Busy month

So, it's been a busy few weeks and my blog is woefully neglected. I'd like to point out that my zoo still has it fairly well. We signed Cyrus up for a puppy hunt next week (no, we're not hunting puppies) and he had a show last weekend. We brought Sasha with us (Mya happily visited Mom and the rest of the family), so she had a good time too. Once again, we came in dead last, second to brother Rider, who - incidentally - was gimpy. >sigh< I think I am not meant to show. I believe Cyrus will do much better when Jim takes over showing him. We know, in my own unbiased opinion, that he is clearly a gorgeous dog, deserving of all wins. :)





But the up note was that we visited the Turlock dog park for the first time. That's a nice park. Set on a slope, so there's good exercise on varied terrain. They divide the park between large and small dogs, and on Saturday there was this little black dog whose favorite game is getting the big dogs to chase her up and down the length of the dividing fence. All us owners leaned back in satisfaction and said, "Yep, they'll sleep tonight!" as they ran pellmell up and down the 150 ft fence, slope included. Good pups. On Thanksgiving, we had the park to ourselves most of the day, so even Mya got to go in. While we waited for the last couple people to leave, I took Mya over to the great children's play area they have. Here's some vid of her on the slides (I'm not sure everyone believes me about how much she loves them). I didn't get better shots because I was manning both the dog and the camera - Matt was in the dogpark with the big pups - and it was tough to get Mya to wait at the top of the slide for me to get ready with the camera rather than zoom down pellmell as soon as I put her up there.

Happy Moments

My mom seems to think that having 3 dogs and 2 cats and a snake is unbelievably complicated and a drain on time and energy.

Right now, I'm busy with a lot of things, including working full time and deep in two master's classes online.

All these crazy animals help keep me sane. Sure, it takes time to walk them, play with them, feed them, and clean up after them. But there is only so much time I can spend on "work" things. Judging by my previous two semesters, I am probably not spending any more "free" time doing non-work, non-chore things. When I reach a certain stress threshold, I check out and do something like read or watch a movie. Pet-time has taken the place of much of my reading or other elective activities. Walking the dogs is much more refreshing than watching an episode of Kare Kano. Sure, neither activity gets the bathroom cleaned right now, but cleaning the bathroom doesn't leave me feeling happy and recharged, the way a good 10 or 15 minutes of tug and fetch with Sasha does. The Zoo gives us a full and happy house. I wouldn't trade that for a spotless floor or even a magically-emptying dishwasher.

Here are some happy moments from this weekend, despite working on two school assignments and some house projects. (You can bet I wouldn't be posting pictures of a clean kitchen counter, even if I had one)

Sasha test-drives the new dog house, under construction. She seems to approve.

I love this shot. True, she is still round as a bullet, but this pic makes her look speedy. She accompanied us to Home Depot for dog-house-building supplies. It must have been Take Your Dog to Your Local Hardware Store Day, since she was one of three pooches there.

Cyrus borrow's Sasha's collar (he can do that, now that I walk the big dogs separately, to work on pulling issues). I think he looks snappy in it. Matt says he looks girly (he already has enough people saying, She's pretty! because of those lovely blond locks framing his face). It's hard to get walking-the-dog pictures of their faces... there's too many interesting smells! (In contrast, almost all of the at home shots are face shots. Never know, I might be getting ready to feed them something at any moment, right?)

Building a new exhibit

Between work and school, I hate to spend more time at a computer than necessary. This is bad for a blog. So, for a quick update... Sasha and Moira continue to settle in nicely. We are also working on a new exhibit named "Dog Palace" which will be big enough to shelter all three dogs from the weather at once. We do at least know they will all curl up pretty close when they want to, as is evidenced by the picture below.

Lest you think they don't get along after you watch the video. The kittehs get along great. And are super cute together.

'Course, Moira's supercute on her own. A little circle of kitteh.

Here is the new exhibit as it develops. Good to have a handyman in the house! I helped. I didn't mash my thumb.

