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Before we left the beach yesterday morning, we took one final stroll and saw this beautiful sunrise. I thought it was a perfect way to introduce what we have been working on over our holiday break – a totally refreshed website at The Thundering Herd. All of the content remains, but we have updated with a new look and a new header (voted on by the readers). Please take a little time to look around and let us know what you think. Oh – and if you find errors, let us know that as well. We were surprised to discover that our website had grown to 40 separate pages (the nearly 500 blog posts actually all count as one “page”).
A huge thank you to Julie Starling at Wild Dingo who coached me through all of the crazy programming things that needed to be done. There is no way I would have made it through this conversion without her dozens and dozens of emails with advice and suggestions. Julie, I almost left the teal blue background just because I knew you liked it so much.
And a huge thanks to Ann Adamus of Zoolatry for the superb rendition of the header. It looks better than I ever dreamed it could.
Oh – and thank to The Herd for now chewing on my computer cables so that I could get this done over the holidays. I think I need to go do this with them as a reward:
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Hu-Dad's Latest Musing
Our Hu-Dad shares the latest updates on his writing projects, the books he's reading, and other details in random musings posted on his website. You can check out his novels there as well.
Wings of Doom
December 12, 2024
A simple nightly routine with my dogs led me to face the wings of doom, a hideous creature that lurks in the shadows of my yard.
Hu-Dad's Novels
His books pay for our food!
Hi Everybody! My mom & dad finally got a new (slightly used) dog! It’s ME! Natasha! I’m a red Siberian with a MAGNIFICENT tail and a mouth FULL of sharp teeth! I wear my BIG tail like a wolf–down–not like a Husky, flipped over my back. My dad, Ray Svestka, and my mom, Rose, still have the (racken-fracken) cat (see above, 01.04.2010), but I’m working on that . . . . My mom yells at me when I try to eat him, but my dad thinks it’s funny, so she yells at him, too. We both end up in the dog house! I don’t mind, but it’s a little cramped for my dad. Sometimes he puts my leash on me & we go sneaking around the neighborhoods at night, just like he used to do with Judah, my predecessor, in upstate NY. My dad was in the Army, so we pretend we’re on a “mission.” He pays me in dog biscuits when we get home if the “mission” was successful. Come to think of it, he gives me biscuits even if it isn’t successful . . . but then, I’m not sure what constitutes “successful” vs. “unsuccessful.” Sometimes I bark at the neighbor dogs, and my dad tells me that Huskies aren’t supposed to bark. Since I’m really not sure what my lineage is, I think that I might have some sort of animal in my background that barks. Could it be a whooping llama? Do THEY bark? Well, I’m still fluent in Husky, so it’s really not THAT big of a deal! My parents can understand me. They keep using this one word which I don’t understand too well. The word is “NO!” Does anybody know what that means? Sometimes, when I do something bad, my dad rolls me over on my back, shakes the fur of my throat, and growls menacingly at me. I didn’t know that humans could growl like that! Well, anyway, HELLO EVERYBODY! It’s nice to meet you all! I’ll write again soon. Good bark!
Love,
Natasha Robin Rosemary Irina Svestka
(Na-na for short)
Raa-roo-roo-roo!
P.S. My parents rescued me Memorial Day weekend this year, from a shelter near Pittsburgh. I was pretty thin when I got here, but my mom & dad are fattening me up! I’m a LOT happier now than I was when I first got here!
P.P.S. I’ll try to submit a photo with my next post so you can see how CUTE and BEAUTIFUL (and modest!) I am!
Wow-what a gorgeous header!!! Amazing Photoshop job of editing out the leashes!! They look like a wild rogue herd now 😉 and the font, crisp design, and tabs are awesome. The Herd should be proud of their Hu-dad!!! Way to go!!!!
I love it!!! The new look is awesome!!!
Mochi
That’s a very beautiful sunrise and a good sign for the new year! May it bring rays of happiness to the herd!!
