# Rebel and Snorkels say Merry Christmas



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

these photos will show why I don't enter the calendar contest, but I am trying to get a photo to send to a friend of mine and thought I would share. i don't really have photos of Rebel up here and he is a beautiful boy.


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

They are both so cute! I love the red jackets.


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

Yay! Thank you for posting. I was just thinking the other day that I've never really seen pictures of your doogas except for in your avatar. Rebel certainly is handsome! And Snorkels is tooooo freakin precious with those giant doe eyes... you must have been holding up a really delicious treat!


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Such cute ghost faced killers!  

He is a handsome Dobie


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

I was also wondering if I'd ever seen any photo's of Rebel, so thank you for posting them, its nice to put a muzzle to the name. He looks like an absolute sweetie, truly does. Snorkles cracks me up with her hair on her head sticking up like that, what a cutie.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Thanks so much - yes i really like her punk rocker look.

Since i lost my job I decided to groom her myself. Honestly, it's not working out so well. Her coat is getting so much nicer I'm trying to grow it out, but after I cut her hair there are short and long pieces kind of all over her. Her legs and feet look like I got drunk and took a weedwhacker to them. Her tail - oh dear lord. I have alot more admiration for people who cut dog hair.

I think next time I'll cut it when she's not wet. 

And yes, treats were involved! it's so hard to get her to sit there - since she never minds us at all her inclination is to take a flying leap at the treat because patience is not her strong suit. behind that sweet face is a very determined little dog.

Rebel, of course, is perfect in every way.


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## mischiefgrrl (Oct 28, 2010)

And Merry Christmas to Rebel and Snorkles! Very cute pictures! My big dog/little dog combo are trying to both sit on my lap right now and bathe each other. Tiffa is looking punk rock too at the moment.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Tiffa definitely has the coat for it! 

Snorkels ears were completely bald for a long time and all she had were those little twigs sticking up. I am so glad she has hair back because she has that real pretty black edge on the hair on her ears. I don't think it's sable because it's not on all her hair, but very definite on her ears even though it doesn't show up much in the photos.


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## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

Man you really crack me up sometimes. I love to see your dogs and seriously I don't know why you didn't put a picture of Snorkels in the senior picture. I'm not the best photographer ether but I'm working on it.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Herzo said:


> Man you really crack me up sometimes. I love to see your dogs and seriously I don't know why you didn't put a picture of Snorkels in the senior picture. I'm not the best photographer ether but I'm working on it.


I guess probably if i were totally honest it's because if I put her in there and no one voted for her it would make me feel crappy. I had just applied for a job and not gotten it and I couldn't stand to have my dog rejected also. Even though I gave myself alot of other reasons at the time. 

So better just to imagine she would have gotten lots of votes if I entered her!

Sometimes even when we are old, we are still childish.


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

Omg I love snorkels' ears!! And rebel is so handsome!!!


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## NewYorkDogue (Sep 27, 2011)

So nice to see your two pups! Adorable...

Remind me again (maybe I should know this) -- what type of dog is Snorkels? Or blend of dogs?


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

She is a mini dachshund - when i told the rescue group I wanted her I had no idea what she was. I guess I can take this thread to brag a little bit - she was double her idea weight when she was rescued. She didn't look so much like a dachshund rather than a sausage with legs and a nose.

the reason I am bragging on me and not her is because it just killed me to not feed her - imagine those eyes looking up at you, everywhere you go, every minute of the day.

The top four photos are ranging from 16-18 pounds.





































Here is she at 9.9 pounds looking like I just beat her with a broomstick.


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## NewYorkDogue (Sep 27, 2011)

Wow... just wow. Such a difference. You did a remarkable job with her, and I'm sure it was not easy to take her through that process...


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

She is a very special dog (aren't they all?) with a horrible background who somehow got plucked literally off death row after years of neglect - her toenails were growing all the way in circles and into her pads for one thing - without hating people.

We've had her almost two years, and just in the last month she's initiated contact. Up to recently, if i put her on the couch with me she would go to the far end. I really do feel honored to be able to take care of her and make her happy in her senior years.

Of course if it were up to her she would weigh 50 pounds. She loves to eat that much.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

I love the pictures! I have a thing about scruffy, cranky, old lady dogs! Snorkels is just adorable and Rebel is a terrific big brother to accept her into the family so willingly. You really need to post more pictures of the two of them.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

chowder said:


> I love the pictures! I have a thing about scruffy, cranky, old lady dogs! Snorkels is just adorable and Rebel is a terrific big brother to accept her into the family so willingly. You really need to post more pictures of the two of them.


Yes we need more of them. Rebel is a great big brother, except when he gets excited he might mow her down - she will steal his food if I let her. But there has never been a bad word between them. 

in fact it seems like they are always ignoring each other, but they are always close to each other in the yard, in the house etc. Just casually, like it was an accident.

