Etcetera

Correction - I guess even canine journalists get names wrong sometimes. It turns out that CoCo is the right name of the lovely Dane who appeared in my Doggy Day Afternoon posts. I had spelled it as Cocoa - as in chocolate, but she's really CoCo as in CoCo Chanel.

Chabela - I just wanted to say I got a lovely e-mail from Chabela and she plans to be at some of the same horse shows I'm going to this season. If we are able to connect expect to see more of her in this space.

Eye Candy - Oh, what the hey. Let's have one more photo of Schooner just for woofs and giggles and because he's just so cute.

Say Hi to Schooner!

We want to give a woof-out to Schooner, a Maine Coon kitten who has just moved into his forever home with a good friend of ours. Schooner has no plans to blog so I can't send you over to say hello, but his new Mom does check in here once in a while.

Here is Schooner suggesting a nice composition for a portrait in oils - in case his Mom should want to commission one.

And here he is in a more casual mode, just ready to have a bit of a chat. I really want to wish Schooner all the best in his new position. It seemed as though he was going to face some challenges in the form of two established adult kitties, neither of whom were thinking, "Oh, it would be so great if Mom brought home a kitten." In fact, they don't even speak to each other much from what I've heard. Schooner, however, is working his charms and making good headway in worming his way into the affections of the senior kitties.  It seems he's going to do just fine.

Doggy Day Afternoon Fur Real Part II

I believe we left off during our water break. After some nice long drinkies I felt the need to regroup in the semi-shade on the coolish concrete. Chi felt just fine, but was willing enough to hang around while I got a second wind.

At one point in the festivities they had a breed parade and one dog of every discernable breed they could round up represented. CoCo and I were asked to represent our respective breeds. In my case, I was the only Pei on the grounds, but there were a number of Danes, so it was a bit of an honor for Cocoa. We lined up to take our turn.

There's CoCo. Great Dane represent! I was number 11. Cocoa went earlier so I was waiting on line after she did her bit.

I passed the time making conversation with even more new friends. This was just the best day ever. Did I mention that?

My star turn came out a little blurry. Sorry about that, and blame Blog Mom, as usual. She's also my personal photographer.

So here I was, just getting some shade. Shade is nice when it's 3,000 degrees out and humid. A nice lady who was working at the event decided I was overheated. Well, define "over", I guess. I was heated, but the Moms are pretty aware of a Shar Pei's needs in weather like this and were already talking about it being time to head home. In the meantime I was hydrated and in the shade, right? We just pant a lot, lady.  But the lady was worried and pretty much insisted that we take advantage of a thing they had set up just for dogs who looked like they were about to have heat stroke. So I had to do this:

Soooo unfair. I'd already had a bath that day and now they put me in a pool with ice cubes and act like they're doing me a favor. Shar Pei don't do water, people! I stayed in  for all of about 5 seconds and that was more than enough, thank you.

Around then we did head home where I had to start a napathon that lasted well into today, with food and potty breaks, of course. I did not make the horse show and neither did Blog Mom who didn't do her foot any favors at the doggy event. Alpha Mom went, of course, since Sarge was in it and he did very, very well. It would have been nice to see, but I think we made the right choice. Alpha Mom says there will absolutely be lots more horsie shows with Sarge this summer and this was the only doggiecentric event that we're aware of for some time. Horse shows are wonderful fun, and there are usually quite a few dogs in attendance, but let us face facts. Horse show are about the horsies. This was about us. The doggies. It was kind of special in that way. We are talking about my going back to school to get my degree and to be able to have a more rounded canine social life. I think it's not a bad idea and I'll probably do it.

Doggy Day Afternoon Fur Real

Well, that was just pawsome. I could not have had a better time in a roomful of cheese! As soon as we arrived at the place where the Expo was being held I was all excited. I wanted to get out, out out of the car and zoom right over to the grounds. I could smell the excitement in the air. Or at least I could smell something I liked a lot in the air. There were so many doggies to meet. It seemed like everybuddy there was accompanied by a doggy or two. We met friends we knew and friends we'd never met before.

This little girl was one of the first pawple we met. I didn't catch her name, but isn't she darling? As soon as she saw Blog Mom pick up the camera she smiled and posed for us. Her own Mom didn't even know what was going on at first, which was pretty funny. Even though I don't think she's a doxie her smile kind of reminded me of Mona.

