Husky Bandit Watching Strawberries

"Woo! What big strawberries you have there, Mom..."

Join in the BlogPaws Blog Hop HERE!

If those jumbo sweet berries wet your whistle, check out one of our FiveSibes favorite Canine Cooking Corner recipes perfect for this time of year: Frozen Berry Yogurt Bites, yum! Bon(e) Appetit!

A Very Special Day to Give Thanks: Hu-Dad's Birthday & USA Memorial Day

Woo! This is one of my favorite photos of my hubby, the Hu-Dad, walking with Gibson, that I've shared before, but there's no other photo that quite captures the strong caring silence as this one. Hu-Dad keeps things going smoothly here at our FiveSibes Husky homestead! From building special needs ramp to constructing a deck roof just to keep the weather off the Huskies so they can still enjoy being outdoors, to carrying the pups when they had surgeries, to sharing his pizza crust, not asking what the latest vet bill was, and being a super-pooper-scooper! We are so thankful for him all  he does. He is the best and loved by me and his furry "kids!"

Today is also Memorial Day - a day for us to remember and honor the fallen soldiers - both human and K9 - who gave the ultimate sacrifice so we may enjoy the freedoms we have today. We thank you and we will never forget.

 

When the Sun Shines on a Flashback Friday

There's a whole lotta hopping going on! First up, we are flashing back a few years to one of my favorite memories of my  now furangel Gibson, who was enjoying his rehab walking after a period of time where he was dealing with a weak hind end and a torn CCL due to side effects of his epilepsy medicine. During a rest, he raised his head toward the sunny sky, closed his eyes, and looked so blissful, I just had to snap his photo and pair it with the amazingly true quote. I look at this photo often and smile. Always a champion, Gibson truly enjoyed every minute of life. He was, and will always be, an inspiration to me, and remind me that even during tough times, be sure to take a few minutes to embrace and appreciate this wonderful life we have. Happy Flashback Friday!

 Do you have a photo from  your pet's past that you'd like to share? Come stroll down Memory Lane with us here at FiveSibes and join in our Flashback Friday blog hop (we are open all week)! Just post your pic on your blog, grab our badge & link to our blog, then join the blog hop below so others can come visit and see your flashback photos, too! A fun way to relive past fun times with our pets, present and past, and a great way to kick off a weekend! We hope you'll join us for some Friday fun! (To see past posts, put "Flashback Friday" in our Search bar at top of blog).

 We are also joining the Pet Parade Blog Hop hosted by
Rascal and Rocco, Bionic Basil’s Blog, Love is being owned by a Husky, and Barking from the Bayou. It's also open all week so be sure to hop on over to the hosts blogs and visit all the pet paraders!

And since we are enjoying this beautiful spring weather, we are also enjoying the blooming of our dogwood tree and thanks to inspiration from M.K. Clinton of Barking From the Bayou, we are joining in the Flower Friday Blog Hop hosted by Da DB Boyz! Be sure to visit them and the other hoppers to check out all the beautiful blooms!

Isn't Spring grand?!

The FiveSibes (Red) Nose Knows!

 

Of course a dog's nose knows...well, almost everything! There is not much these Husky noses miss! Including the fact that today is Red Nose Day - a day to don a red nose in support of ending child poverty.

We here at FiveSibes are loving the idea of hosting a Red Nose Day #FiveSibes Facebook Fundraiser and for doing so, according to RedNoseDay.org, "the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will MATCH every donation earned, up to $1M!"  Woo! That is so wondeful! Please visit our FiveSibes Facebook Fundraiser HERE to make a donation up until June 8, 2017, and help put an end to child poverty, and feel free to share, too, so we can reach even more people to help the children! Together, we *can* make a difference, one red nose at a time! Thank you!

 

Exciting News!!! 

I am so proud and pleased that my photo poster for Red Nose Day received the Dog Writers Association of America's  prestigious MAXWELL MEDALLION for "Excellence!" In the words of my FiveSibes..."Woooooo!"

We're Baaaaaaack!

"Woo! Wait until you hear what happened to Mom and us!"

Wow...it feels good to be back. We've been unexpectedly away for a few weeks due to health reasons, both me and three of my FiveSibes. I am not sure how many of my dear readers know that I was diagnosed with degenerative Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Fibromyalgia (FM) about six years ago now. Learning to adjust life to an auto-immune disease is something I am still trying to do. My head says "hey, let's do this and this and this..." while my body says, "um, nope." I always looked, and still do, to my Gibson for inspiration, who lived with Canine Epilepsy for most of  his life. He was truly amazing and as many of you know, he dealt bravely with many side effects of his medications, such as weak hind issues and lethargy. These issues are not much different from some of the issues I deal with on a daily basis having RA and FM. 

