September

A few photos that didn't make it into the blog last month...

June

To wrap up the month of June, which was a mix of good, bad and indifferent, here are some never-before-seen photos (all taken this month). They're in no particular order, just how they happened to be in the file folder.

Suzie took this one at training. Getting all three dogs to sit (or stand) next to each other isn't as easy as you might think. I have to laugh every time I realize Duncan still has his back feet on the other side of the jump...

I disturbed her beauty rest....

Pay attention to the look on Reyna's face. She's getting ready to remind Kodiak that the ball is hers and only hers.

"Mom! Kodiak's bothering me again!"

And a couple of cute videos....

Suzie and I are trying to teach Kodiak to walk Duncan. This was our first attempt at "Walking the Dog." Sadly, we have been unable to reproduce this particular trick. We're going to keep working on it, though, because its going to be really darn cute when we can get the boys to do this on command.

Another musical number from Big D and Lil' K. Kodiak doesn't yet have Duncan's staying power for holding a note, but he's working on it.

NIMBY

When I took the pups out last night for their pre-bedtime potty, I looked over at the catiary and saw that Khar'pern was playing with something. At first, I thought a bug had gotten inside and she was tormenting it. Or maybe even a toad. When I walked over to see what it was, I realized she was hissing and pouncing at this:

I firmly believe that snakes have a place in the world. I just as firmly believe that that place is not in my yard, in my catiary, in my house, or anywhere near me, my dogs, or my cats. I don't know what kind of snake it was (waiting on my snake expert to get back to me on that), and it was a little thing, thank goodness, but I still didn't want it in the catiary. You can't really tell from the picture (I was focused more on getting the color than I was the position), but it was holding about half of its body off the ground while it hissed and snapped at Khar. After throwing gently encouraging Khar back into the house, I took a couple of photos for identification purposes, and then I proceeded to hack the snake into multiple pieces with my (what else?) hacksaw. I felt much better after tossing the pieces over the fence into the woods. Now I just have to figure out how the thing slithered into the catiary. I'm thinking there may be a small hole that needs patching...

Belated Birthdays

My slackness in posting means I have a couple of belated birthdays to mention.

Mirabelle turned 14 in April. I can't believe we've been together so many years!


The kittens all turned 6 in April. Khar'pern, Parm and Per'la have certainly made life in the clowder a little more interesting.




Happy belated birthdays, Belle and Kittens!

Brief Harmony

This is the closest we ever came in our house to something similar to Max and Fawn. It certainly didn't last very long.



And, well, this one is just really cute.

Moreness

Duncan discovered a new game Saturday night. Its called Herding The Neighbor’s Children. Not really the best game, considering he weighs more than the kids (and more than the two girls combined). The game started in the usual fashion: one of the kids dropped their ball, Reyna picked it up, and keep away ensued with much shrieking. Duncan got a bit too excited, though, and after about 10 minutes he started herding. With his mouth. He nipped one of the girls on her calves several times, and then he started nipping at various arms. He never actually bit anyone, but he was very mouthy and the girls were terrified. By the time the fun ended, all three kids were plastered up against their dad and Duncan was running around them, occasionally reaching in to try and grab one of them. I wouldn’t be too concerned about it, but Duncan has shown before that he really doesn’t know how big and strong he is and he tends to forget that he has to be gentle with everyone other than Reyna.

And speaking of Reyna, weekends are obviously the hardest for her. She did better this Sunday than last, but she was still limping by the afternoon. And she seemed to be much more tired than usual. She handled the SAR session well, and the trainer made a point of laying a track for her on the easiest terrain. She has next Sunday off, so we’ll see if that makes a significant difference. If it does, I may cancel the rest of her sessions. Unfortunately, doing that means we’re just one step closer to the end.

Belle’s doing much better these days, which is nice. Her eye has finally started clearing up. I don’t think the flip-flopping temperatures are helping much, but I’m not closing my windows just for her. The other day, Belle was drinking from their water bowl when Khar’pern decided to lay down on the opposite side of the bowl. Without any warning, Khar shoved the bowl straight at Belle. I’m not sure what upset Belle more – the sheer rudeness of it all, getting her legs bumped by the bowl, or snorting water up her nose…

Kittyness

Belle had her annual check-up two and a half weeks ago and was given a clean bill of health. The only problem was her hatred of the other cats. And, really, if she quit having such an attitude, I’d probably think something was wrong with her. And the attitude makes sense, when you consider that Loki likes to play “I’m not touching you,” Mikey likes to sit on her head, and Per’la pounces on her when she’s sleeping… Last week, though, Belle woke up with a cold. She’s still feeling pretty cruddy and her eye is all ooky. Nothing the vet can do for her, so she just has to tough it out.

Last night, I discovered Khar’pern under the sink, reposing very regally upon a package of toilet paper. She looked rather put out that I’d had the nerve to open the cabinet door.

Weekend

Khar’pern actually came out while the pups and I were outside working Saturday. I’d left the baby gate down, so she came under the hall door and wandered out on the porch. Reyna was a good girl and left her alone. Of course, to Reyna, if I’m outside, there’s nothing more important than the soccer ball. Duncan spent most of the rest of the time we were out there on the porch with Khar. He was nice the entire time, nosing at her a bit, and then just laying down next to her. He really wants to be friends with the kitties. He spends a lot of his spare time with his nose and a paw under the hall door, waiting for one of them to come play.

I brought out the wading pool Saturday, too. Reyna kept running through it every few minutes, and occasionally plopped down in it to cool her belly. Duncan wasn’t so sure what to do with it, but he finally walked through it a few times, and once I even got him to lay down in it. Poor guy, his black fur was so hot.

I also started back to putting out birdseed – I put a feeder up outside the bedroom windows for the cats. Turns out a squirrel heard about the new buffet, and has been snacking. The cats are thrilled, but its making Reyna nuts. Every time she heard him with those big satellite dishes on her heard, she would go streaking out the door. I hate to hurt her feelings, but she will never be able to sneak up on it, especially not if she keeps barking.