Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

Pax is the patriarch of our four dogs.  Every evening he starts the exit into our yard.  He barks at me indicating it is time.  He knows what he gets when he comes back into our house.  It is their evening biscuit.  He starts this process and the (our ???) other three dogs follow him into the yard.  All four know what they get when they come back into the house.  Pax really gets excited.  He “bounces up and down” excitedly.  It is hard to believe he is a twelve year old dog.  He lets us know in no uncertain terms what time it is for.  And the other dogs follow his lead.

Tags: all four dogs know what time it is, dogs, four dogs, Pax, Pax and the evening biscuit, pets, twelve year old dog
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My seven cats and four dogs enrich my life.  I have to admit only one cat (Cool Hand Luke), a completely black scrawny cat, seeks me out and snuggles up to me occasionally.  Maybe, that is because she is the only pet I had before I met my wife over ten years ago.  I have always taken care of her.  She has a favorite spot in my room, where she curls up by the window on the books I have placed there.  When she is not there at night she sleeps on my bed catercorner from me.  She does not get along too well with the other cats.

My relationship with the other six cats are all different.  Cheyenne, a beautiful long haired cat, usually does not let me pet him.  In fact, if I approach him; he goes the opposite way and looks at me with the expression “how dare you go near me.”  Jasmine, a tiny delicate female, the mother of four of our cats, does not seek me out but does not object if I pet her.

China, a long haired exotically colored black and white cat is one cool cat, supremely confidently poised cat will, also, not seek me out but certainly not turn down an hug from me.  Tiger will also not turn me down.  He has the softest fur.  Even the vet commented how soft his fur was.

Pumpkin, the only cat from Jasmine’s first litter, is just a nice cat and gets along with all the other cats.  And then there is Buttons, somewhat similar in coloring to Tiger.  He was the last cat to enter this household.  He showed up at our front door.  He is about as wild as you can be and still be a domestic cat.  He hides under our bed.  And usually goes the other way if I dare approach him.  That takes care of the cats and now I will talk briefly about our four dogs.

There is Pax, the elder, who is a ninety pound scary dog but a real scaredy cat.  He likes the sound of his own voice and will demonstrate that if he runs into the yard and seeks out the furthest right corner of the fence barking every step of the way.  He comes up to me if he wants something for he knows I will not ignore him and act quicker than my wife.  He is getting up in age–now twelve.

Now there is the golden retriever appropriately named Sweetie.  She is very tactile, loves to have something in her mouth and just can not get enough attention.  In fact, she will demand it and sit there all day while you pet her.  She is the mom of the last two dogs (Pax is the Dad) Tilla and Coco.

Coco is a long haired female who is black with a touch of red in there.  She has the most adorable fluffy ears.  She likes her privacy.  She will often go into the bed room by herself and just stay there for hours.  She will lie down there front paws crossed so delicate like completely feminine like.

The last animal I have is Tilla originally called Atilla The Hun and The Olympian.  He is the only dog who could jump the fence we had built around a large section of the yard and necessitated us building it even higher.  He is lean, aggressive and completely black and the most athletic of our four dogs.

He keeps me company as I watch TV in the evening and then sleeps in the Lazy Boy I vacate when I go to bed.  I won his love by giving him a belly rub almost every time he wanted it.  He and I have a special relationship.  He is the only dog I have given walks.  That is a brief description of my relationships I have with my eleven animals.  Each one is different.

Tags: Buttons, cats, Cheyenne, China, Coco, Cool Hand Luke, dogs, four dogs, golden retriever, Jasmine, long haired cat, my pets, my relationships with my different animals, my wife, Pax, pets, Pumpkin, seven cats, Sweetie, Tiger, Tilla, Tilla's belly rubs, vet
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“Pax”, our big ninety pound dog, likes to hear his own voice.  He will lumber out into our yard barking every step of the way until he reaches the far end and then make sure no one can pass our yard without him commenting.  As I said, he likes the sound of his own voice.  He is the most vocal of our four dogs.  And also the elder.  All four dogs will run out into the yard to do their business.  And he will do it right away and shortly after will bark in front of the entrance demanding we let him into the house immediately.  If he needs to go out, he will come to me and make sure he is heard because my wife would not respond to him as quickly.  He has no patience.

Tags: dogs, dogs barking, four dogs, my wife, Pax, Pax has no patience, Pax likes the sound of his own voice, pets, the elder
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There are differences between Tilla and Coco, who I call my “pups” (we raised them from pups}.  Coco when she wants her belly rubbed, will demurely, ever so slowly raise her right paw to indicate that.  Tilla will simply flip himself on his back and demand his undersides be rubbed.  He has no shame.  It is, though a very vulnerable position to expose your soft underside.  He must trust me.  I do usually rub his belly whenever he wants.

