow to enjoy and here are a few more pics from the Sibes' totally fun day in the snow: