I could not figure out what Tilla, one of my dogs wanted. He was jumping up and down on me. He did not want to go into the yard. Finally my wife commented, “He wants to go for a car ride.” I was all set to go into town for for a quick errand. I said, “Okay.” And in the car he went. I forgotten how much he loves car rides. He even put the car into neutral, which I quickly corrected. He stood on the passenger side, tail wagging, alert –very happy.
Tags: dogs, my wife, pets, Tilla, Tilla and car rides
Posted in animals, local, pets, relationships |
Tilla’s tail was thumping vigorously upon my arrival. I had been gone over three hours. My dog was really glad to see me. I quickly did the last few tasks of the evening and then went to bed. Tilla had to give me my final “good night”: he hopped on my bed briefly and then went to my office where he will spend the night on the Lazy Boy couch. There is nothing like a dog to make you feel welcome.
Tags: dogs, glad to see me, my dog's greeting, pets, Tilla, went to bed
Posted in animals, local, love, pets, relationships, time |
Coco immediately found the chocolate bar. It was a Hershey bar that my wife put down briefly on the table after tearing it open and taking a bite. She was not paying attention. She heard a rustling of paper. One of my dogs Coco was slowly making her way through the medium sized bar. She thought no one would notice but the crinkling of the wrapper gave her away. My wife took the chocolate away from the dog and I put the remains on top of the refrigerator. There was no way she was going to eat the chocolate after Coco nibbled it. I was not that particular.
Tags: Coco, Coco and the chocolate bar, dogs, Hershey chocolate bar, my wife, pets
Posted in animals, humor, local, marriage, pets, relationships |
I don’t know how much longer Pax will be with us. Last night the dog came in and walked to the kitchen. He was on his haunches and his hind legs were so weak that he could not get up right away. He has two torn knees and get pain meds twice a day. Our vet said on his last visit just make him as comfortable as you can. There is no more he can do for him. Pax is thirteen and an half–pretty old for a large dog. The time will come when we will have to put him down. Right now I will enjoy him as long as I can. He won’t be around much longer.
Tags: dogs, large dog, Pax, pax has two torn knees, pets, two torn knees, vet
Posted in death, local, pets, relationships, time |
I looked at my dogs outside. All four. Each was facing away from the large white pine tree forming a circle around the tree in a different direction. I love my four dogs. Each differently. Coco, a female black long haired is simply sweet. Pax the elder likes the sound of his own voice. Sweetie the golden retriever is just that sweet and happy go lucky and loves to gnaw on branches. Tilla and I have a special relationship. I earned his loyalty by almost endlessly rubbing his belly. In fact, he often gives me a hug by resting his upper body on me and then having me pet him. He is no small dog–at least seventy pounds–very affectionate. All of them are big. They are enjoying the snow today. I never in my wildest dreams expected to own four dogs (and that does not include the seven cats who roam the house). To say the least, we have no mouse problem in our house. I could not have imagined this menagerie twenty-five years ago.
Tags: belly rubs, big dogs, Coco, dog hugs, dogs, four dogs, my menagerie, no mouse problem, Pax, pets, seven cats, snow, Sweetie, Tilla, white pine tree
Posted in local, pets, relationships |
NYC is another world. I was there briefly–forty-eight hours. So many people. All, seemingly, in a rush. Surrounded by thousands of people. I took the subway to get around. It is a world I am not in too often any more. I was glad to get back home surrounded by trees and quiet. My dogs gave me a terrific greeting jumping all over me when I entered my house. I left my wife for my trip. It is difficult for us to go away with our menagerie–all four dogs and seven cats. Maybe, once a year my wife and I go away usually to the NJ shore. I was glad to get home. To peace and quiet although I was glad to see part of my family in New York if only briefly. NY city is just another world.
Tags: dogs, four dogs, my wife, New York, NJ shore, NYC, peace and quiet, pets, see my family, seven cats, subway, the peace and quiet of a small town, thousands of people, trees and quiet
Posted in local, love, marriage, pets, relationships, time |
Tilla did his best to cheer me up. Twice he greeted me by jumping on my bed and licking my face. And later he jumped up on our love sofa extending himself making it plain he was glad to see me. I wonder whether he sensed I was down. And was trying his best to cheer me up. I don’t know but my depression briefly disappeared in those moments. He gets an “E” for effort.