Coco loves her bones.  I have more than once seen her sitting so dainty like cross her front paws with a big bone laying over her front paws.  Tilla is more aggressive and if he chooses will easily take away her bone with almost no fight from her.  But do not mistake Coco:  she can quickly let us know if she wants to go out or come in.  Coco often can be found sleeping in our bedroom next to the bed when it is time for us to retire.

Oh by the way both dogs are black, Tilla is short haired and Coco is long haired.  Both weigh in the vicinity of eighty pounds.  And Coco has a reddish tint to her body.  Tilla is barrel chested and sleek while Coco is rolypoly and looks like she could stand to lose a pound or two.

Tilla is really more aggressive.  I call him “small woof”.  He is more unpredictable than Coco.  I can’t tell Tilla apart from his Dad when either bark.  His Dad (who we call “Big Woof”) is a rottweiler mix over ninety pounds.  These are just a few observations particularly of the two dogs first mentioned.

Tags: belly-rub, big dogs, black dogs, bones, Coco, dogs, Pax, pets, rottweiler mix dog, Tilla
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Pax is the bemused elder, a Rottweiler mix almost twelve years old.  The other three dogs are approximately five.  He is the dad of two of our dogs and Mom is our golden retriever.  He kind of looks at me with this odd look almost cockeyed.  He is the only one left from the three dogs we had when I entered this marriage nine years ago.  He no longer moves too quickly on his arthritic legs.  I have stepped on him too often although he has never bitten me for doing this.  He is now cautious when I walk nearby.  My nickname for him is “Woof”:  he is the most vocal of our four dogs.  He does his business in the yard quickly and indicate to us very (???) with a quick bark or two that he wants in the house.  He likes to run in the far right corner of our yard and barks at anyone who has the temerity to pass by.  He is one intimidating dog but he really is a sweetheart.  He is the only dog who is really my wife’s although he does listen to me.  He is the one dog I really do not want to get out:  he is plain scary looking.  He weighs about ninety pounds.

Tags: arthritic, big dog, dogs, four dogs, golden retriever, my wife, Pax, pets, rottweiler mix, woof
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My wife said Pax, our Rottweiler mix, was lying in the same spot for at least three hours. I tried to get a rise out of him but he would not move: his eyes just followed me. We did not understand it. We thought that, maybe, he had a stroke. I feared for his life.

He had a biscuit that lay right next to his mouth untouched. I was afraid I would wake up next morning and he would still be in the same spot dead. In the middle of the night I awoke and noted he had moved. I cheered. He was still alive. He was now walking very gingerly on one rear leg.

He has arthritis and is twelve years old. I thought he just got “old” all of a sudden. I remembered the vet once told me he could be given aspirin for pain. I called the vet’s office and they said for a dog his size (he weighed ninety pounds) I could give him an aspirin and an half twice a day.

He responded to the aspirin right away. He perked up almost immediately. Now he would run into the kitchen for the dogs’ nightly biscuit. He once ran into the furthest reaches of the yard to bark at someone from his favorite spot. His recovery was remarkable. Both of us were thrilled.

I have known Pax my whole marriage–over nine years. He is one intimidating dog. I remember in the beginning he once followed me into the bathroom and I asked my fiancee, “What is he doing now?”

I realized now he is only on loan to me and I needed to appreciate him more now. No dog lives forever.

Tags: appreciate him more now, arthritis, aspirin, big dog, called the vet, dogs, dogs' nightly biscuit, he is only on loan to me, my wife, Pax, pets, rottweiler mix
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My wife said our dog was in the same spot for the last three hours. I approached him and he hardly moved. His eyes followed me so I knew he was still alive. I was afraid I would wake up the next morning and he would be dead. I found out in the middle of the night he was no longer there. I was thrilled: that was a good sign. Even the biscuit that had been lying untouched by his mouth was gone. He is twelve years old and still manages (despite his arthritic knees) to run to the other side of the yard. He may have gotten old all of a sudden. He was in the yard today not in a prone position but slightly sitting up. It is summer and our four dogs are not that perky. I love Pax but no pet lives forever. I would really miss him.

