Still Clumsy after all these years

With apologies to Paul Simon.

 So I awaken a night back because I hear a rustling in the kitchen, and a chomping noise. I know that sound--it's a dog eating something. But I haven't fed the dog anything at 0134hrs so clearly something is amiss. 

My initial suspect is Murphy, because he's the main food thief. (Merida's giving him a run for his title but she's on the bed with me, a perfect alibi.) I get ip and head for the kitchen and I hear a loud CLANG! followed by the thump of something hitting a wall. What the hell? And here comes Murphy from behind me. It's not him! I turn on the kitchen light and it's Belle. Apparently she opened the pantry door, which doesn't shut well because this house was put up shoddily post-Katrina, and she made a run at the open bag of food for the porch cats. Now she's got her head stuck in the cat food bag and she's stumbling around the kitchen, tripping over her metal dish and banging into the wall.  She shakes it off as I get in there and looks at me like "Uh....I can explain."

Murphy would never do this. He's a food-stealing ninja dog who will take things off the counter while I'm in the next room and I'll never hear him do it; He's that good. Merida just takes unapologetically and makes a ton of racket doing it because three-legged dogs are not stealthy but she's too small to get into these bags. But Belle...usually above suspicion because she's the "good" dog and clumsy enough that she still trips over this bowl--or most anything else on the floor--after almost a decade. I swear that dog could trip over smoke and she's forever stumbling over the water bowl that no one else trips over, usually turning the kitchen into a lake in the process. Murphy never trips over the water bowl. Merida fell face-first into it once when adjusting to her new three-legged normal (I shouldn't have laughed but I did) and even I have been known to kick that bowl a time or two in the dark, but Belle hits it about once a week on average and she shows no sign of stopping. 

These dogs are lucky I love them...and I'm luckier that they love me.

The Housewolves

 The Wolfen are still here too.

Murphy's doing well. 

Slowing down a fair bit because he's ancient, but still very much his own dog and official protector of the realm. Just ask the handyman who stopped over to give me an estimate on some work; he left with two bite marks, both of which were fortunately minor, when he surprised Murphy in the yard. But where I'd been planning to get three estimates on the work, this guy got the job right there because I don't need to get sued. So you could say that Murphy hired him.

Belle is still my prima donna.

Queen of the castle and without a doubt the most obedient of the three. In fact Belle is usually the one who goes to the bars with me now, since she, also getting up in age, prefers to just go sleep in the corner or the unused DJ booth while I have my drinks. Sometimes she even gets a solo trip to the park because she still likes longer walks than the other two and there's no reason to hold her back just because.

And then there's Merida, aka Rat Dog, Little Weird Dog, and Baby Murder Dog.

This little hellion has really come into her own. She's banned from the dog parks because she fights every dog she sees. And even though she only has three legs and no front teeth, She clobbers dogs twice her size, even if muzzled, and she's also killed two of my chickens so far. (Yep, I decided to try the egg thing while sitting idle during the Coronabore.) I love this little dog to pieces, and she's cuddly and sugar sweet around people, but she can't be around any animals other than Murphy and Belle, whom she adores. I don't know what her life was before I got her, but clearly violence was a part of it. We're going to keep working on it though. Meantime, she's found her spot here and has literally no fucks to give.

They've been getting lots of attention these past few months and are likely beyond spoiled, but they still know who the boss is, or at least they pretend to when I'm here.

Hey!

Yep.Still here. Just busy and tired of politics and the unceasing attacks on our elected President and pretty much everything else we believe in. The Morlocks at the gate (Liberals) don't just want to undo a fair election, they want to deny us our right to vote, our right to speak or assemble, our right to worship (unless there is a masque involved), our right to make and control our own money and our right to defend ourselves should they decide to attack. I'm just counting the days until I can retire and move west to any free state that might be left.

Meantime, I still have dogs. As long as I have a bowl of popcorn, these three will not leave my side.

Unless Paige has treats. Then loyalty goes out the window apparently.

Merida has become part of the pack. Small, she takes no shit from Murphy and Belle and she can throw a shoulder like a roller derby queen if they get in her way. They get along wonderfully now.

She's just had her first heartworm shot so she's supposed to be sedentary, but apparently she doesn't know that word. She just got out of the house a few minutes ago when I opened the door and she chased the street cats around until I yelled at her, at which time she came back, all sorry/not sorry.

Don't fall for the innocent look. She's conniving and calculating. She just wears the cute like armor...and it works.

Belle still rules the roost though.

I'll try to post more. I promise.

Discipline SUXS! (So sayeth Merida)

So the other night I called Merida because I wanted to play with her. She did not come to me, so after a few calls I went looking, because this isn't like her at all. I found her up on my bed, sleeping on my pillow.

That's a "Nope" right there.

