Siggy’s Blurbs

The latest about Tilla, my favorite dog.  My wife last night let the dogs back in.  She had some scraps from dinner in her left hand, which she had extended.  Three dogs came in and Tilla without missing a beat jumped up and grabbed a bite as he came in.  My wife laughed.  He does not miss anything.  Last night he slept on my bed as usual but was along the left side of me not far from my reach.  I petted him several times during the night.  He was in that position for hours.  There is nothing like togetherness.

Tags: bed, dinner scraps, dogs, my wife, nothing like togetherness, pets, petted, Tilla
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I was surrounded by my three black animals, again, in bed.  “Cool Hand Luke”, my cat was somewhere on my bed, sometimes, arching her back nearby for my touch.  Then there were my two dogs:  Tilla was in his spot, to the left of me, on the bed usually within reach.  Coco, the other female, unassuming, most of time lay at the foot of the bed.  Although, yesterday, when I called her she jumped on the bed and lay close to me, so close I had to nudge her away a little bit:  I could not get enough of my blanket over me.  She then jumped off and lay at her usual spot.  At some point the animals move after I have fallen asleep.  This morning after Tilla heard me stir he jumped on the bed to greet me and half asleep I petted him and then he jumped off the bed, again.  Sometimes there are more creatures in my bedroom but these mentioned are the “regulars”.

Tags: animals, bed, bedroom, blanket, cats, Coco, Cool Hand Luke, dogs, fall asleep, foot of the bed, greet me, half asleep, pets, petted, Tilla
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It does feel like winter today.  The temperature is floating around the freezing point and there is a healthy wind blowing making it seem even colder.  Even my four dogs do not want to stay out too long in the yard.  Tomorrow is supposed to be more of this, then it warms up again.  When I woke up, there was a layer of snow on the ground but it was gone by the afternoon.  Spring is getting closer.  In a few days it will be March.  All of that does not matter.  All I want to do today is to stay in.  It is just too cold.

Tags: cold, dogs, freezing temperature, March, pets, seasons, snow, spring, wind, winter, yard
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The differences between Tilla and Coco, my two “pups”.  I call my dogs that for we raised them from pups.  They are both black:  only Coco is long haired and female.  Tilla is more athletic, barreled chested and lean.  He was the only dog who could jump the fence and necessitated building it higher.  He is a paradox:  aggressive but at the same time timid.  He still won’t let my son pet him.  He simply goes in the opposite direction from him.  Drop treats in front of the four dogs and he might get most of them.  He is quick.  Coco though can be quite insistent when she want to go out into the yard.  She also likes what I call “crunchies”:  when she hears us crunching on something she immediately plops herself in front of us and wants her share.  When I approach Tilla and act as if I am going to give him a belly rub he rolls on his back immediately.  Coco will demurely and slowly raise one leg and turn on her back to indicate she wants one too when I approach her.  Coco likes her privacy.  She will often go into a room or stay in the yard by herself.  Tilla is more my dog although I often find both of them in my bedroom when I retire, Tilla on my bed next to me and Coco on the side.  I love both dearly.

Tags: athletic, belly-rub, Coco, crunchies, demure, dog treats, dogs, jump the fence, pets, puppies, Tilla
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“Cool Hand Luke”, my black cat I owned before even I married my wife.  Nothing seems to faze her, thus the name.  She is the only animal left from that period, nine years ago.  She is one of the few cats who will cozy up to me.  She is affectionate.  She has some idiosyncrasies:  she likes to go through doors.  Open one, she will dash  through and seconds later she might run back in.  She also likes to knock down things in her way.  Sometimes she will be on the window ledge and knock down everything in front of her.  She does not get along too well with all the other cats (we have seven) although she can be aggressive.  If you put out new cat food she is usually the first cat to hop on the counter.  Oddly enough the other two animals I brought into this marriage were both black.  I miss both of them, especially Daisy, the first dog I ever raised from a pup and also trained.  When we were in the same room, her eyes never left me.  She was my dog.

Tags: affectionate, cat food, cats, Cool Hand Luke, Daisy, dogs, idiosyncracsies, marriage, my dog, pets
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Twenty-five days to spring.  I counted.  There is a dull roar of the wind tossing the tree branches to and fro.  It is almost a perfect day for putting up a kite.  The living front door is open and and the thermostat lowered to sixty-five.  The heat is not kicking on.  The daffodils are five inches tall already.  I like walking around my yard to see what other new growth is appearing.  I am wondering whether the new bed of roses will come up.  There is no evidence of it yet.  Even the dogs want to spend more time outside and are loath to come in when they are out.  The temperature is slowing rising.  There are less days now when it hits the freezing point overnight.  Before I know it spring will arrive.

