in beauty
in fluffy, furry friends
in good company
in good food
in reflection
and the knowledge that this too shall pass.
SUENOSDEUOMI'S RUMINATIONS AND PERSPECTIVE
Showing posts with label Furry Friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Furry Friends. Show all posts
Dog Tired
Isabella and Sumo, my two mutts, exhausted (not for long though) after their bi-weekly 12 mile run up on the snow covered mountain. Do not believe for one moment that little Sumo can not keep up. He is the athlete, the one that runs ahead with unstoppable energy and tremendous excitement. I love how sweet and hardy Sumo is and that he never needs any special consideration or protection because of his size. As the Pretty Kitty looks on it gives me a rare chance to capture the three of them together in natural day light. Have you heard of an interesting study by researchers at Wofford College that showes a 5 year old Border Collie to manage, memorize, recognize and categorize more then 1000 words? It just confirms that dog's capacities are woefully underutilized.
Inequities Remedied
What an effective day it has been, love it! I got the sofa I had only just discovered around midnight on craigslist in by early morning, hours only before the ladies were to leave town. I love the warm wood of this futon frame and am particularly fond of the cabinets on both sides. I always wondered why those spaces would go wasted? My main motivation though for this acquisition has been the inequitable sleeping arrangements in our home of late. My little Sumo-boy insists on sleeping with me. The moment I lie down, no matter the time, he will race towards me in hopes of pressing his back against my side all night long. The kitty will join in the morning, but for Isabella-girl there simply has been no room, my daybed simply is too small and narrow for the four of us.
For the first 2 1/2 years of living with my furry ones I had no intention of sharing my bed and furniture. I had done all my reading in preparation of Isabella's, my first dog's arrival and got her and each subsequent furry one a nice fluffy white bed of their own. When Sumo joined us about half a year after Isabella's arrival, I was rather harsh in getting him off the furniture, including my table. I started to lose my resolve with the arrival of our Pretty Kitty, our Black Panther, our independent spirit who will hear nothing of others boundaries and preferences. How could I keep my little dog off when the cat took over and made himself comfortable right on top of me? When I strained my back and had trouble moving and walking my pups, that is when I caved in and let Sumo sleep in my arms. While in so many ways he is a real guy, independent, fearless, eager to go out and explore, hunt whatever comes his way, and making cunning use of his small size and large spirit, in some ways he is simply a lap dog looking for the most comfortable spots, be it my or another's lap. I must admit though a little warm fuzzy, furry one can feel very cozy, even healing.
Once Sumo is settled the kitty moves in and I watched many a time with fascination as he keeps on sneaking up at Sumo, driven it seems by a powerful desire to cuddle and rub up against. Isabella almost the size of three Sumos is kinda left out in all this. From the very beginning she has offered her bed, her toys, her food to Sumo, willing to share all she had, but Sumo will have none of sleeping with girls, no matter how small she presses herself in to a far corner of her bed. Sumo seeks closeness to me, the Pretty Kitty and Isabella seek out Sumo. My heart hurts for those twos and this happened way before I ever let this little guy sleep with me, happened almost every night for 1 1/2 years.
So, it is my sincere hope that finally with a big enough bed for the four of us we will all be back in one pack with no seeming preferential treatments. I hold high hopes that this will address my girl's bad mood of late where she seems to have a need to assert herself and test her alpha status with other dogs.
Don't they look like they belong,
like this has been their spot forever?
Fresh Breeze
Ah, fresh breeze on my cheeks
while riding my bike
with two pups on lead, ah!
while riding my bike
with two pups on lead, ah!
I made it out on bike with the pups by 7 this morning. No big deal? Well, for our sleepy town, little happens this early, the streets are still mostly empty, the air can be cool, even cold as autumn seems to have announced it's approach already. For me it is a big deal to beat the temptation of the net and head out, rather then on the computer, before the heat of the day.
My pups did great, stayed focus and did never once threaten my life with erratic, spontaneous impulses of their own. I marveled inside the coffee shop, where we stopped on our way home, how easy life has become with more mature (going on 5 years, both) dogs. No longer did I have to feel anxious about their behavior outside while I was placing my order inside. No longer did I feel a need to crash the waiting lines to get back out to prevent mayhem. They are really good doggies, but canines they are. It is always better to not approach an unknown tethered dog. Today one girl somehow got scared off. I really do not know what happened, did not hear any klamauk. I felt bad, wished the girl would have wanted to try again, rather then slink away from my pups. I surely do not want to imprint fear of dogs on any girl through my pups. Wish someone had introduced me gently to dogs when I was young and scared and certain those German shepherds were out to bite my hand off.
