Ripley's buddy, Loki

Ripley's buddy, Loki, is an old, old cat. I figured out that he is now 13 years old AND he was already a year old when we adopted him! He'd been in another home and they were moving and couldn't take him with them, and I found him at PETCO, on one of their "adopt an animal" days! He trained both of our German Shepherds~ our previous one and Rommel. Ripley? He hasn't exactly trained her yet, and she often tries to take a nip at him, but he simply walks away! Hmmppfffff~~~he can't be bothered! Here he is walking on my husband's car, doing nothing (his favorite pasttime!) Camera Critters for March 29, 2009.

Bones disappear!

My half-full box of dog bones almost completely disappeared last night. I like to keep a box of "Meaty Bones" around to reward good behavior. Hmmm.....it seems that the pack decided to reward itself last night! A real crime occurred. I stumbled out of bed at 4:00 a.m. today, only to discover 1 bone left in their box! I followed the trail of trash through the living room, only to find the result and wonder what went on in my living room last night!!!

Rommel

Ripley's companion and pal is our dog, Rommel, and our son's Weimeraner, Atticus, whom we "inherited" because our son lives in a condo. Ripley gets along with both of her "uncles", but especially with Atticus. He's a year younger than Rommel. Rommel is our third German Shepherd, who is now 6 years old, and it has been painful for us to watch him deteriorate with an auto-immune "deformity" that causes him to itch and scratch until he is bleeding! He has been under our vet's care since last Thanksgiving. He's been on a steroid for the itching and also anti-histimines to control it, but last month he had a very serious outbreak and he was just covered with "hot spots". He lost a lot of hair and he also lost 5 pounds. The vet read up on his condition, which is like lupus in humans, and, while there is no cure for it, he feels like he CAN help to control it. I've also switched Rommel's food to a no-grains/salmon one (Taste of the Wild salmon) and I'm also giving him raw veggies. He's now starting to look better...his eyes are clearer, his muzzle is better looking, but he is still thin. His energy level is coming back up, too! We take him back to the vet for another medicated bath this weekend. I have some old pics of Rommel when he was about a year old. I don't wish to post any of him now, since he is such a wreck, but here he is before his own body turned on him and began to destroy it. We aren't sure how much longer we will have Rommel, and I choose to remember him like he was. I know Doc will do everything he can to save him and we will continue to pay for his medicines and his baths as long as there is hope for him. I figure a good diet should help and I love to cook for him and make him "special food". Here he is relaxing on a friend's lawn when he was about one year old. He is a purebred German Shepherd, from a breeder in Riverside, CA. He's the most mellow shepherd we've had and he's never growled at ANYONE (he's our third one) and we can't imagine life without him, so we will continue to treat his symptoms as long as we can. He loves to go out and play with Ripley and Atticus and this afternoon the three of them were out front playing and raising dust all over the place! I'm so glad he is starting to feel better again! These immune "attacks" seem to happen about 4x a year.

My friend and her dogs!

I have a good friend, a fellow teacher, Barb, that I've known now for over 15 years. She and I taught together at the same school 15 years ago, then I left and she went to another school, too. But we've always kept in touch. Last summer she came over and helped me with one of my mustangs, Scout! She has a small ranch herself with 4 horses, 2 turkeys, chickens, goats, dogs, and a bearded lizard! She's quite a character and I dearly love her! Anyway, here she is with her dogs, feeding them their breakfast. Her goat, Davey, tried to grab some leftovers, too! He's quite a character!

A present from Ripley

Last night I was dozing on the couch. Hubby and I visited Joshua Tree National Park and we were out all afternoon and it was COLD up there! I came back exhausted. Hubby let all 3 dogs out front in the fenced yard and they came back in. I awoke when they came in the house and saw, out of the corner of my eye, that Ripley was staring at something on the floor, by the couch. She didn't touch it, but she sat and stared at it. I asked hubby, "Is there something on the floor that Ripley is looking at?" and when he replied, "Don't MOVE!", duh...I immediately sat up and put on my glasses! Guess what it was? A DEAD RAT! Or, actually, not quite dead! Now, I'm sure Ripley didn't mangle it...that would have been Daisy's job (our little female cat...), but I'm also sure that Ripley found it outside and brought it in to...er..."play with"!!! No pics. Sorry. Hubby scooped it up and I don't know what he did with it. Ugh. Here's Daisy saying, "WHO ME??????" Just LOOK at that innocent face! Actually, it is the face of a ruthless KILLER! She's killed mice, rats (almost as big as her!), birds, gophers, hummingbirds, and even baby rabbits! She has a pile of "dead things" out in the garage (in a corner) and I have to...er...clean it out every now and then! GO DAISY!

After a day with Ripley...this....

is what our German Shepherd is like. Totally EXHAUSTED! She's a HANDFUL!!! I mean, who could blame him for konking out on the couch????

Sunday morning breakfast

Okay, so the pack didn't get sardines this morning! They did get their eggs, yogurt, and 1 chopped up hot dog with cheese. Guess what? Their dishes are all clean! Yup! Clean as a whistle! And, they are all sacked out and it's only 7:00 a.m.! They helped me go outside this morning and fill up the bird feeders. After yesterday's rain, the birds will be hungry today and I wanted to get their food out early. We have doves, sparrows, and some kind of little black and white bird visit the feeders. I have a family of mockingbirds that lives nearby. One year I found a baby mockingbird who was cornered in our front yard by our white cat, Loki. The little thing was stretching his/her wings out as much as he/she could to scare the cat away, and I guess it worked because he/she was unharmed. I brought the STUPID CAT inside and I guess he somehow got back to its nest. The parents were divebombing the STUPID CAT, so they knew where the baby was. I love to hear the mockingbirds sing. We also have a family of orioles up in our cottonwood tree, although I haven't seen them this year. Once in a while we have a visiting owl who hoots in the tree in the evenings. We have a roadrunner family that has lived in our neighborhood (we don't get much car traffic here) for years and one time, one of them was chasing our little (petite) cat, Daisy, down the street! YES! Can you believe it? She might have been after one of their babies! In the 33 years we've lived here, we've always had a family of roadrunners (HA! probably 15th generation by now)! Here's a photo of Loki (STUPID CAT, the white one) and Daisy (little hunter, the orange and white one!). Enjoy your Sunday!