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Barry and Hilda

Just another little poem

Thank you so very much Philip! What a beautiful poem!

Barry and Hilda.....
So sorry I only read about this news now....
Hugs to you both. There just are no words, I know that feeling so well.

Canis Lupus, welcome to the animal crazy thread! I'm sure there are no dull moments in your house!

I'm having fun here.
Zina has grown into a big girl and she's on her first heat. Boris decided that his top priority is to work out how to get to her so he does nothing but run around whimpering. He is ignoring his toys, his food, his mother!!??

Shame, I have to lock him up in the office at night else we get no sleep. He can't understand why he's been evicted since he's been sleeping on his duvet next to my bed since he was 6 weeks old.
Only a few more days to go, my friend says, a few more.....

Oh dear Jen worse than teenagers.

After a false start last week due to bad thunderstorms, Tank finally arrived at our place a short time ago.
Now is an anxious 24 hours or so as he and the established 'herd' of three sort out the new pecking order.
I keep wanting to go check on them every five minutes
SJ gave him some sedative before leaving as he has a history of run-ins with fences when put in a new paddock - it definitely helped to slow him down a bit! He didn't gallop around anywhere - so far so good - hopefully will come out in the morning and find them all in one piece

Thank you for your kind words JenB. We really appreciate it.

Poor Boris!One can only try to explain, and hope they do understand.

@ Threedogs: I found Fiona Apple's story! THAT is dedication and every animal deserves that! Thank you!

So glad to hear Tank has finally arrived! Good luck with him getting used to his new home and new friends! Fortunately he has you!

Update: Tank has settled in well and no problems there. However, we now have serious discord with the dogs at the moment.

A few weeks ago, out of nowhere (well, to the dumb human eye anyway), Tokoloshe and Lucy started fighting. Toki was the instigator and seemed to start fights when she got jealous of Lucy being near me and also when they were in season at the same time. (We hadn't spayed them as we have them confined to our yard and no males nearby.) Anyhow, I decided to change the rules and we have kept Scooter sleeping in the bedroom but it has been off limits day and night to the three girls. This seemed to help immensely as it was the 'hotspot'. I made an appointment at the vet for both girls to be spayed (Saffie is already done) but the vet had her baby early and I had to postpone the operations. Three weeks went by and during this time peace reigned and I relaxed and thought the crisis was over......until today.

My son had started mowing the lawn and his girlfriend Nicole and I were coming back inside when we realised Toki and Lucy had starting an all out fight in the house. Toki had Lucy by the neck and it was incredibly violent and noisy and terrifying. Normally I would start screaming for SO to help but he was at work! So Nico and I dragged them out from under the table and tried to separate them but it was futile. Toki had a death grip on Lucy and was thrashing and snarling from side to side. We were yelling and pulling and getting nowhere. I tried desperately to pull Toki's jaws apart to release Lucy and I could not believe the strength!! Lucy was bleeding, I was bleeding! I yelled to Nicole to get a bucket of water but just then Toki started to tire and loosened her grip enough for me to get them apart.
I kept hold of Toki and got Lucy outside. She had no bad injuries fortunately. My middle finger has a puncture hole and a black fingernail. We stood there shaking for a minute and tried to understand what had happened! I was so grateful to Nicole, she was so brave in helping me! Now I have Toki locked outside across the yard in our normally disused dog kennel/yard. A phone call to the vet for new appointments is happening first thing in the morning. It is really upsetting. I am hoping that spaying will diffuse the competition issues between them. When they are not fighting they are generally good friends. Talk about stressed!

Nothing worse than having your pets involved in a brutal fight, Threedogs.

I think spaying them will help a lot because many of the fights are hormone driven and also a display of dominance. Females are also more violent when they fight and there are also more jealousy issues.

I think you are doing the right thing by spaying them both, even if just from a health point of view. It may help if you can determine which is the lower ranking one and spay her first? That will put her at an even lower rank than she is now and hopefully will convince her to submit rather than fight?

When I got my first Rottie male, we also had a German Sheppard male and since Igor was young they used to snarl at one another. I had Cesar neutered when it seemed as if snarling was getting more serious and left Igor intact because he was younger and stronger. They both lived happy long lives without one serious fight.

