Flashing back to last year with our beautiful "Chloe" on Thanksgiving! From our FiveSibes home to yours, we hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! "Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. Suddenly, so many things become so little when we realize how blessed and lucky we are." ~Joyce Giraud How We Spent Black Friday This Year!!! No busy stores or crowds for us! Just a lovely, warm evening being together in front of the faux fire! Wishing you and yours a peaceful and warm holiday season! Today's photo for Day 25: "Purple Flowers" of the #30DaysForEpiNovember Canine Epilepsy Photo Challenge hosted by Confessions of a Rescue Mom . Beautiful purple flowers I received from my dear daughter and son-in-law, on the first anniversary of his journey and the beautiful bouquet and canvas painting from two dear friends I received after his ...

Meet beautiful Maddie! Maddie currently lives at Husky House Siberian Husky & Fellow K-9 Rescue in New Jersey. She is a sweet eight-year-old Husky/mix who was diagnosed with idiopathic Canine Epilepsy when she was four. In true Epi-dog form, Maddie does not let seizures keep her from enjoying the things she loves, such as food, tennis balls, and snuggling!  As I've always said, dogs with Canine Epilepsy, with a little extra care and lots of love, can live full happy lives! And just look at that happy, smiling face of Maddie's! She is just waiting for her forever family to come and get her! Husky House does stipulate, "Maddie needs a home that can dedicate the time and energy to figuring out her epilepsy. Maddie currently experiences cluster seizures requiring hospitalization at times despite the use of at-home rescue meds. She will need a calm, patient, loving family who can understand and help he with her medical issues." Could that family be you...

WoooooHooooooo! Words cannot express how proud I am to have been notified that my book, my labor of love, EPIc Dog Tales: Heartfelt Stories About Amazing Dogs Living & Loving Life With Canine Epilepsy has just won the 2017 NYC Big Book Award in the Pet Category! *SO PROUD* And...during November's Epilepsy Awareness Month, how appropos! #LiveGibStrong! 💜 Many thanks to my inspiration, my beloved Gibson, and to my amazing ArcticHouse Publishing family! What an honor for us and for Epi-dogs everywhere! A little self-promotion here...my book (a great holiday gift, hint-hint) can be purchased at www.ArcticHousePublishing.com and on Amazon! A portion of sales I donate to Canine Epilepsy research! I am just so thrilled...time to do some wooing with the FiveSibes, and look up at the shining stars and blow my Gibbie a kiss. The following is an Amazon affiliate link...should you choose to purchase my book through this link, I will receive a tiny commission at no extra cost...

Family and friends are so important to families sharing their lives with an Epi-dog, from being supportive emotionally as well as helping hands-on when necessary. They help lift us up on the difficult days, and enjoy all the happy days in between! Days 13 and 14 of the #30DaysForEpiNovember #CanineEpilepsy Photo Challenge, hosted by Kimberley and Epi-dog Rolo of the Confessions of a Rescue Mom blog all month long for November's Epilepsy Awareness Month, focuses on Family and Friends. Our beloved pets are a part of our families, and for my Day #13 "Family" photo challenge pic, I'm sharing one of my favorite FiveSibes family portrait (with a creative twist!)  For Day #14 - "Friends" - a fun and wonderful visit with my FiveSibes, with kisses from Gibbie, with Frankie, her mom, and best friend. Frankie and Gibson shared a very special bond - they both have epilepsy. This was such a special day, I will always keep close to my heart! And today, Day #15 ...

Today is Veterans Day in the United States and a day to honor and thank our veterans - human and K9 soldiers.  A special event is the advance screenings today of the new HBO film War Dog: A Soldier's Best Friend that according to the film's promo is  "...a deeply personal documentary that highlights the intimate relationship between soldiers and their K9s who serve together as human/animal teams in combat." Here is a sneak peak: War Dog: A Soldier's Best Friend TRAILER Trailer The film will premiere on Monday, November 13, so check your local listings. I know I am eager to watch this special documentary! But, I have a feeling we will all need a box of tissues near by. For more information and news about our U.S. War Dogs and their handlers, visit The United States War Dog Association . Today is also Day #11 - "Throwback Photo" -  of the #30DaysForEpiNovember #Canine Epilepsy Photo Challenge hosted by Kim and her partner, Epi-d...

Since beautiful Autumn has arrived in all of its colorful glory, and this is also the month for Epilepsy Awareness Month, it is only fitting that today's Flashback Friday photo be of my Epi-warrior, Gibson. Participating in the Confessions of a Rescue Mom's #30DaysForEpiNovember #CanineEpilepsy Photo Challenge, each day unfolds a day in the life of Gibson. It's almost as if this challenge has become a photo essay of his life. Some of the photos are posted here and some are on other social media sites - our FiveSibes Facebook page and on Instagram. Each one gets me thinking and remembering... Yesterday's challenge was "Fear" and boy, was that a tough one. At the end of this month, I think I'm going to do a slideshow of all 30 days of the photo challenge...a glimpse into the life of an Epi-dog. What do you think? Today's quote is a perfect one for my strong boy. It's almost as if it were written with Gibson in mind.  "He didn't t...

My beloved Epidog, Gibson, brought me so much happiness...one of the moments that comes to mind was my birthday in 2015, where his beautiful likeness was on my cake, and he even managed to sneak in a few happy licks! ;-) Three months later, he crossed the #RainbowBridge. Grab those happy moments and cherish them!  Join us in the K9 Epilepsy Awareness Photo Challenge hosted by Confessions of a Rescue Mom!

Today we are talking about "strength." And to me...that word is synonymous with Gibson. In honor of my strong, brave, beautiful angel Epi warrior, I am proud to unveil our new #LiveGibStrong logo! You may have started to see it on a few of my Canine Epilepsy Awareness posts, and you will see it on my new website, that I will be unveiling this month. While this logo had been designed a few years ago, prior to Gib's journeying to north of the Rainbow Bridge, the time just was not right to unveil it. Today, I feel it in my heart and soul that it's the perfect time. The logo, which is based on the Gibson cartoon character from my FiveSibes Tale books, depicts Gibson being "Gib Strong," meaning that dogs with Canine Epilepsy are true warriors, they do not give up, they enjoy their days in between seizures, and may they live strong. With November being National Epilepsy Awareness Month, I am also joining Kimberley Matchem and Epi-dog "Rolo...

November is a very significant month for us here at FiveSibes as it is Epilepsy Awareness Month, and a time when we share Canine Epilepsy information and news as part of my #LiveGibStrong K-9 Epilepsy Awareness Campaign . Inspired by my beloved fur-angel Epi-dog, Gibson, my now four FiveSibes and I continue, in Gib's name, to help support and educate families and potential adopters of dogs with Canine Epilepsy with the important  message that these amazing Epi-dogs can live a full, happy life for however lone we are blessed to have them. With HOWL-o-ween being yesterday, I, of course, brought out my Gibson's purple pumpkin to sit among the orange jack o'lanterns. This year, I decided to fill it with beautiful purple and lavender chrysanthemums in memory of his beautiful warrior spirit.  Harley, Wolf, Chloe, and Bandit all gathered around as they joined with Gibson's spirit to once again promote Canine Epilepsy through The Purple Pumpkin Project (you ...