How is Oakley adapting to his new home?  He is a handsome fellow.

He is doing great. He has let Axle become the alpha dog and follows him all over. That was after a slight fight over a toy of Axle's, no one got bit but a  lot of barking & growling mostly from Axle. Have yet to hear any barking from Oakley but his owner said he will bay like a blood hound at times.

He has been off leash during the day when they go out. Twice now Axle has led him off into the woods trying to lose him. That has been a tradition with all our dogs when we get a new one. Oakley is so well trained that all it takes to get him to come home is a whistle. We use an old British Bobbies whistle, which Axle learned to come to also.

This morning they ran into the wood line with Oakley in the lead. I let them explore for about 15 min then whistled them back with Axle in the lead. Here Oakley relaxing (sound asleep) after his adventure.

    He looks pooped out.   Here's Johnny, a maniac poodle from Florida my sister just adopted.  It takes a lot of patience with some animals but pays off in the long run for everybody.

We lost our Sophie today. She was the last of my original cats before I met Liz and had my two daughters. She was the only in her litter to survive a ride and fall from on a truck engine. I found her and saved her. She gave us fleas in return but we eradicated those. She loved sleeping beside me when she wasn't out hunting and eating smaller mammals.  Then she gave us much comfort and love. I've had her around or over 14 years.  She lived a long full life and has crossed over. She will be missed. 

She also taught the kids about life and death. We all said our goodbyes with teary eyes. Then I took her up the hill to bury her and my older daughter came running up wanting one last goodbye. We lined her grave with grass and little wild flowers and let her go back to the earth. 

 

 

rest in peace my sweet Sophie. 

It's always hard to loose a family member. In time the memories of the joy they bring will dominate.

 I'm sorry for your loss Aric.  It is a hard thing to go through.  I believe as Randy does and I could not have spoken better.  My Grandma always said, "This too shall pass", meaning the heartache.  She was always right.  It leaves fond memories.

A hard thing losing a pet Aric. 14 years is a good run. She'll only be missed until it sinks in that she lives on in your memories as long as memories last. 

I've had to say goodbye more times than I can count and have never gone long without something furry to love on, be it cat, dog or even the pygmy goats. 

How about I sit here and feel sad with you for a while? Give Liz and the girls a big Frosty hug and let them know please. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks guys. I will miss her rolling around on the walk way when I get home from work and her gently treading on my bed to lay beside me at night time. 

Our furry family has a shorter life span and we have to accept that. I will always remember her as the others that passed before. All pet family are different. We still have 4 indoor cats. They seem to miss momma cat as well. They all had treats tonight as momma Sophie liked and asked for. Zora who usually paws at them and barely eats one before Sophie would come and take it even ate them in a timely manner. 

Scott, I understand the phrase and it seems to keep going. Teaches some patience eh? 

Frosty, my best mouser is gone now. The other cats would sit along side mice eating my food. I have an up and coming (taken in stray)

black cat that needs fixed. She has some personality. A bit too much at the moment.  

Kind and appreciated words. An era seems over but on to the next as long as I keep going. As all the pets before, I will miss and remember them fondly.  

I’m so sorry, Das. 

Aric, She will be waiting for you on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge, asking what took you so long and did you bring treats?  And with her will be all the furry folk who went before.

BTW, that kind of calico cat was preferred by the Vikings.  They occur as a higher percentage of the local felines along Viking trade routes and around their trade centers.  Apparently, they were considered to be "luckier" than other colors.  99+% of calicos are females.  There is an occasional male but they tend to be sterile.

George

Aw man, Das, that sucks. Losing our fur-family is always hard, no matter how long they've been with us. My first cat passed in 2012 at the grand old age of 17, and I still sometimes wake up thinking she's laying above my head but then realize it's another cat or my pillow. 

Mouser eh? While we were building this house we counted on the 3 cats Deb brought with her from the UP, barn cats all. We came home after an errand or some such, I don't recall. What I do recall is walking in the door to three cats yowling in distress, all lined up side to side on a window sill. There was a heaven help us squirrel running around the unfinished living room looking for a way out.

I opened the sliding deck door and left at a dead run and hit the ground 2 stories below still running.

The cats looked around carefully before venturing to the floor THEN made a show of searching the place and growling menacingly.

We got a proper barn cat "Snicker Doodle" from a momma barn cat litter. By time she was weaned she was hunting like a pro. She kept the barn and yard clear of anything smaller than a rabbit for 13 years. We figure the local owl got her, she just wasn't there one morning.

Snicker would let folks she knew pet her but heaven help YOU if you tried to pick her up! 

Frosty The Lucky.

I can't imagine life without pets.   The cat in the bowl is Mocha the cat with the dogs is Banshee.  The dogs are from the same litter. The black male is Garm and the brindle female Tala.  Garm has killed 2 skunks and at leat 3 rats.  He got one skunk without getting sprayed. The other one got him good. The skunk must have completely emptied on him since the body barely smelled at all.  

 

Lola knows how happy you will be to give her that cracker. 

  Did somebody say crackers?I

  One of our family... 

Ha! Reminds me of a pic I took of one of ours last night. 

Pop Corners chips, can't steal just one.

 

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sails. ~ Semper Paratus

Charlie LOVES chips. He hears that bag and comes running! The only way I can eat my own chips is to put a single chip nearby just for him. This time I intentionally set the empty bag down so he could lick up all the dust, lol

He's old and spoiled. 18yrs old on May 8th!

Cats an potato chips. I have some very good memories of a friend's white cat Alice, a "Scottish Fold". She was a sweetheart but not interested in affection. Once in a great while she'd permit someone she knew to scratch her ears a little but that was about it. But did Alice love potato chips, wouldn't take one from you so you had to put one down for her.

One evening we were sitting around talking and just hanging out, I was doing damage to a bag of Lays and Alice comes over, sits in front of me to allow me to put down a chip for her and me being distracted I offer one by hand. She gives it a sniff and sits back down so me being distracted pop it in my mouth. Almost instantly she's standing on my chest staring me in the eye with THE look. I say, "Okay Alice," and bend forward for a chip so she jumps down and resumes her position.

Just about then Gary comes back from the kitchen as I lean over and offer Alice a chip. Gary say, "She won't take it from you, you have to put it down," As Alice takes the chip and start her normal routine of eating a potato chip. From then on I was the only one Alice would take any food from and she let me know she was prepared to be presented with her due chip by jumping up in my lap and putting her front paws on my chest.

I never did tell Gary how that came about, it was our secret. I loved that old cat, un-affectionate though she was she was still very cool.

Frosty The Lucky.

This is Presley, one of our two dogs.  Remy doesn’t come outside to the forge.  Presley follows me everywhere, but keeps a safe distance from the forge unless I call her.  So she’s my “shop dog”.

I took these photos before I started doing some work today.

Looks like Presley is saying, "can't you think of a more dignified pose?" Give her a scratchin for me please.  Snazzy shoes Rich.

Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks, Frosty!

That’s her routine for me.  She doesn’t act that way for my wife.  My wife brought her home two years ago, but she immediately abandoned my wife and has been next to me since.

It has been the opposite with Oakley. He stuck to me for a while but now he has decided Debi's lap is much more to his liking. Here they are (about 100 pounds of dogs in her lap. Axle in the foreground.

I got a visit in the shop today from a very cute little chipmunk. Didn’t get a photo, though.