This is Nancy and CoCo. That's Nancy on the left and CoCo is the Great Dane on the right. We do know them. Actually I had never really met CoCo before but we've both been in the same building at different times and for dogs that's a lot like having met. Nancy is Alpha Office Administrator where both Moms work and also CoCo's Mommy, of course.

CoCo is getting to know me better there. I couldn't return the favor because I failed to bring a ladder with me. Despite my having to dispense with some of those formalities, I think we hit it off quite well. CoCo is a very gentle lady dog and I like to think I'm the same.

 No sooner had we spent a few minutes with CoCo and her humans Chabela arrived with her Mom, Dina. Dina is a horse person like Alpha Mom and  Chabela goes down to the barn sometimes. We ended up spending quite a bit of time together and I hope we get together again soon. She is excellent company. Most pawple were very nice and as far as I could see ALL the doggies were pawfectly behaved and friendly the whole time, but there was this one weird moment. Chi (Her Mom calls Chabela "Chi" so I do, too.) was just sitting there, kind of under a table getting a little shade and this lady came over and bent down a little and looked like she was going to say how cute she is - which she certainly is. Instead the lady said, "It was a dachshund that ate my baby chicks.",  looking at poor innocent Chi as though she had something to do with it. How rude! We were all kind of dumbstruck. There are a lot of things you can say at times like that, but nobuddy thought of any in time. I just kept thinking I wished Puddles was there. I'm sure she would have told that lady off.

There were vendors so we did a little shopping. Actually, what happened was that Blog Mom just wanted to point something out to Alpha Mom and I wandered into the booth. Before you know it, Alpha Mom had purchased a harness for me that we didn't need and she hadn't planned on. It is very nice. It's quite dressed up looking. I'll model it for you as soon as the matching collar and leash that we also didn't need but Alpha Mom ended up ordering comes. And if I get invited to anything formal, I'll be ready.

Well, you know who we thought of as soon as we saw the Grateful Greyhounds tent, don't you? Of course you do.

Before you knew it, it was time for a little something. I don't think that greyhound was really going to lift that lady's wallet, do you? I'm sure not!

Do I still have your attention? Because I want to tell you about something that I don't have a picture for. Then more photos, OK? We met this lady. She didn't bring her dogs with her because she was vending, but she was a Shar Pei person. She said she'd been in the breed for 20 years. When someone says they're "in the breed" you know they're serious. She was there selling doggy related jewelry, and she has a website for her Peis, too, who certified, ribboned and medalled in just about everything. And one of them is named Lola! How about that. Well, this lady said she didn't think I looked 7 years old. I mean, not just, "Oh, you don't look a day over 5, my dear." She had specific reasons. The Moms and I decided to believe her. She sure seemed to know what she was talking about. There are reasons why we were never 100% sure, which I might discuss on Frankie's Name Game day on the 4th. So now my age is no longer 7. It's officially "A lady doesn't tell her age, especially if she doesn't know it." We're kind of happy about it because Shar Pei are not known for longevity, although I believe we're improving there. So not being seven yet would be very nice. K, back to the photos now.

This doggy was an agility madman. He or she (furry down there) ran the course several times just pawfectly. It was quite thrilling to watch.

In between demonstrations by madly skilled dogs of all sorts the agility course was available for newbie dogs to try out. I really wish we'd gotten a shot of Chi going over a jump or something but she was too fast for our camera. She did great. She went over jumps and through the tire and did whatever she was asked. And she's a mini. I mean, she's rather short, you know. That didn't even slow her down. I think she probably has a future in agility.

We encountered all sorts of beautiful furiends who we didn't know as we went along. Everyone was friendly. This brindle Frenchie seemed like a very mellow sort.

Some dogs were taking a working holiday. We knew not to bother them while they were attending to their responsibilities, of course.

Magnificent was the only word for this Golden. The photo doesn't really show how large he is, either. Definitely an XL Golden. And he was very friendly. As if there's such a thing as a Golden who isn't.

 Oooh, twins!

 This little guy was such a gorgeous shade of pewter. I wish it had shown up better on camera.