I think of my sweet, brave furagnel Gibson all the time, and push on, just like he did. I can hear his woos. He always loved to talk. I can see him in his lift harness, with his stability brace on, big ol' Husky smile wooing "Come on, Mom. You can do it. I wuv you!" Many days I have what is referred to as a flare, which means I am pretty much sidelined by one or more of the symptoms, including pain, exhaustion, and muscle weakness, and what they call "Fibro fog," where your energy is just so zapped, you cannot think about things. I'm choosing to go the naturopathic route and not take the strong medications they want me on. There are just too many unknowns, including the big "c." No thanks. I'll take my chances going a different, more holistic route. This past month, I was hit with a few flares and had no choice but to put many things, including my writing, on hold while I upped my physical therapy, supplements, treatments, and rest periods. 

Wolf stayed right by my side all through my flare.

For now, I'm back on an upswing, but never really know for sure when a flare will strike. So I'm using my time to get back to blogging and writing! I miss all of our Blogville pals! A lot has happened for the past several months here, some I briefly touch on over on my FiveSibes Facebook community page, that I need to write a few posts here to catch everyone up on!

First up - three of my four Huskies are recuperating from being sick themselves. A mystery ailment. One day, Harley started vomiting and having diarrhea, getting worse over the next day so much so that she wound up barfing up what appeared to be buckets of water! Then Chloe and Bandit began with the big "d".... talk about scared! I never in all my 12 years of having these FiveSibes ever had more than one Husky sick at a time, let alone three! And from what? My vet paid us a house call to give them all full exams, and the testing began. Giardia. Negative. Worms. Negative. Bloodwork taken, with most results coming back negative so far. (Thank God!) We are now on to urinalysis. The Sibes were placed on antibiotics and anti-diarrhea medication, with Harley getting a shot to help with her vomiting until we could figure out what in the heck was going on.

Wolf worried about his pack family and kept an eye on them.

Thankfully, the pups started to rebound after the medication kicked in, and they are now feeling themselves and back to almost eating normal (Harely's appetite is still not quite fully back).

And then last night, a Husky Conference took place...

And this happened...Husky play! A sure sign they are feeling back to their healthy selves! What a happy sight to see!

But, the mystery has not been solved. No new food or treats. Nothing tossed in the yard. No catching of wild critters. No new any thing. However, it is spring, and did a neighbor spray their yard? All of my neighbors have dogs. I know Mother Nature has things blossoming, but there are no shrubs or plants or flowers in my yard. I made sure it is all dog-friendly. While we do have a giant maple tree that has been dropping "helicopters" that Chloe and Bandit think are treats raining from the heavens, they have eaten them in years past and been just fine. Maybe they ate too many? But, Harley does not eat them, and she was the sickest. And Wolf does not eat them either, but he did not get any symptoms. So what did the three come in contact with that made them sick? My pups share beds, water buckets, and my house. Such a puzzling mystery. I have come to realize that if the urinalysis come back negative also (and I sure hope it does), I may never have any answers. I just pray they never get sick like that again! 

So, hopefully, the FiveSibes and I can stay healthy and #LiveGibStrong for a long time to come! And it really is good to be back "home" to Blogville! 

Here's to a Happy & Healthy "Wordy" Wednesday!

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo on Flashback Friday!

Wooooo! It's party time! Today is Flashback Friday ~and~ Cinco de Mayo, so we are flashing back six years to our fun party with all FiveSibes! I'm also sharing a fun video party from 2011 with some beautiful furpals who joined us from across the world - some are now furangels, so it was so very nice to see their sweet faces once again.

"Never underestimate the importance of having fun." 

 ~Randy Pausch 

Have a photo from  your pet's past that you'd like to share? Come stroll down Memory Lane with us here at FiveSibes and join in our Flashback Friday blog hop (we are open all week)! Just post your pic on your blog, grab our badge & link to our blog, then join the blog hop below so others can come visit and see your flashback photos, too! What a great way to relive past fun times with our pets and kick off a weekend! We hope you'll join us for some Friday fun! (To see past posts, put "Flashback Friday" in our Search bar at top of blog).

 

We are also joining in the Pet Parade! Hosted by , Rascal and Rocco, Bionic Basil’s Blog, Barking From the Bayou and Love is being owned by a Husky. They, too, are open all week so hop in the parade with us! 

 

Welcome Merry Merry Month of May

"May! Queen of blossoms,
   And fulfilling flowers,
With what pretty music
   Shall we charm the hours?
Wilt thou have pipe and reed,
Blown in the open mead?
Or to the lute give heed
   In the green bowers?"
~Lord Edward Thurlow, May

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Our FiveSibes™ Merry Meme Caption Contest is periodically hosted over on our FiveSibes: Siberian Husky K9 News & Reviews Facebook page featuring gorgeous Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes &  Northern Breed Dogs and clever memes suggested by and voted by on our readers. Would you like to see your Husky or northern breed dog featured in a meme? Post your pic on my FiveSibes Facebook page or Email it to FiveSibesHuskyNews(at)gmail(dot)com and put "Meme Caption Contest" in subject line! We'll post it on our page and the caption suggestion with the most likes, wins, and we turn it into a poster crediting both photographer and caption winner! Lots of fun and a great way to highlight our furbabies! We hope you'll join us! Check out past memes by putting "Merry Meme Monday" in our Search box!

 

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