Tags: dog cheering me up, dogs, my dog and depression, pets, Tilla
Posted in animals, local, love, mental health, pets, relationships, time |
One of our dogs was in real trouble. My wife had baked five loaves of pumpkin bread and lined them up on the counter. And left them there alone for awhile. She came back later and one of the larger loaves had the whole top of it missing — just bitten off. She then had a Mom to Dog talk with three of our dogs. We could not blame Pax: he is not capable of reaching any. He is just too old and arthritic. We did not think “Sweetie” did it. But we definitely suspected our two black dogs. She spoke sternly to both of them. They did not look too guilty. Tilla definitely had been spotted several times in the past his hind legs stretching tongue extended to reach any crumb he could find on the counter. More than once. And we would not put it past our female Coco. She certainly was capable of this dastardly act, too. This happened yesterday and today I walked Tilla and he let loose with a big soft poop. That made him a strong suspect for that bread had plenty of butter in it. I am sure he has forgotten about that incident hours ago.
Tags: Coco, dog ate pumpkin bread, dogs, Pax, pets, Sweetie, the Mom to Dog talk, Tilla, tilla and the pumpkin cake
Posted in animals, humor, local, marriage, pets |
The differences between my two black pups now full grown are several. Coco is long haired and when she is happy to see you, she will swish her tail back and forth slowly. She likes to observe and takes in the whole situation. Tilla is exuberant. When he is happy to see you, his tail goes thump, thump. Sometimes I will go into my bedroom and he will jump on the bed wiggling all over to greet me. He is the most athletic. He necessitated us building our fence higher. He could jump over it. He is the most unpredictable and is streamed lined really muscular.
He has some peculiarities. He will lock himself in the bedroom and act so happy when we open the door. Also if he joins me in the office he will close the door as if to make sure he has me all to himself. He is male and the most aggressive of our four dogs. If you throw four snacks out for our dogs, he will get three.
Coco is female and just plain sweet. If she wants her belly rubbed, she will slowly demurely lift her leg to indicate that. Coco can be quite insistent and will bark if she wants to go out. They are only the second and third dogs I raised from pups.
The two dogs have had some different nicknames over time. Coco is also called Coco Puff and Puffy Girl by my wife. Atilla was originally called Atilla The Hun now shortened to Tilla, and once called Atilla The Olympian (when he kept jumping the fence) and now affectionately Tilly Willy. Both of the dogs are a lot of fun.
Tags: Coco, Coco Puff, differences between Coco and Tilla, dogs, four dogs, pets, Tilla, Tilla is exuberant and Coco is more laid back
Posted in animals, local, pets, time |
Last night was the third one in a row Tilla slept in my bed. I sleep on the right side and my dog plopped himself right where my head would go so I had to fight for space and every inch. I guess he like(s)(d) being close to me. Coco, my other black dog was in her usual spot along the left side of the bed. In fact I even had the third black animal we own sleeping on the foot of the other side of the bed–Cool Hand Luke–one of my seven cats. That was somewhat unusual for Jasmine and her grownup kittens have, of late, taken over that spot. She had two litters–four cats and it is not that unusual to see at least two of them sleeping nearby her on the bed. They get along really well.
Tags: cats, cats sleep on bed, Coco, Cool Hand Luke, dog sleeps in bed, dogs, Jasmine, Jasmine and her grownup kittens, My black Animals were sleeping on or near my bed, pets, seven cats, Tilla
Posted in animals, local, pets, relationships, time |
Pax the elder of our pack of four dogs is getting old. Both knees are torn and we started giving him pain meds. It was just too painful for him to get around. We were thrilled when we started giving him a second pain pill (in the morning) and he became more active. No dog lives forever. He is thirteen — old for a big dog (he must be eighty pounds) now. His rear muscles have atrophied. The vet said to make him as comfortable as possible. He has been around forever. He is the father of two of our dogs. He is feisty. Sometimes he will come into my room just to get one pat on the head and then he leaves. He is one confident dog. He literally prances up and down at the end of the day for after the last “out” for all the four dogs he will get some kind of treat. And he knows that and gets all excited. Now it is a slice of bread with some peanut butter dabbed on it to hide the pain pill. He has always loved bread.
Tags: big dog, both knees torn, dogs, dogs get treats, four dogs, Pax, Pax loves bread, pets, slice of bread with peanut butter, the elder dog, vet
Posted in animals, death, health, local, pets, relationships |
Tilla jumped enthusiastically on my bed to greet me. He wanted a hug and was now on eye level. His body shook all over in anticipation of my greeting. Wouldn’t it be nice if all your friends made it that plain how glad they were to see you. There is nothing like a dog for unconditional love. In fact, some people prefer dogs to humans: they don’t disguise their feelings.
Tags: dog hug, dogs, feelings, friends, glad to see you, pets, pets versus humans, Tilla, Tilla jumping on my bed, unconditional love
Posted in animals, life, local, love, mental health, pets, relationships, time |