This is a Westie who we met along the way. Her owner says she's a very good dog. She looks lovely is all I know.

Somedogs know how to travel in real style. Way to go little fella.

Well, I can tell you  one thing. It got hot as the day went on. Really, really hot. There were water stations everywhere with big foil pans of water and hoses so they could be constantly refreshed. I would only just drink enough out of them to keep me alive. I mean strangers' germs - eeew. Fortunately, this time my own heart shaped pink water bucket was in the car. It only required someone to make a trip back to the car to get it. 

That was sooo much better. It turned out that Chi did not like to drink at at the public trough either, so I let her drink out of my bucket. Now we're saliva sisters.

 I have a few more pictures to share, but I think Blogger has about had it with this post. I'll do a Part II with the rest of the photos and concluding thoughts later or tomorrow, 

Dog Day Afternoon

We are falling behind a little in reading blogs, not to mention blogging. We're sorry about that, and as usual it's entirely Blog Mom's fault. I've got plenty to say, but I guess maybe it's the weather or something. She sits down at the computer and falls asleep way too early most nights. But all is forgiven for today because we've got big plans. After I get my furs done, the Moms are taking me to the second annual Dog Day Afternoon Agility Expo and Pet Fair, which is put on by the Suffolk County Bar Association's Animal Law Committee. The weather's looking good for the event and I'm pretty psyched about it. It's my first time going, but I'm not seeing a downside. If all goes well there'll be photos soonish.

Adventure Dog, that's me!

We were going to a horsie show tomorrow, but that's up in the air at the moment. Blog Mom is still lame - she goes to the foot vet several times a week now, but so far it's only a little better. Two days of this kind of thing might be too much and  I've also been just a little off my feed (with a bit of pukies) this week myself so the same thinking applies to me. I guess we'll see about that. Alpha Mom says that Sarge will be in many shows this summer so it's no worrries there. Anyway, being a dog, I take life one day at a time and this one is looking most promising.
Have a great Saturday, everyone!

All About Us

Lots and lots of furiends have done this quiz by now. Too many to list here, I think. I figured I'd better get on it now, and then there was some discussion as to whether the cats were going to do it, too. The blog is called Pei Days, not Pei and Kitteh Days, but the majority ruled in this case and we're all doing it at once.

This is our life

THE BASICS

Name and Age: 
Lola, 7ish years old. I could definitely pass for 5.

Simone: 12 or 13, we think

Happy: Could be about 7. No one really knows.

Breed: 
 Lola: Chinese Shar Pei

Simone: Domestic Short Hair mix of some sort

Happy: Domestic Short Hair mix of some slightly fluffier sort

Nickname(s):
Lola: Good Girl, Baby, Sweetie, Sweetie Pei, Beautiful Girl, Woojy Boojy Boo Boo Lovey Doggy, assorted others

Simone: Simoney Woney (Daddy only), Psycho Cat, The Evil One - Those last two aren't used quite so much lately, as she's either mellowed, stabilized or is just getting old, but are listed here for historical value.

Happy: Hapster, Captain Happy, Happles, Hapless, Doofus

The picture of feline grace - not so much

 Where’d ya come from?

Lola: Brooklyn, most recently graduating from the Sean Casey Animal Rescue

Simone: The people with the bouncy bulldogs

Happy: The eviction next door

Favorites 

Toy 

Lola: Right now I'm enjoying working with a rawhide chewy. I chase it around a bit, capture it and only chew it briefly, so it  lasts quite some time. Of course, you can't go wrong with a tennis ball either.

Simone: She likes to play with things that are dangled for her, except for anything that's purchased for that express purpose. Those things, she just ignores. Also likes long stringy things that pose a danger to her insides.

Happy: Not big on toys. Eat. Sleep.Eat. Go in and out. Eat.

Snack:

Lola: Cheese!!!

Simone: Whipped cream

Happy: Whipped cream with a salmon chaser

Human Person:


Lola: What an undiplomatic question. Well, if I must. Alpha Mom is called "Alpha" for a reason. 'Nuff said? I do have very close and individual  relationships with each of my humans. There's plenty of Lola love to go around.

Simone: Daddy

Happy: Daddy.

We call Daddy the cat whisperer.

