I have been smiling all morning thanks to my Big Boy Lucas!  My youngest daughter took him on a little trip for two days, I am not really sure if he got the same quality of walks, perhaps he didn’t go at all, who knows, he was having a little break from his daily routine at home which is good for him.   Lucas is a senior dog, albeit he loves his walks,  but his enthusiasm isn’t as overt as it used to be when I suggest it’s time to stretch our legs.   A lot of days I have to wake Lucas from a deep slumber to let him know I am heading towards the door to get my coat on.  He missed four walks with me while he was away, nominal really!  I was bowled over, literally,  by his zeal yesterday when I picked up his leash and was reminded of what it was like to suggest we take a stroll when he became part of the family five years ago!  This morning was more of the same,  Lucas was ever so eager to get outside and tour the neighbourhood.  I couldn’t help but be entertained by the fact that he had to pee on every tree, smell every blade of grass and bush, his head down, practically dragging me as he tried to process everything he had missed in ninety-six hours!   I am not sure how long this keenness with last?  But it is nice to be missed and appreciated and even nicer when I realize how much he truly loves his walks with me!

 

 

When the cat needs a time out!  Feline’s are known for being adventurous, inquisitive and clever,  one could also use the words cuddly, fun-loving and sweet.  I have to say my boy Romeo had a much less admirable descriptor tied to his name this morning, incorrigible, crafty and ill mannered come to mind!   We had a canine guest staying at the house for a few nights, her only hang up,  she isn’t fond of cats, for our lovable feline’s well-being, he was cloistered to the back of the house.  If you are feeling sorry for him, please don’t, he had four rooms to meander through, a big comfy dog bed (that he spends most of his days slumbering on, normally it is in the living room, but I relocated it to the office just for him) and his litter box was  close at hand.  I will concede that Romeo is a very social cat and wasn’t thrilled with the idea of not being allowed out in the general population, he doesn’t like to miss anything, he’s always right in the middle of the action.  The morning after his first night of seclusion, he was rather saucy about being locked up with me over night in my bedroom, he decided he would be disruptive so I couldn’t sleep in the wee hours of the morning, I understood he felt he had to make me aware of his objections to being put in an imposed time out.  It just so happened I had an action packed day, his hijinks didn’t bother me,  I needed to get up anyway.  After night two of being cooped up and the added insult of being alone all evening as my spouse and I went to a concert, he was in a bit of a snit.   He snuggled up in bed with me with no qualms, nestled under my arm, so I thought we were good.  My punishment started around 5 a.m.  after he’d had his fill of affection.  He  started off with meowing and caterwauling loudly, which progressed into prodding me in the face with his paw a few times, then he hooked his claw into my lip, and finally he got up on the head board and started pounding on the blinds.  Imagine a two year old in a full out tantrum, that’s where his mindset was.  He  was airing his frustration with his imposed time out so that I understood how wronged he felt!   I am going to be honest, after his impudence I was ready to walk out of the bedroom and leave him for another hour or two to contemplate his behaviour, but I cut him some slack…he took one for the team and wasn’t allowed to be the master of his own destiny for two whole days!  Every thing is back to the usual this afternoon, he’s laying out on the dog bed below the living room window, arms out stretched (he must be a little tired from his protest this morning).  I keep eyeing him out there, looking so incredibly cute and thinking maybe I should go vacuum the carpet right beside where he is resting or perhaps spray some Windex on the glass above his head?    No, I will put the shoe on the other foot and remain empathetic and hope that tonight he is over it….but he is a cat, so my expectations are realistic!

