http://critter.spiniffy.com/ a pet blog en-us Nucleus CMS v3.32 � Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://critter.spiniffy.com//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://critter.spiniffy.com/ http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=58 At about 3 am this morning. I vaguely remember lying in bed listening to El meowing and then hearing a ring and thinking 'I wonder who I'm calling' when Jon's phone started to go off. Apparently I dropped my phone by the bed and it was still open and Elly Belly decided to call Jon. I think it was probably about the fact that Professor Pickles was sleeping in the bathroom, and El didn't like it. ;) "Hey Jon, we've got to talk about this dog problem. I mean seriously... He's asleep in my bathroom!"

What actually happened was that I have Jon on speed dial and El just stepped on the right button. I'm so glad he called Jon and not my aunt or grandma, though! It was pretty hilarious.

What's even funnier is that I took that picture a couple weeks ago before the phone call incident. Maybe I am giving him ideas...]]> cats http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=58 Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:47:22 -0500 http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=56

Sleeping



Eating



Politicking

]]> General http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=56 Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:31:33 -0400 http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=54

Jon and I are staying at my dad's house with Trixie this week because he's in Florida with his motorcycle peoples. El and Marley are with us (not the Prof, he doesn't have any space, so he's still at home, poor puppy) and Marley has sacked out on the corner of the couch on one of my dad's jackets. El is running around the house screaming at the top of his lungs. He doesn't do the whole change thing very gracefully. I am about ready to toss him in the shower because the high pitched vocals are drilling right through my brain. He has such an incredibly shrill voice. Someday I should work to get him on a microphone and put a recording on here. In the meantime, I will try to get some sleep despite the screaming.]]> cats http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=54 Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:26:22 -0400 http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=52

I fear we have turned Marley Barley into a cake addict. It started out innocently enough. Just a little crumb that fell on the floor here or there. Then an amusing evening of putting icing (or pie filling, whatever) on her nose for a photo-op, then putting icing on Jon's nose to see what she would do, and now she is thieving cake from right in front of us. We may have created a monster. Now, I need a kitty sized tooth brush and some salmon flavored Crest.]]> cats http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=52 Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:06:10 -0400 http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=50

But don't worry, he came out OK.



So here's what happened. My aunt called me at 7 this morning and told me that Joe was out. I am living next to her and she wanted me to help her put him back in. She said "He's next to the pool, no wait he's IN THE POOL! GET OVER HERE!" So I hopped out of bed, put on the first thing I could grab, and ran for it. And there he was, curled up as neat as you please on top of the pool cover, just looking over at me as if to say "Oh my, what a quandary. You had better fix this." And people, I have to say, I thought he was dead. I didn't see how he'd fallen on that and not hurt a leg. I went over and gave him a hug around his neck, since somehow his front legs and head were hanging over the concrete part. I went inside and my aunt was calling 911 and everyone to get help over. Then I made it back outside after peeing, because I didn't want to pee on myself while working to get him out of the pool. Anyway, my dad was there at that point, and then Joe decided we were doing him no good at all and he could get out himself. But when he tried to climb out his hooves cut through the liner and it shredded, sinking him down to the bottom. We grabbed for him, to keep him from going under the liner, but luckily one of the black straps was under him, so he was able to get his feet, and since he had the good sense to fall in on the shallow end, he was able to stand up with his head out of the water. So then I cut the black strap that was holding him, since we'd have no hope of getting him out with it on him and also it was cutting into him and making him uncomfortable. Then we had to unhook the liner and cut through another side to open up the way to the pool steps. Then we got him to walk over there, which now I know was very brave of him. That water was green and murky and the bottom of the pool was slick, since it was closed up all summer. He got to the steps, but then wouldn't budge. So I gave my dad my cell phone and got down into the pool with him, thoroughly soaking myself in nasty water. It felt like standing in carbonation, almost. Very gross. I wanted to make sure his legs were OK, and maybe guide him up the steps. But then my dad tried pulling on him to see if he could get him up, Joe lost his footing and knocked into me and I screamed and went towards the side of the pool with the horse after me. I don't know what happened, but somehow Joe didn't crash into me and kill me. But the thought "I'm dead, he's going to squash me" very definitely DID cross my mind. Anyway, I hopped out of the pool pretty quick and had to help hold Joe's head out of the water, because he had lost his footing and he was floating on his side. We were choking him a bit with his halter, but it couldn't really be helped, since if we let go he would go under or float under the liner behind him. But finally we held his head up long enough and he got his footing again and then we decided to wait until the emergency squad got there, which they did only a few minutes later. I was sitting on the top step holding Joe's head up while they talked and tried to decide how on earth to get a horse out of a swimming pool. One settled next to me and petted him a bit and talked to him. Then Joe tried to bite my knee, so I knew he was OK. He always nips at me when he's feeling naughty. I felt really relieved at that point, but I still had no idea how we were going to get him out of the pool without breaking his legs or killing someone. It was a pretty dangerous operation. Anyway, while they were discussing it, my dad's motorcycle gang/group/whatever all pulled in and came over. Then the fire department (they were who responded) decided the best thing to do would be to hook a rope around Joe's backside so he couldn't slip backwards and then hook it through his halter and pull him up the steps. So, they had about 5 guys on each side of the ropes to pull him up and one of the firemen got into the pool next to Joe where I had been. And then they heaved him up and out of the pool. He slipped and fell on the concrete on his back left hip, but then he was up in a flash and boy was he unhappy. They held him still and we put a blanket on him and then in another minute the vet had arrived. He inspected him and said he didn't seem to have any bad damage. Just the scrapes on his front legs. He gave him a tetanus shot and an anti-inflammatory, because he thought since Joe is so old it'd be good for him so he wouldn't be so sore. Coincidentally, we have had Joe for 16 years this month. As a matter of fact, we got him the morning of my maternal grandmother's family reunion, which was today as well. So Joe is about 23 years old. Anyway, we turned him into his pasture and fixed the gate. And I woke my grandma up to tell her about what happened, since she slept through the whole thing, and she started to cry and cry. And then had to go make sure he was OK for herself. That goofy, spoiled horse can cause a lot of problems when he sets his mind to it. He has opened other gates before and taken off down the highway and gotten a police escort back home (marching down the middle of the street like a one horse parade, more than once), eaten rose bushes, and stolen hats off people's heads only to set them in his pasture so the hatless victim has to go into the pasture after the hat. He's run our cows and goats through the fence and bitten us when he didn't get as much attention as he thought he should. And I know we were all terrified we were about to lose him. But I am telling you, I am convinced it was the grace of God that saved both Joe and me today. There's really no other explanation.

