Oscar, the younger of our two dogs, is trying to bribe Mom for some undetermined consideration. He has brought her a sheep, a duck, and a bunny rabbit, all in one load.
Category Archives: Pets
Interloper
We’re babysitting Humphrey while his mom, my wife’s aunt, goes on a European cruise.
Humphrey is a Havanese. Little. Cute. Attitude. Spoiled rotten. He fits in well with Charley and Oscar.
Sploot!
My senior dog, Charlie, working to handle the stresses of the holiday season.
In yoga I believe this pose is known as the sploot.
Stressed
The stress of impending doom from Tropical Storm Francine is getting to the watchdogs.
Charlie on the lleft, Oscar on the right, a favorite bone and a squeaky toy between them.
Charlie on the left, Oscar on the right, a favorite bone and squeaky toy between them.
Unlikely Savior
Sitting here in the morning reading the newspaper (online, of course) with a Richard Attenborough documentary on TV, more for background noise than anything else, when Oscar, the younger of our two Chinese Crested dogs, goes bonkers, barking, posturing.
I’m thinking, “what’s got him this time?” I glance at TV, there’s a polar bear hunting on a totally white ice field and Oscar is protecting his household from this new threat. All fifteen pounds of attitude ready to do battle with a thousand pounds of polar bear.
I pay a lot for protection of this caliber.
Here’s Oscar in the aftermath of scaring off a polar bear. He’s totally tuckered out.
Brothers
One joy I have with being retired is to sit in my chair reading the morning news and watching the pups play together.
They go at it pretty heavy fro a while, then it’s naptime. Here they are. The black ear belongs to Charlie, the oldest. The grey ear is Oscar.
Ever Vigilant
Saturday morning. Charlie, two-year old Chinese Crested, has the watch. As an apex predator he attends the carcass of a sheep.
Things that make me happy
Charlie, AKA Charles, AKA My Faithful Dog Spot, the first time we met, April 15, 2022.
The Pack
It occurs to me this evening as I rest in the company of my two dogs:
The Law for the Wolves
“NOW this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky,
And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back;
For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.
Wash daily from nose tip to tail tip; drink deeply, but never too deep;
And remember the night is for hunting and forget not the day is for sleep.
The jackal may follow the tiger, but, cub, when thy whiskers are grown,
Remember the wolf is a hunter—go forth and get food of thy own.
Keep peace with the lords of the jungle, the tiger, the panther, the bear;
And trouble not Hathi the Silent, and mock not the boar in his lair.
When pack meets with pack in the jungle, and neither will go from the trail,
Lie down till the leaders have spoken; it may be fair words shall prevail.
When ye fight with a wolf of the pack ye must fight him alone and afar,
Lest others take part in the quarrel and the pack is diminished by war.
Rudyard Kipling
Of course, my “pack” weighs just under thirty pounds if you add the two together…
Rare Breed
We thought we bought a Chinese Crested Powderpuff pup.
In the eight months we’ve had him, we have discovered that he is even rare than we imagined. The picture is Oscar, a rare tiny toy teacup white Lab. You can tell by the duck he carries in his mouth almost constantly.
Protector of the House
Great Wolf Lodge has a TV ad featuring a bunch of huge wolves, like the size of horses.
When it comes on, Charlie, my maybe fifteen pound Chinese Crested dog, goes into full protection mode, charging the TV, barking, to protect his household.
The Pups!
When I come through the door at the end of the day, except my two aren’t big enough to knock me over.
They wait until I sit down to inundate me.
Stressed
Oscar on the right, Charlie on the left:
Oscar with a favorite (and high-mileage) toy:
Paying Attention
In that bit of time between breakfast and going to church, I was sitting in the living room playing on my laptop.
I generally put some sort of low-key program on the TV as background noise. this morning it was David Attenborough narrating a show about Africa.
I might not be paying attention to TV but both dogs are definitely watching. The youngest, Oscar, all ten pounds of him, lit off, growling and barking. He’s protecting us from a pride of lions. It worked, as far as he’s concerned. They went away.