Hope this does not happen again and glad you did not suffer any serious injuries.

Thanks so much for the reassurance JenB!
This latest fight I think is because Toki has come into season AGAIN and has been in for a few days and then now I have a suspicion that Lucy has started coming on It is like Toki says 'how dare you, I am the alpha breeding female here!'
I think Lucy is the lower ranking female but instead of being completely submissive, she gets snarly and defensive when Toki asserts even mild dominant behaviour over her - and when the tension is high its enough to spark off the fight. The fights are incredibly bad. If we didn't intervene they would do serious damage to each other but I suspect Lucy would certainly come off the worst in a bad way. Toki just does not stop, she loses all control, it is very scary. I hate to think that we would have to find another home for one of them if the spaying does not work
I think I will spay Lucy first and let her recuperate initially while the stitches are in, in the outside kennel. Then get Toki done and swap them over. Then hopefully bring them back together again and see what happens?
Bl**dy female hormones.....

Oh heck yes! Those raging female hormones!

Let me tell you, one could manage two full blood Rottweiler males far easier than two females! In the Rottweiler community the saying is common that they are not called bitches for no good reason.

My guess is that you are right in that Lucy is the lower ranking female and when they come into season, her rank is lifted ever so slightly. Dogs of similar ranking are more prone to fight because neither one wants to submit. It takes two to tango.
You will definitely make the ranking division wider if you spay her first.

Let us know, 'k?

Oh my word Threedogs! I really hope the spaying will solve the problem!

It is too sad to even think of finding another home for one of the two!

How is Tank doing?

Tank is great thanks Hilda! After the initial little bit of argy bargy the horses seem quite happy, although I am currently treating a rather nasty fence injury one of the others sustained just prior to Tank arriving.

The dog situation is a worry. Lucy is booked into the vet tomorrow. Then after she has recuperated, Toki will have her turn in a weeks time. I am banking on the fact that when not in season they get along okay without any fights 99% of the time.

Will give an update in due course

I lost two of my beloved pets this year. I still mourn them, but I also added a animal or.. three to my menagerie.

My daughter turned 21 this year. She spent her birthday writing exams all by herself at Rhodes. She had contracted gasto during the end of year exams, so it was a sad and forlorn Sarabi who had to return early early this year.

Get yourself a rescue kitten, I said. So this is Tom.

Tom came to stay with me during the last vac. He settled in so well that we decided to let him stay indefinitely. As you can see, he enjoys a bit of bird watching.



After my Prince died, I ummed and ahhed about replacing him. A puppy is a commitment, but because of my cats I am a bit cautious about getting an adult dog. After much thought, I decided to get a rescue puppy and planned to visit our local rescue the next day.

It was a cold night when I drove home from work. It had snowed a couple of days previously and I was grateful to have a warm heated car. A few kilometres from home, far from any dwelling a little dog stepped into the road and started barking.

I stopped my car thinking it might be a little terrier that had strayed off from a nearby farm. It was not, it was a little puppy in a dreadful condition. He was covered in fleas and ticks, thin and a tummy bloated from worms.

I took him home. Was he dumped? I don't know, but I do think that he would have died during the night, chilled and lonely.

He is now the most beautiful bundle of energy. Pure joy. I have called him Mikki.

Out early one morning with Sox in the background.



I had to take my Balinese to the vet recently. I love Siamese, but seldom have the joy of owning one as I have so many moggie rescues.

I mentioned to the vet that if she had any neglected or adult Siamese brought in, I would gladly give them a home.

She has a shelter where she keeps animals that have been abandoned. She told me that she had two old men who would love a home to live out their retirement. They are not purebred Siamese, but carry the Siamese gene.

I took them both.

Meet my handsome Brad Spit:



and Rufus the dufus.

What lucky doggies and moggies!
'Brad Spit'

Oh MM, you have a heart of pure gold! I think Mikki was put on in the road by a Higher Hand, who knew you would give him all the love and care that any doggie would need!

The same with Brad Spit and Rufus the Dufus! I am sure they know how lucky they were to get a "mommy" like you!

Tom is there to stay .... indefinitely for sure! Another very lucky and happy kitty!