Apartment Living

One of Morgan's favorite ways to spend time is watching squirrels from her comfy spot on the window seat. She also like to chase them off the deck when we allow her. The other dogs are also interested in sq's as we refer to them, but Morgan is the most consistent watcher.

When we moved here, there were a couple of squirrel nests in trees in the woods behind our yard. Once the little darlings discovered that we fed birds, they moved to a tree inside the yard. Not so far to travel in bad weather.

Now there are apartment complexes in the trees closest to the house. The sq population has multiplied in recent years. A couple weeks ago as Rob and I were enjoying a cup of tea in the living room, we were entertained by an amorous couple on the window sill. Apparently there will be a new generation feeding at our free lunch bar soon.

This young fellow came by this morning to have breakfast. He must have been up late last night because he chose to lie down to eat. Even though he saw me and kept his eye on me as he ate, he didn't bother to run away. Cheeky little devil!

Here the little acrobat was hanging by his back toes as he devoured a sunflower seed.

 Our trees will soon be full of nests as this expanding family adds to their deluxe apartment in the sky.

Hard Work Pays Off

What a difference a week can make.Today was dog school. I didn't want to go. I knew we were going to be at the bottom of the class again. As I mentioned before, Norma Jean just wasn't putting it all together. The words I was saying didn't have any meaning to her. Sometimes she'd follow my hands, other times she would spin or wander off or just tune out. Rob, the big meanie, said we had to go to class and couldn't play hookie.

 We got to school, walked into the classroom and took our seats. The teacher asked "Whose dog will go down by voice only with no hand signals and no bending down?" No one raised their hand, so I don't know why, but I raised mine. She had never done it.

We walked to the front of the class, I stood straight with my hands at my sides and said, "Norma Jean, down." She did it. She dropped to the floor and stayed there. She didn't bounce back as soon as she hit the floor. She stayed till I said OK. Then she did it again and a third time. She sat on command and when we walked in a circle, she trotted along close to me, not pulling on the leash.

Last week we were the worst kids in class. Today we deserved a gold star. I wonder what happened?

When we got home, Norma Jean was happy to see the rest of the pack and they seemed happy to see her. She told Morgan all about her experience in school.

The weather is nice today, so everybody played outside for a while. Bailey brought Monkey out with her. I wouldn't let him come out yesterday when it threatened rain. No one wants a soggy monkey.

A couple times Fudge, our practical jokester, tried to grab Monkey away from her, but she chased him away. Last year, you might remember, Fudge stole Monkey and hid him. We searched for days for the little fellow.

Well, Bailey isn't going to let that happen again. She's protecting her friend from Big, Bad Fudge.

She is fiercely protective of her best friend and Fudge will get a nip on the nose if her tries any monkey business this time.

So now Norma Jean and I have to really practice this week to keep up our grades. This school stuff is hard work.

Responsibility

Yesterday was a beautiful day, warm and sunny. Today is starting out the same way, but severe storms are forecast for the next few days beginning tonight. This is the beginning of tornado season here in tornado alley. The wind is already picking up and we decided the dogs could use a good run before the storms get closer.

Everyone was happy to get out and run back and forth across the yard. Tess and Lola led the way.

Pretty soon others were joining them.

Bailey took Monkey out with her.

I try to discourage her from taking her friend outside, but she's a very determined little girl. She'll climb up to reach Monkey when I put it out of her reach. Today she was adamant about taking her friend out with her.

She wanted to run with the others, but Monkey was getting in the way.

She stopped running with the pack and I could see that she was trying to decide what to do about Monkey.

She sat down with her friend.

The others continued to run back and forth past her.

She made up her mind that she had to stay with her friend while the other dogs played.

Finally, it was time to go inside. I called and Bailey came running to the house carrying Monkey with her. She takes her responsibility to her friend very seriously. She even gave up a chance to play with the rest of the pack in order to stay close to her pal. Bailey is a good friend to have.

Where Have I Been?

