A Warm Spot

August 15, 2021 | Filed under nonfiction Poem

Blogging about our animals is a bright glow in our lives. Just when I think it can’t get any zanier around here, cohabitating with two large dogs, three cats and two guinea pigs, something happens. Thank goodness it’s usually adorable or funny.

Meet Luna, a petite long-haired mix. April rescued her when she was 6 weeks old and she didn’t weigh more than a bottle of water. She is about five pounds now and won’t be a large cat. She is gentle and happy and like Bagheera/Noodle kitty, travels well in her carrier and has made her place in the pack. In this photo she found a warm spot to take a nap, I suppose a laptop is kind of like a human lap just a bit flat.

Below is my tribute to Luna.

Kitten haiku

Sprawling Feline warm

from hardware and data chips

cat divinity

Photo: Black kitten laying on it’s side over open laptop computer, head and paws facing camera.

Cat trap

August 11, 2021 | Filed under nonfiction

The sleek and silent Bagheera slipped into the enclosure, intent on his destination. The human, distracted by the guinea pigs, didn’t notice until it was too late.

“Darn cat, did you go in there?” The human extended her arm and Bagheera slid into the protected hut at the far corner of the cage, avoiding her searching fingers.

The human’s voice rose and she lowered the door, then talked into the thing called a cell phone.

“Is the cat in there?” she asked the phone, holding it at the cage. The tiny voice in it said,

“Yup, he’s in there, all the way in the back on the shelf,”

The human spoke and she sounded angry but he didn’t care, he was in the most rare and coveted place and he basked in his prize.

“I can’t reach you, you little turd,” she said, withdrawing her hand. He watched the human enter the storage room, then she went into the bright room with all the cold and wet places. She tapped the top of his ambrosia. Oh, he thought, why did the human have to entice him so? Why, oh why, did she offer him something he craved even more and more often than the coveted rodent shelf?

And this is how to lure a cat from hiding in the guinea pig cage. Appeal to his stomach.

He’s all grown up and now he tries to get into more places than the shopping cart

The Bone Hoarder

February 11, 2021 | Filed under nonfiction

May the Dog Chronicles – Christmas 2020 unveiled canine gifts judiciously chosen with two objectives in mind: price and product longevity. We were not going to spend more than ten bucks a bone and the product would need to be tough enough to deter a beaver, er, a young dog with terminator teeth. Before I get further along with this post, let me also mention we wanted to avoid a product with toe breaker status, as in the real beef bones that, when dropped or kicked, will feel like it just crushed multiple digit flanges. We have grown to hate these bones and yet we cannot part with them, like a broken toilet seat.

It’s funny how the mind forgets going through this with other dogs. Nikka, for instance, possessed razor-edged chompers that shaved off skin with a mere touch. May’s gleaming fangs, while not like razors, honor the years of knuckle bandages and Nyla bones of her predecessor, Nikka, with honing the ends of nyla like bones which lay in wait to impale a foot with prison shank precision.

Back to the purchases. We finally added two large breed Nyla brand wish bone flavored bones and a Nyla like chew that looked like a hammer or T. On Christmas day May and Bailey both put some dents in all of them and we shivered with dread when the T shaped bone was determined to also be a toe breaker. At least it wasn’t my foot put to the test. Don’t worry, Jerry’s foot didn’t bruise. may and her bones This image requires alt text, but the alt text is currently blank. Either add alt text or mark the image as decorative.

May the Dog Update

November 15, 2020 | Filed under Relationships

This image requires alt text, but the alt text is currently blank. Either add alt text or mark the image as decorative. Hello all, this is an update about May the rescue dog. She’s matured into a beautiful brindle brown 55 lb. shepard mix, sleek, strong and smart; she knows all her commands, tries not to counter surf and loves to ride with April in her car. May and kitten Noodle are best friends. Jerry can walk the two dogs in tandem for the most part, though I can’t mostly because I can’t see trouble coming and it is safer for me to control only one dog at a time.

She does these adorable doggie things like placing a paw gently on your chest to ask you to play with her. How could a human resist? Anyway, I’ve been a double-dog advocate since picking out Rocki and Gunny with Jerry all those years ago and believe she helped Bailey (and us) stop moping around after Verona died. As long as you can afford the time and dollars, go tandem!

May blessings be upon you and your loved ones now and always. Happy HOwlidays!
Photo is May on a recliner, the sun lighting up her sweet face and those derpy ears are so cute.

