Tag Archives: Relationships

28

Dec. ’15

Christmas Day and Polite Greeting

 

“We did it!”  After years, simply years, (well at least it felt like it) of practicing polite greeting we were able to come in and join the party!

There were so many people someone was always petting us, which was just fine with us!

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Bess, getting all kinds of attention Abby and Barb

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The pups sitting pretty for Aunt Marge. “We just know she’s going to give us a treat!”

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Belle hanging out with Jim

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Bonnie having some one on one time with Aunt Marge.

 

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Having fun with Nancy, Jim, Mike and Abby

The surprise of the day came when we heard a quiet meow and my Margret went out to the kitchen to find Mike talking to “I love living in the basement where it’s quiet” Lucy kitty.  Then a short time later Lucy was back in the kitchen talking to Jim.  To hear my Margret and my Greg talk about it that was awesome and huge even bigger than all of us joining the party and let me tell you that was pretty big in itself!

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Mike, the Lucy whisperer

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Jim also the Lucy whisperer.

We still have some practicing to do. We, especially Bess, what are you going to do she’s still pretty young, were a bit bouncy when we first met people but it didn’t last long.       Then there was that time that I really needed to have some quiet time, my Margret noticed and opened the door so I could go out in our pup pen.  People get pretty noisy sometimes, I didn’t know that before.                                       All in all though we had a really fun day.  That night my Margret said to my Greg, ” I bet they’ll  sleep good tonight!”  I wonder what gave her that idea?

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Bess and Linus

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Bonnie

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Belle

Oh well *yawn* I’ll figure it out later. Until next time, this is Belle signing off for the Pups and Kitties.

Posted by . Categories: Cats, Christmas, Golden Retrievers, Pets, polite greeting, Relationships. Tags: , , , , . 8 Comments

06

Feb. ’15

February Pupdates

Wow, where to start.

Bess is sleeping all night, and putting herself to bed if she is tired! Let the balloons and streamers fall from the ceiling!

We had a blizzard last Sunday and Bess got to experience a lot of snow.  She had seen small amounts before but not 17 inches worth at one time. At 5:30 that morning when she and Bonnie went out we already had 7 inches of snow.  Bess immediately started to bark at the falling snow. I assured her it was fine and she bounded down the stairs barking as she went. Bonnie came up to me with a look that said “I’m the big dog I’ll protect her” “Ok Bonnie Pup, Thanks!” Bonnie then stopped at the porch door, did a slow look up at the sky observing the heavy snow falling, turned and looked at me with a “what is this wet stuff?” look. Then because she is the “big dog” she continued on slowly and cautiously, because there is wet stuff you know, into the pup pen to “protect” Bess.

Bess and Linus have reached a truce of sorts. I still have to tell Bess “leave it” when she starts to play too rough with Linus.  Instead of being offended at being called a “leave it” Linus seems grateful and is learning to run a bit faster away while I redirect Miss Bess.

Belle had her surgery to be spayed and had a few hiccups, but is fine. It took a bit longer  than usual for her to get the anesthesia all out of her system so she had a puny few days. Then she decided that her incision area needed to be clean, very clean and started excessively licking the area, so enter the cone collar.  We tried a donut collar first but Miss “I don’t want this thing around my neck” figured out how to get her front paw through it in an effort to get it off  so we abandoned that option and turned to  the traditional collar.  It’s clear so it helps her to still be able to see everything that she needs to and has done a great job dealing with it.  Belle’s stitches come out tomorrow so we are hoping the collar can be taken off then too. The pictures below capture the highlights of the past few days.

Bess checking out the snow

Bess checking out the snow

What is all of this stuff?

What is all of this stuff?

Bess and Linus

Bess and Linus

Belle and her fancy dancy they aren't letting me lick my incision collar

Belle and her fancy dancy they aren’t letting me lick my incision collar

Doing a good job keeping her eye on the ball

Doing a good job keeping her eye on the ball

Ha! I figured out how to play with my tennis ball!

Ha! I figured out how to play with my tennis ball!

figured out how to lay down comfortably

A peaceful Belle

Snuggle Bunch

Snuggle Bunch

Lucy doing her owl imitation

Lucy doing her owl imitation

Posted by . Categories: Cats, Golden Retrievers, Pets, snow. Tags: , , , , , . 2 Comments

19

Jan. ’15

Lucy and Linus Kitties

 

Lucy and Linus Kitties let me know in no uncertain terms that they feel slighted because I haven’t written about them for awhile.  So it’s time to fix that!

