Life According to Holling

Hooray...we've got a new blog!

2006-12-28T08:06:00.000-08:00

Okay, don't worry! We're not giving up this blog. We're just expanding a bit.

I Love an Old Dog is about our thoughts, feelings and challenges. We're probably going to talk about diets and exercise. I think it's the more serious side of us. You can click on the link above or below to see what we've written in ILAOD

Life According to Holling (where you are right now) will remain a place where we can gather to chat with our friends all over the world.

BTW, ta da...I'm in the paper today. You can read all aboooout it through the link on our new blog. Seriously though, I hope that some nice folks read the paper and look at life through my eyes :-)

We hope that other nice folks will consider providing foster homes for German Shepherd dogs as they wait to connect with their forever families.

Ooops, it's almost lunch and walk time. When Sharon has holidays from school we have lunch every day! I wonder what's cooking.

Woof! Woof! signing off for now "Mr. I love to have my picture taken"

P.S. We love to talk to those who visit my blog. Please feel free to click on "Comments" and leave us a message. Thanks :-) H

Mr. November, the calendar pinup guy....GSRNE 2007.

2006-11-22T11:21:00.000-08:00

It finally happened! The calendar is all set to go! When we went to the site and saw me as Mr. November, I must admit that I was proud. I didn't know what to do though when Sharon started to cry. It was kind of embarrassing.

We'd be thrilled if you'd consider buying some of the calendars for your friends as Christmas gifts. The proceeds go to help other German Shepherd Dogs like me to find their forever homes.

When GSRNE found me I had no home or toys, lots of fleas and other health problems. GSRNE took really good care of me (even though I don't like to go to the vet to get blood tests and teeth cleaning) and now I'm clean, healthy and happy.

Will you help so that other deserving German Shepherd Dogs have the same opportunities?

You can see pictures of some of the others who have found homes this year on the calendar website. I know some pretty good looking German Shepherd dogs!

Just one more thing about the calendar before I sign off - it's on sale for the next few days until December 2. You can save 20%. At that price you could buy at least two.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This calendar is a wonderful way for me to start the holidays. I can't wait for tomorrow and yum...turkey!

Bye for now! Woof! Woof! Holling

Holling's gifts from Brazil

2006-06-30T06:11:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

This week Sharon met Carla's sister and Erika's friend, Justine. We received some wonderful gifts for us from Brazil. We loved your handwritten post cards! Thanks so much.

"That cat" just wouldn't move off of my rug. Woooooooof! Even Daphne and Callie were curious about the rug, but Bandit wouldn't let them lie on it!

Have a wonderful holiday and if you would like to write to us anytime, I'll make sure that we write back.

Woof! Woof! and his secretary Sharon

A thank you message!

2006-06-30T05:33:00.000-07:00

Hello Sharon, Holling, Dao, Jack and friends all over the world!

On July 3rd, our group of students, Juvenil 3, will have its last class. Then they will be on winter vacation. They will be back at school in August, but they will have a different teacher. We had lots of fun interacting with you in the past months and we learned a lot too! We learned new vocabulary and we learned a lot about different ways of living! But the most important of all, we learned that there are fabulous people out there doing their best to make the world a better place! I think we are all doing a great job trying to understand more about other cultures and values. We will miss you a lot and we will never forget this international exchange!
This is not a goodbye message because I'm sure we will find new opportunities to meet online!
Thanks for being wonderful friends!

Erika and the Juvenile 3 students from Brazil

Holling thought the turtle was his blue ball!

2006-06-23T09:03:00.000-07:00

Hi again everyone!

I have a funny story to tell you. As you know, Holling doesn't see or hear too well. He does like to play with his big blue ball because he can usually see its shape.

Well, there are many turtles coming up out of the river to lay their eggs. The other day Holling and I saw one that is about the size of his big blue ball. Holling got all excited and thought that it was time to play ball. I'm sure that the turtle wasn't too happy at all of the barking and running around. I finally convinced Holling to leave, but he kept turning his head and wagging his tail as we continued to walk down the street.

Poor turtles when Holling is around :-)

Kindly,

Sharon

The Update on Sam and the foxes

2006-06-23T08:43:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Thanks very much for asking about Sam. We're going to answer your questions in this post with the picture of the fox. The little red fox in the picture is just like the ones that live around my town. In some parts of the town there are so many foxes that the streets are named after them. There's Fox Lane, Fox Avenue and Fox Boulevard. It's fun to see them playing in the snow in the winter time. Their fur is very beautiful.

Now to answer the questions about Sam! He's perfect again and you can't tell that he has lost part of his paw. The doctor did a very good job. Sam was born outside. He's unhappy inside except in the winter when it's cold and snowy. John brought Sam home 15 years ago when he was a kitten that someone had abandoned. We kept him in the house for many months, but he was very unhappy. We started to let him out to play in our backyard and he was a much happier cat, so we let him continue to play outside.

We have a big fence around the backyard and all the cats usually stay inside of the fence. Sam sometimes digs a hole under the fence and goes to play in the forest. There are deer, foxes, coyotes and brown bears in the forest near our house. I think that many of them are Sam's friends.

Usually foxes don't attack cats, but the fox that hurt Sam has babies, and she was probably trying to protect them. She lives in her den behind our backyard and usually comes out at night, although we have seen her a few times during the day.

Thanks very much for asking about Sam and me.

Woof! Woof! and his secretary Sharon

Holling's best friend goes to hospital!

2006-06-17T20:39:00.000-07:00

John and Sam

Recently Holling's best friend Sampson disappeared for a week! We were worried about Sam because we have foxes living around our house. Holling kept sniffing everywhere trying to find his friend Sam.

