Why doesn’t anyone email me anymore?
I have a site on my blog, hotmail, and my website. The only one that emails me is Jasmine, a friend (cat) of mine who lives in Grapevine, Texas. I am getting depressed about this. Mom is the only one that tells me that people will find out about me, and then I will get a lot of email. I sure hope she’s right about this.
My picture is everywhere. I am cute, adorable, and modest. So, what’s up people?
I didn’t have to go with Paul, Kasha, and Hilde today to explore. I explored on my own–in my own fenced-in yard. Mom was my companion today.
Mom and I were out in the big front yard just fooling around–playing with a ball and a stick. She would throw one or the other, and I would run after it. When I got there, I would sit down and wait for her to come to me. Then I would run again. We kept that up for a while. Then, I got tired of playing and started looking for some sort of scent to follow.
I found what I thought was a critter scent. I followed it for a while, but it turned out to be a dead end–whatever it was went out through the chain links. Of course, I couldn’t follow. Finally, I found a scent I could follow, and I followed it all the way to the base of one of our trees in the little front yard. I alerted mom, and mom came over to find me with a baby bunny in my mouth. She told me to drop it, and I did; I didn’t hurt it either.
Mom looked into the nest and found three little bunnies. She told me she was going to have to move them or else something was going to eat them. I went with her–guard dog that I am. We got a cardboard box with some shredded paper in the bottom of it (mom shreds everything she can find; she just hadn’t taken it to the recycle center yet).
We went back into the little front yard, and mom put on her gloves. She very carefully picked up the little bunnies and put them in the box. She made me stay in the house while she took the box with the bunnies to the big fenced-in back yard where the shed is located. She scattered some of the bunny-nest material nearby so the mama rabbit could find her litter.
All in all, mom and I had a pretty good day. We played, explored, saved some lives, and then had some ice cream.
Well, I finally couldn’t take it anymore; that is, taking instructions about my actions while outside the fenced yard.
Paul told mom when we came back this afternoon that I could not go exploring anymore with him, Kasha, and Hilde. The reason is because I did my own thing instead of staying with the pack. Horrible, isn’t it?
The rest of them were just wandering around and doing nothing except sniffing once in a great while. So, I went out on my own even though Paul told me come back; he even whistled, and I usually listen when he whistles. Not this time!!!
He yelled at me when I didn’t mind, but that didn’t help either. I found a scent and went for it. I didn’t find anything, but at least I tried. You think he’ll forget about what I did today?
We went exploring again today. Yes, we went up behind our fenced property up to the small lake. The only difference was that there was no big ole bullfrog waiting for us. (Too bad, I would have gotten him this time). Kasha and I were the only ones that went; that is, except for Paul. Hilde didn’t want to go, although I don’t know why.
After wandering around for a while, we saw a squirrel (that’s what Paul said it was). I think Kasha saw it at about the same time I did. I know she started chasing it at about the same time I did. We chased it for quite a while. That little creature was fast and smart. It would run for a little ways and then abruptly change direction. Kasha and I couldn’t turn that quickly. We would have to go on a little ways, turn around, and then go back to where we saw it turn. We would take up the chase again. That is, until it ran up a tree. All we could do was just look at it. Truthfully, I don’t know what we would have done had we caught it. From the look it gave us, it didn’t seem as if it wanted to play with us. So, we started home.
The very second we got in the house, I laid down on the tile floor in the television room where it was cool. Mom asked what we had been doing, and Paul told her. I was panting very fast, so mom got some ice water and dipped a wash cloth in it. She started rubbing my head and body with it; it felt really good. She told me while she was rubbing that the vet had told her want to do in case one of us got too hot. He must know what he was talking about, because it worked. After a while, I quit panting so hard and heavy. Mom quit rubbing me with the wash cloth, and I got up to get a drink of water. I think I drank about a gallon of it.
I am looking forward to going exploring tomorrow. I sure hope I don’t get too hot again.
Do you like Lamb and Vegetables? I sure don’t. I’ll eat it for dinner only if I have to, and that means begging from mom or dad while they are eating their dinner. They hate for me to beg, but when I have Lamb and Vegetables, I’m desperate.
There is an art to begging, you know. If you go about it just right, you will get whatever you want from the humans. But, it is like anything else, you have to practice, practice, practice, and practice until you, as an individual, find what works. Take me, for instance, I have a different tactic for each of my humans.
For dad, all I have to do is get in Hilde’s chair, lay my head on the arm of his chair (he eats in the TV room), and he will give me whatever he is having. He has meat for dinner. Although he has vegetables, too, I don’t much care for them.
Mom, on the other hand, is a tougher nut to crack. Hey, I know I’m spoiled, but I found a way to get her to give me what she is eating (she eats in the same room as dad). She prefers vegetables, so that is what she eats most of the time unless she has legumes; then she eats cornbread with her dinner. I really do love cornbread, and I try and get some of it when I can. Anyway, she eats on the couch, and I calmly and cautiously get on the opposite end of the couch. I lie down where my head is towards her, but I don’t do anything but stare for a while. I pretend I have to change positions, but I don’t; I just edge a little closer to her. (She doesn’t eat very fast, and I have plenty of time to maneuver into position.) Then I stretch (with my feet against the arm of the couch) and that puts me right where I want to be. Here comes the part where I win: I roll over on my back, look at her upside down, and just sorta groan a little bit. All this time I know mom is watching me, and she knows what I am doing. It’s kinda like working for your food, although dogs like me shouldn’t have to work. At any rate, the rolling over part is what always gets mom–she gives in like I knew she would.