Isabella-girl, who often now lags behind (having discovered that my eyes are not on my back) today, with a glimmer in her eyes, got to running ahead and gave Sumo this mischievous look back. I love that glee filled spirit of hers that exudes out of those big brown eyes.
Passing a tree full of apples many of them on the ground, I learned that some city workers do think and make sensible decisions of their own. The fallen apples will not be wasted in a land fill, but will feed a sow. Hooray for not wasting food! Hooray for one man's initiative and hooray again for the city no longer fertilizing all public parks as it used to be done. No thanks to toxins and yes to green managements. In our community it is the law that fruit hanging and dropping on/over public spaces is common goods. My eyes were open for loot!
That is how I stopped at a neighbor's plum tree where the side walk was littered with gooey, gunky, messy, squooshy plums. Hoping for some whole fruits, I stopped and stared, as two girls, I learned 9 and 3 years old, approached me. Ah, so cute, the bigger girl pushing the wagon holding her younger sister. I learned that she has a day off from Summer school because she has a mean teacher. Her paper did not get a star like most others, so she decided to give herself a star! And for good measure she added a second star on her sisters sheet. Oh well, the girl conceded that she misses her best friend, a boy, and she will go back to school tomorrow. I was surprised to find two very cute girls unsupervised on the streets. Hope they will get their expected new puppy tomorrow and that I will see them again at the dog park, under supervision.
All in all a most delightful morning today.
Pet Peeves
Shocking to hear of the vehemence with which some object to the presence of pets. My furry friends are my family. While they are not human, they are beings, they are organisms, they have feelings, they have needs and they have desires and they thrive on the love and attention we give. I am not one for humanizing animals, making them in to extensions of our selves, embedding in them feelings and motivations that are ours rather then theirs. My furry companions are not my children and I am nobody's mom!
While most do not wish to harm another, least through our furry companions, my heart goes out to all those so inconvenienced by an overwrought immune system that living a normal life becomes the greatest of challenges. I do wonder what the world has come to when the simple peaceful presence of an animal becomes a threat to life. I am no expert on allergies and knock on wood, I am not plagued by any to my knowledge, even though many suffer from pollen and so much more here in the Southwest. Could the American life style have anything to do with these hyper reactive systems more seem to suffer from here in the US then say in Europe?
I am writing in response to this New York Times article that ends with the suggestion of leaving our pets home with their predictable routine rather then putting them through the stress of taking them along on our trips. And I am writing in response to the long discussion that ensued. Many seem to think that to leave our pet behind like an object (rather then a dependent, bonded, dear buddy with the brain of maybe a 2 year old child) should be the obvious thing to do. But who in their right mind cherishes to leave their 2 year old behind? No longer living in extended families, we are to depend on the kindness of strangers (pet sitters, professional boarding places, all to be had for whooping amount of dollares.) Would you entrust your baby to strangers?
From my own experience I am one to believe that small children are best off near their mom. I have limited trust in today's emphasis on early schooling. Maybe for those, probably way too many, whose parents have to work and have to be away from home and for those whose parents have a very limited ability to focus and provide for their kids, an early source of attention outside the home may be beneficial. Piaget and Steiner, both from the last century, stressed the importance of stages in the developing brain and the importance of non-linear, magical thinking in the early years.
My dogs are not kids, but I know they prefer to be by my side most of the time. In 3 years my little guy, Sumo, indicated only twice his preference to stay home, and so he did. If I walk my dogs twice a day for 3 years, it comes to more then 2000 outings, which means maybe 1 in 1000 times my dog might prefer separation and that for a short time only! If I am indoors they want to come in and if I am out in the yard they want to be there too. Dogs belong to packs, I am their pack leader, I am the one they are focused on, I am the one they want to be with, and so it should be.
I would not want to abandon a 2 year old kid and I would not want to abandon my dogs. They are my only family these days. And look how many abandoned pets thrown away like garbage, can be found at our shelters. We should celebrate those that take it on themselves to provide a good home and rescue those discarded, sometimes badly abused pets. Can we ad insult to injury by traumatizing an abused pet over again? Travel may be a luxury for leisure and fun, or may be a necessity. Why penalize pet owners with excessive charges? Enough already of canine discrimination!