So I pulled her down the the floor and gave her a good "NO!" And in return, she gave me a dirty look and climbed right back up on the bed. Really?

A few seconds later saw her back on the floor with another negative admonition, at which point she went over to her blanket on the floor at the foot end of the bed, lay down and stuck her head under the bed. I went over and tried to coax her out, because I still wanted to play with her, but everything I did caused her to burrow further under the bed. Then it hit me--she was sulking! Poor thing's probably never been corrected before, and definitely not by me yet, and she wasn't liking it. So I left her alone and went on about my business for an hour or so and when I went back in the room she was still on the floor but she got up and came over to me, this time in a little better mood. I gave her some petting and scratching, and then she turned and went back up on the bed again, as if to see if it was ok now. She was removed a third time and hasn't tried it again since. And she seems to have gotten over her little fit of pique and now follows me around everywhere again. I guess someone was trying for the role of Alpha in the house and now that she realized that she didn't get the part she's ok again.

So this morning, since it finally wasn't a million degrees and the dogs all let me sleep in for a bit, we went down to the French Quarter.

It was the first time I took all three of them out together, and Merida preferred to walk with the big dogs rather than ride in her wagon. I let her at first and she did ok for a few blocks but she fatigued pretty quickly and I decided to put her back in it. Again I got challenges, as she really wanted to be with her pack and kept jumping out of the wagon. It was admirable, and the girl's got grit, but she just doesn't have that stamina yet and it was obvious that she was struggling so I repeatedly put her back in the wagon until she finally learned to stay in it. It's looking like she's going to be a bit of a hard-head just like her pal Murphy.

Hell, they drove me to drink this morning and it wasn't even 10AM yet.

And then there were three. So much for the "fostering" idea...

I went and added little Merida to the sidebar today so I guess that makes it official. She's just fitting in too well here. The other dogs have taken to her despite their initial reluctance because she worked so hard at befriending them. Even Belle the diva finally melted. And Murphy may not act like he likes her around the house, but I've started taking all of them out in public together and he very clearly guards her when other people come up and want to pet her. Nothing aggressive but he always seems to put himself very close to her if not in between her and the interested person to the extent that people point out how protective he's being. Belle does to to an extent, but she's still a princess with her own need for attention. Frankly I expected jealousy from her but haven't seen a bit, not even when Merida eats out of her dish, takes a drink when Belle's drinking from the water bowl, or steals Belle's bed.

Everybody's just getting along and they even lay down and sleep by her at night now. I was letting her out my bedroom door into the back yard special to save her the longer walk the other dogs make when I put them out the side door (they have to go the length of the house on gravel to reach the back yard for "dog business") but now she runs out the side door with them, preferring the long walk with her new pack over the easy shortcut with me. She's also learned how to jump up on my bed, which is almost as far off the ground as she is tall, but she hasn't learned how to do it without crashing into me like a 45lb wrecking ball whilst I'm still dozing. Bottom line: She's real cute and everyone loves her and it would be cruel to uproot her again when she's finally feeling secure and happy. So she's staying.

The other night I took all three to the dog park, but when we got there the park was closed. So I took them to the bar instead. (OK, two bars and a gourmet french fry shop...) She's much more confident walking in with her pack then when I took her solo a couple nights prior. And they stuck to her instead of trying to hustle pets and snacks like they usually do.

We got home and she was all tuckered out and went right to sleep, no doubt dreaming dreams of finally finding her forever home.

Sometimes little dogs' dreams do come true.

And her name shall be Merida

Sorry for the lack of posting. Been busy here. But little Merida is fitting right in. And that will be her name now, named for the capital city in Mexico's Yucatan state, a beautiful place that I would never have gone to on my own, but once I saw it, I fell in love with it. And that applies to this crazy little 3/4 Pit Bull too. I didn't want another dog and wouldn't have chosen a pibbie but now that I've started to get to know her...

Here she is on one of the two dog beds by the window. She has no problem competing for this prime space with the other two, meaning one of the Shepherds has to sleep elsewhere. But they let her. She's now chasing them around, trying to be everywhere they they are and licking at their faces whenever she can, kind of like that annoying little sibling they wish would go away but who adores them so much. And they put up with all of it, although Murphy does get agitated at times. I think even he's come along though. She's got this sunny disposition that you just can't get mad at. Despite everything that's happened to her, she's downright cheerful.

Yesterday she was outside with me and the other two, and suddenly, like they'd coordinated it all three ran to the back door wanting to get in the house.

So I got up from my lawn chair where I'd been sitting and went over to let them in. I knew that rain was coming but within thirty seconds of us all going inside, a deluge hit and it poured like crazy. They felt it--all three of them. And then they all looked at me smugly when we were inside and they were lying down on their nice dry dog beds as the rain beat on the windows and roof. "Good thing hooman listen to us!"