Lucy in her computer supervisory role

Lucy in her computer supervisory role

Lucy is 12 years old and is our 4 footed family matriarch. While she tends to be a private kitty, she is my steadfast companion when I am working at the desktop computer or doing paperwork.  Her favorite trick is to lay right on the paper that I need to see or stand and fluff out her tail to effectively cover the monitor.

Lucy laying down the law to the pups.

Lucy laying down the law to the pups.

The rule in the house is that the pups all need to respect her, and are not allowed to chase her.  Even Bess at 4 months learned that rule quickly.

Laundry Supervisor

Laundry Supervisor

Lucy never fails to make sure the laundry won’t fall off the table.

Lucy's favorite spot

Lucy’s favorite spot

Lucy’s favorite place to curl up is on the back of Greg’s recliner.  Her second favorite place to lay is in front of the heat register.  Her third favorite is close to me when I sit to read or watch tv.  She isn’t a lap sitter but she curls up close on the back or arm of the couch.  She does cozy really well.

Lucy is our vocal kitty and will answer you if you talk to her. She and Bess puppy had quite the conversation the other day!   Lucy is a forehead bumper, and that is part of our good morning routine.  She is starting to slow down and this  is the first year that she didn’t climb our Christmas tree.  She has been losing weight and hand in hand with our vet we are closely monitoring her health. But so far she is doing fine.

Linus Kitty is a lovable stinker kitty, He thinks he is a Golden Retriever and from the time we brought him home as tiny kitty he followed the pups, especially Belle,  everywhere, except outside and that still frustrates him to no end.  He has been known to ring the “gotta go” chime in an effort to go out.

He is 1- 1/2 years old and loves to play. So much so that it’s hard to casually pet him because he turns it into let me bite that hand.   He is a lap sitter and loves to snuggle although he has this habit of sucking blankets and I’m not sure what’s up with that.

Let's play!

Let’s play!

Linus, Bonnie and Belle

Linus, Bonnie and Belle

Things  have changed a bit for Linus since Bess puppy joined our family a couple of months ago.  When Bess first joined our family she and Linus loved to play together and Linus would usually be the one to instigate the play.  But Bess quickly grew and her play became too rough for Linus, so much of our time is telling Bess to “leave it” when we hear our non verbal kitty give a yowl.  I have noticed lately that Bess is learning how to play more gently and Linus is once again starting to play with her.

During the day we have a child gate across the upstairs doorway so the pups can’t go upstairs but the cats can.  The upstairs landing has become one of Linus’s favorite places when he needs a break.

In his safe place upstairs.

In his safe place upstairs.

 

Linus and Bess

Linus and Bess

 

Ha, you can't reach me! Notice Belle standing protectively beside Linus.

Ha, you can’t reach me! Notice Belle standing protectively beside Linus.

Otherwise he spends a lot of time just out of her reach.

When Linus allows himself to nap his hang out place is the back of the couch where he alternates sleeping and keeping an eye on things outside.

Linus's favorite place to lay.

Linus’s favorite place to lay.

 

Keeping watch.

Keeping watch.

Lucy and Linus kitties are a very special part of our family and life quite simply wouldn’t be the same without them.

Posted by . Categories: Cats, Golden Retrievers, Pets, Relationships. Tags: , , , . 2 Comments

18

Jan. ’15

Belle Pup

Belle

Belle

For those of you who may read our Two Pups and a Kitty Facebook page, that don’t know me may feel that my post yesterday about Belle and being diagnosed with moderate  hip dysplasia might be considered cold. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.  The back story that new readers may not know, is that early on in our marriage and over the years Greg and I have prayed, talked and dreamed about having a kennel and raising Golden Retrievers.  In 2008 after the NIU campus shootings when I witnessed first hand the healing touch that therapy dogs brought to our hurting campus that dream morphed into also having our dogs become certified to be therapy dogs. Due to many factors the time wasn’t right for any of this until a little over 2 years ago when we brought Bonnie and Belle into our lives.

A funny thing happens sometimes to dreams, they evolve until sometimes the reality isn’t anything like the original dream.  While we do have three golden retrievers that we love to pieces,the dream of having a kennel has faded into maybe having a litter of puppies (in only the most responsible, breed strengthening way of course which was always our intent).  Those who follow our story, ( and I certainly thank you for doing so) know that  we are still working on Bonnie and Belle passing the Canine Good Citizen test. And seeing if either of them will qualify for therapy dog status is way down the line.

