The Fur Kids of Whinny For Me Farm

Watson is a precious shih-tzu boy who was born on August 30, 2008 and came home with us on November 22, 2008. He is an early Christmas gift from my parents and comes to us from a friend and vet we know through miniature horses, Cheryl Powell of Colerain, NC. Watson is a blessing. He is so smart and so playful. He has really helped, more than words can say, with the loss of Winston. Watson prefers Winston's toys, Winston's spot on the bed and had a four leaf clover pointing him out to us in one of the first pictures we saw of him. We think Winston steered us to Watson and that Winston's in him some way. Watson is very affectionate and has a huge streak of self importance!

Watson really is my furry miracle. I never thought I could love another dog as much as I loved Winston, but God knew what he was doing when he made Watson... So much like Winston, and so much like himself. Just the most important fur boy in the world if you ask me! He is my constant companion and my best friend.

PS In my life, nothing has ever hurt more than loosing Winston and nothing has ever made me happier than having Watson.

Wilson is a precious shih-tzu boy who was born on August 30, 2008 and will came home with us on January 17, 2009. He is Watson's brother and tips the scales at 6 pounds, 8 ounces at the age of four months -- making him just a little larger than Watson. We are home a lot with our dogs, but did feel sorry for Watson when we have to leave him alone when we are both gone. He's too little (for now) to be with the other dogs SO he got his own dog -- Wilson! Watson and Wilson's breeder is a friend and vet and we feel very good about getting our puppies from such a good person! Wilson looks soooo much like Winston, the best dog I have ever been the person of. Wilson is very, very gentle and loving. He's even more laid back than Watson, which means he is a very cool and calm little guy!!!

Wilson scores huge brownie points for how much love he shows us... and okay, especially me. He loves his mommy! When Harvey and I come home together, it is nearly impossible to get him to go outside. He keeps running back to see me again.. It goes over much better with me than with Harvey, who gets annoyed and says "you can look at your mommy later -- go outside and do your business!". Harvey's just jealous :)

Winston J. Woollybear is and adorable gold and white shih-tzu who was born on June 20, 1998 and has been a joy to us since the age of six weeks. He is a wonderful pet and truly a family member. Just looking at him makes me smile. He's always so happy and sweet. I adore my horses, but Winston is in a different category. I feel so maternal towards Winston! He's such a loving companion and I don't know what I'd do without him. He means the world to me. He's also got a ton of nicknames (Winston JAY, Weatie, Little Joe, JuJu Bean, Baby Bear, etc.). Poor little guy is probably confused or thinks his Mom can't remember his name. Winston is just wonderful. He is the first Shih-Tzu I have owned and I know I'll always want to have one. Winston is just like a big dog in a little dog's body. He's not yappy at all and is so laid back and calm. Winston is my best friend and I love him so much it hurts.

Winston
June 20, 1998 - November 12, 2008.
Baby Bear,
We love you so much.
You were the best friend I have ever had and
we miss you so much it breaks our hearts.
Mommy & Daddy

Winston got his own dog! He saved up his allowance and bought a little girl shih-tzu that we helped him name. Winston's Willow-Meena is a brown, black and white shih-tzu who was born on May 20, 2000. Winston is pretty happy to have his own dog and thinks that she will keep him company when his mommy and daddy are at work and when his mommy is out with her horses (grrr...) Winston's mommy likes boy doggies better usually, but told him he could have a girl if he really thought he'd like hanging out with a little girl better than with a little boy. Willow seems to be a lot like Winston. Sweet and adorable and pretty calm and laid back. Did we mention adorable? As Willow has grown up, she and Winston have become the best of friends. Willow loves her people and is very devoted to us, but it is easy to see that Winston is her favorite "people". Willow is very energetic and extremely loving.

You can never have too many Shih-Tzu dogs! We "adopted" Whitney. Her previous owner could not keep her anymore and wanted her to have a good home. She is two years old, very laid back and cute as can be! When she first came home with us, she did not know how to play with Winston and Willow. She reminds me of a little prim and proper lady. She learned to play after about 5 days and the three little dogs love each other. Whitney plays with Winston and Willow but shows zero interest in toys. That's okay, though. Winston and Willow are not very charitable when it comes to sharing their toys. The dogs spend the day together when we are at work. I think they sleep most of the time judging from how they act when I'm at home and not at work. I would not mind trading places with them once in awhile. They could go to work and I could stay home and be lazy all day! Whitney, like Winston and Willow, is very sweet and affectionate. She loves to have her tummy scratched. She's a very calm girl and we love her so much!

