All in the Family

Biography: Ursa came to our Toronto home in July '04 taken from an unscrupulous backyard breeder found selling off puppies at 3 weeks old - a mere 6 lbs. She missed her mummy and especially her milk. We started her on the bottle, but she quickly spurned that for solid food and grew like a mushroom in the rain forest. She's now 100 lbs of solid shep-girl and has all the grace of a rhino. She loved her beagle bro Beau (whose affection came slowly but surely) whom we lost in September at fourteen, and some kitties who have that feline ambivalence about canine affection as the odd unsheathed claw often reminds us all. Ursa's optimism is undimmed - she keeps on trying and the cats keep rejecting... Ursa's favourite job is clearing the back yard of squirrel invaders. (We can't even say the word, but have to spell it out s-q-u etc). Thankfully for those bushy-tailed critters, they're just slightly faster than she is. She loves camping, walks (especially the whole pack together - that's really fun!) and car rides to grandma's house. We can't imagine life without Ursa, whether she's drooling for oranges or salad, with balsamic and raspberry vinaigrette - of course, but with her hip problems we are trying to lower her weight - the girl likes her food! So this summer, it's frozen fat-free yogourt cubes, rather than ice cream. She also loves rolling on her back in the park, stick in mouth, and a goofy smile and wagging tail. She's pure charm, and is happy (mostly) to be showing the ropes to her little brother Boris, of whom she is highly protective.