My brood

Well, we have some knowledge of how Honey will turn out.  She is a good watch dog except in the dark, if it is raining, and if it is cold.  She is afraid of the dark, hates rain and cold.  Otherwise, she is a great watchdog.  And she is great at keeping that dog looking back at her from the window in the dining rook from getting inside.  She hasn't figured out why it won't go away, though.  Saturday, I noticed my lime tree on it's side in the middle of the yard.  Of course I went to investigate. Yep.  Honey had pulled the small tree out of the pot, dumped all the dirt from the pot, and destroyed the pot.  She had also pulled up my pepper plant and was about to go to work on my night blooming orchid.  So, a lot of re-potting and removing the plants from where she could get them. And she helped with the repotting.  I also spent all day Saturday and Sunday with a mop in my hand every time she came inside.  There was mud everywhere.  I am so glad she was confined to the dining room and kitchen.  Had she had the run of the house, I would still be cleaning mud from the floors.  And cabinets. And walls.  And furniture. 

Duncan wore his sweater all day Saturday and Sunday.  It warmed up slightly today and I took it off, but tonight he wanted it back on. I keep my house at 68 so he gets cold.  Jock just burrows under any blankets I have on the furniture.  Duncan hasn't learned how to do that.  Honey has a queen size fluffy blanket in her crate and loves it.  I guess we will survive winter. 

Return to the living

I have been down with the flu and so far down I did not think I would resurface.  During all this my babies took good care of me.  Jock and Duncan kept my bed warm for me.  They loved me being sick.  It meant that they got to sleep on the bed most of the day.  I would crawl out of bed to take care of my babies then back into bed.  Honey was really worried because I was home all day and night and I wasn't playing with her.  I couldn't go outside and throw the ball for her.  She never brings it back, but she does love to run after it.  Well, I did manage to do Thanksgiving dinner yesterday and had my son and grandchildren here.  It was nice.  Honey, Jock, Duncan, and Missy thought so too.  They got turkey with broth and I have quite a bit frozen for them.  I always boil the carcass and freeze the broth to use in their food.  The dark meat is chopped up and put in their food. 
Today, Honey spent almost all day outside.  She destroyed my chayote squash I had planted.  She was in the process of digging up my lime tree when I caught her and removed the pot with the tree.  She then turned her attention to the pot that had held the squash.  That pot is now in little pieces all over the yard.  Along with sundary other items that she has destroyed.  But she had a good time.  She was fine with the wind.  She didn't mind it at all.  However, when the front blew in and the temp dropped, she wanted none of that.  She went outside and in just a few minutes, I heard her crying at the window.  She was standing up with her paws on the window sill and whining.  She had never done this before, but she has never seen cold weather either.  She came in and did not want to go  back out.  She is a cutie. 

Jock has gotten very needy and jealous of the other dogs and the cats.  He will demand his lap time now.  He sits in my lap while I crochet.  Usually he is on one side and Duncan on the other, with Spats and Van hanging over my shoulders.  I do have quite circus here, but I love it.  I am working on Honey and her biting the others.  She is trying to play, but they don't like it and it hurts them.  So we are working really hard to control this.  She is doing pretty good, not great.  She definitely wants her way. 

Trip to vet

We made a trip to the vet yesterday.  We went to get Duncan's and Jock's anal glands expressed.  Yeah, they hate the vet.  So I put Jock's collar on him, black with rhinestones, and his name tag proclaiming to the world that he was JOCK.  He marched out to the car.  Duncan marched with him sans collar and leash.  I don't need Duncan on a leash.  He doesn't get two inches from Jock.  I put them in the back seat.  Duncan as usual cowed down.  Not Jock.  His feet were on the arm rest and he was surveying the world.  It is just a short drive to this vet.  I see him when I don't have time to go to Don's, who is 20 miles from me.  So we drove to the vet with Jock surveying everything from his throne.  As soon as I pulled into the parking lot of the vet's office, Jock was on the floor trying to crawl under the seat. 

