The Epitome of Grace

Below is a lovely story about a sweet puppy I bred to show - JeanE's Promises In The Storm - Winnie. Winnie was gorgeous but at the age of 10 months old she injured her eye and was left with a corneal scare covering 3/4 of her eye - disqualifying her for the show ring. Still a wonderful and intelligent girl, I wanted her to have the very best home out there with a family that would love her and care for her as the very special girl she is. As providence would have it, Simone and I were introduced and the rest is history. Here is her story...

The Epitome of Grace
By Simone DeBlasio

Boston Terriers have been captivating my heart since the mid 90s. I find them to be the most amazing creatures. Maybe it’s their wide jackal-like smiles, or their overly expressive eyes, or perhaps I’m fond of their quirky personalities, or their ability to do hilariously fearless acts. You get the point. I love Boston Terriers.

I had two Bostons for many years and they provided me with endless entertainment, unconditional love and tenderness. In 2008 I had to put my 11-year old Sadie down, and my heart broke into a million pieces. A year later I had to send off her 14-year old brother, Quincy. What was left of my soul evaporated, and I swore off dogs.

After year of grieving and healing, I was finally able to consider getting another dog, so I started doing research. I was hoping to rescue a Boston, but it seemed nearly impossible. The good thing is they’re so popular they get rescued quickly. I started talking to a breeder in Redding who would have puppies soon, but I had my heart set on getting a rescue.

I figured it wasn’t meant to be. A week later she emailed about a friend who was looking for a home for a 3-year old female. She forwarded me to JeanE's Boston Terriers (http://www.jeanesbostons.com). I perused the website and knew I was in the right place. How could I pass up anyone with a tagline that says: Naturally Reared For Health & Beauty since 1984. Also, the pictures were perfection.

Jeannie and I emailed for about month, she was extremely diligent in her screening process, wanting to ensure her dog would be going to a safe and healthy home. When she told me about the raw food diet I backed away. How could a vegan handle raw meat? But something kept bringing us back to each other. In the end, I decided raw meat couldn’t compete with a Boston Terrier’s love. When I received the photo of little Winnie wearing her “Canine Good Citizen” ribbon, my heart grew fifteen sizes. It was love at first site.

We drove 6 hours from Los Angeles to Redding to pick up Winnie. After getting lost on the winding country roads, we finally found the location. I jumped out of the car and sprint-walked up to the house. From the porch a little black and white blur darted full-speed ahead right toward me, smiling ear to ear. Somehow this special little gal knew we would be together.

Winnie’s been in our home four months and every day gets better. She has taught me how to open my heart again. Her love is like the bright sun, lighting up our home and bringing so much laughter and joy. She is quite the character with a personality so huge, I started a website devoted to the adventures of Winnie. http://bostonterrierfanatic.blogspot.com/

I made a promise to only get future Bostons from Jeannie because Winnie is the most well-behaved, well-mannered, gentle, tender, intelligent, sweet, obedient, healthy and charming little dog I’ve ever come across. Jeannie’s website says they are dedicated to “producing healthy, sound dogs that are teachers, soulmates, bringers of daily joy, and dearest of companions.” And the proof is in the pudding, or rather, in Winnie.

Dogs By Reusch

''Mister Reusch is a freelance illustrator and teacher at Massachusetts College of Art in Boston who's done hundreds of editorial illustrations, concert posters, snowboard and helmet designs, and more. But his favorite subject is painting dogs,especially Boston Terriers. He wasn't allowed to have dogs in his old apartment, and he found himself constantly working the bug-eyed, bat-eared Bostons into his freelance assignments. Eventually, he began painting large full-color Boston Terriers for gallery shows, and donating prints and originals to worthy causes.

In 2006 Mister Reusch started a fundraising program with http://www.bostonbuddies.org, creating a series of four 14' x 11' paintings showing dogs running through the seasons; the background of each painting lines up with the others to create the illusion of one big panorama, though the background foliage changes in each according to season. Four times a year Reusch sent a signed-and-numbered print from the series to each of the first 10generous donors who pledged $100 or more to Boston Buddies.







These days Mister Reusch and his partner Carrie live with two Boston Terriers,4-year-old Frankenstein and 8-year old Mr. Giles,(pictured above) a Hurricane Katrina refugee they adopted. The boys are a constant inspiration, and have appeared in many of Mister Reusch's recent artwork. He accepts dog portrait commissions regularly, so please visit www.DogsByReusch.com for more information."

Boston Terrier selected as finalist for Circuit City "Fire Dog"

Spanky, has been selected as one of 19 finalists out of 6,000 entries for the Circuit City Firedog photo contest.
If he wins, the Greenhill Humane Society in Eugene will receive $50,000, plus $1 per vote.
It is particularly noteworthy since this little guy just survived
vascular heart surgery.

The voting takes place online from January 6-26. If you can find the
time, it would be wonderful to have you vote
for Spanky. He is photo number 12 of the little black and white Boston
Terrier on the beach.
Just click here >>>> http://207.56.151.5/view/?id=12 to vote.

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More about Spanky:

Spanky was born 7/31/05. I have always been a yellow lab fan. My children's mother wanted to get our kids a dog. She wanted a breed that was smaller and began researching breeds. She decided that Boston Terrier might be a good choice.

She found a breeder in Sweet Home, Oregon. We had Spanky for about 3 weeks and found out from the vet that he had a heart murmur. We did not have the money to have it repaired. Each time when we took him to the vet, they commented on the murmur. I asked the kids' mother if we shared the cost, if she would agree to
let me take him to Oregon State University's Vet School to be diagnosed,
to see what we could do to help Spanky. She agreed.

I brought Spanky up there and spent an entire day. They said that he had a ductis and that surgically correcting it was the only option. They suggested going in through his leg through the femoral artery and putting a plug in to close it off. He also had an arterial valve issue that they said was not severe enough to treat. However, it caused an arterial bulge. When they went in, they inserted an
ultrasound scope down his throat to get a better look at the ductis. After three hours, they were not able to get a good enough image to deploy the blocking
devise.

They recommended that they make an incision and go in through his ribs and tie off the ductis. We OK'd them doing this. The surgeon said that it was one of the toughest ductis surgeries that she has ever done. Spanky came through the procedure with good results. He goes in in one more week to make sure that the ductis was
successfully closed off.

Spanky has become a member of our family in every sense of the world. He steals the hearts of everyone that he comes in contact with. The staff at OSU kept him in their laps when they worked, except when he was on an IV. They all just love Spanky.

Winning this contest would be such a validation of what an incredible little dog he is! He may be small in size, but he has the heart of a lion.

It is interesting to note, the cardiologist said that dogs rarely make it to two, with this condition. The fact that Spanky was 28 months old at the time, and had such good heart function, was really a miracle!

Please vote for Spanky to be the Circut City's Fire Dog!

http://207.56.151.5/view/?id=12