And then there were four! We adopted Webster on January 25, 2002. He is a brindle and white pure bred one year old shih-tzu, who is currently sporting a short hair cut and doing his cocker spaniel impression. Webster is very very affectionate and seems to be pretty smart, too! He is chunkier than our other three and he has a real mommy fixation (earns him big brownie points). I can't make a move without him on my heels! We are so happy to have him as part of our family. We adopted him from this Twin County Humane Society, a mere 250 miles from our house. His previous owner had to give him up because she was no longer able to care for him due to illness. As sweet and loving as Webster is, I'm sure it was not an easy decision for her to make. He will have a home with us for the rest of his life.

This little girl is Maggie! We adopted her from the Culpeper SPCA on December 12, 2004. She is a wonderful Lab x Chow cross. She was born in October 2004 and she has already learned to sit, shake, lay down and rollover. She's very loving, protective and smart!!! She and Winston are very good friends but she weighs about 40# now and is too big to play with him as rough as she wants to. So, she got her own dog (see Kelsey below).

This little girl is "Blessed Acres Kelsey Blue", a blue merle collie who was reserved by us at just 3 weeks of age. Kelsey came home to us on June 15, 2005 and she is a wonderful friend and playmate for our Maggie. We are very excited about Kelsey and I have dreamed of having a collie since I was a kid. Blue merles are my favorite and Kelsey grew up to be the most beautiful dog I've ever seen (a totally impartial opinion). We chose a collie for our next dog for many reasons, including their disposition, intelligence, livestock friendliness, guardian capacity, size and beauty. Kelsey is a wonderful and beautiful protector.

This is Miss Paisley Perfect, a/k/a Paisley. After a long search, we found her, the right kitty, through the Orange County Animal Shelter via their adoption booth at PetSmart. Paisley was born in the fall of 2008 and comes to us at nearly one year old. She is SO sweet and beautiful. She is also very tiny, at around 5.5 pounds. As perfect as she is, it makes me sad to know she was basically a "toss away", coming in as a stray and staying at the shelter for at least 6wks. She wants to ask us, "what took you so long to get here?" . We are very happy to add her to our family.

This is Keeper. We got him as a kitten and he is a Maine Coon. Keeper was born in the spring of 2000 and is a HUGE cat and pretty docile and lazy. He loves to take naps and loves his people. His worst vice is sharpening his claws on furniture, which makes his "mom" very angry at him. Overall, he's a good cat! Harvey, my husband, is pretty much Keeper's person.

Our Fish Aquariums

In addition to the "fur kids" we keep as pets, Harvey and I are both very interested in fishkeeping. We keep a variety of tanks. Our favorite fish include blood parrot cichlids (our living cartoon characters), fancy goldfish (cute, bumbly and sweet), and flowerhorns (who can resist their faces?). Our tanks include: 75g and 2x 29g with fancy goldfish, 75g with blood parrot cichlids, tiger barbs and buenos aires tetras, 55g with a female flowerhorn cichlid, 55g with a gorgeous male flowerhorn cichlid, 38g with rainbow cichlids, serpae tetras, and cory catfish, 38g with small tropicals. We like to keep the aquariums well maintained, clean and beautiful and actually enjoy the weekly large water changes. The tanks are all "over filtered" with the water circulating 15-20x an hour. The fish do really well for us, I think due to the regular water changes, the good quality water from our well (like spring water), and the superior filtration in the tanks.

38g with Rainbow Cichlids, Serpae Tetras, Corys and BN Plecos

Blood Parrots and Tiger Barbs in a 55g Tank

Our Nigerian Dwarf Goats

Harvey and I have four adorable Nigerian dwarf goat wethers, which means we have four neutered boy goats

We got our first two in Spring 2004 and soon after got two more as babies. They are the most entertaining animals. They will make you laugh anytime you take the time to watch them and IF you choose to go in their paddock and actually play with them, you will have a blast and so will they. They adore people on a level I've only seen equaled by dogs. They're extremely affectionate and also quite intelligent. Ours are named George (black & white), Leroy (brown & white), Jasper (agouti brown w/ white) and Henry (white & brown). We may at some point get more goats just because they are so much fun and so nice as pets.

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