I was so keen and excited when I got this blog up and running all those years ago. Then I thought of another subject to blog on, and started another blog, and then another differently themed blog and then another.
Then I was convinced to give another blogging platform a go, and slowly my posts on this blog faded away. I feel so sorry for this blog, I'm sorry and ashamed of myself for ignoring it in this way. I recently posted a link to the blog though, and I'm hoping there's been a little more activity, with people visiting... I haven't been game enough to check though. Maybe later, after I've finished this abject post of apology...
I'm still in love with my dogs, the real ones - they still give me something to smile about every day. Whether it's Nena the schnauzer asking for a pat, or Lah Dee the boy pharaoh doing something totally clown-like, they still bring me joy. I can hardly imagine the sad life I'd be living if I didn't have these four canine companions living their life in my house with me.
Tomorrow will be an election focused day, with the dogs all left at home, while Graham, and then me, do our volunteer work, handing out how to vote cards for Nick Xenophon in the Senate. So, vote 1 Nick X in the Senate!
Showing posts with label living with dogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label living with dogs. Show all posts
Sep 5, 2013
Jan 24, 2012
It's a Dog's Life
We have a pack of dogs living at our place. One female schnauzer, one male pharaoh hound and two female pharaoh hounds. None of the dogs have been desexed, but none of them are going to be used (again) for breeding.
I say (again) because the schnauzer and the older pharaoh hound have both been mothers. If a thousand dollars or so fell into my bank account I'd certainly take the two oldest girls off the the vet to have there breeding ability fixed for good. This hasn't happened, so we'll have to continue on as we are.
Having undesexed bitches in the house with a male dog has some issues that must be dealt with. When a bitch is in season, it's messy. It's hard on the male dog, and it plays havoc with the hierarchy of the pack. We find it works best to keep the girl in season safely confined, and the male dog kept where he won't be too distracted.
It's funny sometimes to watch our pharaoh hound boy pining for the schnauzer, but it's not so funny when the bitches decide to try to sort out the hierarchy with a fight. If the girls have been fine together, we can let the three loose together in the house. If one's in season though, it's not work the risk.
The pharaoh hounds are mother and two of her kids. The boy's from her first litter and the girl's from her second litter. The pharaoh girls are always OK together, and the boy's always OK with the other two pharaoh hounds, unless the girls are in season. As you can imagine, it gets a little bit tricky around our house sometimes.
When one of the girls are in season and are around the time they're ready to be mated, the boy pharaoh goes completely off his food. The pharaoh hound isn't the kind of the dog that tends to be fat anyway, so it's a little bit of a worry for us, having him not eating. Once the girl's 'safe' again, his appetite comes back, fortunately.
Living with more that one dog in your house is extremely interesting, watching how they work things out. It can end up with a trip to the vet though, if we get it wrong. It's possible to let the dogs go, to sort it out themselves, but sometimes it's easier and less painful if the humans take charge.
When a person brings dogs into their life, it becomes their responsibility to look after the dogs as best they can. So, if you want dogs, you have to be the boss, the chef and the mediator. Are you up to it? I hope so, for your sake and for the sake of your dogs.
I say (again) because the schnauzer and the older pharaoh hound have both been mothers. If a thousand dollars or so fell into my bank account I'd certainly take the two oldest girls off the the vet to have there breeding ability fixed for good. This hasn't happened, so we'll have to continue on as we are.
Having undesexed bitches in the house with a male dog has some issues that must be dealt with. When a bitch is in season, it's messy. It's hard on the male dog, and it plays havoc with the hierarchy of the pack. We find it works best to keep the girl in season safely confined, and the male dog kept where he won't be too distracted.
It's funny sometimes to watch our pharaoh hound boy pining for the schnauzer, but it's not so funny when the bitches decide to try to sort out the hierarchy with a fight. If the girls have been fine together, we can let the three loose together in the house. If one's in season though, it's not work the risk.
The pharaoh hounds are mother and two of her kids. The boy's from her first litter and the girl's from her second litter. The pharaoh girls are always OK together, and the boy's always OK with the other two pharaoh hounds, unless the girls are in season. As you can imagine, it gets a little bit tricky around our house sometimes.
