The Johnsonville Brats

You may have wondered about the title of our website, " The Johnsonville brats". Well here's the story.......

Brat #1: Katana Jazz.
She is a solid white Huskimo. Her precious soul joined our family in 1999, on my wife's birthday, June 2nd, when our dog hungry hearts were in desperate need of a family addition. After exhausting searches far and wide, in our own home town, at a rescue organization, we found the beautiful Katana Jazz. Her name was Snow White at the time. We pulled in and immediately saw her. "Look at that white Shepherd" I proclaimed. "You mean that white Husky?" my wife replied. So we slowly walked down all the pens until we reached hers. We decided to take her for a walk to test her temperament. The guy who brought her out talked to us for over thirty minutes, while Katana sat waiting patiently for the walk that never came. We had lovingly taken her for a "stand". Then we walked her to the car, as she joined our family.

Brat #2: Maleena K-Mart ( the "Mart" is silent)
In December 2001, God led me to the very loving black and white spotted hounddog, known now, as Maleena K. At this time, I was a Realtor and had just finished showing a home. I had no other appointments that morning as I drove toward home. Then it hit me, I had to go to the restroom like you wouldn't believe. I mean now!! (Ok stop laughing long enough to appreciate the story.) Of course, at this time of morning, all the fast food places were closed. So, I whipped into K-mart, it would have to do. As I scurried through the parking lot, a sad little spotted hounddog was walking up to random people, with that "please help me look." Recently a new mother, she was pitiful and I just walked passed her. I thought about this poor little dog while inside and knew I had to help. I came outside and lured her with a bank cookie, that Katana was too good to eat. Nobody ever answered the lost signs, that I placed. And so, after a $500 fix for her tick disease and one spay later, we were a 2 dog family. She is the most loving and sweet little "spotted mess" that you will ever meet, and that year she became Katana's live Christmas squeaky toy. We are blessed, and the funny thing is, I always thought that I had saved her! Isn't that a laugh.

Brat #3: Celeigh Jade (originally known as C.J.)
Word had obviously gotten around at work that Leonda and I were quite the dog lovers. My daytime receptionist was on her way out of a relationship where a precious black and white Springer Spaniel Border Collie mix was going to continue living a boring non cared for life, as her current owner was allergic to her long hair and could only be around her in very short doses. We were presented with a beautiful picture of her and thought in great detail about if we could handle three dogs. We decided we could. Upon arrival we thought we had been bamboozled ( is that really a word?), anyway she had been cleaned up in the yard with a hose and you could see all her pink skin through her very thin white hair on her skinny body. We took her anyway, even though we sure didn't know what to think. She has a beautiful full coat now and being skinny is far from being her problem. She is still very shy, but once again we had found a perfect match. Our blessings were sure to continue.

Brat #4: Bailey June
Bailey is truly her own person. She made her way in life to the car lot, I work at, in April of 2004. She was obviously a case of abuse, because no one could touch her. She is the most streetsmart dog I had ever met and she was only about 6 months old at the time, but this dog literally looked both ways before crossing the busy 3 lane highway in front of the lot. For 2 solid months she stayed at the car lot and would follow us around as we worked with customers. She always acknowledged us and appreciated us, however it always had to be under Baileys terms. After two months of living around the lot, the pound trapped her and took her in. They thought that she was mean, because she was scared and acted aggressively. They wanted to put her down, but I was able to convince them she wasn't mean. So they separated her from another dog, in the pen, and she acted fine by herself. Whew. Still, waiting to be able to claim her, she contracted Parvo. Once again, "we're going to put her down", was not a solution livable for me. I had bonded with her during our conversations on the lot, and I was determined to save her. Now this was the catch 22. In her condition, she could not have lived through being spayed, however, you cannot get a pound dog that has not been fixed. Wow. What next? After working with a kind worker, we came to the conclusion that we would "bend" the rules and allow me to claim her as my own, as a "lost pet", since she had "lived" on the lot with us for 2 months. She is now a very happy healthy solid black Chow lab mix. I had promised her that if she would live through the upcoming events (it took her strong will and $1000) that I would give her a great life. She lived up to the promise and so did I. She has been with us a year now and has learned trust. She is a happy blend for our family. Her name is very special, as well. She roamed the Steve Bailey lot and she finally came home in June, thus we have a fabulous dog named, Bailey June.

Our lives are complete with our four legged children. They are all dogs with previous lives, that only they know about. They seem happy, and they don't seem to mind, living in Johnsonville. Oh, and needless to say, they are all definitely BRATS!!

So that is how we came to name our website, "The Johnsonville brats"

Until we meet again.....Greetings and Salutations from the Moon........Tj