Tags: arthritic knees, dog biscuit, dogs, four dogs, God, my wife, no pet lives forever, old dog, Pax, pets, summer
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There were two baby rabbit in a nest in our tall grass.  Someone was cutting the grass and discovered the two baby rabbits.  We wanted to give them a fighting chance and relocate them out side our enclosed yard but the dogs found one first and of course they killed it.  Every time Sweetie, the golden retriever and her two kids went out into the yard they were tracking their scent.  Pax, our fourth dog, wasn’t interested at all in the rabbits.  Now I know why I spotted a cottontail once slipping into our yard at night.  She had a brood to take care of.

Tags: baby rabbits, cottontail, dogs, golden retriever, mother rabbit, our yard, Pax, pets, rabbits, Sweetie, tall grass
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Pax is a Rottweiler mix, one scary ninety pound dog.  He is twelve and most of the time has this bemused expression in his face.  Tilla, his son, loves to tease him.  He will have a bone in his mouth and run alongside him cheek to cheek eliciting warning barks from him.  Tilla know how far to tease him.  I really got mad at Pax the other day.  I bought our favorite crusty rye bread and broke off a piece.  I was not paying close attention for a second or two, temporarily laid it on the ground and Pax swiped it.  I was going to grab it out of his mouth but my other dissuaded me from doing that.  I was pissed.  He did it again.  He is a great bagel thief too.  Don’t lay one nearby:  he will grab it so quickly you will never see him do it.  He is getting a little crotchety.  He has his favorite spot in the yard–in one corner and will bark at anyone who has the temerity to pass nearby.  He is not really mean.  He just looks the part.  He is one dog I never want to get loose.

Tags: bagels, big dog, dog bone, dog loves bread, dogs, pack of dogs, Pax, pets, rottweiler mix, rye bread, Tilla
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These were the two who were not chosen.  There were six in our litter.  And we sold four–two each to two separate men.  Our dogs, Pax and Sweetie, had a litter–their only one.  And I did not have the heart to tell my wife to sell any of the two remaining pups and separate them.  One turned out to be a real sweet heart– Coco a long haired female with the cutest fluffy black ears.  The other one was a rascal but one smart and athletic dog–Tilla.  His original name was Atilla the Hun.  He was the only one of four who could jump the fence we built a year later, which necessitated building it even higher.  Before the fence was built we had another problem:  he could let himself out the front door:  he learned how to pop open the front latch and then we had to chase him all over the neighborhood every time we forgot to lock the front door.  Anyway, God in his wisdom made them perfect choices for us.  So you never know.  Both of them were, by the way, black like all of rest of the litter.

Tags: athletic dog, Coco, dog jumps the fence, dog opens the front door, dogs, God, litter of puppies, my wife, Pax, pets, Sweetie, Tilla
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My four dogs like broccoli.  Pax, our big Rottweiler mix stood there lapping up the broccoli juice from the pan til it was gone.  Tilla was kind of funny.  He started to eat a piece his (???), spit it out and then had a second thought about the taste and then ate it keeping it down this time.  The other two also had some broccoli remains from dinner.  Our dogs like veges–at least broccoli.

Tags: big dogs, broccoli, dogs, dogs like vegetables, four dogs, Pax, pets, rottweiler mix, Tilla
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Last night Cool Hand Luke, my black cat came up to me in bed, arched her back to greet me in bed and got stroked and then settled down in the corner of the bed catercorner to me.  She is one of the three black animals who join me in my bedroom every night.

The other two are dogs:  Coco unusually sleeps to one side of the bed and sometimes Tilla is at the base of the bed unless my wife did not join me right away.  Then he will sleep on the bed to the left of me within reach of me.  This is their routine every night.  Sometimes there are more animals in my room.

Buttons, one of my cats hides under the bed and sometimes in the middle of the night there will be a scuffle between Buttons and Cool Hand Luke.  The two don’t like each other.  Other animals sometimes join us, too like Sweetie and Pax our other dogs.  It is hard sometimes not to step on a dog if you have to leave the room to use the john in the middle of the time (???).

And if there is a thunderstorm during the night all you can hear is the panting of the dogs and sometimes two or three jump on the bed.  I know it is a king sized bed but all our dogs are midsized and crowd us when that happens not to say anything about keeping us awake with their loud panting.  They simply are scared of the thunder and usually have to be kicked out of the room so we can sleep.  Thankfully thunderstorms only happen occasionally in the middle of the night.

Tags: big dogs, Buttons, cat sleeps in bed, cats, Coco, Cool Hand Luke, dogs, dogs afraid of thunder, dogs panting, dogs sleep in bed, four dogs, my wife, Pax, pets, Sweetie, thunderstorm, Tilla
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