The next step towards having puppies was to have Bonnie and Belle be tested for hip dysplasia, which we did a few weeks ago.  We had discussed before hand that we certainly would not move forward in breeding if they had it. We knew that would be highly irresponsible  so when we received Belle’s report yesterday, it was in effect the end of that part of our dream for her at least.  It’s hard when you dream something for literally decades to shrug it off and say ok, there is a small amount of grieving and letting go that comes with the end of a dream.  That was my emotion while writing the facebook post about it last night.

The biggest feeling though when I read that report was concern for Belle. What the future holds for her medically, how will we best be able to help her as the years go on.  She already deals with allergies, and ear infections and now this.  Yes, trust me I know that these things are easy issues.  I know that so many other dogs are dealing with or have just lost their fight against cancer, are dealing with serious injuries and other very difficult health issues. My heart hurts for those dogs and their families. But for us, right now, today this is our issue with our Belle pup and for us it’s pretty big.

We will be talking with our vet to find out what to look for and how we can best help Belle deal with any pain and or other issues that will be a part of her future with hip dysplasia.  As always we will continue to pray and see what Lord has in store for us and our pups as we continue our Golden Adventure.

 

 

Posted by . Categories: Golden Retrievers, hip dysplasia, Pets, Relationships. Tags: , , , . 4 Comments

18

Sep. ’14

Morning Routines

Our pets morning routines differ for each one of them.

Bonnie pup sets off her Bonnie Bark Alarm when she feels it’s time to get up or she thinks she is missing out on something.  Thank goodness she is now back to sleeping in past 4:00am.  When I open her crate door she just stands there for a bit relishing in the fact that she can come out of her crate but wanting to do so when she wants to.

Belle pup is our late sleeper and will open a sleepy eye to look at me when I open her crate door. Often she stays put to get a few more minutes of sleep.  Then she slowly stretches her way out of the crate and into the room and comes to me as if to say “Well Good Morning, I’m up!”

The pups then wait in the living room for Greg to come down stairs and enjoys a quick good morning love and cuddle that starts the day out well for all 3 of them.   During the course of the early morning each pup comes to me at separate times for a love and cuddle from me.

Linus kitty will meow a good morning unless he is busy elsewhere in the house.  He usually quiet in the morning unless he is mousing then he’s anything but quiet!  Linus is still learning that cuddles are a good thing, he prefers quick drive by pats.

Lucy our matriarch kitty greets us with a good morning meow then proceeds to follow both Greg and I from room to room and surface to surface until she gets a good morning hug and a cuddle. If we don’t see or hear her she reaches out a paw as we walk by and snag us which usually works well to get our attention.

No matter how they greet us, the morning isn’t complete without their good morning greeting.

Posted by . Categories: Cats, Golden Retrievers, Pets. Tags: , , , , , . 4 Comments

24

Jul. ’14

So Smart it’s Scary!

I had just gotten settled into the recliner for a bit of an afternoon break. Bonnie and Belle pups were on the couch laying together and Bonnie was snuggling with her stuffingless fox. Belle walks over Bonnie to come climb into my lap, tail wagging, happy wiggles and rolls over for a belly rub. Bonnie upon seeing Belle getting some loving can not resist and leaves her fox and climbs up with Belle and I in the recliner. Bonnie proceeds to give me a bunch of pup kisses on my nose, in my ear, deep in my ear and on my cheek. She is very happy to be getting some loving too. Belle in the meantime climbs off my lap back on to the couch and grabs the fox that Bonnie abandoned in her quest to not be left out. Was it by chance? Oh no she knew exactly what she was doing. Oh Pups you are so  smart it’s scary sometimes!

Posted by . Categories: Golden Retrievers, Pets, Relationships. Tags: , , , . 1 Comment

24

Apr. ’14

This and That

We have been very busy with the 2 legged people in our lives over the past few weeks. Our son in law’s father passed away suddenly so I spent several days helping out with our two oldest grandsons so the adults could take care of everything else.   Greg came down for the visitation and funeral and helped out as well.   Besides spending time with the kids I got to know our Granddog Patch better.  He is a Brittney spaniel mix with a big, big heart who loves to play.  At 8 months he tops both of our pups and is going to be a big boy.

While we were gone our tax refund check came and it had been placed up high where our pups couldn’t get to it…well we learned the hard way that things need to be place higher up than we thought as Miss Belle decided that she liked the crinkle of the envelope.  Greg took what was left of the check to the bank along with the joke about you know when your dog eats your homework… The bank referred us to the IRS. We are in the process of replacing the check.  Oh Pups!

