I decided to put Suny's picture at the beginning of this blog entry, since it is mostly about him. This is one of my favorite photos of him. He looks so sweet, and he is as sweet as he looks.
So much has happened since I last posted. I thank my niece Susan's son Austin for his post on one of my blogs. That comment has made me realize that my memories are of value to some members of my family, and that I should keep on posting them.
I don't think I've posted much about our current dog, Suny. I got him from an area vet who formerly raised Shetland Sheepdogs, and showed them around the country and in Canada. This little dog was so sweet, and he has been our constant companion for many years. We got him in 2004 when he was just a few months old, and he has traveled all over the country with us (we have not flown recently, except for David's trip to Berkeley in early March to attend the funeral of his uncle Rex. I stayed home with the dog and the chickens!)
I don't see a photo of dear little Suny in this blog, so I will add a few, and tell you about him.
Suny was new at our house when this photo was taken. It must have been some time in the fall of 2004, as he was born in August of that year. Shelties are extremely intelligent dogs, and Suny is no exception. He knows a lot of words we use to talk to him, and he is very obedient, unless he decides he doesn't want to be, which is not often. He lies next to David's chair each evening, and if one or the other of us is gone, he is not quite at ease until we are both back home. Suny sleeps next to our bed on the floor of our bedroom. He thinks he is one of the family, and we agree.
In this photo, Suny is a bit older, and is showing his mature coloring...I would call him a 'tri-color'...with mostly reddish-tan fur, with black tips, and with a white collar, nose, feet, and belly. He has tons of fur, and when he gets brushed, a pile the size of another complete dog appears on the floor next to the person who is in charge of the grooming (either David or me...we don't take him to a groomer...he would be too nervous.)
In the above photo, Suny is lying near our couch at the Research Farm. The year was 2008, and Suny was four years old.
Here is a photo taken at the home of my son Dave and his wife Carol. This was one of the times Suny and I stayed at their home while they were on vacation, and took care of their house and their cats. The cat outside is a feral cat they called 'Bratty.' He earned that name when he took a swipe at my daughter-in-law's hand as she sat a bowl of food out on their deck for him. The photo below was also taken at their house, perhaps the same year. Suny rather enjoyed trying to relate with their house cats, but sometimes the cats were not so sure. Usually by the time we had been there a few days, they were less concerned about him, and sometimes even tried to play with him.
Suny has been in many states with us, including when we made our trip to North and South Dakota in 2009, as we explored places where my paternal grandparents lived, and where my father grew up.
This is a photo of David and Suny looking out over the Theodore Roosevelt National Park which extends along the western part of North Dakota. My father told of a picnic he and his family were on in this area when he came upon a nest of rattle snakes. My aunt Rachel (wearing her long skirts of that time - the early 1900s) was fortunate to have on that long skirt, as it became a barrier against the strike of one of those snakes as she accidentally jumped over their nest in the long grass!
This photo of Suny has him beneath the table in the RV we had rented for that 2009 trip to the Dakotas. He always liked being underneath something, and to this day, is most comfortable when he is in some type of 'den.' Our trip was fun, but the roads near the Bakken oil field with such a large vehicle made parts of it more adventurous than we enjoy. The blacktop roads were pretty narrow, with barely any shoulder between the road and the deep ditches and hills of which this area is composed. And, there were many trucks traveling these roads. At one point, a van began to pass a truck before it had full view of the coming traffic (us!), and we had to pull onto the shoulder to avoid a collision. That was very scary, since our vehicle was quite wide, and the shoulder not really wide enough for three big vehicles side-by-side. But, we didn't go off the edge, and all was well. I do think that all three drivers were pretty shaken by the incident, though.
Here is a shot of one of the many oil pumps that scattered over the countryside in western Dakota. I believe I took this shot just north of Buffalo, South Dakota (near where my father lived for a time - 35 miles south of town - on a homestead in a sod house when he was about 11 years old.)
In the summer of 2010, we spent the night in an old Norwegian log cabin located near Decorah, Iowa. This cabin (called Fern Hollow Cabin) was once lived in by Norwegian settlers in the area, and is furnished and equipped exactly as it would have been at the original time of its use. There was an indoor composting toilet, and an outdoor outhouse. The house was filled with antique furnishings and with historical information, and we enjoyed our stay there. In the photo above, Suny is in the living room of the cabin, next to the old trunk and child's stool, exploring his new surroundings.
This photo is of Suny in the summer of 2010. He's certainly become a handsome dog, hasn't he?
In the photo above, Suny was sitting in front of a beautiful crab apple tree that was in the yard at the Iowa State University Research Farm in Kanawha where we lived while David worked there (until his retirement in 2014).
This is a photo I took of Suny as he sat in the back seat of our car. He looks so very intelligent, and indeed, he is...
Both of the above photos were taken in September of 2011 when Suny was 7 years old.
In the photo above, Suny is getting a treat from Hannah, David's niece and a daughter of his brother Joel. Every holiday Suny was with us when David's family gathered to enjoy time with David's mother, Ann. This photo was taken at the common dining area for visitors to residents of the complex where Ann Rueber lived before she moved to Windhaven Assisted Living. The date would have been during the 2011 holiday season.
In the fall of 2013, we traveled to the Dallas, Texas area, and then on to Phoenix, and back home. In this photo, Suny and David are relaxing at our La Quinta Inn Motel room in Plano, Texas. We spent several days in that area visiting with Alitza.