Just like Chelsy. I know how you must miss her. I hope one day when you are ready you will find another cranky old lady to mother.


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## Janet At Nutro (Mar 11, 2011)

The matching red coats are adorable!


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## RachelsaurusRexU (Sep 4, 2010)

They're both beautiful! Little Snorkels reminds me of a Dr. Seuss character, too cute. Excellent job getting that weight off of her! You probably prolonged her life and definitely increased the quality of it! I'd also love to see more pics of these two in the future.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Good for you for not giving into those cute eyes- LOL. She looks great now! I love her 80s hairstyle! :heh: I've given Bishop a couple of interesting ones by accident too!

And Rebel is a handsome boy!


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## frogdog (Aug 10, 2011)

The pics are great! What a cutie Snorkels and a handsome Rebel.
Congrats on the weight loss with her.

Yogi was down 2lbs...looked great and weighed him last night...now back up 2lbs. It is SO hard with those furbaby eyes looking up at you.

Happy Howlidays!!!


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## Donna Little (May 31, 2011)

OMG I love both of them.  And your story of her sounds so much like how Tommy was. Well, other than the eating. I had to beg every meal into him for nearly 5 yrs.... He was just in his own little world for the longest time and when he finally asked for my affection I could barely stand myself I was so excited. 
Miss Snorkels was a little tub-o-lard when you got her wasn't she? She looks fantastic now.
And even with a crazy hair cut she's absolutely precious. And I do love myself a Dobie and Rebel is so handsome. Sounds like you enjoy a broken dog sort of like I do. If it's perfect I know it'll get a home somewhere but if something's wrong then it needs to live with me....:smile:


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

They both look wonderful! I'm so glad that they are both doing great on raw, the before and after pictures of Snorkles are amazing!


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Donna Little said:


> Sounds like you enjoy a broken dog sort of like I do. If it's perfect I know it'll get a home somewhere but if something's wrong then it needs to live with me....:smile:


Yep, me too. I admire the perfect, sleek young dogs but they are not for me. I am nothing like you though - your counterpart here in Indy is a woman named Monica North who also has about 10 dogs, foster and adoptees. She's the one who left work to literally snatch Snorkels from the needle. 

What really made me understand her sainthood, though, is that when she went to get Snorkels, Snorkels was covered up in pee and poop because they hadn't let her out of the death row cage for three days. Monica didn't put her in a box - she cuddled her to her chest and held her, as nasty as she was. She told me shirts wash. What an angel she is.

One out of a thousand people would have thought Snorkels' life was worth saving and I am so grateful Monica found out about her before she was euthanized.

I ready your story of Tommy and it made me cry. 

Do you like those ugly dog contests? I don't. I watched one on TV and it made me very upset. It's like a beauty pageant for children with facial deformities. I can't get over how awful I felt after watching that. But then again, maybe it will make more people want the dogs that no one else wants.



> I'm so glad that they are both doing great on raw, the before and after pictures of Snorkles are amazing!


They are, they really really are. I am trying to turn all my relatives to raw but they think I'm crazy. 

My cousin just got a bloodhound to find and save illegals immigrants in the California desert before they die of thirst or starvation, and I want that dog to be fed raw so he's got alot of stamina!!



> Yogi was down 2lbs...looked great and weighed him last night...now back up 2lbs. It is SO hard with those furbaby eyes looking up at you.


 It's taken me months, but I am now starting to be able to tell by looking if she's gaining weight. However, she still gains and loses like crazy. I've actually gotten very used to ignoring that stare. She also has this HMPPH noise she makes at me when she wants food and I won't give it to her. So I get to sit there and ignore her stare and the occasional HMPPH HMPPH.


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## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

You know I have been meaning to ask if she was showing any signs of affection to you. She looks really good, don't you just love how good it makes you feel about giving them a good life. I don't think Maddies life was any where near as bad as Snorkels but I just can't see how they could give her up. We just think she is a hoot. She loves her food so much she will start howling at me when I start getting there food ready then Turtle starts barking and you can't hear a thing. At least Maddie has a deep funny voice.

She is getting so attached to me she come's over to get lovins from mom all the time. She is a little to thin now I think and I don't seem to be putting it on much and I have been feeding her as much as Marlo. Also it looks to me like her cloudy eyes are not as bad, have you noticed this in Snorkels?


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Herzo said:


> You know I have been meaning to ask if she was showing any signs of affection to you. She looks really good, don't you just love how good it makes you feel about giving them a good life. I don't think Maddies life was any where near as bad as Snorkels but I just can't see how they could give her up. We just think she is a hoot. She loves her food so much she will start howling at me when I start getting there food ready then Turtle starts barking and you can't hear a thing. At least Maddie has a deep funny voice.
> 
> She is getting so attached to me she come's over to get lovins from mom all the time. She is a little to thin now I think and I don't seem to be putting it on much and I have been feeding her as much as Marlo. Also it looks to me like her cloudy eyes are not as bad, have you noticed this in Snorkels?