Somehow these creatures of God-dess made it in to this world and we have a humanitarian responsibility to treat them with respect, care and consideration, also during times of travel, by choice or necessity. We live in a complex, and more and more crowded world and we have to find ways to get along. Denying other then to the human species the right to normal modern activities, like traveling by train, or plane, or bus is wrong!
Create special sections that serve special needs, like we have smoke free sections, we can assign allergen free areas in a plane it could be something like a 0 class rather then a 1. or 2. class. And there could be a pet section that would accommodate a rapidly growing number of pet lovers. We could pay for an extra seat for a larger pet and other passengers would have the time of their life getting free entertainment from the canine passengers they chose to sit near by. Maybe coats could be invented to keep offending dander to a minimum. Maybe diapers could be employed on long trips to spare fellow travelers unpleasant accidents. Where there is a will there is a way. Please let us gather our collective will to honor all species and find ways to coexist rather then for one to dominate another and to deny it's right to exist.
P.S.: I never attempted to smuggle my pets in to an airplane, have no intention to fly, with or without my furry companions and I am very grateful for my VW Vanagon that is still going strong after more then 200,000 miles and serves as a very comfortable 2. home. Even the kitty calmed down as we all headed in the van to the vet last week.
I am writing in response to this New York Times article that ends with the suggestion of leaving our pets home with their predictable routine rather then putting them through the stress of taking them along on our trips. And I am writing in response to the long discussion that ensued. Many seem to think that to leave our pet behind like an object (rather then a dependent, bonded, dear buddy with the brain of maybe a 2 year old child) should be the obvious thing to do. But who in their right mind cherishes to leave their 2 year old behind? No longer living in extended families, we are to depend on the kindness of strangers (pet sitters, professional boarding places, all to be had for whooping amount of dollares.) Would you entrust your baby to strangers?
From my own experience I am one to believe that small children are best off near their mom. I have limited trust in today's emphasis on early schooling. Maybe for those, probably way too many, whose parents have to work and have to be away from home and for those whose parents have a very limited ability to focus and provide for their kids, an early source of attention outside the home may be beneficial. Piaget and Steiner, both from the last century, stressed the importance of stages in the developing brain and the importance of non-linear, magical thinking in the early years.
My dogs are not kids, but I know they prefer to be by my side most of the time. In 3 years my little guy, Sumo, indicated only twice his preference to stay home, and so he did. If I walk my dogs twice a day for 3 years, it comes to more then 2000 outings, which means maybe 1 in 1000 times my dog might prefer separation and that for a short time only! If I am indoors they want to come in and if I am out in the yard they want to be there too. Dogs belong to packs, I am their pack leader, I am the one they are focused on, I am the one they want to be with, and so it should be.
I would not want to abandon a 2 year old kid and I would not want to abandon my dogs. They are my only family these days. And look how many abandoned pets thrown away like garbage, can be found at our shelters. We should celebrate those that take it on themselves to provide a good home and rescue those discarded, sometimes badly abused pets. Can we ad insult to injury by traumatizing an abused pet over again? Travel may be a luxury for leisure and fun, or may be a necessity. Why penalize pet owners with excessive charges? Enough already of canine discrimination!
Somehow these creatures of God-dess made it in to this world and we have a humanitarian responsibility to treat them with respect, care and consideration, also during times of travel, by choice or necessity. We live in a complex, and more and more crowded world and we have to find ways to get along. Denying other then to the human species the right to normal modern activities, like traveling by train, or plane, or bus is wrong!
Create special sections that serve special needs, like we have smoke free sections, we can assign allergen free areas in a plane it could be something like a 0 class rather then a 1. or 2. class. And there could be a pet section that would accommodate a rapidly growing number of pet lovers. We could pay for an extra seat for a larger pet and other passengers would have the time of their life getting free entertainment from the canine passengers they chose to sit near by. Maybe coats could be invented to keep offending dander to a minimum. Maybe diapers could be employed on long trips to spare fellow travelers unpleasant accidents. Where there is a will there is a way. Please let us gather our collective will to honor all species and find ways to coexist rather then for one to dominate another and to deny it's right to exist.