While in the Dallas area, we visited the Dallas Museum of Art, and saw the Jim Hodges exhibit. Nellie, the daughter of our friends from Kanawha, Dawn and Ray Bassett, helped with the sewing of the gigantic fabric wall mural designed by Jim Hodges, and I wanted to be sure to see the original. It is amazing, and Nellie should be very proud for her work on this beautiful piece. I have a poster of the work framed and hanging in my living room.
After leaving the Dallas area, we traveled through Lubbock, Texas, and visited the Buddy Holly Center (although at the time of day we were there, the museum was not yet open). Here is David with Suny posed in the giant frame of glasses similar to those worn by Buddy Holly.
While we were traveling, we came upon an area where there were 'pictograph' rocks. David went on the trail, but I kept Suny in the car with me, since many of these places do not allow pets to accompany their owners on the trails. I don't recall exactly where these pictographs were located, but the scenery in the background of the photo suggests near the eastern side of the mountains in New Mexico. In any case, Suny looks like he is getting the scent of some animal, and he seems quite interested.
We stopped at this 'outpost' on Hwy 60 through New Mexico, and spoke briefly with the owner, who spent some of his time as a hunting guide for elk. He was not happy about the reintroduction of wolves to the area, as they were known to attack young elk (and that would have cut down on his business...) Needless to say, I was adamant about the fact that wolves were there long before people, and had a right to their natural habitat. We had seen a sign along the highway warning people about wolves, and heard tales of wolves close to human habitat. I can see that a parent might be worried about a small child waiting for a school bus on a dark winter morning, especially if the stop was a distance away from that child's house. But, there had at that time been no known attacks by wolves on children. Of more concern might be leaving a small dog tied outside, as that animal could look like 'lunch' to a hungry wolf...
Suny and David enjoying the beautiful bougainvillea and other flowering plants in Diane and Jerry's yard. This area is where pets are allowed to spend time outside, and in the lower part of the photo, you can see one of their Yorkies.
In this shot, David and Suny are exploring the 'family' part of the back yard. In November, the weather is lovely in Phoenix!
David is looking out over the view from South Mountain near Phoenix, with Diane's help in explaining what he is viewing.
In the photo above, Jerry is telling David some facts about the area near Sedona, AZ as we were on our way back home in November of 2013. At that same time, we stopped at Jerome, AZ before we all went up to Flagstaff and had lunch with my grandson Russell and his girlfriend, Molly. After that lunch, David and I and Suny headed back east toward home.
David walking Suny with Diane alongside in Jerome, AZ.
Suny is looking up at the camera. This shot was taken in the kitchen of the house on the Iowa State University Research Farm when we still lived there, taken before November of 2014.
This photo shows Suny asleep on the sheepskin rug at the farm house in Kanawha. The photo would have been taken before November of 2014.
There was an old, hollow and rotten tree in the back yard of our acreage. This photo shows Suny sitting in front of the downed tree, showing how 'empty' it had become. This photo was taken in the fall of 2014.
The above photo was taken in April of 2015. David and I were on a trip through parts of the south to visit Civil War sites where my great-grandfather and my great-grand-uncle fought in the mid 1800s. This was taken at Fort Fisk.
In the photo above, David and Suny are walking across the Taos Gorge Bridge as we were on our way to Phoenix to attend the wedding of Diane and Jerry's daughter, Krista, which took place on November 7, 2015. The photo was taken on November 3, of 2015.
No, Suny did not attend the wedding. Diane's Yorkies and 'Uncle Suny' stayed at Diane and Jerry's house during the ceremony, where Suny was quite happy to spend time with these busy little dogs!
Suny may have some allergies because he tends to lick one paw or the other until there is no fur left in one spot on that paw. In the photo above, he is wearing his 'cone of shame' which helps keep him from licking himself raw. Needless to say, Suny is not fond of this arrangement!
In the three photos above, Suny is outside while David tears down the old shed that was behind the house. This took place in February of 2016.
Suny, asleep once again, in his bed. We usually bring the bed up during colder weather, since he likes to snuggle in it. When it is warmer, the bed gets moved to the family room in our lower level, where he rarely uses it. He is so covered with thick fur that he doesn't need any extra warmth around him when it's warm out. The photo is in the living room at the acreage at Christmas time of 2016.
A familiar holiday cookie that has been made by the Rueber family for years are these little round goodies seen in this photo. Suny loves Kliigans, too, so he always waits while David is spreading them out to cool, just in case one falls on the floor. Yes, he gets to keep the ones that fall!
Here is another shot of Suny taking his nap in the living room, with our Christmas tree glittering near him.
This photo shows Suny as he and David come back from getting the mail on a cold and wintery day.
Here is our most recent photo of Suny. David took this as Suny had his nap on the floor near the living room couch. As he gets older, Suny sleeps more and more. At his visit to the vet for a complete physical last fall (2016), it was found that Suny has a tumor in his bladder. He is taking a pain medication, and that seems to be working pretty well at allowing him to remain comfortable. But, we know his time with us is limited, and we are dreading the day when he is no longer able to remain without pain. We have contacted the local veterinarian and will take Suny in for an exam soon (It is now May of 2017). After that exam, when the time comes to let him go, we will have a person close by to help with that situation. We love this dog, and will not let him suffer. He has been a loyal companion for almost 13 years. As long as he is comfortable, we will continue to enjoy his company. Each day we are grateful for this beautiful dog and his loving temperament.
