Category Archives: dogs

Dec10

Madra Sneachta

Posted on December 10, 2012 by heretherebespiders

That says ‘snow dog’ in Irish, by the way…

I normally don’t put my copyright on blog photos, but one of these is really good. And hubby took them so I’m not keen on all the mad Google image searchers just taking these without asking. So, ask. Please.

Lagitana asked for a holiday scene with snow, done by me via the Brushes app. I immediately thought of Neko in the snow two years ago, because iDJ only recently realised he never uploaded the pics to FB. Problem is, this dog is hard to draw! So, Ms L, I thought I would give you these gawjus shots of our girl trying to catch snowballs. If you really want a copy ask and I’ll send without the copyright muck on top.

Leaping for the kill

Yum?

That’s my favourite one. So intent on the snowball!

Nov23

First video test

Posted on November 23, 2012 by heretherebespiders

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I’ve finally gotten off my arse (figuratively) and figured out how to upload a video to YouTube, so I can post it here. Since I’m poor and I can’t pay for the fancyschmancy WordPress add-in.

So here’s a link to a few hilarious moments of Neko trying to stomp-nip Spot, Spot running off to chase a laser, and Lokii bitching about it all.

Sep10

Let’s talk about dogs

Posted on September 10, 2012 by heretherebespiders

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Right, so – iDJ and I just had a serious conversation about getting the dog ‘fixed’.

Who, me?

She’s my first female dog, and I did NOT expect a dog’s heat to be so disgusting. She bleeds everywhere for two weeks. It’s horrible. Luckily we have no carpet, so clean up isn’t too hard – if I could be bothered to do it. Last time she was in heat, I found blood spattered all over the lower half of the front door. Two weeks after she was all done. Ew, ew, ewwwww. There’s only so much a Magic Sponge can do, you know? And putting her in his old ratty boxers, with her tail out of the flies, just means we have to change her undies a few times a day and chase her around to put them back on when she slips out of them.

Oh yes, sooo great for everyone! Now, fair play to Neeks, she does not mind wearing people clothes at all, and never fights this indignity. But she sneaks out of her dog-jocks in her sleep, or when waiting for one of us to come home, or…okay, all the time. But she doesn’t do it on purpose at least.

See…it’s bad to leave her ‘broken,’ aka unfixed. She can get an infection from repeated heats without pregnancy. I don’t want to risk that, and we’ve risked it too long as we’ve been too broke to fix what’s broke.

Since I got a pay rise at work a few months ago, we’ve recovered a tiny bit and first on my list once we got some ‘wiggle room’ is to get Herself spayed.

And now it seems it’s a plan.

Hope we don’t have to dig the Cone of Shame back out of the attic…

Jul6

Endless shades of Grey

Posted on July 6, 2012 by heretherebespiders

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This is too good not to share with you all:

If you get the reference, you’ll know why this is so very perfect! This is even more special to me because it was designed by my friend CanuckHound for the greyhound rescue she volunteers for here in Ireland, H.U.G.

Greys are treated terribly around the world, and Ireland has more than it’s share of unwanted greyhounds. Believe me, these dogs are just big, elegant cats. Sleep 99% of the time, run around like a crazy thing for a few minutes, and back to sleep again. Quiet, not big shedders, the worst you can say about a grey is that their teeth need a lot of maintenance and they need big, floofy pillows (or your couch!) to sleep on.

If ever a rescue dog is an option for you, please consider a retired or unwanted (sometimes they never have raced) greyhound!

And if you love the advertisement as much as I do, please share! H.U.G. will even email you a copy.

Jun14

Brain-dump – Warning, rambling ahead…

Posted on June 14, 2012 by heretherebespiders

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Argh. I have nothing going on, yet a ton of things going on, and I don’t even know where to begin. So I haven’t begun, until now… this is feeling like one of those times I need to ramble and write, just because I need to write.

That said, I caught myself cleaning the fridge this evening in what I knew damn well was an avoidance ploy. What’s up with that? Who the hell would rather wash the ~~beer~~ vegetable drawers instead of write? Especially when the call is so clearly upon oneself? Like that third person stuff? Yeah, me neither.