Mommy luv the last pic! She only wishes we could live in the countryside then she’d be able to have more than one fur-friend!
Thanks for sharing!
Cheers,
Maxx
What a gorgeous brace of dogs! My gosh, absolutely striking!
BTW, love the new blog look☺
I’m absolutely amazed (and delighted!) at the number of people who speak Husky(?), Malamute(?) or “WOOF!” My wife and I thought we were the only ones! (Silly humans!)
Rah-rooo-OOOOOO-rahroofr!
woof woof woof woof woof woof woof! Happy New Year from Judah (now in Heaven) and our family, Ray, Rose & Mr. Good Cat (we’re cat-sitting our grand cat!). We’re waiting for another Husky-Malamute mix. Did I say “woof!”?
What a nice header! You guys look great in the snow.
Louka
I was waiting to see the new blog header – and am not at all disappointed – the new look is superb! Very clean and easy to read. Kudos!
By the way, we just got three feet of powder. 🙂
It looks fantastic!! I love the header and the look is very crisp and clean. Great job! (I mean that to the Herd because I’m pretty sure it’s their idea.)
Kat
Simply spectacular – between your beautiful dogs and Ann’s talents and Julie’s help, this is a winner!!! The blog looks great too – don’t think we will ever get our Mom to be brave enough to attempt anything like this makeover. We are happy to see you chose the pic with Rusty out of step:) And the no leash look is just awesome!!!
Woos, Phantom and Thunder
Nice new look, guys! It’s so white and clean… just like your fur!
I chewed on my Momma’s laptop cable once. It shocked me and I’m never doing it again!
Sonic
I LOVE the new look!!!! It’s fabulous! The header pic looks awesome, too! You did a great job!
Holly and Khady
Love the new header!
I LOVE the new look! Mum keeps promising to do something with my blog too so maybe this will inspire her.
Man, I’m soooo jealous! Your site is soooo way better than mine now! seriously. I want that teal back NOW. i refuse to be upstaged! 😉
seriously, you’re like way web 2.0 now and i’m still on web -3.5! You’re inspiring me to revise my programming set up… but i think i have to move first. Darn.
GREAT job and Anne did an AWESOME header! I love it. I was happy and flattered to help the Herd. We’re huge fans!
Hugs,
Julie, Loki & Juno
Woofs! I love your new website and your header picture is perfect! All you doggies look fantastic! And what good pups you were to not chew on the cables. I hope you had a great walk as your treat!
Suka
p.s. Beautiful sunrise photo!
Woo-hoo! Look at woo! We love your new header and site plan. What a productive way to spend your vacation – furry nice!
a-roos to yous,
jack a-roo
PS – beawootiful sunrise!
Woo-hoo! Look at woo! We love your new header and site plan. What a productive way to spend your vacation – furry nice!
a-roos to yous,
jack a-roo
Holy SMOKES! Where are your LEASHES!?!!? That picture scares the heck out of our mom!!!
Ha roo roo roo!
Looks great!
Tail wags,
Storms
Looks fantastic!
Wow! I LOVE the new look! It was well worth your efforts!
Love the new site. Your new header picture is pawesome! I’m so glad you all had a great time at the beach.:)
Love,
Teddy Bear
Great looking site. It is so clean and tidy. We’ve been talking about a change over here as well because we hate the google bloggie thingie! We are all ears arooooorooooorooooo!
Woweeee! This is gorgeous! Ann does a great header and this one is no exception! I am so happy all the dog stories are still there, the pics and videos. The most fun of all though, for me, is the Stories, so keep telling them and allowing us to share your life with The Herd!
Kisses,
Stella (and Jo)
WOW!
We are blown away!
Then again, the WNW wind is khurrently 23mph gusting to 36mph!
Pawesome new look!
Khongrats to all that had a paw in it!
Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
Great new look!!! We love the header!!
I love the new site! Great header picture and I like how you have the tabs for dogs, stories and videos.
Wooo woooo Love the new site and the header is amazing. Great stuff well done.