FUNNY STUFF

Worst Habit: 
Lola: I don't have bad habits. There are a couple of areas of legitimate disagreement between the humans and myself, such as the optimal speed for a walkie, but my speed towing is not a habit. It's a choice. Same goes for my early rising. That's a lifestyle choice that I make for myself and Alpha Mom. And the picky eating thing? Just being a matter of taste is all. Nope, no bad habits that I can think of.

Simone: Shredding. Furniture and occasionally flesh. Thank Dog her aim is getting worse and she's slowing down a bit. Doesn't help the furniture, which is a lost cause anyway, but it's much safer for the rest of us.

Tortitude - she's got it.

Happy: Well that in and out and out and in thing that he does every night is a bit annoying to everyone, but get this - after he's asked to out for the zillionth time the humans kind of stop jumping right up when he meows. So, he starts scratching. We all assumed he was scratching at the door and no harm seemed to be done. After all, who doesn't scratch at the door once in a while? I think we all do that sometimes. Well, they just recently noticed that it wasn't the door at all. It was molding around a doorway NEAR the door and he's just about destroyed it. Everyone was pretty surprised that a cat could even do that.

Most Embarassing Moment

Lola: I don't really have a lot of those. I'm not what you'd call a goofy doggie. But there was that time when I yelled at a doggie (in retrospect, a rather small doggie) who I assumed was bothering my neighbor Sambuca. It turned out that he was a friend of hers. A quite barky friend, but there was no threat. Go know.

Simone: She doesn't do embarrassment. She's got tortitude.

Happy: Well, just off the top of my head, there was the time last week when he fell off the kitchen table. For no apparent reason. And then he did it again the next day. You know what? They don't always land on all fours after all.


Family dynamic (this is a question for those of you with more than one animal in the house. i.e. who is alpha? who is the cuddler? who is the naughty one? etc. I just want to know how you fit into the family!)

We are all alphas in our own minds. We're a bit cautious about each of the others, too. I'm the only dog at the moment and I'm not terribly hierarchical anyway. It's live and let live as far as I'm concerned. Simone is a tortie. She feels she was born to be an alpha. Then there's Happy. He doesn't care about being alpha, I don't think, but like anyone, he's not crazy about being pushed around. As he's entered the prime of his life and Simone has gotten her AARP card, he's getting to be the one who stays on the table with the food on those days when they aren't into sharing space. She probably should have been nicer to him when he joined the family. On the other paw, she still rules Daddy and Blog Mom's bed.

Now I have to say that we're all cuddlers in our different ways, but never, ever with each other. We cuddle with humans. I'm never naughty. As to the kitties, I'll let the shredded furniture and molding speak for itself

Your humans’ FAVORITE thing about you!:

Lola: Well, that's hard to say. Is it my impeccable house manners and the peace of mind that my humans enjoy because of them? Or is it my sweet and loving disposition and mostly calm temperment? Or could it be the intelligence that helps me to be a true companion so they  know they can not only tell me anything, I'll give them good advice, too? I think it's the disposition that they love best, although really I'm a total package, so it's hard to say.

Simone:  Blog Mom and Daddy like the way she snuggles, especially when she sleeps with them at night. She licks their hands, too. They like that and after all, I can't be everywhere at once.

Happy: He might not be the Einstein of the feline world, but he's really quite a nice cat. Blog Mom also thinks he has a pawticularly pretty face and handsome whiskers, but that's kind of superficial, isn't it?

Happy Father's Day

I want to wish a happy Father's Day all the Dads out there, especially my Daddy. I've only had him for just over a year, but I have to say he's worked out very well. Mainly he just loves, loves, loves me, so of course, I love him back. He gives me treats when I want them, even if I don't ask. He'll give me the food right off his plate if I look at him right. If he goes out to eat he always brings home a doggie bag. He can give a great belly rub and he never minds when I wake him up, even if he's not feeling very well. We spend a lot of time together while the Moms are at work and he lets me know how much he appreciates my companionship and vice versa, of course.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit he's also a devoted kitty Daddy.  I just feel he probably loves me best, but I can't actually prove that. We all got him pressies and cards. I'm pretty sure he's going to like them. I got him a pawsome Mets shirt and the kitties got summer weight plaid lounging around the house and/or sleep pants with the Mets logo on them. Both are in more subtle tones than the screaming orange and blue of the more traditional Metswear while still retaining their essential Metsness. Blog Mom functioned as our personal shopper and I think she did pretty well. To celebrate the day here on the blog I thought I'd put up a small photo tribute to Daddy.

