World War 2 Hero: Judy, the English Pointer

 

Judy, a purebred pointer, was the mascot of several ships in the Pacific and was captured by the Japanese in 1942 and taken to a prison camp. There she met Aircraftsman Frank Williams, who shared his small portion of rice with her.

Judy raised morale in the POW camp and also barked when poisonous snakes, crocodiles, or even tigers approached the prisoners. When the prisoners were shipped back to Singapore, she was smuggled out in a rice sack, never whimpering or betraying her presence to the guards.

The next day, that ship was torpedoed. Williams pushed Judy out of a porthole in an attempt to save her life, even though there was a 15-foot drop to the sea. He made his own escape from the ship but was then recaptured and sent to a new POW camp.

He didn't know if Judy had survived, but soon he began hearing stories about a dog helping drowning men reach pieces of debris after the shipwreck. And when Williams arrived at the new camp, he said: "I couldn’t believe my eyes! As I walked through the gate, a scraggly dog hit me square between the shoulders and knocked me over. I’d never been so glad to see the old girl!"

They spent a year together at that camp in Sumatra. "Judy saved my life in so many ways," said Williams. "But the greatest of all was giving me a reason to live. All I had to do was look into those weary, bloodshot eyes and ask myself: 'What would happen to her if I died?' I had to keep going."

Once hostilities ceased, Judy was then smuggled aboard a troopship heading back to Liverpool. In England, she was awarded the Dickin Medal (the "Victoria Cross" for animals) in May 1946. Her citation reads: "For magnificent courage and endurance in Japanese prison camps, which helped to maintain morale among her fellow prisoners, and also for saving many lives through her intelligence and watchfulness".

At the same time, Frank Williams was awarded the PDSA's White Cross of St. Giles for his devotion to Judy. Frank and Judy spent a year after the war visiting the relatives of English POWs who had not survived, and Frank said that Judy "always provided a comforting presence to the families."

When Judy finally died at the age of 13, Frank spent two months building a granite and marble memorial in her memory, which included a plaque describing her life story.  (via Facebook)

Facebook: Judy, the Pointer

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Yorkshire Terrier: Pablo @ 20 Weeks to 25 Weeks Old (Yorkie)

Pablo  🐾 Pup is getting bigger, cuter, calmer, but his bold personality comes through and has never left.  His loud bark is as persistent as ever. 

Thinking about neutering him soon. My Manicurist expressed interest in breeding him with one of her client's dogs. Yet even at six pounds -- smallish to me -- Pablo is simply too "big" to mate with a  teacup Yorkie. 

A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: 

but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

Proverbs 12:10

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BARK: Kirkland Dog Park Party Pack

Our Pup needed more toys. I noticed his love of crinkly sounds, but he, unfortunately, likes to tear things apart. 

A quick search led me to this:  A 4-piece, inexpensive ($21.99) set. Each is a SQUEAKER, packed with FLUFF, and CRINKLE - yay! Their sturdiness will reveal itself in time.  

"Vodka"

membership status

"Cabernet Sauvignon"

Costco Dog Toy Bundle

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Dogs on Instagram: Prancer, the Chihuaha

This is Prancer, but you may know him better as “the vessel for a traumatized Victorian child.” He went viral earlier this month when his foster parent posted a brutally honest adoption ad for him. Well, we are excited to share it worked! Prancer was adopted last week and is settling nicely in his forever home: one without men, children, or anything else he can’t h*ckin stand. 14/10 congratulations buddy ❤️ (follow @prancerthechihuahua) -- IG: We Rate Dogs

🐾He protecc, he attacc, if the adoptees are men, pets, or children, they better take him bacc! 😂

 

A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: 

but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

Proverbs 12

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Celebrating Poet Emily Dickinson

Painting of the Dickinsons
as children

American Poet, Emily Dickinson, was born on December 10, 1830.  What strikes me most was her almost unnatural reclusiveness. For her this was the norm. For someone who was often out of sight, there was much going on behind the scenes as revealed through her poetry, writings, letters. I barely scratched the surface here.

Solitude was for Emily Dickinson a necessity; it was her natural state.  As she explained, "The appetite for silence is seldom an acquired taste."  Like all creative persons, she needed time in which to set down her fast-running thoughts, to capture them before they swept past ... she must find an outlet for the thoughts pounding within her.  Only in poetry did she find release.  And there must be time for books ... 'those enthralling friends.' (source, unknown)

Emily Dickinson

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How Many Dogs Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb?

It's Friday's Laugh-of-the-Day. Funny that neither my Shih Tzu pup nor my smart Maltichon dog made it on the "news" clipping, but my intelligent Collie-mix did! (Son and DIL's Australian Shepherd made it too, lol).

Cutie! Australian Shepherd living in Germany

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While I Was Driving, 12: Winter, License Plates & Names

Dear  Son says his German home town's Winters are not as harsh as ours; and the snow accumulation is tolerable.

I wonder if he misses Winter scenes such as this one.  Doggy Bubbles certainly misses him.

Pam: proud Mercedes Benz car owner

Dyana: likes her name and her Lexus

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Dog Story: Yummy in her Tummy

"Honey", our pretty designer Pup, only cost us $25 to purchase, yay! However, she has one glaring defect. In spite of a multitude of toys ...

... she prefers to chew on the following (incomplete list):

footwear

plastic containers

Library Books

 $17 library fee 

 $ 40 fee for this small amount of damage, eek!

furry bffs

still alive! kitty "tolerates" doggy's  affectionate nibbles

Honey also favors the taste of napkins and other paper products.
She loves dragging dirty laundry all over the house. Embarrassing! Feels like walking around with your zipper un-zipped or with ripped-up pants that expose your privates.  

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Dogs of Summer 4: Our DACA Dog

Two, cute, 4-legged furry foreigners:   
Café lives in a lovely home (converted from a barn) located in a small town about 4 hrs from Paris.  He is owned by our daughter's good friend, Jeremy, whom she visited in July.

HONEY was purchased as a puppy (cheap!) in Mexico by people from Indiana and crossed the border into our country with them during the very early days of Spring, 2017. We jokingly refer to her as our DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) dog, hahaha ... j/k...

She eventually trotted into our lives at the end of May. Till we got her, we had no idea how relatively easy it is for a Dog, 4 months and older, to cross the border into the USA from Mexico.  A possible side-benefit of NAFTA, perhaps?

Also, how many other designer and/or pure-bred dogs sold in the USA are from inexpensive Mexico-based breeders?  Dig deeper into your purchase of a cute Pooch and you might be in for a surprise.

sweet Honey

Parisian pup

link:
Bringing a Dog Into the United States


 A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast:

 but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

Proverbs 12:10

17.8.28.18