If you want to see pictures you can go here. ]]> etc. http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=50 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:34:41 -0400 http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=48

The Professor got his first ever bath over the weekend, yay! The water was dark brown/black when he was done and he was very mournful. He didn't like the bath very much at first and made sure he got me very wet. Jon had to help me, since he's getting so big it took us both to hold him in the tub and scrub him down. But he smells so good now! And now he's allowed up on the bed with us, which he loves. He watched a movie (KiKi's Delivery Service) with us last night. Granted, he mostly just danced around the bed from me to Jon, getting his head scratched, but at times he watched the screen. He will develop an appreciation for anime :)

I've also discovered that taps on the nose or behind do NOT work for him. Instead he thinks it is a fun game and he tries to "tap" us back with his gigantic feet. However, the water bottle we've deemed "The Bad Cat Bottle" (because it has been primarily used to keep the kitties in line) does seem to do the trick. As soon as he begins to misbehave, I give him a squirt and he runs and jumps in bed and puts his head down on his paws, looking repentant and sad. Thank goodness, because I was beginning to worry he'd be one of those impossible to train labs, like the one from John Grogan's book Marley and Me. But that doesn't seem to be the case!]]> dogs http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=48 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:09:16 -0400 http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=46

Our new dog really wants to get up close and personal with our kitties. El, our very timid kitty, got freaked out and took off. We haven't seen him in a couple days. That's usual for him, though, so I'm not worried. He'll be back when he gets hungry enough. But Marley doesn't run from anything. She gets close and sniffs him and if he gets too close she slaps him upside the head. Hard. So hard, in fact, she gave him a bloody nose. And man, did it bleed! Profusely. I think she's going to show him she's in charge, even if he does have 30lbs (at this point) on her. ]]> cats AND dogs http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=46 Thu, 3 Jul 2008 20:53:55 -0400 http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=44

Check out the article about Marley Barley over at All Things Girl. I think it's the best article I've done for them. I love the banner at the top, especially!]]> cats http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=44 Tue, 1 Jul 2008 10:22:33 -0400 http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=42
moar funny pictures

And in quarantine. He may have scabies :( But he's a happy boy and we gave him his toys last night and he had a great time! He pranced around with his stuffed dog like he was in a parade. Then he chewed on his plastic hot dog for awhile. And he was very interested in Marley Barley, who kept well away from him. We're thrilled with him and he's a good baby!]]> dogs http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=42 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:35:52 -0400 http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=40

So far we have bought him:

a 5 gallon water container
10 pound box of milk bones
10 pound bag of Purina puppy chow
a huge pillow shaped like a basketball
red nylon collar
red nylon leash
shiny blue tag with his name and our information on it
a stuffed malamute puppy
a tennis ball
about 3 to 5 packages of rawhide bones
a plastic hot dog
a shiny new food bowl
cans of Purina soft puppy chow

And we're going to purchase a kennel from my coworker and hopefully set it up tomorrow. We already have a dog house for him. I need to get some wood chips to go in it, though. Then in a week or two my sister and her boyfriend are going to come out and help us put up a fence.

So we have gotten all of this and he doesn't arrive home until tomorrow. Do you think that counts as spoiling him already? ;)

]]> dogs http://critter.spiniffy.com/index.php?itemid=40 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:26:19 -0400