Maybe it really is that I have too much in my head and couldn’t figure out where to start. I’m just free-writing here, a big ol’ brain-dump. I guess I’ll see how big it really is. Good thing I don’t actually use paper, I’d be clogging the jacks…

I still need to post about my garden, and about a dozen kinds of beer I’ve tried recently, and an ‘invasion of the flour-mites’ update (I’ve gotten so many Google hits about it I feel I should do a proper post with advice on getting rid of them – they are gone). I have a ton of photos I’d like to share… I’m worried about my job security, and about Socks (who still is waiting, and since she has her mum with her we aren’t having our weekly phone call tonight). I owe an old friend a serious response to a difficult email, I’m worried about an ex who I’ve only just realised might be having a hard time and I don’t know why, and I just realised that it’s friggin’ Thursday and I have no hope of even getting a card to my dad in time for Father’s Day. Sorry dad, I really have been meaning to send something. I’m a terrible kid. Love me anyway? (that’s an old family joke)

We are also meant to have 36 – yes, thirty-bleedin-six, hours of rain, which started today at about 11 am. Yay. 36 hours of wet dog and no garden and no sitting outside all weekend. And I just know it will clear and be beautiful just in time for me to be stuck behind a desk on Monday. I can’t even get close to explaining how very much a sunny day that I cannot enjoy distracts me. My brain just does not appreciate being confined indoors, and my body is screaming for sunshine and fresh air.

I’m worried about my sister being lonely and having a tough time while her husband is away.

I started having graphic nightmares again, which try but fail to get my heart rate up, but still wake me and set my mind going. I can’t read myself to sleep on the iPad at those times: it will fall over and hit either me or iDJ in the face. I did, in one of those middle-of-the-night sessions, have an idea for a new blog; something I’d like to do that actually has a ‘theme’ but I can’t make the time for it unless I can think of a way it will make me some money. Which annoys me, because I’d much rather do it for the love of it, but ohmydog we are broke. Another worry…

And, suddenly, it’s 10pm and I have only an hour of me-time left before I have to sleep or be useless tomorrow. Hard as hell this time of year – even with the rain it is bright enough outside to read. It feels like 8, or even 7, but I have to finish making dinner, eat it, and go to sleep soon. Yes yes I know, we eat at crazy hours. iDJ has been on the air the last two hours and he has to wrap up some things still, and there’s no way we’d be able to make and eat a big meal in the hour of ‘free time’ we have between coming home from work and his show starting. Maybe if we didn’t cook from scratch and had something out of a bag or box it would be possible… Blecch.

I guess the last thing on my mind is my spine – I have to wait until July 4 for a consult to go over the results of my MRI. I have no idea what they are going to say. My physiotherapist says that pretty much only shots or surgery are going to be offered to me as options. I’m not keen on either, but will take the shots just to feel like a normal person again. Heh. Like that is possible…

Right, let me find a picture to cheer myself up… Oh yes, here we go.

Okay maybe it’s too big. But I didn’t want you to miss the flailing kitty-arm! Neko and Spotty were having a big game that day, and I took a ton of photos I wanted to upload, and hubby took a video. I’ve just not gotten a round tuit yet for a real post, so I might put this shot up again later.

Right, need to go make a salad – one of these days I’ll share my dad’s dressing with you, it’s amazingly good and so easy!

Apr30

Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!

Posted on April 30, 2012 by heretherebespiders

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I don’t have much time, so I think I’ll save the ‘human sacrifice’ and ‘mass hysteria’ parts of this post for another day. I did have something that upset me -us- yesterday but I’m still having to think hard on it and amn’t ready to talk about it yet.

So I’m skipping right to the dogs and cats living together. Much more entertaining visually, in any case!

I can’t take credit for this one – iDJ took it with his ‘new’ iPhone 4S.

Yes, she usually looks that depressed. She has issues. Even when getting to lie in the sunny spot at the top of the landing, and displacing the cats.

It was okay, just this once – because the boys also had sunshine in our room. All those little feet hanging off the side of the bed make me giggle. Hubby also took this one.

Another day, with me behind the lens (and it shows). Lokii just looked so … melted. Hard to see his little face though, in all that sunshine.

And this morning Spot took his revenge on Neko for hogging the sunshine. This is what greeted me this morning – I had to use iDJ’s phone as it has a flash and it was too dark for my iPad. Yes, I sleep with my ‘pad and he sleeps with his ‘phone. We are sad, sad, sad. If we weren’t so pathetic, however, you wouldn’t be seeing the cat yet again win over the dogeen.

Spot’s never done this before – he normally sleeps on me like a furry lead weight. I can only guess my mental agitation once again led to physical agitation and I elbowed him one too many times in my sleep, so he turned to His Dog for comfort.