Tags: daffodils, dogs, door open, kite, new growth, outside, pets, roses, spring, the temperature, thermostat, tree branches, weather, wind
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It is absolutely balmy today.  Forty-forty degrees.  No breeze.  Spring is around the corner.  My four dogs were all outside in the yard soaking in the the sun.  They all know a good thing.  They simply did not want to come in.  Officially spring is still more than three weeks away.  Today is an harbinger of spring.  I have to go out, again.

Tags: balmy day, dogs, harbinger of Spring, pets, spring, sun
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“Tilla”, one of my dogs did it again.  We were about to go to bed.  My wife took her spot on the left side.  And my eighty pound short-haired black dog jumped on the bed, took my spot on the right and curled up looking so comfortable at the head of the bed.  He would not move and I slipped in bed to the right of him almost off the bed and tried to grab what blanket I had left.  My left hand wrapped around his sleeping body as I slept on my side.  The black mid-sized dog was quite cozy.  He even sighed a few times.  Thank God it was a king sized bed!  At some point he jumped off the bed but I did not notice.  I was long asleep.

Tags: bedtime, dogs, sleep, Tilla
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It was cold and wet, an utterly miserable day.  I quickly “dashed” to the post office and then the local supermarket and returned home.  When I left, three dogs squeezed past me into the yard–only because they liked going through doors and could do that.  I was only gone fifteen minutes and all three dogs ran in immediately in the house when I opened the front door.  Even the dogs did not want to be out long.  It was that kind of day.  It could have been worse:  the temperature could have been a little lower and we would have had snow.  Nevertheless, I am glad I had heat and was inside.

Tags: cold and wet day, dogs, pets, post office, snow, supermarket, winter, yard
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We had built a large five foot wooden picket fence around part of our property.  Our fence was a real gift.  I passed two dogs teetered outside to a cord and they seemed really content.  Our four dogs can run freely within our yard.  For a whole year we put out each dog one by one so they can do “their business”.  Then we were able to build a wooden picket fence and we no longer had to do that.  The fence was a real gift.  I am not taking it for granted and appreciate each day.  All we have to do is open our front door and release our dogs into the yard.  Many people have to walk their dogs regularly.  Our fenced yard is a real blessing.

Tags: appreciation, blessing, dogs, picket fence, walk the dog, wooden fence
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I have four dogs and I have a special relationship with each one and I know I have written about all of them but bear with me.  There is “Pax”, a Rottweiler mix, who I have known for over eight years.  He came with my wife.  He lumbers down the yard and has his favorite corner where he will bark at anyone who has the temerity to pass by.  He is the most vocal of the four.  He looks at me with a bemused expression and loves bread.  He is a bagel thief.  Leave one nearby and if you are not careful he will slip it away and gobble it down before you know it.  I like teasing him by pulling his tail.  He will bark at me in retaliation but I do it anyway.  He does not move too quickly any more and I have stepped on him accidentally too many times.  He now instinctively moves out of the way when I walk nearby.  He is a scary looking dog but has never bitten anyone.

There is my favorite — “Tilla”.  This morning he came into my bedroom and jumped on the bed to greet me.  He is the smartest dog I have and also the most athletic one:  we had to build our large wooden picket fence higher for he was the only one that could jump over it.  He has gotten into the most trouble.  We did have one visit from the local dog warden after he got out once and harassed the neighbor ’s dog.  He is a midsized black dog with a barrel chest.  He usually does not take his eyes off of me.  He is the only one I have taken walks with.  I will write about the other two later.

Tags: athletic, bagel, bread, dogs, Pax, pets, rottweiler, Tilla, wooden fence, yard
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“Coco”, my adult female “pup” was cute.  “Coco” is a midsized long-haired black dog (about eighty pounds).  She was quietly and comfortably sitting on my wife’s Lazy Boy chair cradling her eight inch bone to her chest.  No one was going to take it away.  I just smiled looking at her.  She was all female sitting there so demurely.  When she wants her belly rubbed, she rolls slowly on her back–ever so slowly raises her one front paw to indicate that.  She is definitely sweet but can be quite demanding wants when she wants to go out into our fenced yard and we are not so quick to comply.  She definitely has the sweet and good natured personality of her Mom, a golden retriever, appropriately named “Sweetie”.

Tags: belly-rub, Coco, demure, dog bone, dogs, female, golden retriever, good natured, Lazy Boy chair, pets, Sweetie, yard
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