I got him out, holding his leash while I reached for Duncan.  Jock was fighting his leash and trying hard to pull out of it.  So I put him back in the car, took off the leash, dropped my bag on the floor and picked up one under each arm.  And in we marched.  Lynn took us to a room and the vet tech came in and took Jock to weigh him.  He had gained 3 pounds.  Time for a diet.  Duncan, in spite of picking up his eating to 1 cup a day, only weighed in at 5 pounds and he is still not as heavy as he should be.  His backbone still is visible.  So Lynn gets to the chore and Jock hates it.  He was looking at me like "Save me Mommy!"  When she finished, he shot into my arms.  Duncan has had so much happen to him.  He just submitted to whatever was going to happen to him.  He got a lot of loving afterwards.  And Lynn gave them treats.  I carried them to the car and Jock was fine on the way home.  I had to drive holding Duncan though. 

When we got home and I opened the car door, Jock was so ready to get out.  Of course, he had to inspect the front yard.  And Duncan was fine as soon as we got home.  And not two inches from Jock.

stormy night

Apparently my son activated alerts on my phone because at 04:17 this morning I was alerted to a tornado warning. Well that got everybody up, except Missy.  Missy was asleep on the couch and could not see the lightening nor can she hear the thunder.  So I move all of us, including the cats, to an inside bathroom.  Duncan was terrified.  He hates thunderstorms.  Honey was busy being a pest.  Jock was in my lap.  Missy went right back to sleep.  We waited out the storm in the bathroom.  Around 05:30, I rousted everyone and checked to see if it was raining.  It had stopped or at least we had a lull.  I put Missy, Jock and Duncan outside.  They went, took care of business, and shot back inside.  Then it was Honey's turn.  I could not get her outside.  She looked out the door and ran back to her crate and I could not get her out.  I would have had to take the crate apart to get her out.  So, needless to say, I have had a lot of cleaning up to do.

She finally went out about 15 minutes ago.  Ran out and did her business, and almost ran over me getting back inside.  So my hunting dog is afraid of the dark and hates rain.  Yep.  She will do great on the hunt.  But she is only 5 months old, so we will see.

But my Duncan is terrified of bad weather.  I have to sit and hold him when it is storming and he shakes so bad.  I can only guess at what he had to endure in the first part of his life.  He is a very damaged little dog.  But he has a cushy home now.  And always will.

Mystery of the disappearing peppers

I have a beautiful pepper plant in a pot.  I put it in the pot planning to move it inside the garage when it gets cold and I could have peppers all winter.  I have a 4x4 skylight in my garage and I can grown just about anything in there.  Well, my pepper was blooming and producing plenty of peppers.  Then the peppers started disappearing before they were any size at all.  I just assumed they were falling of the plant.  Well, I was in the dining room Friday with all the shades open and could see the pepper plant.  I found out what was happening to my peppers.  The squirrel came across the yard, snatched a pepper that was only about 1 inch long and scooted up the tree with it.  I also found out that he was harvesting my pole beans as they produced.  Guess I won't get any peppers until I move it into the garage and the beans are not going to happen.  At least he has, so far, left the tomatoes alone and I am still getting tomatoes.  He has a field day with the acorns from the Burr Oak in my back yard.  A Burr Oak produces huge acorns and he gets all of them.

About two weeks ago, I was in the front yard and heard what I thought was a cat fight, but it didn't really sound like cats.  I took a look around and saw two squirrels shoot out from under my Gardenia bush and one squirrel was giving the other one what for.  He chased that squirrel across the neighbor's yard, across the cul-de-sac, and into the other neighbor's back yard.  Then he came back to my yard.  Guess he was defending his territory.  And even though I put out squirrel feed, he still steals all the food I put in the bird feeders.

Leash training Honey

Honey is proving difficult to leash train.  I put her collar on her and she has worn it for around 3 weeks and is comfortable with it, but when I put a leash on her, she is scared to death.  And after I take the leash off, she won't come near me.  Guess it will take a lot of work on my part. 
On an up note, she is really, really sweet and I am getting her accustomed to Missy.  The problem with Honey is that she bites.  She bites their faces.  She pulls on their fur and on their lips.  She shows no inclination to lick.  I am trying to teach her to do so.  I put peanut butter on my fingers and she is learning to lick it off.  She was out with Missy for around a hour today and finally Missy taught her to leave her alone.  My problem with letting Missy chastise is that Missy is too old.  Missy is around 17.  And Jock is too small and he has joint trouble.  So it is up to me. 

She is really smart, but really stubborn too.  Wish me luck.