Bogieblog

Photo Op

The other night I came into the living room from the kitchen, and saw a sight that I need to get a picture of; Missy and Prince laying down, facing the dining room with Tory sitting between them, looking the same way.

I got the camera off the microwave (don't ask me why it is kept there, but there it has resided for several years). and was just in time . . .

. . . to get a shot that looked nothing like what was happening only 10 seconds before. Not a single animal had stayed - in fact Prince had done a lot of moving (standing up, then turning around). Missy had started to get up, and Tory obviously got bored and started to wander off.

Pretty much par for the course around here - getting a good picture is left for flowers and greenhouses.

Instead of Content - Pics

Tory In A Box

A picture I often can't get because Tory usually gets in and out rather quickly - one of the other cats will notice and stare him out of the box (no, "stare" is not a typo).

Shadow noticed Tory shortly after the picture was taken, and decided he wasn't going to allow such indulgence on Tory's part. So, he walked right up to the box and the staring began . . .

Snowballs Be Gone

Missy and I must give thanks to Scary Yankee Chick for her reccommendation last year of Musher's Secret. It is a balm rubbed into dogs' pads and hair between the pads, that keeps the snow from balling up. Missy has been snowball-free this season (except the feathers on her legs) and she no longer hobbles around from snow packing up on her feet.

I also put some on Prince's pads. He has never had a problem with snowballs forming, but he would feel left out if I gave attention to Missy and not to him. So although he doesn't get so much use out of the balm, he thanks SYC too for the attention he gets.

Packing it In

Fuzzy took it seriously that the box containing the Omaha Steaks delivery was his - he sleeps in it regularly now.

I added packing papers to the box this morning to make it more cushy. Not that the lack of cushioning was causing him any apparent angst . . .

Food and Toy for the Big Day

The mail produced an awesome package, Meats from Dudette and Wichi Dude. Okay, they had the meats sent from Omaha Steaks, but that does not diminish the expectations we have of eating well in the near future!

The added bonus was they also sent a cat toy:

And proof that the cats enjoyed it:

Yep, it is shaping up to be an awesome Christmas!

Pics to Get You Thru

I have been working so much that nothing else registers as being blog worthy. Poor WS has had to take on the majority of the housework during the week (laundry, dishes, filling inside woodrack, starting up woodstove, animals care at night), that I feel a little guilty. Normally, I would be taking care of most of the chores at least 3 days a week. The rest of the time we would split them up. But for the last couple of weeks I have been at work 11-12 hours, then add in the drive time and most of the time we don't even do dinner because bedtime is just an hour or so after I get home.

This post isn't supposed to be whining (I am enjoying work and glad to be working), but about how I have nothing to blog about. This post is supposed to be about sharing pictures I took in November and never got around to posting. So, on to the intended subject:

I think that pretty much makes up for not having anything to post about!

Changes

The poor dogs have been a bit on the confused side this week. After close to 4 months of getting to stay inside 90% of the time, they got thrown out in the pen every morning, and not brought in until some time between 6:30 and 7:30 PM. Between 3+ hours of drivetime and 10 hours of work per day, I've been leaving early and getting home late. WS left even earlier than me on a couple of days, and got home late on one day (the day the dogs didn't get in until 7:30).

This is one reason I have never understood dog trainers that insist that your pets should be on a rigid schedule - life throws changes at the owners, and the pets can get more stressed out if they aren't used to changes. Our two current dogs haven't had much of a changing schedule over the years, so this throws them a little, however not too bad since we are still on a first shift schedule.

Years ago, when we had three other dogs (Bogie, Niki and Sampson), we were constantly on different schedules; rotating a lot between 2nd and 3rd shifts. Then when the dogs were getting on in years, we switched to first shift. Additionally, our shifts would be anywhere from 8-16 hours, though a whole lot of 7 day weeks, which just made keeping them on any kind of actual schedule impossible. However, since the dogs were used to that from a very young age, there weren't any issues. When feeding times were changed because the shift had changed, it wasn't a big deal and they didn't get stressed or upset about it.

Now days, poor Prince, who has a very precise stomach (it can tell within 15 minutes whe he "should" get fed - the end of daylight savings time just kills him!), gets all worked up - which doesn't do him any good. Unfortunately, he seemed to have been on a strict schedule when he was young so any major change just upsets him for a while. Missy, on the other hand, is just a happy dog no matter the circumstances, so takes the changes in stride. And of course the cats just don't care since their food is always available.

The dogs and humans are adjusting, just some adjust more quickly than others.

Cats in a Box

Last week I got a huge box containing an amazing amount of peanuts, and another box inside (I now have a 33 gallon trash bag full of peanuts for later use). The second box had the contents (no, I'm not telling, that would be spoiling the surprise), and a bunch of paper. The contents are still in the second box, but the first box was set up in the living room with the paper for the entertainment of the cats.

Tory has also been in the box, but only a couple of times and I haven't managed to get a picture. Fuzzy uses it most though.

One of these days I will remember that the camera has a "pet" setting. I don't know if that is for eyes or for something else, but I need to find out!

Friday I used half the paper to mulch a few areas in the garden. I was going to break down the box to take for recycling, but WS said he was good with leaving it up for a while. So the cats get a cozy hiding place for a couple more weeks.

Face Off

The other day I had gotten home from some errands and Sammy, the neighbors cat, came to visit. Fuzzy came around from the back yard to be let in and spied Sammy. He walked over to intimidate Sammy (Fuzzy rarely starts fights) and this is a little of what transpired:

Sammy laid down instead of walking away. That ensures there is no "chase" and helps defuse the situation. Notice how neither is directly looking at the other, although they are keenly tracking each other out of the corner of their eyes.

 
Then Sammy actuall rolls over so he is facing away from Fuzzy. This shows Fuzzy he doesn't want any trouble and further defuses the situation.

Fuzzy finally got disgusted, or decided it wasn't worth his time, and decided he had better things to do (eat) inside.

If that had been Tory, this probably would have played out differently, but Fuzzy and Sammy usually tolerate each other fairly well.