Simone and Daddy

Happy and Daddy

Do you notice a certain similarity of theme here? Daddy is first come, first served when it comes to providing a sleep surface for kitties. There's a bit of competition to see who can get on him first when he looks like he's settled down for a while.

Me, telling Daddy I love him

So, that's Daddy in a nutshell and that's why I hope he'll have the best Father's Day ever. And I hope the same for all your Daddies, too.

Post-post Q & A

A longish post or so always brings up questions or comments that require a response, doesn't it? Oh, that's a question, too. I appreciate everyone's kind comments and just want to respond to a few things  that have come up in the last post or so.

First, this isn't a question, but Hero mentioned how my leash matched my bandana in the Wordless Wednesday post, which was the same outfit as the horse show post, of course. All I can say is Twix is one lucky girl. Hero is a dog who gets bored if he's not risking life and limb on some exotic nature based adventure and  yet this Indiana Jones Pei also notices a girl's outfit. That's a dog in a million. Just saying.

Next, I wanted  to answer Puddles' question about who was on the Belgian draft.  Puddles asked if that was Alpha Mom on the horsie and I can see where I might have been unclear. To quote Alpha Mom herself, "Not even close!" Hey, I didn't say it. Alpha Mom is younger than Blog Mom but she's still almost 55. She could be that girl's Mom, easy. Both Moms are also built a bit more...how to put it...comfy....soft and comfy...than that girl was. We didn't know her. We were just ogling her horsie and she was kind enough to let us take the photo.

Sam,  Alpha Mom was so excited when she read about your horses that if she had a tail she would have been wagging it. We found some of your horse posts and those Friesians are so beautiful. She would love to compare notes any time.

This last one is harder to discuss. Mayzie asked about the poo, which I did bring up. She was bewildered when I said  you had to watch your step. Several commented on how tempting it must have been to have a good roll. Look, I don't want to lose your respect. I'm honored that Mayzie calls me one of her BFF's and i feel the same way, and would be heartbroken if she feels differently about me after this, but I have to be honest. I cannot live a lie. I never even thought about rolling in it. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the smells wafting in the air. Oh, I can smell it all right now if I think real hard. And I can appreciate that Mayzie must have smelled absolutely pawsome after her roll in the poo. But I'm Pei and we're naturally kind of clean. Yes, we hate baths, don't care for soap or medicinal smells, but most of us don't roll in poo, bother the litter box or eat any excrement. We are almost born housetrained. I don't want to offend or embarrass Bolo or Hero and for all I know they may prefer to be up to their tiny ears in poo. I'm speaking in broad generalities here. Well, there  you have it.  I hope this won't interfere with any friendships that we've formed. I value them greatly. I can't help being different in some ways. I was born that way. I hope you can make allowances.

Horse Show and A New Skill for me, Lola

We did get to the horse show last Sunday and it was a beautiful day. The post below for Wordless Wednesday was taken there, as a matter of fact. Here are some more from the day:

There's a lot of meet and greet that goes on at these things. At least there is for me. Here we are still out where the cars were parked and I got stopped a couple of times. Not that I'm complaining. I love meeting new people. Here I'm accepting petting and scratches from a very discerning gentleman who wanted to meet the Pei.

We did finally go into the grounds were events were underway.

There were horsies everywhere you looked, waiting their turn or just hanging around. Horsies and the most prodigious amount of horse poo you could imagine in every direction. You had to watch your step.

This is our friend, Lucy, riding Gala, the Arabian we met at the barn. Lucy's family owns Willow Rock, where Sarge and all his friends live. She was a horse person before she was even born!