Yes and it took a year and a half!! I had just decided she was either an aloof dog naturally or else she was never going to really like us. She was always right on top of us when food was around, but otherwise just leave her alone. 

I will ask the vet about her eyes. I just looked at them and you know they don't seem as cloudy to me  But maybe that's wishful thinking.

I guess I should be grateful to Snorkels' owners that they didn't dump her on the side of the road. They did take her to animal control and ask that she be put to sleep. And I am glad they didn't just keep her in a cage until she died.

But I'm not really grateful to them - just because they weren't as bad as they could have been doesn't mean they weren't absolutely horrible to her. And I would bet a dollar to a donut they had a new puppy within a month. It seems that's how those folks do it. Throw out the old, bring in the new.

I guess it's not how bad they were, it's the fact that they didn't give a crap and gave your Maddie up because dogs shouldn't be unwanted when they have developed a bond and love their people no matter how awful. 

How old is Maddie? Have you had her very long? 

My husband is really the one who spoils Snorkels. Every morning after breakfast, they get on the couch to watch Craig Ferguson which he records the night before. Snorkels not only has to be wrapped up, but the blanket has to be folded just so that she has it tucked under her chin so her head doesn't have to go all the way down.


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## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

That's so cute, big tough men they kill me. Sounds like something mine would do.

Maddie is around 11 or 12. She came back into the Shelter I think it was in April of this year. We had fostered her about 9 years ago when I had my basset sisters before Turtle. She had been a hunting dog and was picked up on the Mountain with 2 Walker Hounds. I was there when the owner came to get them and she asked me if we ( the Shelter ) would take her and find her a home because her husband wanted to hunt Lions and she wasn't big enough. So I took her home that day to foster her, She may have stayed then but she and my oldest Abigail had a big fight and I couldn't have that. My girls were so spoiled I couldn't have anything upset there life. And Abigail was the head of this house so I found what I thought was a good home. They had a little girl that when they came out to my house to meet her just came up and grabbed Maddie around the neck. Maddie just loved her, The man worked for a lumber company and drove truck and took her to work with him. I would see him driving around town with her in the back of his pick up and she looked happy. 
Then he got a job in the Methane Fields and she was put in a yard that they never cute the weeds in. I would go by where they lived ( yes I guess I was stalking them ) and I even sent animal control to make sure she had food and water. He said she was fine. And they may have been taking her in at night because she went straight to my couch.
Anyway his mother was trying to take care of her and she was fighting with her boxer, then they guess what ........................... Got a new puppy....... yep you said it. I guess it made the old girl mad because then she brought her into the shelter again. She was there about a month with me saying all the time to my husband, " I can't stand her in there " he kept ignoring me and one day I just said I'm going in to get Maddie. That was that, he was in love when she walked back in the door 9 years later. She attacked every one of my dogs that weekend then it was all over. I guess she told them, however Turtle waited and snuck in the back and now is the boss again. She's smart that way.

I will never understand how people can dump there old dogs. I just love them when they get old. I mean I love puppies as much as the next guy but my old dogs, now don't mess with that. That's the part about being at the shelter that really bothers me, sometimes I just sit and cry with them. I know I know that's not good but I can't help it.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Oh my goodness she is so cute. I know she and Snorkels aren't the same breed but I see the same old lady wisdom in her face. 

It is beyond me how someone could get rid of a dog who was their buddy and even went with them to work. Unfortunately, they have probably taught their daughter that dogs are throwaways. 

Maddie is lucky that you kept an eye on her all these years!! Maybe you knew all along that she would be coming back to you one day. That is too sweet. 

I don't know how you could be human and not cry with the dogs at a shelter. Bless you for doing it even though it constantly breaks your heart.


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## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

Oh I just meant it might upset them more. I don't know but I can't help it sometimes, I almost ended up with an old blueheeler mix after Maddie. My husband said no way. She was so scared when they brought her in and I sat with her then she bonded with me, I was in love. I almost pm Penny, yes you Penny, to say I'd bring her down if you'd take her. She was the sweetest dog but she has found a new home and I think a very good one at least that's what they have told me, I would like to meet the woman that took her.

I know old dogs all seem to have that look, and Maddie is a basset/redbone coonhound mix so she's bigger than Snorkels.And yes it may be Karma after all.

EDT: Penny we have a very cute little 8 month old red heeler with a bobbed tail. Really though he's kind of a nasty little thing. I have been told his father is evil. I found out where he came from. I always think of you when we get these kind of dogs in, but then we get then in all the time. I guess I think of you often. Lots of livestock dogs here.


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