 

I often say that I am more dog than human, but I have done some thinking on this and I have changed my mind!   I have been full of energy and thoroughly enjoying my daily walks and then the weather began to change with colder mornings, let me revise that, colder temperatures over all, it’s October so that is what is to be expected!   Where we live we literally went from it feeling like 28 degrees last week  with the humidity and wearing shorts, to the next day it dropping below zero.    I am in no way complaining, the see saw weather of ups and down is part of being Canadian, and I embrace it, I love getting out my sweaters and layering.    I have my hat, mitts and my warm jacket on each day as I head out, but I have not only noticed a change in temperature, I have realized I am experiencing an internal adjustment.   If I take the opportunity to sit down or get in the passenger seat of the car to go somewhere I am almost immediately comatose!  On the weekend we drove to Oakville to visit family, I had a wee siesta on the way there, so I figured I was good for the day, but when we got in the car to drive home I fell into a deep slumber before we had hit the highway.  I woke up over half an hour later, I was utterly confused where I was and totally amazed by how tired I felt.  Later that evening, I drifted off yet again while trying to watch a program on t.v, and even more amazed that I slept a solid eight hours when I turned the lights off at the end of the day.   I have decided that I think I am more like a red squirrel, which for many who know me, may have already realized!  Those spirited little critters that dart about with boundless energy transform as the temperatures drop by becoming less active and can choose to remain in their dreys (nest) for days on end!   Maybe that’s why dogs and cats find me so interesting, they realize I am like the red squirrel,  hard to keep up with, therefore making them rather intriguing and down right fascinating!

(photo credit:  Leila Wirkkala)

Who says that MacGyver has to be a guy?  On the weekend my Daughter and Son-in-law had to vacate their home for a few hours so the realtor could do a few showings.  First off, the two had to scramble to get the house looking presentable, and get organized to make sure they had all the gear they would need for their baby and the dog would also have to join them.  As any parent will attest, getting the Diaper bag stocked is no small feat, my Daughter had her plate full.  The two rushed out of the house and drove to their favourite park along the Lake and were getting the baby situated in the stroller and ready to roll when my Son-in-law called out from the back of the vehicle, “You wouldn’t have happened to grab Rupert’s leash?”    I think we have all been there in that moment when you feel you had your assigned tasks and someone dropped the ball, she took a deep breath and tried not to sound exasperated when she reminded him that her job was to get the baby’s needs organized, he was to grab the leash.   My Son-in-law is no slouch though, he started combing through the car to see what he could find to fashion into something that they could attach the dog to so he wouldn’t dart off after cyclists or geese.  After a few moments he came up with the idea of tying their re-usable cloth grocery bags together and connecting them to Rupert’s collar.  “All set,” he announces, rather proud of himself for coming up with such an ingenious idea (I think I might have done something similar, I believe I used a hoodie once).   My Daughter got one look at what he had devised and gave him a thumbs down, there was no way she was going to stroll through the park looking like a “Hobo”!   (Her words).   It was time for her to put her MacGyver hat on and she started to think.  She realized that their Jogging stroller had a strap on the side, with a handle no less,  that one could use while running, light bulb moment!  They managed to remove it and connect it to their spirited little canine and off they went, problem solved and everyone happy!   My Daughter’s chest puffed out most likely,  as she was so pleased with her resourceful and inspired idea, the first of many times as a Mom that she will have to use a paper clip and some chewing gum when life becomes unleashed!

 

 

I think everyone is familiar with the expression “It takes a village to raise a child.”  What an awesome concept that as a community people should work together to help one another to  flourish,  when everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential, the universe is truly rewarded.  Recently, I heard of a family that is going through a separation, these circumstances are very impactful on a child’s life, minimizing stress and unnecessary turmoil is a key factor to everyone being able to cope with the new living arrangements.  Often with the dissolution of a marriage the end result is a change in residences for the entire family.  The sticky part comes when there are pets in the equation, where do they go?  To complicate matters, finding a new place that one can afford and also be allowed to bring their furry house mate can also pose problems.   It is sad that sometimes our pets aren’t as portable as our children.  This is when the concept of “It Takes a Village…” comes to my mind.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if as a community when we know of family that is struggling to figure out how they are not going to be separated from their animals,  that we step in to offer assistance.  Maybe that could come in the form of allowing their pet to stay with you for a few months or offering to buy a few bags of food when money is tight or help out with walking  or pee breaks if job circumstances change, there is always some way we can help, no matter how inconsequential it may seem.  Wouldn’t it be lovely to help minimize the impact of an already tough situation by trying to lend a hand?  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to allow the children and their furry family members to stay together when their parents are trying to work things out.  Life isn’t perfect and can be messy at times, but helping a family reduce the disruption and heartbreak is act of altruism that would be truly appreciated by all those going through the change in living arrangements!