Then one night when I arrived home late from school John met me at the door and told me that Sam had come home. He really looked bad. We were worried so we took him directly to hospital even though it was 11:00 at night. The doctor said that it looked like he had been bitten by a fox and that they would have to operate.

Sam stayed in the hospital for five days. While he was there we went to visit him every night. Holling was so happy when we finally brought Sam home. He kept licking and sniffing his best friend.

Sam had to have part of his paw amputated, but we're happy to say that he healed very well and is running around now like a new cat.

Sharon and a very happy Woof! Woof!

You've seen Junior's picture...now, here's one of Dao!

2006-06-10T06:35:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Please say hello to Dao's smiling face. Now I'm sure that you can understand why Junior misses her.

Junior is probably wondering when he will get to eat some brownies again!

Kindly,

Sharon and Woof! Woof!

Hi from Jack and Mei-Mei

2006-05-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone:

I'm Jack! I think you already knew Pantiphar and Junior, and I'm Pantiphar's classmate. We are not only teammates in our class, but also good friends in daily life.

We all live in the same dormitory, and we have meeting everyday for our assignment given from our lovely teacher Sharon. ^^

I want to introduce you to another good friend. Her name is Mei-Mei. It's a Chinese name. It means "younger sister". For our family, she's just one of our family. Just like Pantiphar, I miss her so much. We have a lots of wonderful memories.

I'm really glad to know you, and so is Mei-Mei. Hope we can have a great time here!! ^^

All the best,

Jack

P.S. From Sharon - Can you guess where Mei-Mei lives? The country starts with the letter T, but it's not Thailand.

Holling has a new friend in Thailand!

2006-05-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

My name is Pantiphar, from Thailand. Now I'm in Boston studying Pre-MBA program with my wonderful teacher, Sharon.

I've seen many pictures of Holling and the cats which make me miss my dog very much. Here are the pictures of him that I want to share with you all. His name is "Junior". He's a chubby, lazy bulldog which I always like to share my ice-cream with (Oh, now I know the reason why he is overweight).

He's been with me for three years now but I can still remember the first day we met at the pet store.

On that day at the pet store, he looked at me from his cage with a very sad looking. "Take me home! Take me home with you!" is how he expressed his feeling through his eyes. I fell in love with him right away and just then, I asked the store owner to let me bring him home with me. That is how our relationship started.

I hope you enjoy a little story of me and him. Have a nice weekend!!

Best regards,

Dao

Welcome to Holling's Friends From Brazil & Portugal!

2006-05-15T15:49:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Welcome back Juvenile 3 and a warm welcome to some new visitors on Holling's blog!

Hi boys and girls from the 5th grade class in Parede, Portugal!

This is Holling's blog! He's a dog and can't type so I do the typing for him.

I'm Sharon, the teacher who visited your blog.

Look around and have some fun here. Please let us know if you would like to practice English.

We also have some very special friends who live in Brazil. If you would like to visit them, there is a link to the Juvenile 3 blog on the right sidebar of Holling's blog.

If you like pictures of dogs, you will see many different types of dogs in the slide show at the top of the blog.

We'd like to talk with you again soon. Come and visit us again!

Sharon and Holling - Woof! Woof!

It's time for birthday cake!

2006-04-23T20:26:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

We heard that you had a holiday on Friday to celebrate your city's birthday. Did you have cake?

The USA celebrates its birthday every year on July 4. I usually bake a birthday cake that looks like the American flag.

People always take a day away from work. Sometimes families begin their yearly vacations on July 4. My husband and I never go on vacation during this week. There are too many cars on the road then.
Holling would like to send you some birthday cards. You can see your cards here and here.

Have fun!

Woof, Woof and his secretary Sharon

Why is Holling sleeping?

2006-04-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

Holling is usually very happy and lively. Today was bath day! John and I usually give Holling a bath every month. We hardly ever miss a month, unless it’s too cold to bathe him. Holling never wants to have a bath. He usually runs and hides when he knows that it’s bath time. Often I will follow him with some dog biscuits to try and get him to come out of hiding. He hardly ever takes the biscuits because he knows that he will have to come with me to have his bath.

After Holling has his bath, he will sometimes be quiet for awhile and then he often takes a little nap. After he wakes up, he usually forgives me for giving him a bath and then he’s always happy again. I’m glad that he almost always forgives me for putting him in the bath tub. I often wish that bath time was more fun for him but some dogs never like to have a bath.

Holling is luckier than some dogs that have a bath every weekend. He would never like to be in the bathtub every Saturday morning and I would never make him unhappy by giving him a bath every weekend.

Holling is always clean, shiny and good smelling after he has a bath. I’m always happy to have such a good looking German Shepherd Dog in my house.

Oh, I guess that Holling has forgiven me for his bath because he just woke up from his nap and here he is with his ball! It’s time for us to play ball.

We’ll talk to you soon!

Woof! Woof!

Holling and Sharon

Snow, snow, snow...for our friends in Brazil

2006-04-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, We had so many questions about snow that we thought we would send you a picture of snow and a snow flake (crystal.) The first picture was taken outside of our house this winter. Can you find our mailbox? The second picture is one of a snow flake.

Each snow flake is unique and a work of art. Here is a website where you can learn all about snow flakes.

You can play the snow flake game here.

Please come and visit us next winter so that you can play in the snow with us.

Woof! Woof!

Holling

Welcome

2006-04-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Holling's Blog and a very special welcome to all of his new friends in Brazil! We hope that you will enjoy this place to learn about Holling and practice your English.

Please send us any questions that you may have and we'll be happy to answer them.

Woof! Woof!

Holling and his secretary (Sharon)