Loose Ends

Today I'm trying to tie up some loose ends. Several of my recent posts have had open endings or unanswered questions, so here's my chance to set things straight, or maybe create more questions.

First, the contest.
 I've updated the info but here's what I hadn't made clear. You can enter as often as you like. If you have a six pack, go for it, enter each of them.  Also send your entries to this address:
4stringc@gmail.com  
Get those entries in before October 31st.
Here are the photos that I'm entering.

Next: About those eggs.
We now have either four or five eggs on the floor of the cage. So far all four birds seem to be ignoring them, but if they start showing any interest, I'll replace them with marbles. You may be wondering how I made this mistake of putting three male birds in with a female. I wondered the same thing. I was sure El was a male and now I'll show you what happened.

A little lesson in the birds and the bees without the bees. Here is how you tell the sex of Budgies. See that colored strip above the beak where the nostrils are? That's called the ceres. Boys have blue ceres and girls have pink or brownish ceres.

As you can see in this photo taken the day after we brought the blues brothers home, Elwood had a blue ceres. He was a boy, right?

Wrong! What I didn't realize was how young Elwood was when we got him. It seems that both sexes can have blue ceres when they're very young. Take a look at El now. You can plainly see that her ceres is brown, not blue. I guess I didn't pay attention as my little bird entered adolescence and her true colors came out. Oh well, we'll cope.

One other note for anyone who I might have confused. The photo of the newly hatched baby birds was a Google download. I'm not expecting any baby birds. I have my hands full enough with furred and feathered creatures.

Next: My ankle.
I'm doing pretty well. I no longer use crutches, though I walk rather slowly. The muscle is stiff and sore so I don't push it. I'm still keeping my leg elevated a lot of the time and I'm taking my second course of antibiotics. The infection seems to be under control now though the wounds haven't closed up and still bleed a little each day. The doctor says the draining is good, so I'll take his word for it. I'd like it to heal and get back to normal. No pictures, it's a gross mess and you don't want to see it.

Next: The Sydney dilemma.
Sydney hasn't settled into the pack as well as we had hoped. Mac is a happy little dog that gets along with all the other dogs and accepts whatever the day brings. Sydney is much more high strung and gets snappy with the other dogs if she feels they're invading her space. She resists any change in her routine and has proven herself untrustworthy.

So what to do about Syd. I can't help but feel that Syd would do best in a quiet home with no other pets and definitely no children. However, I've never given up on a dog and I'm not ready to give up on her. She's only ten months old and I really think that she can become a good companion as she matures.

I've had to make some adjustments in my own thinking in dealing with Syd. My other dogs all want to be with me every minute of the day, "helping" me with whatever I'm doing. When we all go outside together, they keep a eye on me and when I move toward the house, they surround me to go inside. If they're all sleeping and I stand up, they're on their feet ready for the next adventure. Syd and Mac are different. They're basically Hounds and they're more interested in being outside running and  hunting for bugs and lizards. They don't care if I walk inside.

Last week we started leaving Syd and Mac outside in the fenced in yard by themselves for several hours a day. The first couple times Rob worked in the garage to stay close by and I watched them from the livingroom window. They were fine and seemed to stay very busy.

When they did come back inside they were calmer and slept on the couch all evening. Syd seems happier. I just have to adjust to the fact that they don't need to be beside me every minute as my other dogs do. It's been a long time since I've had an outdoor dog, but these two seem to be just that. This may be the answer to helping Sydney adjust and become a better family member.

Next: Sebastian.
His wound is completely healed and he's concentrating on growing hair to cover it. The area feels smoother than is ever has and I'm hoping that the foreign matter is gone. As for his diet... I haven't had him back for a weigh in lately but he doesn't look like he's lost much if any weight. The new food may or may not be working, but he's had no vomiting issues with it so his pancreas seems to be doing well with it. I guess we should run him over to the clinic and put him on the scales soon.

Finally: Our family connections.
I told you that I'd check out Sunny Obama's pedigree and see if we were related. Well, we are.  It seems that Sunny's great great grandfather is a dog named Benjamin. Benjamin is also Fudge's great grandfather. So Fudge is related to both Sunny and Bo. Fudge is still waiting for his invitation to the Whitehouse.

I think that ties up most of my loose ends for now.