Findings
Yesterday, shopping at Whole Foods, I found a purple Amethyst rock earring and left it with Customer Service, certain someone will miss it badly and maybe remember to return and ask for it. Today, right outside Whole Foods, I noticed a small plastic bag with 2 buds inside along the side walk. Not smoking or drugging myself, I still had to pick up this treasure to some. Since a band had been playing outside and was packing up, I left that little bag near by in hopes that it would be found by just the right person, the one that can appreciate it's content without getting in to too much trouble.
I left my pups tethered outside the grocery store (something I do often despite it being illegal in our community) while I got inside to pick up a few items. On my return I found the best of gifts, my Isabella-girl, freely sat and waited near Sumo, the lead attached only to Sumo! Imagine what could have happened with the main drag, Cerrillos Road, near by! Dogs passing by could have excited my girl to run in to traffic! I was so grateful to find her so obediently sitting and waiting rather then roaming the area and getting in to trouble. She is such a good girl and today I feel grateful for this best of gifts of finding my girl waiting for me on her own volition.
Now, if I could find and pick up what I am in dire need of, a new direction in my life, I would have reasons to swoon.
Easter Sunday
I gifted myself with the acquisition of an Orchid.
The idea of Easter makes me ravenous for signs of Spring and since there are few yet available to us here, where Winter has decided to hold out and hang on, I had to resort to the extensive assortment of Trader Joe's floral selection. Bless them for making flowers once again almost affordable. I justify the expense of my Orchid with the photo ops so obviously inherent in this most exquisite of what has been called an epitome of evolution.
This Easter Sunday actually blessed us with a perfect Spring day that started out warm enough to get out early to the dog park, my pups were in heaven. After so many delayed walks due to my unwillingness to brave the cold, they could barely believe their good luck in being out and about before 9 am and acted rambunctious with Isabella chasing Sumo and Sumo tossing sticks up in to the air out of pure exuberance.
After a stop at the coffee shop and sitting in the sun with a real cappuccino and a snatched Sunday paper we headed straight back again to our dog park, the best in the country, so I am told. I blame my cough, now in it's 3. week, for my sitting back down again, with feet up, back warmed now by the late morning sun, while facing a calm high desert expanse.
Secretly I had hoped for something of an epiphany, some big aha, some sign that would guide my way in to a very uncertain future. Nothing of the sort happened, but for a moment I noticed a sublime sense of well being. And then it was time to move on. In my exuberance I splurged and brought home a spectacular Orchid.
close quarters
Right now the Pretty Kitty is where Sumo was, up on top.
When Sumo first joined us, Isabella would let him have her den and would settle in front of it, unwilling to leave his sight! At night I would watch her paw reach out to him in her sleep. Sumo, like most any man thought he deserved it and took her generosity for granted. I say my girl was and still is in love, while my little guy reserves his autonomy.
Our dynamics are that Isabella is focused on Sumo,
Sumo keeps his eyes on me,
our Pretty Kitty acts opportunistic and gets it where he can
and I try to be fair to them all.
In all fairness
Once the pretty kitty joined our household, it seemed unfair to keep guarding my pure white sofas from canine abuse. So these days and after 1 1/2 years of strict training and claiming my couches my own, my furry ones have taken over.
A friend suggested that all mammals ought to sleep in packs and after my recent first night of letting my big Isabella-girl actually stay on my bed all night, I might agree. Mind you that these days I sleep on very narrow beds, as maybe due to the use of lots of Ginger, or else the heating that comes with and after menopause, I prefer to find the cooling edges with maximum ease. I also toss and turn a lot. In my Swiss language I would be referred to as a "Fegnaescht" and those that sat near me in planes have confirmed it. But there is something about bonding, even with our pets that keeps an eye out even during sleep.
So, in all fairness I have given up my exclusive claim and enjoy the cozy, some might say cramped company of my three furry ones on my bed.
Isabella-girl and Sumo-boy
My two furry ones go most everywhere I go, at least they come along for the ride and hang near by, so this blog would not be right without them, my companions of about the last 2 1/2 years.
Before, I never considered myself a "dog person" in fact what I knew and still know is that I am "Nobody's Mom!"
Dogs are dogs and not kids and I try to keep that in mind. I do not want to make mine in to a substitute child or god-dess forbid a substitute lover. So I have developed quiet an interest in to dog psychology and studied The Dog Whisperer extensively long before I brought my Isabella-girl home with me from the shelter.
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