Apr2

Goofy photos – I’m in a ‘mood.’

Posted on April 2, 2012 by heretherebespiders

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I wanted to do a Brushes drawing this eve, as it has been yonks upon yonks since I have. My idea was to find a pic of something in my garden and give a quick, fun once over.

To find the pics, I had to hit FB and troll through thousands of pics me and iDJ have taken.

I got distracted.

So here’s some randomness. It’s mostly Spottie, as he is just adorable.

Him on the radiator cat bed we used to have, until Lokii ate it.

Spot being a ho for sunshine by the front door.

Me and Spottie in a rare foray into the outdoors. What are you lookin at? It’s not his fault I made him go upside down so his bits were on display…

No comment.

More proof that I buy dog toys for me, not the dog. It has a fart-honk-quack noise in the head, and I walked around the shop for ages randomly hugging it just to hear the honk, and giggling. I even did it in the queue for the register. I couldn’t help myself.

Hubby’s caption for this is best,”No computer for you!”

Me cleaning my Harley. I’ve nearly forgotten what it looks like… this is not the country for motorcycling. Judging from the size of the tulips, this was taken about this time of year – but it wasn’t last year 😦

Best buddies! Spot really is an all-species-friend. He’d probably cuddle up to a parrot, if I ever got one…

Apr1

Neko had a ‘salon’ day

Posted on April 1, 2012 by heretherebespiders

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A short post tonight. I’m tired and hurting, and I think I’m going to put down the iPad, lie down n the couch and turn on the TV.

But, I have a couple of cute pics so here I am for a moment!

I cut Neko’s toenails today, in preparation for giving her a bath. I didn’t want her slipping more than necessary in the tub. She’s very good with the nail trimming, even if I have to do her back feet the same way you clean a horse’s hoof: she and I stand butt-to-butt and I hold her paw between my knees to do the cutting. It’s just easier with such a big dog. Those years working on the horse farm came in use!

Then, the bath. She usually gets a little scared when we make her go in the bathroom – it’s small – but this time no issue AND she got in the tub all by herself! A real first, and in all my years of having big dogs I think it might be the first time I’ve ever had a dog volunteer to get in the tub. Good girl!

Afterward we played in the grass for a bit, to dry off.

Note the four bath towels in the grass! And, of course, the rubber chicken. Yes, I buy dog toys that amuse ME.

Wet dawg! Slimy drooly rubber chicken! Yay. Now I need a bath…

Feb15

Neko is sick…again…

Posted on February 15, 2012 by heretherebespiders

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Sigh. Last evening Neko barfed up her food. All of it. It wasn’t like a normal dog-puke in that she emptied her entire stomach. I cleaned it up, and chalked it up to her being upset that ‘daddy’ wasn’t home at a time he normally would be.

I let her out, and the other end of her digestive system was working normally.

Roll on to five am, and she is puking again. Three big piles IN her dog basket before I was awake enough to get her out of it and onto the wood floor. (Why do animals always want to puke on fabric? What is the attraction?!? I can barely fit that bed in my washing machine…)

Unfortunately she didn’t stop vomiting this time when all the food was up. She was straining and repeating to barf until it was bloody foam. I set iDJ on to Google while I held Neko’s hair out of her face, figuratively. When she stopped he took her outside where she had another normal poop.

Argh, now what? Google (and common sense) say take her to the vet. Which we will, of course, as soon as we can get there this morning.

The problem is that we only have one car, and I have to use it to get to work. Work is 20k the other direction from the vet’s office, which is at least a half-hour away. There’s no good way to do this, unless iDJ can borrow a van from work. He says he can. I hope that’s a 100% yes, because a maybe at this point is no good to Neko.

Poor pup. Wish I could make it all better.

Jan16

Aaaaarrrghhhh!!!

Posted on January 16, 2012 by heretherebespiders

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Neko: whine whine tick tick tick tick (toenails as she runs around the house)

Spot: mmmrow? Mmmrow? Mmrroww? Mmmmrrrrooowww?!?!

Lokii: maaaahhhhhhh! Mahhhhhhh! Mmmaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! (repeat until ears bleed)

iDJ: …I could roast it, or put it in foil, or in the halogen oven, here’s another recipe, I could do this… Oh I can go to the store tonight and get cat litter if you want?

Everyone just shut the hell up! I’ve only been home ten minutes!!!!

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