Does being a friend mean I can trust you to take care of my furry friends?  This morning I was listening to my local radio station, they have a segment where  people can write in for advice if they have a dilemma or concern.  Today’s question “My friend is going to B.C for a trip and has asked me to take care of his dog.  He doesn’t really have a lot of friends to ask, so I said yes.  I don’t like dogs and I am not really interested in taking care of his mutt.  I was thinking I would pay to put his dog in a kennel while he is gone, but not tell him.  Does this make me a bad friend?”   I had a really simple answer to that question, “Hell yes, it makes you a crappy friend!  A clueless friend!”     This poor guy felt close enough to this individual to ask them to take care of his best friend, it is despicable to me that this person would betray his trust, not to mention the fact that his canine companion would suffer the consequences of this individual’s lapse in judgement.  There is so much wrong with the inquirers line of thinking, obviously they are not a pet person, so the fact that this misguided idiot thinks they can adequately choose a caregiver is laughable!  They are obviously clueless that every reputable establishment that boards animals will require proof of vaccinations and other information regarding their charge.  And the big issue, what happens if something goes wrong, then what? More lies?    I truly hope this person is forth right with their friend and says they are unwilling to take proper care of the dog, this way, the guy can find another option and he, the one who knows his pet, will be the one making the choices knowing his animal’s individual needs.  The whole scenario has been playing over and over in my head today, I can’t understand how this person can call themselves a friend and in the next sentence think it is acceptable to be deceptive.  I can imagine their inner dialogue to justify paying someone else to take care of the pet.  “It’s just a dog…it doesn’t matter where it is…a kennel will be fine…as long as they feed it and let it out to go pee, it doesn’t matter where it is?  Really it’s not a big deal! ”    Agreeing to take care of someone else’s fur baby, a member of their family, is a BIG commitment that should not be taken lightly!  If someone entrusts you to ask you to watch over their pet they are thinking you are someone whom they can count on!!    I remember when we went to Wales way back when we lived in Salmon Arm, our dog was with the couple next door, who I trusted implicitly.  Piper got away on a walk and thankfully Charlie was able to get her back, after she had run across a major intersection with cars swerving to avoid her.   In Thunder Bay we had a young fellow staying with our dog Nishka, she got very sick while we were gone and this poor kid had to take her to our Vet for us.  That young man had to carry my 55 pound dog who had Vestibular Syndrome in and out of the house until we were able to return from our vacation.  He went above and beyond to take care of her, being able to trust him gave us peace of mind when we were so far away knowing that she was so sick.   My stomach has been in knots, hoping that this guy who is heading to B.C isn’t duped by his “friend” and that if he is, that the poor dog makes it through the experience unscathed!   Choosing a caregiver for your pet is no small task!  Trust is a key ingredient in the selection process and the idea that someone who calls themselves a friend could put your other very vulnerable ” furry friend” at risk!!