Easter was this past weekend and we had a lot of family and extended family and friends in and out during the weekend.  Because our 5 grandkids are still very little (6 years-to almost a year) and our pups are still very boisterous the pups while the kids were up and about spent a lot of time in their puppy pen where they had a steady stream of company.

 Lucy Kitty is shy and pretty much hung out in the basement but she did venture upstairs during the late evening hours for her cuddles and gentle tummy rubs.  Linus Kitty on the other hand was up and around the action much more. He clearly favored our 5 year old grandson who enjoyed cuddle time with Linus during our early morning snuggle times.

As I write this Bonnie has been ringing the “gotta go out” chime in hopes that her sister who isn’t quite ready to wake up will go out with her. I answered the summons and let Bonnie out but she wanted right back in so that’s my indication that she wants Belle to go out with her.   Give her a few more minutes Bonnie pup.

Due to medication I am on for a bout of bronchitis I had trouble sleeping last night and Lucy kitty kept me company.  I was in a room and had the door almost shut when Lucy wandered in and upon hearing Linus who wa coming to investigate stood up on her hind feet and shut the door so Linus couldn’t come in.  Lucy clearly wanted some alone time with me, which was just fine.  She is good company and listening to her rumbly purrs serve to help me relax and get sleepy.

I would love to hear about the special 4 legged family members in your life.

 

 

Posted by . Categories: Cats, Golden Retrievers, Pets, Relationships. Tags: , , , , , . 2 Comments

03

Feb. ’14

Communication Pup Style

Cuddling

Cuddling

I get a big kick out of how Bonnie and Belle communicate with each other. It’s pretty much silent unless they are rough housing then we hear some play grumbles, a few yips, and some short barks.

During playtime I’ve watched them flawlessly pass tennis balls to each other without making a sound. Or when they have snitched something they aren’t supposed to have one pup will pass it to the other one and look at me as if to say, “I don’t have it, she does”

Bonnie likes to have Belle go outside with her and she has been known to ring the “gotta go out” chime then refuse to go out if Belle isn’t beside her. Bonnie then goes to wherever Belle might be and simply looks at her and Belle will sigh, get up and go with her sister outside.

When Belle is ready to come back into the house she waits patiently by the door for us to let her in. Bonnie on the other hand will bop the door with her paw to say “I’m ready to come in now. Please, please let me in”.

If Bonnie comes into the house but Belle isn’t ready yet she has been known to ring the chime to let us know that Belle is ready to come in.

I’ve watched them communicate with each other and us by a gentle nudge, with a look, and sometimes I think with each other at least telepathically.

How do your pets communicate with each other?

Posted by . Categories: Golden Retrievers, Pets, Relationships. Tags: , , . 5 Comments

02

Feb. ’14

Two Pups and a Kitty

Bonnie, Belle and Linus the snuggle bunch

Bonnie, Belle and Linus the snuggle bunch

Welcome to our page! Bonnie and Belle are sisters as well as littermates. They will be 2 years old in June 2014. We got the pups from a reputable kennel when they were 9 weeks old. They are precious loveable stinkers. The pups are pretty identical so Bonnie wears a red collar and Belle wears blue.

We have been through 3 rounds of obedience training and are currently in training to take the Canine Good Citizen test. We have been prayerfully considering training the pups as therapy dogs and time will tell if they are suited for that.

Bonnie is outgoing, mischievous and a bit anxious although she has a big heart. When given a command she tends to think about it for a bit before obeying. We are working on that. She loves to show off her squeaker skills and continually tries to teach Belle how to squeak the tennis ball.

Belle, is a little more laid back, definitely wants to be the “good girl” and for the most part is the first to respond to a command. She is trying to learn how to squeak the tennis ball but is doing very well in catching it and bringing it back to be thrown again. She has been known to take her sister down if Bonnie gets to it first.

Linus is a long hair kitty, he is 8 months old and thinks he is a golden retriever 🙂 Linus and Belle have a special bond although all three of them play and snuggle together. The other day I gave Bonnie the “leave it” command as she was rough housing with Linus, that’s when I realized that Linus was playing just as hard and was being the instigator in the playtime.

Thank you for joining us in our day to day adventures with our two pups and a kitty!

Posted by . Categories: Cats, Golden Retrievers, Pets, Relationships. Tags: , , , . 4 Comments