Mya appreciates Sasha, who contributed the lovely lounging platform that Mya is using. She was bored being inside on housecleaning day. It was so nice outside...

As we can see, Sasha is now perfectly comfortable on all furniture. Cyrus' look of concern is from the fact that Sasha is clearly possessed by demons.

Now for the fun video from our local panther exhibit.

New to the Zoo

I believe one dog is too few and is destined to be lonely, especially when few families can make it on one income. Matt feels the same about cats. Although Quincy gets along great with the dogs (he frequently pounces on Mya or Cyrus to initiate play), there are stretches of time where the dogs are outside and Quincy is left by himself. Plus, let's be honest, Matt wanted two cats to begin with. So, without further ado, we welcome...

Moira.

Who can resist that face? Moira came to us from the Manteca Animal Shelter. I don't know how they do it, but they manage to lower the adoption fee on animals that have been spayed or neutered. I know the procedure is an expense for the city/county just like it is to us regular citizens, but I think that is a wonderful way of encouraging ownership of altered animals. We need more programs like this, less of the "mandatory spay/neuter" type.

Anyway, Moira, a.k.a Sugar Bell, had been previously adopted by a woman who apparently had not run the idea past her husband. When he got home, he made her take the cat back to the pound. Although there is a delay on owner surrendered pets before they can be adopted out again, the lady at the shelter allowed us to take Moira home. As corny as her name was, it totally fit her personality... this kitten is pure sweet. I think the shelter employee was just happy to see her go to a good home. So were we.

What does Quincy think of all this? I think he likes her. They're getting to know each other slowly. Cats, y'know. She's a little older than him, but only by a matter of a week or two. Matt reports that he has actually seen them playing together. I haven't yet, but it's mostly because the dogs follow me around, and they get all excited when the cats get excited and Moira's still a little shy about dogs coming over to sniff her. (She's a trooper, though. She stands her ground very calmly, then walks away. Totally opposite of Quincy's paw-to-the-face method, but still effective.)

The most unexpected thing? Take a look at this! Are they going to be friends? Or is Mya just keeping an eye on the new interloper? I like to think friends.

On a side note... Look! It's a real garden! Actual flowers that I planted myself! So pretty... (Some of my standards are woefully low...)

And let's not forget the home orchard. Isn't it a thing of beauty? These will be the best four mandarin oranges in the world. I just know it.

A New Page

Well, the house appraisal is done. Whew! One more step that we can check off our list. Since we had everything neatened up for the appraiser, I took some pictures. Look how far everything's come!

Living room from the left side.

From the right side...

Kitchen/Dining Room

And some fun stuff. A rare video of Mya and Cyrus playing tug-o'-war. My favorite part? When he pulls it away from her, he stops and holds it still, like, "Oh, grab back on. Got a good hold? Okay!" The growling is all Mya.

So, we did get a second cat for Quincy (and Matt). She's great, too - she'll get her own post a little later. But I wanted to highlight the fabulousness of Q-Ball, the Tailless Wonder. This cat has cajones and I'm so happy he ended up with us. He and Cyrus are great together.

New Arrival at the Animal House

Our newest member of the Zoo Family is Quincy. My cousin Keren found Quincy as a wee black puffball. He was around 4 or 5 weeks old and clearly abused (he had burned off whiskers and we suspect that his tail may have been pulled off rather than naturally manx). Even so, he has a lovely, friendly and brave disposition. My cousin kept him for us around 2 months while we prepped the new house, since we couldn't have a cat in the rental. She raised him well and her tiny chihuahua, Sugar, was Quincy's best buddy. They tousled and chased and Sugar taught Quincy a little about dogs. Now, an older Quincy has joined us. Here he is exploring his new digs.

From the beginning, he had little fear of (although a healthy respect for) the dogs, despite the fact that Cyrus, at least, is an order of magnitude larger than Sugar. We found that this bravery extends equally to a willingness to, say, attack feet carelessly left unattended at the edge of the bed. I hear that's a cat thing.