 

There are times when you have a close call and you walk away from the moment grateful that it is over, but the important take away from those experiences is did you learn something?    Over the years we have had a few issues with our animals and their collars.  Having our dog and cat wear a band around their necks with a name tag and license is important as the unexpected can happen and we can get separated from the ones we love.  And yet those sometimes stylish adornments can be dangerous.  I have a funny little story that when I look back at it, is hysterical, but was very scary at the time.   Our dog Nishka, a beautiful Siberian Husky, had gone out in the yard in the early hours of the morning to do her business.  My spouse used to sleep in the buff and had gone downstairs to let her out and was waiting off to the side of our slider for her to reappear.  Nishka meandered up the back steps and laid down on the deck and began to scratch her face, I was standing in the upstairs window watching her, thinking how sweet she looked when I realized she was struggling.  I yelled down to my spouse and as he looked out he realized her tags had gone between the cracks of the two by fours of the deck and had twisted. She was stuck!  Confused why she couldn’t get up she began to panic and jerk trying to free herself, she was in trouble.   My spouse knew there wasn’t time to  head upstairs to get a robe, in his birthday suit he whisked out onto the deck and managed to get her buckle undone on her collar, freeing her.   It was a comical sight and I am sure there were a couple neighbours behind us that got an eyeful.   We have had the cat’s collar get stuck in the bathroom vent more than once and had to extricate him, Lucas has had his tags get caught on the back deck in the house here and just recently I had a new incidence that was scary.  Lucas wears a pinch collar, he only ever has it on while walking, but he needs it to remind him not to drag me down the street behind him.  We were walking along a path way that has a chain link fence and Lucy one of the neighbourhood dogs is often on the either side eager to say hello.   Lucas was so excited that he may see her that he began rubbing himself along the fence and somehow his prong got connected to one of the links in the fence and he was caught.  His first instinct was to pull back , it tightened and he went straight into panic mode.  Thankfully I was able to somehow keep a hold of Diesel and extricate Lucas, but had I not been with him, I worry what the outcome would have been.  Sometimes the thing that seems so innocuous and  there to keep our pet safe, can also put them in danger.   If it is possible, take your pets collar off when they are in the house and especially if they are in the crate!

I seem to have a knack for weird happenstances with my pets!  I guess it’s not really that strange, but it makes for a good laugh in retrospect, as I can say at the time of the incidence I wasn’t at all amused, angry would have better summed up my demeanor.  Last night it was amazingly mild, it was absolutely awesome to be able to sleep with our bedroom window wide open and enjoy the sound of the breeze rustling the leaves on our silver maple.  Romeo, our cat loves it when he can sit on the back of the bed frame, he sleeps all day, so why not set up a vigil to watch the goings on in the yard.  I really don’t take issue with this past time if he is quiet and respectful.  What do I mean by “respectful”?  My dear feline has a bad habit of jumping off the headboard and has occasionally used me as a runway.   You can probably figure out where this is going!  Last night my hubby’s Breathe Right Strip was woefully inadequate at managing his snoring, he was tossing and turning a fair bit and at one point ended up on my side of the bed, right in Romeo’s trajectory .  I was slumbering on my back, blissfully unaware that my spouse was breathing in my ear or that the cat was hovering above my head wanting to return to the foot of the bed. I guess the cat must have done some kind of risk analysis assessing which one of his housemates would make a better landing pad.  He must have thought of the time that he made a misstep, landing on my hubby, who didn’t react well to a set of claws in his rib-cage and flung him into the air, causing the cat to land with a thud on the floor.  My guess is he looked at me and figured I was the more tolerant person, the animal lover and I wouldn’t flinch.   I was in the middle of a dream when his twenty pounds of cat flesh dropped onto me with full force, front claws embedding themselves in the fleshy part of my clavicle, with his back foot landing on my larynx.  The wind was basically knocked out of me as I lay prone on the mattress feeling rather incensed with what had just transpired.  It was all I could do not to launch my dear kitty into the air with my foot as he made his way to the end of the bed to snuggle my feet.  I think it was the first time I didn’t give him a pass, I took my toes and I believe somewhat gently nudged him off the bed to make my point that I wasn’t feeling in a very affectionate frame of mind.    As I lay still, chest in pain I started to develop a rash where the claws punctured my skin, great fun!  That’s when my spouse’s snoring ramped up into the extra voluminous zone,  the fact that it hurt to breathe, my itchy skin,  and the noise level,  made getting back to sleep rather challenging.  I spent the next two hours in a bizarre sort of Post Catmatic Stress, I couldn’t relax because I was afraid that the cat was going to re-offend and come back into the room and jump on me again,which  he did in fact return.   I spent way too much energy repetitively removing him from his perch instead of taking him out of the bedroom, in my defense I figured he would just meow loudly and bang on the door, so I wasn’t going to get any sleep when I ran the scenario in my head.   When I acquiesced that I wasn’t going to get any rest,  I could have gotten out of bed all snarly and bent out of shape this morning, but why let the past annoy me,  better to leave all that angst behind and laugh about it a few hours later!   It is still an amazingly warm day, perhaps I should try sleeping tonight with a hard hat on and football padding :o)

