Category Archives: Dogs

June 17, 2013 · 16:17

Raccoon Rescue!!

We have multiple raccoon living in our neighborhood. About a year ago we found two of them living occasionally on our roof under an overhang where there’s a bit of shade and shelter. For the most part they’re not much of a bother so we let them be.

We’ve named them “Rocky” and “Raquel”.

A half-hour ago I let the dog out into the back yard (she’s still re-exploring everything after her two weeks at the kennel) and she immediately tore off into the bushes behind the empty “in-ground hot tub” (I don’t know if it’s a Jacuzzi ® or not), barking like a demon. This is known as “a bad sign“.

I could hear quite a ruckus in the bushes, growling, barking, squealing, so I hollered at Jessie until she came out, completely “poofed” and in battle mode. I was pretty sure what the issue was, so I put her inside, grabbed a camera, and carefully approached the BBQ and hot tub area.

In the dry, empty hot tub, was this:

2013-06-17_IMG_6227_smallRocky & Raquel have been busy!

As I approached the area I could hear this little girl squealing and crying like there was no tomorrow. And I could hear answering cries from the big, dense pine trees next to the hot tub, so it was clear that help was near by. Raquel was my concern since I didn’t believe that she would assume that I was harmless. (Fortunately I had grabbed the camera with the big telephoto lens, so I was about ten feet away.)

Out of the tree came Raquel (apparently still lactating):

2013-06-17_IMG_6232_small“And just who the hell are YOU?!” that look says. (“Me? I’m the guy who’s going to run like hell for the front yard, screaming like a little girl, if you take one step toward me.”)

2013-06-17_IMG_6234_small“Mom, can I get a little help here?”

2013-06-17_IMG_6235_small“I’m glad that you’re keeping on eye on the camera dude, but I’m not quite big enough to make it out on my own.”

2013-06-17_IMG_6244_small“Next idea?”

2013-06-17_IMG_6245_smallThe sibling’s arrival has NOT helped the situation. The one up top is saying, “You are in soooooooo much trouble when Dad hears about this!”, while the one below is saying, “At least I didn’t get chased up a tree by that woosie white dog!” Raquel would like them to stop arguing and get focused on the problem at hand. (I know that this is how the conversation went because I have seven brothers and sisters, and my mother had to put up with this shit for decades.)

2013-06-17_IMG_6247_smallClose…

2013-06-17_IMG_6250_small…but no cigar. Still stuck. Sibling is bored and not helping.

2013-06-17_IMG_6255_small“You’re turned the wrong way!” “I’m trying to grab on, get me out of here!!”

2013-06-17_IMG_6257_small“Let me grab you from the back!” Sibling is finally being useful, serving as lookout in case that camera dude gets any funny ideas.

2013-06-17_IMG_6258_small“OK, that’s still not working.”

2013-06-17_IMG_6261_small“There we go! Finally got you by the back of the head, now relax!” Sibling is thinking, “Whoa! That does not look comfortable! Remind me to stay out of the hot tub!”

2013-06-17_IMG_6263_smallRescued at last! Raquel is either giving me the stink-eye or thanking me for pulling the dog back and not bothering her or her kids during the rescue.

FYI, total time between the first picture and the last (from the file datestamps): two minutes and twenty-two seconds.

I tried to catch some of the chatter and action with my iPhone video while I was shooting these pictures. If I get anything usable I’ll post it later.

I guess we’re going to have to come up with at least two more names. And keep Jessie on a shorter leash in the back yard for a while.

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Filed under Castle Willett, Critters, Dogs, Photography

May 23, 2013 · 11:33

Car Dealer Waiting Room Day (Madness Approaching)

I’m sitting at the car dealer all day waiting for the Long Suffering Wife’s car to get serviced.

It’s not that bad since it’s a very NICE car dealership with Wi-Fi & loungy chairs and a little Starbucks inside and I’m well equipped with my laptop & iPad & iPhone. As far as what I’m doing this morning, it’s pretty much what I would be doing at home, except that I don’t have the dog sleeping under my desk and the cat obsessively sitting on my lap, shedding like a demon.

