Thursday, October 13, 2005, 19:25
Yipe!
Monday evening I was up in the yard by the hose, drawing water for the horses. I couldn't see our Springer Spaniel, Charlie, because I had my back to the horse pasture, but I knew exactly where he was -- he was by Isabelle's feed tub, waiting to pick up any grain she might drop.
For the past 10 years, Charlie has been nosing around Kajun's feed box, too, looking for dropped grain, but as soon as we got Isabelle, he decided he would rather snoop around by her feed tub. Better prospects, I think. Isabelle gets a lot more grain than Kajun. She is growing and uses up calories faster than Kajun does, so of course, because she gets more grain, she has more opportunity to drop more grain on the ground where the dog can find it. I don't know why Charlie thinks the horses' grain is so delicious, but he also picks and eats blackberries and wild raspberries when we go out berry picking.
As I continued filling pails with water, all of a sudden I heard -- "YIIIIIIIPE!"
I turned around. Charlie was standing four feet back from the fence, looking mistrustfully at Isabelle.
"She bit you again, didn't she," I said.
Isabelle bit Charlie once before, not long after we got her. That time, I was standing right there and saw what happened. She reached down and grabbed the scruff of his neck. Charlie yelped and then ended up underneath the horse, trying to get away from her teeth. I was sure she would try to kick him, too, but she didn't, and in fact, it seemed like she felt sorry that she had made him yelp. Since then, I have seen her move her head toward the dog several times, like she was thinking about biting him, but then thought better of it and decided not to.
"You've got to watch out for Isabelle, Charlie," I said, as I started carrying pails of water to the pasture.
Just then, Randy came home from work, and in fact, I think that's why Isabelle bit Charlie. He was distracted, listening to the truck coming down the road, and she saw that as her opportunity to reach out and bite him.
"Isabelle bit Charlie again," I said, as Randy came walking across the yard.
"Good," Randy said. "Maybe he will learn to be a little more careful around the horses."
Actually, I had been thinking the same thing. Charlie is too trusting when it comes to horses, and not every horse is going to be as nice to him as Kajun, although Kajun isn't crazy about the idea of Charlie laying in his hay pile, helping him eat hay.
Charlie is funny that way. Not only does he help the horses eat grain and hay and help us pick berries, but in years gone by, he has helped me dig onions, potatoes, carrots and has also helped me pick squash and muskmelon. Any time I am doing something like that, Charlie will pick up what I am digging or picking and will take a couple of onions or potatoes or carrots or squash or muskmelon to the yard where he chews on them and has a grand old time throwing them around and playing with them.
Don't you wonder sometimes what dogs think? I know I do.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Wednesday, October 12, 2005, 18:51
Watch Out!
I don't need to listen to the weather forecast on television to know when there's going to be a weather change. All I need to do is watch my little gray kitten, Sophie.
For years, I have known that cats are sensitive to weather changes. Very sensitive. When a weather change is coming, they become extremely active: running up and down the hallway, leaping up and down off furniture, scaling the kitchen cupboards to run back and forth along the top of the cabinets, picking fights with each other over nothing. A friend of mine affectionately calls such behavior "kitty nutso time."
I suspect that all cat owners have their own names for that kind of behavior.
Sophie has taken "kitty nutso time" to a new level. Randy says she is "all play -- all the time." And that is true. When she is not sound asleep -- she is playing with *something* -- the adult cats, the broom, my toe, the pen I'm trying to write with, the paper I am trying to write on -- the garbage can in the kitchen, pieces of dog food (when Sophie bats around pieces of Pixie's food like they are miniature, brown soccer balls, Pixie follows behind her and politely eats them as soon as the opportunity presents itself) . . .
But when a weather change is coming -- that's when I really need to watch out for Sophie.
This morning, Sophie was like a whirling dervish -- like a team of runaway stagecoach horses -- like a tornado bottled up in a kitten's body.
No matter what I tried to do, Sophie was right in the middle of it. She tipped over the bathroom garbage can and scattered toothpaste boxes and soap wrappers and used Kleenexes *everywhere* -- she hung from the shower curtain like Tarzan swinging through the jungle -- she tried to get into the drawer where I keep my address labels (they come on big rolls) in hopes of snagging onto the end of the roll so she could run away with it (she almost succeeded, too, on three or four occasions) -- she stuck her nose in the stamps while I was trying to peel a couple off the roll (maybe the post office would accept her with stamps stuck to her face as payment for sending a letter?. . .Nah. . .it would never work) -- she snagged onto my socks while I was trying to put them on my feet and wouldn't let go -- she clawed her way up my leg when I ripped off a piece of tape to tape an envelope shut (she thinks the roll of tape sounds like it would be a great toy for her to play with) -- she tipped over the dogs' glass treat jar (the cover went one way, the dog biscuits the other), she lurked behind things and leaped out at me when I walked past -- she was even climbing around in the sink (not *on* the countertop, but *in* the sink) while I was trying to wash up a few dishes.
And all because the sky is cloudy and the weather forecast says we might get a few showers today.
I wish there was a way that Sophie could transfer some of her energy to me. I could use a little of it right about now.
Neighbor: My terminally ill neighbor's daughter called this morning. They are admitting my neighbor to the nursing home this afternoon so I don't need to go over there today. I was there Sunday afternoon, Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon. She apparently had a very bad night Tuesday night. After taking care of her for the past several months, her husband is completely worn out. I don't know if she will be in the nursing home permanently or if it is a temporary measure.
LeAnn R. Ralph