“A picture is worth a thousand words” is an English Idiom.  It refers to the notion that a complex idea can be conveyed with just a single still image or that an image of a subject conveys its meaning or essence more effectively than a description does.  This past weekend I was out in the back yard hanging up some laundry as it was a beautiful sunny day, there was a lovely breeze that was moving the tall grasses in the garden and the dogs were milling about sniffing and exploring .   I was finished my task and was heading back in to the house when I noticed Lucas laying on the grass, enjoying the heat of the sun and I went back to kneel down and give him a big kiss.   As I headed towards the door to go into the house I looked back again, Lucas had now rolled onto his back, legs flopped over, his facial expression was so close to a smile, he was truly relaxed.   Rupert, my Grand Puppy was laying beside him, still for a rare moment.  Lucas was gazing at his new bud, whose high energy level can be a bit much and has a tendency to tire the old guy out.   There was this absolutely beautiful moment where the two looked into one another’s eyes, they nuzzled heads and then laid together, heads touching enjoying the suns warmth.   I can not adequately describe the scene, but it was truly special.   There was one part of me that wished that I had a cell phone on hand to record the tender moment, but the other part of me realized the mental picture is one I will treasure and hold onto for years to come.  How I love that old gentle giant who has come to mean so much to us all!  I love how he has transformed and become so patient and accepting of the dogs that come in and out of our home.  I love how Lucas has metamorphised like a butterfly coming out of it’s cocoon, I believe has has become a better version of himself over the years he has lived with us and I feel blessed that I got to be a witness to this!

Littering, it makes me mad regardless of the circumstance!  There is absolutely no reason why anyone needs to pitch their garbage out of their car window, throw it on the ground or surreptitiously forget some discarded waste under a bench, it is disrespectful and inconsiderate on so many levels.   Why does trash make me feel irate and and ready to launch into a rant?   There is an individual who likes to drive down a main artery in my subdivision and pitch their half eaten food and it’s receptacle, out of the vehicle as they are driving.  Recently it was half an eaten pizza and today, a box of chicken bones and a few errant fries.   First off, it’s unsightly, secondly it encourages skunks, raccoon’s and squirrels to forage at the side of the road, often resulting in their deaths.   And, it endangers the lives of people’s pets who are walking along and chomp down on a foreign item, like a chicken bone, which is  dangerous for a dogs digestive tract, not to mention they could choke.  If I ever see this litter bug in action I am hoping to get their license plate and report them.  It’s a fleeting thing, you buy some food, you tire of it, then you pitch whatever disinterests you out the window, and you forget about what you have done, it’s long forgotten laying by a curbside and you move along without thinking that every action has a consequence.  What probably doesn’t seem like a big deal to the person who is challenged about where to throw out their waste, was in fact life altering to the skunk that was dining on it at the curb side, and then to the woman who swerved to miss the animal, ploughing through a fence,  nearly hitting the man who was trimming his shrubs on the other side.   All those lives experience ramifications because of one person’s blatant disregard for doing something so simple as to do what is right . This morning I struggled to get a chicken wing out of one of my little charges jaw, hoping that I got it all and that they won’t experience any significant discomfort from what looked like a tasty morsel left for them to enjoy.   Garbage belongs in a trash can, it isn’t rocket science!