For Paul, all I have to do is to sit in front of him and look pitiful. That tactic always works with him. He eats potato chips every night after dad goes to bed, and I always get some. Anyway, I need a midnight snack. Chips are not too heavy or too light, and I like them. I wonder how long you have to do a certain thing before it becomes a ritual.
I got outside today. I went with Hilde, Wooly, and Kasha, and we went exploring where they were no fences. It was quite an experience.
We started out by going way out behind our fenced-in back yard. We went to the small lake located on the border of our property. I kinda creeped down the bank, and you’ll never guess what I saw–a great big bullfrog; it was almost as big as I am (which is no lightweight). I watched it for a few seconds (I was excited) and then charged. When I got pretty close, that slippery critter jumped into the water. I wanted to follow him in the water, but Paul said I couldn’t (party pooper); so I didn’t.
He made me join the others, and we journeyed down the country path through the woods. We found evidence of raccoons, opossums, and all those mice Paul let go down by the creek. We followed every scent till we couldn’t follow it any longer; we went quite a ways at times. When we were in the midst of following a particularly good scent, Paul said we had to go back home (what a drag!).
On the way back to the house (and fences) we met a neighbor dog. He was almost as large as Kasha and just a tad shorter, but he went right up to her and made her acquaintance. He was not interested in the rest of us, so I started trotting back to the house–not even looking back.
Mom is so good; she fixed her printer like new.
She had already taken off all of the removable parts, so all she had to do was completely clean out her printer. Remember, I told you that a mouse got inside it and chewed up a lot of paper. Also, that mom had found a ballpoint pen way in the back and under where the paper tray is supposed to stay. Oh yeah, the half-eaten M & M mom found in the front part of her printer.
Well, mom sure has a lot of patience. She carefully took out the largest of the pieces with her fingers, so that wasn’t so hard, except when one piece was stuck under the platen. It took almost five whole minutes to work it loose, but she did it. Next, came the hard part; the smaller pieces.
First, mom got her desktop vacuum and got all the pieces she could reach with the vacuum–it doesn’t have a hose, you know. Then, mom tried a regular knife from the kitchen to loosen and move the stubborn pieces of paper closer to the front of the printer so she could reach them. That maneuver didn’t work so well. A steak knife with a serrated edge and with a very sharp point was next. That maneuver didn’t work either. So, next came the single chop stick. I figured she had lost her mind. If something sharp and pointy didn’t work, why would mom think that a round blunt-ended stick would work. Who knows what humans think sometimes?
She was at the computer, and I was lying by her feet as usual. All at once, mom turned around and yelled (not too loud) “It works.” I really thought she had lost her mind. I couldn’t see or understand how something that primitive could work–but, then I’m just a follower. But, mom never gives up. If it hadn’t worked, she would have found something else that might have, and so on until she solved the problem. There is only one thing I haven’t told you that mom did to make that round and blunt-ended stick efficient (which allowed her to complete her task).
And the secret is–she wet (very lightly) the narrower end of that stick. It stuck to the smallest pieces of paper, and the fragments came right out of her printer without falling off of it.
Either one of the furry little creatures came back, never really left, or we have another one. Only this one likes to get into mom’s printer.
We were watching television when I heard the pecking noise–like somone was tapping a pencil on a tabletop with the lead tip. Mom didn’t hear it at first. But, when she did, she got Paul. Paul came up to mom’s computer room (which is really the breakfast room, but she uses one end of the table for her computer; it’s just the right height for mom. I think that is why she keeps it there. We all just stood stock still (even me; I was in my pointer position. You know, right front leg bent at the knee, and tail straight out while leaning kinda forward). I wish mom had taken my picture just then. Regardless of what I wish, Paul got his flashlight and gloves.
All at once, he shined the light into the computer paper tray. We all heard something scurrying around, and Paul said it must have run out the back (impossible!). There are no openings in the back of mom’s printer, so mom took the removable parts from the computer. Do you have any idea what mice are capable of?
Well, mom found a ballpoint pen in the back of the printer under where the paper tray would sit; it had little teeth marks (not mine!) on it. But, it was red, which is my favorite color. She found a half-eaten M & M in the front of the printer–also with teeth marks (also not mine). There were hundreds of tiny paper bits everywhere inside the printer. I guess he didn’t want to eat the paper but just tear it up and make a mess. And, that’s exactly what he did!!!
I feel sorry for whatever did this because mom sure got mad (unusual for mom). She got so mad that she had Paul set a mousetrap on the breakfast table with peanut butter on to tempt the little varmit (which she wouldn’t do if she were not really upset). I think I’ll be real nice and comforting the rest of the night.
