Zoo Report
Having vented my spleen in the previous post, I feel much better now. Cranky pants folded and put away.
Zoe is thriving! As much work as a young pup is, they are so much fun. She's growing fast, and stands as tall as Emma now, but still fits nicely in my lap. She and Em puppy pile me in the evening when I'm trying to knit. She is absolutely gorgeous, too. Can you tell I'm smitten? She's got the other two wrapped around her- whatever, too, or at least most of the time. Jack still takes her to task at times when she crosses his boundaries on a bad day, but most of the time they play. They're currently frisking around the back yard as I sit outside, enjoying them and the windchimes and the sound of the waterfall.
The only real problem we have with her, aside from her penchant for my shoes and yarn, is house training. She's making progress, but still has an accident or two most days. I do think she's catching on that peeing in front of me and looking up proudly only earns her praise and treats outdoors. There was some serious confusion there for a while. She is currently running around the yard with a small clay flower pot full of dirt, having dispatched the hapless plant. Oh well, it was ugly anyway. Pot's probably not a good idea, though. *off to get it* I am learning the deep wisdom of something I read on line right after we got her: A bored boxer is a naughty boxer.
She's crate trained, knows "sit" very well, "down" pretty well, and we're working on "stay" and "fetch." Since she's part Lab, I ordered the duck retriever kit from LL Bean to train her with. http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/61845?feat=507026-GN2 I have fond visions of her leaping joyously into the waves at the dog beach someday. The others are waders and absolutely do not fetch in public. It will be interesting to see how they all respond to the duck scent on the training lure.
The Pack
The Divine Miss Z
The Skitten family is doing well, too. I managed to get the babies onto a towel and slide them out of their hidey hole and into a carrier this morning, hoping Skit would go in with them so I could trap her and relocate the whole tribe to the spare bathroom, but no such luck. Skit stayed out of reach, pretending she didn't care and looking daggers at me. I couldn't find any kitten rescue place willing to take them, and I just don't have it in me to feed them every two hours 24/7 for the next month,though I did go get some formula and bottles just in case I had to. On a helpful rescue person's advice I left the carrier door open and went away. When I checked back an hour later the carrier was empty and kitten noises were coming from the same corner under the cabinets where they were before. I left the towel as a peace offering and resolved to leave them alone. The rescue person said that when they're a month or so old I can start socializing them, which should be easy, or so she says. The trick will be to find them in the maze that is our garage. And I couldn't resist naming them. The grey is Smokey, the grey and white patched is Patch, or Patches, and the orange one (which I sexed as male, since he's the one I might keep) is Rufus the Second. Rufus the First being a handsome, long-haired orange fellow who met a sad end years back. I have a thing for orange cats. I love all cats, but the orange ones just seem to have an extra bit of personality that meshes well with mine.
The fish are well, too. Sometime this winter someone gave birth and two of the babies survived (the others probably eaten as snacks): one lemon and white, and one with a silver metallic body and orange head. The lilies are blooming and all's well in the pond. I do miss Hannibal the Feral Turtle, though, but he was a ramblin' reptile.
Zoe is thriving! As much work as a young pup is, they are so much fun. She's growing fast, and stands as tall as Emma now, but still fits nicely in my lap. She and Em puppy pile me in the evening when I'm trying to knit. She is absolutely gorgeous, too. Can you tell I'm smitten? She's got the other two wrapped around her- whatever, too, or at least most of the time. Jack still takes her to task at times when she crosses his boundaries on a bad day, but most of the time they play. They're currently frisking around the back yard as I sit outside, enjoying them and the windchimes and the sound of the waterfall.
The only real problem we have with her, aside from her penchant for my shoes and yarn, is house training. She's making progress, but still has an accident or two most days. I do think she's catching on that peeing in front of me and looking up proudly only earns her praise and treats outdoors. There was some serious confusion there for a while. She is currently running around the yard with a small clay flower pot full of dirt, having dispatched the hapless plant. Oh well, it was ugly anyway. Pot's probably not a good idea, though. *off to get it* I am learning the deep wisdom of something I read on line right after we got her: A bored boxer is a naughty boxer.
She's crate trained, knows "sit" very well, "down" pretty well, and we're working on "stay" and "fetch." Since she's part Lab, I ordered the duck retriever kit from LL Bean to train her with. http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/61845?feat=507026-GN2 I have fond visions of her leaping joyously into the waves at the dog beach someday. The others are waders and absolutely do not fetch in public. It will be interesting to see how they all respond to the duck scent on the training lure.
The Pack
The Divine Miss Z
The Skitten family is doing well, too. I managed to get the babies onto a towel and slide them out of their hidey hole and into a carrier this morning, hoping Skit would go in with them so I could trap her and relocate the whole tribe to the spare bathroom, but no such luck. Skit stayed out of reach, pretending she didn't care and looking daggers at me. I couldn't find any kitten rescue place willing to take them, and I just don't have it in me to feed them every two hours 24/7 for the next month,though I did go get some formula and bottles just in case I had to. On a helpful rescue person's advice I left the carrier door open and went away. When I checked back an hour later the carrier was empty and kitten noises were coming from the same corner under the cabinets where they were before. I left the towel as a peace offering and resolved to leave them alone. The rescue person said that when they're a month or so old I can start socializing them, which should be easy, or so she says. The trick will be to find them in the maze that is our garage. And I couldn't resist naming them. The grey is Smokey, the grey and white patched is Patch, or Patches, and the orange one (which I sexed as male, since he's the one I might keep) is Rufus the Second. Rufus the First being a handsome, long-haired orange fellow who met a sad end years back. I have a thing for orange cats. I love all cats, but the orange ones just seem to have an extra bit of personality that meshes well with mine.
The fish are well, too. Sometime this winter someone gave birth and two of the babies survived (the others probably eaten as snacks): one lemon and white, and one with a silver metallic body and orange head. The lilies are blooming and all's well in the pond. I do miss Hannibal the Feral Turtle, though, but he was a ramblin' reptile.
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