This is Lauren, riding Tommy - AKA Seizing the Day. Sarge wasn't at this show. He doesn't do the English shows. He prefers dressage and Lauren rides him in some of those shows. I hope to be able to go to at least one or two this summer. Even though Sarge is Alpha Mom's horse, he has his own life as well. She only has time to ride him on weekends and horses really need exercise. Not just for their muscle tone or cardiac well being either. If they don't get enough exercise they can collic and that can be fatal. Horsies are big, but they are a lot more delicate creatures than most of us doggies. Anyway, Sarge gets dressage lessons, and sometimes he helps out with riding lessons for students and in general keeps busy while Alpha Mom isn't there.

Here's where we took a picture of Lucy shooting a video of someone. While on horseback no less. She's quite impressive.

I met this pretty blonde lady who really knew how to get on my good side. She was a blue ribbon petter/scratcher. I had to visit with her for quite a while. It was the least I could do.

Right here is where Alpha Mom had a moment of infatuation. She loves draft horses and what you have here is one gorgeous draft - a Belgian Brabant. Sarge is a draft-cross and suddenly he didn't seem drafty enough for a minute there. She really loves Sarge, but I guess a girl can look, can't she?

Now this is my moment of infatuation. I just love, love, love kids. I wanted to take them home, but so did their parents and, as it turns out,  parents always have dibs. I've asked if we could get our own kid, but apparently it's all too complicated or difficult or something. It's not like they're rare or anything. I see a lot more kids around than Shar Pei. I see no reason why acquiring just one would be such a problem, but I'm told it's pretty much out of the question.

Well, you can't always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you can get what you need. What I needed at that point was water, but we had a problem. My water bucket had gotten left behind at the barn. We discovered this when we first arrived, but Alpha Mom was sure there'd be someone selling buckets. There usually is, it seems. Except of course, not this time. There was someone selling food and drinks, though, so she bought some bottled water and a cup. That didn't work. I absolutely have a thing about putting my snout into narrow places. I don't want someone taking a hilarious photo of me with a cup stuck on my nose and you know someone would. Anway, there was nothing that the vendor had that would fit around my magnificent muzzle, so what to do?

Well, this is where the new skill comes in. I learned to drink right from the squirty water bottle. I wasn't too sure about it at first, but I got the idea pretty quick.  I think it's a handy thing to know if people are going to forget my bucket from time to time, although I'm sure it'll never happen again.

All in all it was loads of fun and I'm looking forward to the next one, which will be in a couple of weeks if the weather cooperates. That one will be dressage and Sarge will be in it, so that'll add some extra excitement.

Wordless Wednesday - Late,Late Edition

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

The humans here are all excited because tonight is the beginning of a new season of one of their most favorite TV shows - True Blood. Normally I don't watch a lot of TV myself unless there's something good on Animal Planet, but this show is kind of interesting, mostly because there's this pawsome character named Sam. He turns into a dog if he wants to. Why Sookie, the female humanish  lead, even messes around with vampires when she could probably have Sam for a boyfriend is hard to understand. Seems to me a nice human guy who is sometimes a dog is like the pawfect man, is he not? Loyal, faithful, loving and look how good looking he is when he's a dog. Plus he doesn't have to spend the day in a coffin, which is always nice.

Duffy, who plays Sam's canine side on True Blood

There's an interview with True Blood's animal trainer here and it's most interesting. I pawiticularly liked when he said that the hardest animals to train are humans.

Oh, and this season there are going to be werewolves, or so I've heard. Oooweee!

Oh, and if it doesn't start thunderstorming, which it might, we're off to a horse show soon. If we make it there, there'll be pictures later in the week. I'm crossing my paws that we get to do that.

Tomorrow Is Red Bandana Day

Tomorrow's the big day. It's Red Bandana Day as hosted by The Portugese Water Dog Blog. I don't want to take a chance on missing it, so I got all ready and I'll just be sitting here, waiting for tomorrow to come.

Blog Mom was so proud of me for posing for this photo. There was a high degree of difficulty because first she told me to get on the bench, which I did, and then she got ready to take the shot and THEN she saw that the camera said that the memory card was write protected. So, I had to stay while she took the card out and fixed it and put it back in. That must have taken close to a minute. Then I still had to stay there while she took a few different shots. Now that's my idea of a long stay. It went right into mutliple minutes. She told everyone how good I was and there was lots of praise of me, Lola, so I guess it was worth it.

