As Boys Grow

Looking through photos of Rosie yesterday got me thinking about The Boy. I didn't have the blog at the time I had that litter and so there aren't many pictures of him as he grew. Seatbelts everyone -there is no speed limit on memory lane ...

Here he is at about 15 days old - look at that fat head ...

Getting beaten up by little Kenya at about 3 weeks old - he has spent much of his life getting schooled by girls.

Here he is at about 4 weeks perfecting his Mr. Incredible routine.

By 5 weeks he was already taking on cows - this is all that was left when I found him.

Oh look - doing something silly - hindsight is 20/20.

By 7.5 weeks he was all charm.

He sure loved his sisters but that transferred to his mom and me readily enough.

At four months I was worried he'd get caught in a strong wind and fly away.

At five months I figured he was big enough he'd stay earthbound despite the ears.

You always forget the details of when they were small - it's hard to reconcile with what is in front of you now. What I remember most clearly about Raimi's puppyhood was that just looking at him made my heart melt. Still does.

The Rose

Ah, from such sweet beginnings ... once again Rosie does well in stiff California competition and wins the Open Bitch class of 11 entries and takes home a Reserve Winners Bitch. She continues to improve everytime she is shown and starting next year she will hit the ring in serious contention to get her championship. It's taken her a few outings to 'get' this show thing but she seems to have picked it up really quickly ... just like her Momma Halo.

Rosie was the little spitfire in the litter and stood out like a firecracker. Naughty naughty naughty. She was personality plus and if Rosie was about there was never a dull moment. If there was something amiss she was probably the culprit. If there was something happening and she wasn't involved she soon would be. She stands out in my mind as the singular reason I thought I'd never have another litter!

I just knew this little trouble maker needed a home where she'd get the stimulation and 'Ridgeback understanding' from her owners. She is adored and spoiled by Virginia and Jon in California and they are continually proving my good judgement in picking great homes!

Splendour in the Grass

It's that time again - fewer attendees this time which is actually nice because its easier to keep track of the dogs!

Five month old siblings Kika and Emma will sleep like the dead.

Levi 'stole' a frisbee and played keep away from Rory.

Raimi doing what he does best: looking like a dolt.

Halo was naughty but what else is new?

Raimi and Rory well ... uh ... guys? Really.

The 4 boys had a rowdy ol' bachelor time.
Rory, Raimi, Tucker and Levi.

Kika and Emma going.
Tucker - Raimi' s only litter brother - taking a breather.

Kika and Emma coming.

I love this picture. The Boy and a boy (Zach).

RH: Prince of Thieves

I seem to collect weird cats. Some may remember the Ceilidh vs Grinch incident of last Christmas. I'm not sure if they come weird or if I make them weird. I came home from work the other day to find the left over Halloween candy all over the table and floor. Here's why ...

He looks innocent but don't let those cute little paws fool you. He's the culprit of some pretty naughty happenings in the house and he is hard to deter.

Here he is picking the candy he wants to take. He spent some time swishing them around and then knocked one out but I guess it wasn't good enough. He continued for some time to find the perfect candy.

I guess this one was good enough. He didn't actually pull it out, he got it almost all the way up but it slid back. In the end he just reached in and pulled one out with his teeth.

I didn't manage to capture him with the candy in mouth but he took it to the hallway and set it down to gaze at. He lost interest pretty quickly and I returned it to its dish.


Yes my cats walk on the table and since I almost never eat there I just don't care. I clean it off quite regularly and when I do actually eat there I clean off the dirty kitty prints so quit gagging.

Balance of Power

Mallaig is one of my cats - the most cheerful cat alive, the motor engine purr, a little pink smile, reaching for you with a tap as you walk by - super cute things that make you smile. And she's also a little weird.

Last night she did something unexpected. I was brushing my teeth and was, as usual, being supervised by Mallaig. I guess in her opinion I didn't need light to brush my teeth so she reached up and turned off the bathroom light fader. But that's not the unexpected bit.

After I turned the light back on she looked at the top of the bathroom door for a moment, gauged the distance from the vanity and jumped. I was prepared for disaster which never came. There she was perched on top of the door ... on the towel I was trying to keep cat hair free.

She wandered back and forth a few times. I think she was trying to decide where the door led to besides ... nowhere. There was some thought about attempting to walk along the door casing but fortunately that was met with a change of heart.

There was a point at which she did that distance gauging head bob leap thought which had a 99.9% chance of failure. You can see she is looking at the shower curtain tension bar. The reason the towel is over the back of the door and not the towel bar is because the bar's tension is not reliable. Fortunately she decided to pass.

Weasley has lofty ambitions but he's young yet. He was sitting on the vanity and looking up at Mallaig while she practised her Cirque du Soleil routine. That's her reflected in the mirror that faces the door. She is giving him ideas which do not bode well for future vases, plants and curtains.

There were some pretty impressive acrobatics and she must have spent a good 10 minutes show boating. Clearly she was pretty proud of herself.

Her dismount was very athletic, graceful and loud. THUMP! onto the tile. Now that she knows how to get up and down I suspect I'll have to find somewhere else to keep my towel.

