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

My pets comfort me. I arose several hour before my wife and Coco joined me in my den as I was watching TV. Suddenly my other two dogs came into my room–Tilla and her mom Sweetie. Coco immediately left my room. She likes her space. I love my pets (all eleven). I went to sleep last with all three dogs in my bedroom including one cat–Cool Hand Luke, who jumped on our king sized bed not far from me. Maybe they just like the air conditioning. Anyway, I was happy they joined as I fell asleep. My animals just love me. And that is always comforting.

Tags: Cool Hand Luke, Four of my pets joined me in my bedroom, Sweetie, Tilla, Two of my pets joined me in my den
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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
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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
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My dogs were alert:  They heard the click of the door of the kitchen door which led to the open garage but not the click of it close.  Within ten seconds I was chasing the three dogs all over the neighborhood.  They were on the loose.  They enjoyed their minutes of freedom.  Finally I caught Coco and put her into the fenced yard.  Then a little later both Tilla and her Mom, Sweetie, trotted to me.  All of them had a good run.

Tags: Coco, dogs got loose briefly, fenced yard, Sweetie, Tilla, with seconds of the door open they got out of the house
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It is so odd not having any of our four dogs around.  We kenneled them so we could leave on our trip to the shore the following morning.  I fell asleep and none of them were at the foot of the bed.  No barking.  No locking the front door so Tilla does not let himself out by “popping” the screen door latch.  No Tilla under our computer desk.  Pax is not under his blanket facing the big fan. No Sweetie or Coco.  No barking.  No anything.  I miss them already and we have not left on our trip.

Tags: Coco, Coco or Sweetie or Tilla, dogs, four dogs, kenneling our dogs, No barking at all in the house, no dogs at the foot of my bed when I retire, Pax, pets, Sweetie, Tilla, trip to the shore
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I never had a dog like “Tilla” before.  I won his loyalty by rubbing his belly any time he wants, which is often.  Dogs don’t live forever.  I never thought another dog would replace the first dog I raised from a pet, which was “Daisy” a black mutt.  One stubborn dog.  Tilla wants to please.  I trained Daisy when she was an adult.  When I was in a room with her, she never took my eyes off of me.  Tilla often comes to my pad when I am watching TV and my wife has gone to bed.  Then he usually nudges the door shut as if to say, “I now have you all to myself.”  Tilla has quirks.  He is unpredictable.  I never know exactly how he is going to act.  Sometimes he will lock himself in the bathroom and wait for us to discover that and then be so pleased when we open the door.  He is more aggressive then the other three dogs we have.  If you throw four snacks in front of our four dogs, he will get three.  He is quick.  His mom a female golden retriever (appropriately named “Sweetie”) usually defers to him as well as his to his (???) sister–Coco.  Tilla is streamlined–one lean muscular black dog.  He is the reason we had to build our fence higher.  He could jump over it.  I will love Tilla while I have him.  I know he is only on “loan.”

Tags: Coco, Daisy, Daisy I trained when he was an adult, Daisy never took her eyes off of me when we were in the same room, Daisy was the first dog I raised from a pup, dogs, four dogs, golden retriever, I rub Tilla's belly almost any time he wants it, my relationship with Tilla, one stubborn dog, pets, Sweetie, Tilla, Tilla was the only dog who could make it over the fence
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I went to bed by nine thirty PM and Tilla took advantage of it immediately and crept in the Lazy Boy chair I just vacated and fell asleep.  I checked on him a little later:  he would not raise his head.  He was out for the night.  My TV room is where he goes to sleep every night.  All animals are creatures of habit.

His sister, Coco always sleeps in my bedroom in the far end of the bed at the foot of the bed.  She likes her privacy and will retire to that room if she is inside.  Other times she may be the last one in from the yard.  She is a real sweet dog and has the personality of her mother, Sweetie, the golden retriever.  Unlike her, though, she can be really insistent if she wants something, like for instance, to go out into the yard.  I have one other dog, Pax, Coco’s and Tilla’s, dad.  He is a real character but I will talk about him, again, in another time.

Tags: Coco, Coco sleeps in my bedroom, Coco's nature, creatures of habit, dogs, golden retriever, Pax, pets, sleep, Sweetie, Tilla, Tilla's sleeping room
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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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I went into town and looked across the road by the bank of the river and the neighboring isle.  Two hawks were in the air and alighting on the slivers of land.  I really did not know what kind they were but they did not behave like the ubiquitous turkey hawk although they were about the same size.  Their flight pattern was different.  I hope to identify them in my hawk book.

“Sweetie” my golden retriever always likes having something in her mouth.  She was outside gnawing on a large chunk of a branch.  She brought it in the house and I put it outside.  I did not want her to “mulch” it in making a big mess I would have to clean up.

I was coming home today and just to the right of me were, maybe, several hundred small blackbirds feeding on the ground separated from each other by several inches.  Twice a year flocks of small blackbirds come through –the spring and fall.  They must be migrating.  These are a few quick “pictures”.

Tags: bird-watching, birds, blackbirds, dogs, Fall, flocks of small blackbirds, golden retriever, migrating birds, My golden retriever has to have something in her mouth all the time, pets, spring, Sweetie, The pair of hawks at the river, turkey hawk
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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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Coco is a long haired eighty pound dog completely black with a splash of white on her throat.  She is a real lady.  When she wants a belly rub, she will raise her leg slowly and demurely to indicate it.  She will sit there crossing her front legs real lady-like.  At the moment she is the only one outside.  She likes her privacy.  She is out cradling her bone.  No one is going to get it.  She knows our bedroom routine and almost every night is found lying on one side of the bed.  She is extremely gentle although when she gets excited she will “mouth” you although she has never bitten anyone.  She is one sweet dog.  Sweetie, her Mom, always defers to her (and her brother Tilla).  Her Mom does not have one aggressive bone in her body.  Her Mom is a golden retriever so Coco’s gentle nature is not that surprising although Coco can be quite insistent when she wants to go out–a quality her Mom would never have.

Tags: belly-rub, big dog, Coco, dog bone, dogs, golden retriever, pets, sweet dog, Sweetie, 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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