Pals

It's hard to believe that these two hated each other once.

Belle was determined from the beginning to be a one-person dog and she never missed an opportunity to let Murphy know that she was the new boss dog Alpha in the house. For a while I couldn't even get them to stay in the same room together. But now...

They are family.

So two dogs walk into a bar...

And they decide to spell the band when the band takes a break at one of our favorite bars.

They wanted to cover some Three Dog Night, but they were short a dog. So they just rolled out some Steppenwolf.

In the "kinda sad" department, old Murphy couldn't jump up on the stage by himself. He's starting to show his age. Actually he's been showing it for a while. I've just been looking past it. But there was a day when how could leap and climb over a six foot fence and damn near catch the top of an eight-footer. I remember chasing him in my Jeep as he ran nearly half a mile full tilt once too, and he used to strain and pull at the leash something fierce if I let him. Now he just walks alongside me and I try not to go too fast for him. He still demands his walks but they're shorter and slower now and if I throw a toy he just sort of saunters after it, all the time in the world.

He's ten, getting close to eleven.

And Belle's eight and has't even tried to dig out of the yard in some time. Seems like just the other day they were new two-year olds, filled with all the energy and mischief in the free world. Where'd the time go?

In New Orleans, even the dogs parade for Mardi Gras

And for the third year in a row, Murphy and Belle joined thousands of other dogs on a beautiful Sunday afternoon for a stroll through the French Quarter.

And this year, Paige came along and Belle asked to walk her. Paige is one of Belle's favorite humans.

Many people pulled wagons filled with throws and dog treats. Murphy being Murphy, he just walked alongside other people's wagons and helped himself to the treats.

Belle tended to beg a bit more ladylike.

But Murphy...

Give that dog credit--he knows what he wants and he gets it.


They were loved and adored by legions of dog fans.

And the scenery was good.

Once home, there was sleeping to be done. All paraded out.

Peaceful morning...and dogs and cats

A nice morning, fresh coffee, a Gary Cooper/Burt Lancaster movie on the TV, and two dogs who keep trying to harsh my mellow by barking at any person, truck or cat that they see outside.

Or maybe they're just hating because Emily came over last night and after playing with them for quite a while, also dared to spend time playing with one of my porch cats.

Yep. I got porch cats. And the dogs are not amused. But since they don't chase mice and rats, the porch cats get enough food to keep them around. And they do kill them some mice and rats; I've seen them do it.

Of course I have to work to keep feline and canine separate. Murphy is still Murphy and he's racked up more than his share of cats and shows no indication of turning over a new leaf. And Belle just wants to chase them because they run, although if one stopped or didn't run at all she'd be a mighty confused dog. Still, taking them out on leashes when there is a cat or two lounging on my patio chair requires a bit of planning and caution because some of the cats--this one in particular--don't just up and run off or otherwise make it easy for me. They'll sit right there, just out of leash reach, and bet their lives on my keeping control of 160lbs. of prey-drive motivated Shepherds. Such fun.

Well that didn't take too long

I got home late Monday night. I left my bags on my kitchen chair. Went out Tuesday night and came home to find my backpack had been dragged off the chair and all through the house to the dog beds where two K9 conspirators managed to open every compartment with food in them and remove said food. They feasted on trail mix, granola bars and MRE snacks to their heart's content and just scattered all of the non-food items (clothing, loaded magazines, tools, etc.) that were apparently in their way. And this pack weighed 34lbs at the airport--not an unimpressive feat.

Jerk dogs.

Parading...with dogs

Today the Krewe of Barkus paraded through the French Quarter. And how can there be an all-dog parade without Murphy and Belle?

That would be unpossible,

We started off in Armstrong Park. So any dogs, so many vendors set up to sell you stuff or give out information. And the money raised from this event goes to the Louisiana SPCA.

I was there with my friend Sin, and her dog Mabel. As you can see, they were into the theme, which was Game of Bones.

Lots of dogs large and small, and their humans, were costumed.

They sold food there too, and Murphy being Murphy, as we walked past a woman who had set a basket of catfish down in the chair next to her, he reached over and grabbed a mouthful because I wasn't paying attention. She yelled at him but he just wolfed it down and went for another bite before I could reel him back in. Damn dog..

We all marched out of the park, and bead were thrown, dog treats were handed out and many pets were given.

There was a reviewing balcony, where krewe royalty commented on the dogs. Murphy and Belle were singled out for praise, especially once the interviewer found out that they were both rescue dogs.

This lady gave Murphy a few treats. Then she ran out. She told him that she didn't have any more, but he didn't believe her and checked for himself.

We ended up at one of my favorite bars, where there was water for the dogs, drinks for the humans, and more dog treats. I think Murphy and Belle put on about five pounds each today.

Sin feeds all three.