W&G: Curse of the Were-Rabbit

I had another rant prepared but something came up and I thought I'd share.

Bunny.

Stupid bunny.

We have been walking in the neighbourhood and going to an abandoned school yard because of recent park experiences. It's also dark now when I get home and walking these two in the pitch black is not my idea of fun especially if I can't see if another dog is getting miffy. So we head to the school yard and they run around like maniacs for a few minutes.

Leads on and we head home.

150 feet from home Halo stops. Statue. I know that stillness and it bodes an explosion of action. I tighten the lead and peer into the darkness.

There, pinned in the grass, is an almost white bunny. Ears pressed to its head, flat as flat to the ground, sticking out like a white bunny against dark grass.

It sits up.

Halo is practically vibrating but stays solid as a statue.

Raimi looks at Halo and then peers into the darkness in the direction she is looking. Spots the bunny.

Raimi freezes. Still as a statue. The two of them are a photograph.

I tell the bunny "Shoo! Shoo Bunny!"

It hops nonchalantly across the yard and disappears around a tree. Both dogs spring into action and hit the end of the lead. I had spent the precious seconds prior to the "Shoo Bunny!' leaning against the pull of the dogs, wrapping the leads around my hands, bracing myself for the bolt.

We were only half a block from home so I carefully guided the manic dogs toward home. It was difficult progress. We rounded a tree.

Bunny.

White bunny. Sitting up and watching us.

The dogs couldn't believe their luck. The bunny flattened itself against the dark grass. Raimi, who I believe has never seen a bunny, was practically beside himself. Halo was doing her very best intense stare - the kind where you know just below the surface boils a predator.

We tried to walk past the bunny and made a sort of a curve off the sidewalk toward it with Raimi pulling like a train. We were still passing it and almost in the clear.

It bolted.

Toward us.

Heaven's above I thought I was going to get dragged across 4 yards and into the road. It shot toward us, curved at the last second, zipped around a tree and shot into the street. I'm quite sure several blocks down they could hear my " NoooOOOOOoooooOOOOOooooo!!!"

Both dogs in the same direction in a concentrated effort to Get That Bunny were stopped by my voice and my heels leaving skid marks in the neighbour's grass. It wasn't pretty but it did the trick. By the time they had dragged me to a stop the bunny was gone. Immediately Halo stood stock still, watched for a moment, evaluated the loss and let it go.

Raimi. Not so much. He could not get Bunny out of his head. For the last 50 feet to my yard he kept checking back checking back checking back ... bunny bunny bunny. He even checked the yard just to be sure.

We walked into the house, safe from marauding bunnies and Raimi checked Weasley with intense sniffing. Bunny?

Blown Away

It's been a few days since the incident at the park and I thought I'd come up with something lighter. I can't think of anything.

So far in the past few days we've been dealing with Halo and her problem ears, more Raimi hassling at the dog park by bullies, a depressing weekend of a dog show, and a time change which makes no sense but means that I'll now be walking dogs in the pitch black every night.

Halo and her ears. Well, Tanja had her for several months and Halo got fed a myriad of various food stuffs from egg whites to cupcakes with no ear problems. Now she's here and the problems have begun again. I think it's the dog treats I buy so I'll eliminate them and see what else is out there. She's been shaking her head and has now split her ear. Blood spatter again. More tape, band-aids and sulking. She leaves Nov 15 and it's 13 days too far away. We have this love/hate relationship ...

I am so sick and tired of my dogs getting hassled at the park. I'm sick of it. So sick in fact I'm thinking of walking them outside of the city. It would be more in gas and time but I have had it with other people's dog coming up to Raimi, sticking their face in his, posturing and without warning roaring at him. What is Raimi doing? He's on his tip toes in reaction to their non-sensical posturing, his head and eyes are turned away from them and STILL he gets roared at. What does Halo do? If I haven't grabbed her collar in time she wades into the fray in his defense. Usually I'm right behind her. I hate being the banshee at the park. My dogs are friendly, stable and well trained. (Case in point - Halo was put in a down/stay for roaring at a dog who'd told off Raimi a few minutes earlier(per usual it was unprovoked). I left her in a down/stay and walked away ... like 400 feet away and there she was in a down/stay til I made a 400 foot recall) Usually I can see an incident way ahead of the other dog's owner and it makes my dogs look bad to have me calling them away knowing they are not the problem.

They say a bad day at a dog show is better than a good day at work. Well ... yes and no. Not when the puppy you are looking at is not developing as you'd hoped and you are considering alternatives. Rory is a wonderful boy - so sweet, such a great credit to his owner but perhaps not the show dog we had anticipated. We are going to give him some time to mature, see what happens and if he doesn't pan out as a show dog he will excel at adoring Kathryn and hassling Seth. I love this boy's temperament, he reminds me so much of Raimi it's ridiculous and whether he is a champion or not at the end of the day he's Kathryn's own Boy.

It feels better to vent - really it does. There is one more thing I want to vent about and it's something that won't make any sense except to the person it's directed at: I'd rather have white feet in my kennel than line breed eye problems. I don't care if she reads the blog ... I feel better now.