We've been missing in action this week.  I wish I had something exciting to report such as a tropical getaway, but the truth isn't nearly that exciting.

Norma Jean and I went to class on Tuesday. It wasn't a total disaster, but close. We had goofed off the week before and not practiced our homework every day. I was finalizing our taxes and the weather was lousy, so I let classwork slip. This week in class, it showed.

Norma Jean was very distracted by the other dogs. There's one barker in the class that was getting on everyone's nerves. The instructor finally sprayed it with water to shut it up, but that didn't last long. Norma Jean just wanted to leave. She kept looking at the door and every time we started moving, she headed for the door.

 She is doing 'sit' and 'down' and starting to get 'stay', but I don't think she really understands what I'm asking of her. She's just following my hands. The words don't seem to register. Maybe it'll come. Who knows?

On the home front, I've finished a couple of knitted items that I can show off. The first is a baby blanket for a friend who is having a little boy soon. This is a pretty little pattern made with a yarn that is basically white wrapped with a strand of blue. I hope Mama and Baby both like it.

 Next is this little sweater and hat. A blogging friend had knit this and shown it on her blog. I admired it, so she very kindly sent me the pattern and the yarn. It's a fast knit and a lot of fun to make. I made up the little hat to match.

This was so much fun to make that I'm doing another in yellow with a multi-colored trim. Then both sweaters will be donated to charity. There are a couple other projects still in the works, so I'll wait to show them. Meanwhile Norma Jean and I will keep practicing and maybe she'll figure out what we're trying to do.

Surprise!

We had a rainy weekend, but when Samba and I went outside at 2 AM this morning we had a big surprise. The yard was covered with snow.

We didn't say anything and by the time everyone else got up this morning, the snow was gone from the grass, but there were still traces of it on the deck.

As you can see, there were some happy dogs this morning when they discovered the white stuff.

It doesn't take much to make these guys happy.

Now, let's get back to spring.

Samba Is Hungry

All my dogs are lean. Dr B and I think it's healthier for them to stay lean. It puts less strain on their joints and keeps them in generally good health. Samba, though, feels that she's not being fed enough. Because she's on pretty high doses of Prednisone for her MMM,  she is constantly hungry.

Last month we started her on a special diet high in Omega 3 oils and low in Omega 6 oils.  Since then she's been truly convinced that she's  being starved.

She has started eating bird seed obligingly thrown on the floor by our two messy birds and I've caught her munching on my houseplants. When outside she tries to supplement her diet with anything she can find, including sticks.

She's finally gotten her message across. Because her special diet allows fewer treats, she's been losing weight. Today I decided to make some changes. She's getting an extra meal, we'll call it lunch, that the other dogs don't get. She's also getting some special goodies on her dinner.

 Besides getting a large helping of green beans on her kibble, she enjoying some added Omega 3 in the form of sardines, which we refer to as "stinky fish". The only problem is it leads to " stinky breath".

Her treats consist of baby carrots, apple slices and sweet potato chunks. Yesterday I went to the library and found a doggy treat cookbook with some low cal treats made from sweet potato and pumpkin as well as apple and banana, so her diet should start improving.

We also solved our yogurt problem that I ranted about a few weeks ago. We tried Dannon low fat vanilla yogurt and everyone decided it was yummy, even Tsar. So now we purchase large containers of the stuff and because it's low fat, Samba can enjoy it too.

So, by adding an extra meal and finding some low cal toppings, I'm hoping that Samba will stop getting that empty feeling and not feel she's being punished.

It's A Lovely Day Today

It's a lovely day today
So whatever you've got to do
You've got a lovely day to do it in, that's true

And I hope whatever you've got to do
Is something that can be done by two
For I'd really like to stay

It's a lovely day today
And whatever you've got to do
I'd be so happy to be doing it with you

But if you've got something that must be done
And it can only be done by one
There is nothing more to say
Except it's a lovely day for saying
It's a lovely day

Lyrics by Irving Berlin