The only big difference between here & home is that I don’t get to control the remote on the big TV here, but at least they’ve got CNN on instead of Faux News, so I’m good!

Earlier there was a lady waiting here with a black lab puppy that was just too cute to live! He was pretty well behaved (and I know that it’s a “he” because, you know the way puppies always look odd because one body part at a time explodes in size, well, guess which part got this week’s short straw?) until someone walked in with a “purse” dog. At that point he was out of his bed on the floor, onto the chair where his owner was sitting, onto the back of the chair, and over onto the waist-high “computer counter” that I’m working at. Had to keep an eye on that other dog!

My other random & only semi-rational observations are:

A. Sitting here with one depressing and/or idiotic news story after another streaming by on the television, the kneejerk reactions in my head (please, dear god, let them stay there!) are becoming increasingly inappropriate and NSFW while simultaneously becoming increasingly hilarious. Or else I need lunch. Either way, this may not end well.

B. To avoid the TV news, I’ve started listening to music using my headphones. This is similar to what I do and how I work every day in the past four months and change that I’ve been “working at home”. What I didn’t realize is that I involuntarily start singing along, aloud, with songs I really like. Singing really, REALLY badly I’m guessing from the horrified looks of the others in the waiting area. Apparently my impromptu a cappella rendition of They Might Be Giants’ “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” was “interesting & unique”. I’m just praying no one has video from their phones.

C. The Volvo dealer is also a Jaguar dealer (there’s a story for later about us buying our car here that relates to that) and if I get too bored and/or insane I’m tempted to go see if they have one of the new F-series Jaguars here. They just started running the car ads for the F-series a couple of days ago and they look really, Really, REALLY nice! Note that in this context, that’s “nice” as in “totally impractical six-figure premium gas guzzling mid-life crisis penismobile”, not “nice” as in “practical affordable high mileage commuter econobox”. Look up “lurking impending doom” in the dictionary and you’ll see exactly this scenario.

Maybe I should go get some lunch. Isn’t that a snack bar over by the Jaguar showroom?

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Filed under Castle Willett, Dogs, Ronnie

May 4, 2013 · 18:13

The Fur Flies

And drifts. And floats. And clumps. And tickles. And annoys.

Two days ago I got to both: a) take the dog to the “spa” for a two-day stay, and; b) spend over an hour vacuuming out the van which was filled with massive amounts of dog hair after task “a”. We were going to be using the van to take friends to the Angels game in Anaheim and I couldn’t bear to expose innocent bystanders to having their clothes covered with white dog hair for the foreseeable future.

Today we got back from Anaheim, picked up the dog from the “spa” — and the van is again about 99% full of white dog hair. When we got home the cat decided that she was lonely after spending thirty-six hours in charge of the house so she’s been pretty constantly on my lap demanding attention all afternoon. And shedding like a demon. I’m covered with her fine hair and it’s on my clothes, in my eyes, in my nose, on my face…

I’ve suggested that shaving them both would work wonders to help the situation, at least temporarily. (I’m a bold problem solver!!) No one else in the household is excited about that plan, although I have yet to get a precise explanation of why the plan’s so bad, other than, “Really?”

I had an alternative solution with the dog, in order to keep the van clean. For the ride home I suggested putting her into a GIANT ZIPLOCK BAG! And I had anticipated the immediate objection to this ingenious plan (she would suffocate) by proposing that we fit her with a SCUBA tank for the brief ride. Genius! Yet, like Wile E. Coyote before me, my foolproof genius was shot down in flames by the doubters among us.

As for the cat, if we can’t shave her (I’ll admit, I do think those hairless cats on Animal Planet are pretty butt ugly) and I can’t put her in a giant, airtight, plastic bag, can I at least varnish her or cover her in a thin layer of wax or something, just to keep the hair on her where it’s supposed to be instead of on me and the carpet and the couch and the ceiling and the walls and the desk and the tables and the windows where it’s not supposed to be?

Nope, another perfectly good (and ingenious) plan shot to hell.

If you need me I’ll be over here, using a lint roller on my face so that I can see well enough to vacuum out the car again.

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Filed under Cats, Dogs