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| Such a handsome boy! |
I don't know what the Chinese calendar says, but this has been the Year of the Alpaca in the House of Chambers. Reggie & Bingo are shedding-shedding-shedding so much that I have gone beyond dust puppies to daily tumbleweeds. The regular brush just wasn't keeping up, so I got a new brush, the Furminator. Oh-Em-Gee! This thing gets the undercoat. Bingo loves sitting for her brushings. And Reggie? I sit on the floor with him and scritchy-scratch-brushy-brush. After I was finished the second time, I just pet him and he put his head in my lap. That is not just progress, that is a breakthrough! Amazing.
Sorry--no pix of piles of fur. I should have done a comparison between the two brushes. But look, here's Buddy licking a yogurt container:
Bingo with hers:
Reggie always retreats to his crate for treats:
Back to Buddy:
In the office, here's Bingo:
And here are Reggie & Buddy out on the deck:
Tabby Bobcat
*le sigh*
This guy. If I let him in at night he will invariably jump up on my bed while I am sleeping, usually by my face. And then, as if that's not enough, he makes that trilling cat announcement of "Human, I'm here. Now feed me." And then he knocks everything off the night stand. Sometimes, especially in the summer, he sleeps out on the porch. But then I get the early morning Roo-Roo! alert from this one:
Now usually Buddy is snuggled up with me. But if I'm still asleep and he hears T-Bob at the front door all scratchy-scratch, he'll trot out there and start the Bark Fest. And then Reggie joins in. Most mornings, it's not like that, but there are just enough that it makes me think my cat is just a jerk. Ha!
But then he's all CUTE in a box:
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| I can't stay mad at you, Tabby. |
Speaking of cute, this:
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| Buddy on the T.U. rug in the boudoir. |
And here's Bingo:
Saturday Morning
Saturday morning Buddy trotted into the office after his morning Roo-Roo patrol of the back yard. Tabby was on the back of the meditation chair and Buddy came and sat in front of me and looked at the cat. And then I noticed something odd; Buddy's left pupil was dilated, but his right one was not. When Tabby started purring and it was evident that he wasn't budging, Buddy went and settled onto the T.U. Rug. I tried to get a photo of the difference in his pupils, but he was uncooperative:
I googled "difference in pupil sizes" and some of the causes are brain tumor, stroke, concussion . . . . but then I did a search more specific to dogs. I was prepared to take him to the vet, but his behaviour was normal otherwise. One possible cause was he'd been hit in the eye. There was not evidence of that, but then who knows what he may have encountered in the back yard. A couple hours later, his eye was back to normal. Here he is on another Sniff Patrol:
Sunday
Buddy woke me at 12:30 a.m.-ish scratching at the back door. I went and got him and carried him to bed. "Come on, Buddy. It's time for beagles to sleep." I put him in bed and he chattered at me while I pet him. He squirmed and wriggled onto my pillow and stayed as long as I pet him, making his little beagley-snuggle noises. I was trying to stay awake enough to pet him, but asleep enough to go back to sleep. As soon as I drifted off and stopped petting him, he slinked back off the bed and was scratching at the door and whining.
*le sigh*
"Maybe he really does need to go out." So I let the dogs out and immediately Buddy went all Hunting Dog with his Roo-Roo. Ah-HA! Faker with your "I really gotta go" scratching at the back door. I'm on to you, Buddy!
I called the dogs in and Bingo & Reggie come in straight away and Buddy . . . lurks on the back steps. "Come on, silly boy. It's bed time."
After the initial rude awakening of the Roo-Roo-Woof Fest, Sunday turned out to be a GORGEOUS day! Sunny, breezy . . . here's Reggie with the empty dog food bag. I left it for them to lick and shred up:
Buddy:
Reggie came up to say hullo:
Happy boy:
Smiling for the camera! Really, I can't get over it. It's like something finally clicked in his brain and he's OK with the camera. Really OK.
Here's Buddy doing his yoga:
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| I call this his Philosopher's Pose . . . he looks so pensive. Or it could be Side Snoopy Pose. |
Later, I was inside when I heard a mass exodus off the back deck with lots of woofs & Roo-roos. They must have seen a deer or something:
Buddy sniffing the air:
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| Look at that tail pointing! |
I didn't realize it til I downloaded the photos; he's got his nose sticking through the fence:
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| Sniffing and wagging. |
More smiles from Reggie:
And then back to the bag:
Buddy trots by:
With Bingo:
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| Hullo. |
Bingo kicking, like dogs do:
Here are all three again:
Bingo, sunning herself:
And getting up:
Look at Reggie! Smiling for the camera again!
Bingo Backscratching
This is always so much fun to watch. She makes a little moany-groany noise to go with it:
We haven't had any thunderstorms lately, but there were fireworks and target practice in the neighborhood this weekend. I found an amino-acid based supplement for Bingo called Composure. It's for anxiety and while I originally got it for Bingo, when I was giving her a dose, I thought I'd give some to Reggie, too. I was going to give him a cheese placebo--can't give her a "treat" and not Reggie and Buddy! Anyway, I think it's helping her with the noise anxiety, and I think it's helping Reggie with his general nervousness. Buddy often follows behind me when I'm leaving the house chattering at me in beaglese. So I gave him some and he was much calmer when I got back. He wasn't all Roo-roo! Where were you? at the door when I got home. Compared to the other herbal things I've tried, it's working--and it's relatively inexpensive. So far, so good! HAPPY Monday! :-)