Under the Bed

August 17, 2020 | Filed under Relationships

May dog face close-up

From May the dog diaries. Subject: stashing stolen goods. Yup, folks,

she’s a sneaky one, this dog with derpy ears. While playing in the living room with the other chia pets, she drops the tug rings and goes for a flip flop, then when Jerry tells her to drop it, she runs past him and dives under the bed. We know better than to attempt to lure her out, after all, it’s a game and she loves it. Sigh.

Jerry calls her bluff and drags the entire bed from the wall and she leaves, choosing a bone and finds a place to chew it. Sometime later Jerry reports that a half dozen empty soda bottles, a chewed up pen, and the stolen shoe have all been found and removed. Until next time.

Kitten Training 101

July 11, 2020 | Filed under Relationships

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Noodle the kitten is developing into a well socialized domesticated feline. April, our daughter, took the time finding just the right kitten. He is mellow, confident, and is advancing in his training. The photos show Noodle in a harness and leash and sitting in a grocery cart. Before anyone cries out that this is not a service animal, allow me to say it was a quick and necessary exposure for him and he passed with flying colors, taking it all in and staying in place.

Noodle rides in the car in his harness, walks willingly into a cat carrier, (most of the time, lol) and has no fear of our dogs. Why is Noodle being trained like this? Our goal is to provide him with experiences so if one day he accompanies April on a plane or train, or when she moves or Noodle has to stay with us for some reason, Noodle will be calm and unstressed. He even is being trained to play fetch and is walking on his leash. Let’s say he is the kind of cat who might believe he belongs with dogs.

May dog is his cuddle buddy and Bailey has learned to tolerate Noodle and not play bow and bark at him. As for Papa, he is still giving the kitten the feline stink eye but lets the kitten eat from his bowl and get close without becoming evil kitty. The difference between Noodle and Papa is that Papa was traumatized as a kitten and Noodle wasn’t. This allows him to be more open to new and unusual experiences.
What’s the saying? Cats rule and dogs drool?
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Catnip Anyone?

June 19, 2020 | Filed under Guide dogs Poem Relationships

Our daughter, April, moved out six months ago. We are now empty nesters, at least most of the time. Wouldn’t you know it, April and her partner, Danny, decided to practice parenting by adopting a kitten. His name is Noodle because he loves to eat ramen noodles.

He’s now about eight weeks old and is black with a little white patch on his chest. He’s at that funny stage where he runs sideways and gets scared after he gets up on something, cries until he’s rescued. Adorable.

Right now, as I write this, he is stalking us around the Livingroom, shooting out from under the furniture and popping at our ankles or doggy noses, no claws, thank goodness. Papa is not sold on the little black demon, mewing his distress. He is getting used to Noodle, though, coming up and sniffing him. May wants to mother the kitten, sometimes a little too much and Bailey is just a huge doofus who doesn’t know his own strength of curiosity. We caught him trying to nibble a tiny paw, so he is on the watch list.

Noodle loves boxes and the laser pointer is the only way to get him out from under the bed when we want to catch him. We are careful with it, as the dogs also love the laser pointer.

I think with time Papa and Noodle will get along. We are not forcing interactions and taking it slowly. He’s a lucky little kitty and he is already well socialized, likes to ride in cars, goes willingly into a carrier, and has come to trust our dogs.
Play
By Ann Chiappetta

Ebony kitten stalks its prey
Amid discovery of
each day. Fearless hunter dives
tags the target, then
hides to find another.

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Home is Where the Bark is

June 7, 2020 | Filed under Guide dogs Relationships

Sometimes one of the dogs does something that is funny and openly undignified., at least that is how we humans view it. We love them for living in the moment and finding opportunity to fulfill their doggy drive for affection, comfort, and sustenance. Below is a photo of yellow lab Bailey foregoing his training, and his timing is perfect.
PD: Bailey sitting on the bed behind Annie, who is also sitting on the bed eating a yogurt. Bailey’s head is on her shoulder, staring fixedly at the yogurt.
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Adventures of May Dog

May 8, 2020 | Filed under Relationships

“I’m missing a lollipop,” says Jerry.
“Look in May’s crate for it,”
A minute later, Jerry returns with the as yet uneaten candy, still in the wrapper.
“She hid it under the towel in her crate,”
Saving it for later, I guess.

May dog face close-up