While I have you here, I want to apologize if we've missed visiting some blogs in the last couple of days. I'll be totally honest with you - it was all Blog Mom's fault. First she was home early on Monday, but she had some work she had to do on the computer that had nothing to do with blogging or with me, Lola,  and it took hours and hours. She ended up being busy for longer than if she'd just gone to work. Then, on top of that she got home from work TWO HOURS late last night. Yes, really. I was so worried! She didn't call me or text me or anything. She thinks that's a silly idea because I don't have a phone. I say, whose fault is that?  Anyway, we're going to try very hard to catch up with anyone we've missed as soon as possible. We don't like to fall behind with our furiends' doings.

Update : The post is up and everyone looks wonderful. It was such fun to see so many of my furiends there and there are so many interesting four leggers that I've yet to meet, that being the idea of the whole thing. This has been pawsome fun and thanks much to our hosts for doing it.

Families Come In All Sizes

Remember I said I'd tell you about the horse family? It's a good story, I think, and worth having Blog Mom type it up for you all.  It started with the Willow Rock  people buying Dolly, a miniature mare, from some Amish people in Pennsylvania. They moved her to Long Island and even gave her her own little house.

That's Dolly on the right. It's not a great photo of her but she wasn't so interested in posing. We arrived just as they were having a Memorial Day brunch by the looks of it. In the middle is Derby Belles and on the left is William, AKA Sweet William, a name that most definitely suits him. He has retired from his first career as a show jumper and is now living a lower key life and just being ridden by his owner, a very nice, pretty lady, for pleasure.

This is Dolly's house. It's right next to the paddock where William hangs out, which as it turned out, was one of those little details that change lives.

Not long after arriving at her new home, Dolly began to gain weight. People began to wonder if she was expecting. Back home in PA she'd spent some time in a field with a stud, but no one was aware of any mating. Debate ensued. The vet thought she was pregnant and she shoudn't be allowed to carry to term because they   couldn't be sure the foal wouldn't be too big for her. Others thought it was just weight gain. New feed, new place. It could happen. Anyway, while they were figuring this all out, Dolly took  no notice and gave birth to Derby Belles one night, thereby putting an end to all speculation.

No one knew she was about to foal that night, so there was no one with her except that William was in the paddock adjacent to the little house. Being a full sized horse, all William had to do was lean his head over and he could look right into Dolly's stall. What I figure must have happened was that William was standing around, as horses are wont to do, and heard Dolly cussing up a storm and saying things like, "You did this to me you son of an ass! Don't ever come near me again. I swear I'll bite you if you do." You know - all the types of things ladies of most species say when giving birth. Especially when you're giving birth to something with hooves. Ouchies! Anyway, being the only one around, William probably thought she was talking to him and looked in to see what the problem was and immediately concluded it was time to give out cigars. So I figure he didn't take the cussing out personally and said encouraging things like "Not yet. Hold on, you can do it. Breathe! Now! Push now!" . That's how I think it must have gone down, but even if I'm a little off the end result was a beautiful, healthy bouncing baby girl and William assumed he was the happily married father of one from that day forward. Dolly did nothing to disabuse him of this idea, either. While Dolly was recovering from giving birth and getting the baby started in life, William could hardly be persuaded to take his head out of her stall. He was entranced by the whole fatherhood thing.

Belles as she looks today. She was more amenable to
posing for the flashy beast than he folks were.

 All of this does indicate that William wasn't in full posssesion of the facts. Besides the size difference making the whole thing impossible at best, deadly at worst, William's a gelding. Don't tell him that now, though. None of this made a whit of difference and Dolly and Belles started finding ways to sneak into William's enclosure. The first time that happpened it was at night, too and the humans had a fit because male horses are generally kept away from foals anyway, let alone full sized males and minis. There was, in this case, nothing to worry about. William stood bravely in front of his little family, protecting them from the over-excited humans. That was a couple of years ago and they're all still together and very happy and the fence between Dolly and Belle's enclosure and William's has long since been removed.

 William tries to think of everything. While they're dining en famille he makes sure to toss out plenty of hay for his diminutive family. He may be a gelding, but he's a great Dad. I hope someone has told Dolly and Belles that Father's Day is coming up soon.

So that's the family. And I guess that once again, four leggers demonstrate that it's love that makes you family, more than anything else.