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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Tomorrow is Pw Gina Marie's calendar day and her
12th birthday. I have been owned by her for 4 1/2 years and can't even
imagine my life without her. During this past year she allowed me to kiss
her on the lips for the first time, without trying to take my face
off....LOL</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>We moved cross country last June and she has found
a whole new set of people to train. She hasn't quite got the Vet
completely under her paw yet, but one of the Vet techs picks her up in his arms
and carries her like royalty from 1 room to the other instead of making her walk
:)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>At Christmas she taught the new mail person that
Basset Hounds get mail too. Her first piece of mail had question marks all
across the envelope. We had to explain that Gina's mail did belong in my
mailbox, and that she would be receiving about 300 more Christmas cards.
Reading Brudder Elwood's post yesterday brough back fond memories of my
conversation with our mail carrier.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Gina never liked being off leash and did NOT like
going out in the yard at first. We didn't have a fenced in yard in NJ and
she was used to being taken for a walk every couple of hours. I had to
walk her in the yard for the first week that we lived here, the 2nd week I had
to stand outside with her and hold her leash in my hand so she could see
it. By the 3rd week I was having a problem getting her to come in because
she learned to love laying out there and taking her naps in the sun. It
was so warm by the end of June that I was afraid she would get heat stroke from
being out there so long. The warmer weather has helped with her
arthritis. Even during the winter she wasn't stiff when she woke up in the
morning. She takes a natural supplement for inflamation, but no longer
needs to take Previcox.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Gina enjoyed last year's photo shoot more than any
other we have done. I left enough ice cream in each container to make them
interesting and taped them to my kitchen floor. As you can see, she
managed to move 1 of the containers. She probably would have tried to walk
off with it except that the tape was still on the bottom and it got stuck when
she put it down in the new spot. Some of the "out takes" were a lot cuter,
but you couldn't see her face because if was all the way down inside the
tub.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Tomorrow we will celebrate all day. We will
open her cards & gifts in the morning and she will have her favorite
meal for dinner....turkey, jellied cranberry sauce, and salad.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Happy Birthday Sweetie!!! Mom loves you with
all her heart.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Suz</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>