Here is a video of Quincy and the dogs. He will actually sometimes play with Cyrus (he likes to bat Cyrus' fringed ears), but he persists in swatting Mya. This is because Mya is determined to try and bite him at every opportunity. She's like the dog from Bunnicula, determined that our house is being overrun by the spawn of evil and she's the only one who can defend us...

New Exhibits

So close to being done! Our living room is shaping up nicely, with only a few more feet of tile left to go (compared with the 1000 square feet we started with). It's going to be the most beautiful remodel ever. Says me.

Surprisingly peaceful scene...all three dogs napping together. Emily is deigning to share space with the other two. She's usually much more standoffish, since she was an only dog for so long. Mya and Cyrus, on the other hand, love to snuggle.

We heard that lovely Layla was visiting Jim and Linda for the weekend. Since she and Cyrus hit it off so well at the dog show, we brought him over to visit. Here, all four siblings are in the puppies' kennel (Rider, of the black- and fluffiness, wisely escapes the heat by laying on top of his dog house and refusing to get involved). Cyrus' familiarity with sharp turns and tight spaces gives him the advantage... All the puppies from this litter are just wonderful.

This week, of course, we have mostly been concentrating on the new house. We have most of the interior painted and are well on the way to starting the tile (that will be tomorrow). Of course, I'm trying to shoe-horn in some time to work with Cyrus, who has his debut show in Lompoc at the end of July. Hopefully, we will be in the new house by then. Luckily, he looks just as cute there as anywhere else. As you can see.

Housework just wears those dogs out...

Although, you can see Mya is too dedicated to take her eyes off of Mom, even when she's resting. I think she would rule in agility. Even if she never gets the chance, she is a wonderful dog.

Cyrus earns his keep by helping us dig trenches. Just in case we wanted to lay PVC for sprinklers right here, diagonally across the yard... He makes a perfectly straight trench, about three inches wide. Just wide enough to fit his nose in it. Or a sprinkler line.

New House, New Pictures, New etc.

The new house is an exciting and inspiring thing. Not just to us, but also to our dogs. With Mya's help, Cyrus was willing to settle down and ride sensibly in the car for the very first time, on the way to work at the house. (Working done by me...cuteness and running around was handled by the dogs.)

Cyrus surveys the backyard and is unimpressed. "Hey, where's the grass and stuff?"

I had my first hint of my future wildflower garden when we first looked at the house, thanks to an adventurous California poppy growing in the desert of the front yard. Now I see that I am well on my way to the wildlife garden I had hoped for...sorry for the poor quality shot from my camera phone. However, if you look closely and heed the enlarged corner, you will spot the Swallowtail butterfly, alighting briefly on the gravel.

Just for fun, this is a slightly younger Cyrus, exploring the bathtub at our current house. I love it that he's not hydrophobic.

Finally, what could be better about a new house than chasing Mya? With no furniture, she has nowhere to hide. Also, the empty house has a lovely echo which transforms play growls into the Voice of the Hell Hound! Exciting stuff. Almost as exciting as whatever sounds keep coming through that open window...

Random Images

Cyrus has finally been getting into the car by himself. Well, twice. He doesn't really like the car, and even now he's not willing to get into it every time by himself. We still have to lift him up and put him in. Even so, the last time I took him to visit Jim and Linda, he rode in the passenger seat by himself (as opposed to draped over my lap) and didn't fuss or mess. Progress. He's the first dog I've ever had who didn't like the car. Mya, as you see below, loves the car.

I think someone is either coursing rabbits or running Jumpers and Weaves in his sleep...

This is my first official wildflower at our new house. It was growing all by itself in the desolation that is the front yard after more than a month of no watering. Way to go, poppy! Soon your brethren will surround you.

Bonus video 1: Cyrus and Mya playing a few weeks ago. If you notice, he is actually quite gentle with her. Toward the end, she spots me taping them, and Cyrus flips her ear with his nose to get her going again. Too cute.

Bonus video 2: These are grizzlies my grandma and I saw in Alaska September of last year. Too cool! It's a bit jumpy because I was filming in 8x zoom from a school bus.

Growth and Change

Getting a new house will be a big change for us, obviously. But to prove that we're not the only ones undergoing some change, here's what's new in the zoo.

I have a small, off-white starfish in my 55 gallon saltwater display tank. Apparently, conditions there favor small, off-white starfish because this one is multiplying like crazy. Note, I did not say "breeding" like crazy. Like many marine invertebrates, starfish can reproduce by splitting themselves into one or more pieces. Periodically, the starfish divides itself in half, and each half grows new legs to become a full starfish again. Since this happens frequently, I never see starfish with five legs of equal size anymore. They are always lopsided, with mature, normal-length legs and small, growing legs. Sometimes they have several different sizes as once, which means the individual has divided often. Anyways, enough with the science lesson. I actually caught the "birth" of a new starfish, since it was on the glass at the front of the tank. Here's what it looks like.

That's the evil dottyback in the background. He chases fish out of the tank when he can.

Two semi-new, soon-to-be-whole starfish. Odd, but amazing. And I'm sure it all happens by accident and blind chance. Really.

The dogs are changing, too. Fortunately, they're not about to split and leave us with six two-legged dogs to take care of. Thankfully. But here's a picture of Cyrus and Mya I posted earlier, from the beginning of April. And next is a picture I took yesterday. He's so big, and he'll get so much bigger!

Celebration

Well, we have a house in escrow. Yay! It should close by the end of the month. In celebration, I offer this totally unrelated video of the dogs playing in the front yard with Matt. Actually, I suppose it's relevant...the new house will have a much larger, much better yard for the dogs to run around in. We're all looking forward to it.

Fun in the Sun

Cyrus enjoyed his first trip to the beach last weekend. To celebrate the end of the semester, my parents, my aunt and uncle, Matt and I went to Carmel. With six dogs. That's a lot of dogs. Cyrus did very well, even though we went to some very crowded places. In Carmel, they were having an art show, at Carmel Beach they were having a surfing competition, and we stopped in Capitola Sunday afternoon to see their Spring Dog Festival, which was packed. Cyrus, Pisco and Molly (!) handled it like champs. Mya has gotten a little protective of "her" puppy and had a tendency to growl, which sets Cyrus off. All in all, we had a wonderful time.

Groundhog day in Spring?

We have a gopher who's moved in to the front yard. Mya is suddenly channeling generations of badger-hunting ancestors, and is determined to root out the infestation of evil. In the video below, she attempts to teach her eager young charge the finer points of gopher-digging. I think she was successful, don't you?

Shoe Fetish

This may be Cyrus' way of asking us to stay home - steal all our shoes and we can't go anywhere. Actually, he seems to like them because they are nice and heavy. When he gets ahold of one of my husband's steel-toed work boots and shakes it back and forth, he wobbles back and forth himself.

Or perhaps he likes the stink.

His other favorite activity is chewing on Mya. She is surprisingly tolerant of him and they love to chase each other around the house. Perhaps its her way of making up for all the treats and chews that she steals from him.

Cast of Characters

Okay, I admit it: I don't have a real zoo. It just seems like it sometimes. My husband and I share our home with three dogs - a dachshund-mix, a dalmatian, and a new saluki puppy - a corn snake, and two saltwater fish tanks, one for display, one for soft coral frags. Emily, the dalmatian, has been with me more than half my life. Mya, the dachshund, is 5 years old, very clever, and knows it. Cyrus has been with us for about 2 weeks and already I think I should have named him Houdini. He is very smart and agile and, at 11 weeks, can already scale the 42" barricade we've been using to keep him in the kitchen when we're out. Luckily, he's been very well-behaved in his unsupervised explorations. My corn snake is named Sir Hiss, after the snake in the Robin Hood cartoon, and is around 3' long now. Of all the pets I've ever had, a corn snake is the one I whole-heartedly recommend to any parent whose kid wants a pet (although, only with proper research and children of the right age/maturity level, of course).

So, without further ado, welcome to the zoo.