When one of the girls are in season and are around the time they're ready to be mated, the boy pharaoh goes completely off his food. The pharaoh hound isn't the kind of the dog that tends to be fat anyway, so it's a little bit of a worry for us, having him not eating. Once the girl's 'safe' again, his appetite comes back, fortunately.
Living with more that one dog in your house is extremely interesting, watching how they work things out. It can end up with a trip to the vet though, if we get it wrong. It's possible to let the dogs go, to sort it out themselves, but sometimes it's easier and less painful if the humans take charge.
When a person brings dogs into their life, it becomes their responsibility to look after the dogs as best they can. So, if you want dogs, you have to be the boss, the chef and the mediator. Are you up to it? I hope so, for your sake and for the sake of your dogs.
Feb 8, 2011
A Day in the life of me and the dogs
We have four dogs - one schnauzer girl, Nena (the oldest) and three pharaoh hounds, one male (Lah Dee) and two females. One of the PH girls (Missy) is the youngest of your dogs, the other PH girl (Ananka) is mother to the two younger PHs.
OK, get your heads around that and then I'll let you know what they're doing.
I let Missy and Ananka back inside, from the back yard. Nena and Ananka circled round each other briefly, but nothing untoward occurred. These two are the most likely to fight, neither really concedes superiority to the other. Inside the house they’re usually cautiously OK. Outside is a different story. Outside they’re quite likely to fight, with nasty results. The role of Alpha Bitch is much sought after if you're a female dog.
I let Missy and Ananka back inside, from the back yard. Nena and Ananka circled round each other briefly, but nothing untoward occurred. These two are the most likely to fight, neither really concedes superiority to the other. Inside the house they’re usually cautiously OK. Outside is a different story. Outside they’re quite likely to fight, with nasty results. The role of Alpha Bitch is much sought after if you're a female dog.
We try not to have the two oldest girls outside together, for that reason. We also make sure that the dogs are fed separately, so there are no fights over food. The giving of scraps happens with them all loose, but you have to be careful, they get a bit snappy over food.
At the moment, Nena is lying down in her crate which is about a metrre and a half from where I sit at the computer. She’s not asleep, but she’s not far off it. Ananka is lying down at rest on the dog’s sofa which is just next to (on the right of) my spot at the computer. Lah Dee is also on the sofa, and he looks like he’s asleep. Missy is lying down on the carpet, next to the sofa and about a metre and a half behind where I’m sitting. She’s awake, but she looks like she could be sleeping really soon.
This is often how the dogs and I spend the day. Me on the computer, searching the net, connecting through social media, checking emails. The dogs rest, getting ready for when it suddenly gets exciting. What could make it exciting?
Well, I may stand up. Then the dogs would get up and maybe rush to the back door, to go out for a drink and a toilet break, and to chase birds out there. If I put them out, the chasing bird thing could last for a long time. We get sparrows, starlings, spotted turtle doves and black birds every day, every time the dogs are out. Sometimes one of the dogs may get lucky and catch a bird, in which case there might be some chasing of the lucky hunter. If it’s Ananka who catches something, she’ll get left alone. The youngsters know it’s safer to leave their mum alone.
This might all sound very boring, but I have fun with my internet connections, and my dog watching. At dinner time the dogs rush to the laundry where the dog food is. Our dogs are mostly fed a dry dog food and they usually seem to enjoy it and eat it all up. Any food that gets left is put away for the next day. Nena didn’t eat all of her tea last night, so I’m keeping a bit of an eye on her to see if she seems OK. She does, and I’ll be checking her out when she gets her tea tonight.
Nena is probably my favourite dog. She’s been with us the longest, and she may well be our last schnauzer. I love the breed, but I’m sick of the grooming involved. The PHs are much easier to groom – leave them alone most of the time and give them a brush if you feel like it. It wouldn’t matter if they hardly ever got brushed. Our dogs are no longer show dogs. If we were showing the PHs a lot more work would be required.
Mar 25, 2010
Pharaoh Hounds New Best Thing
Well, our lovely hounds have a new thing to do to ruin my quality of life. It used to be digging up the lawn, now it's yelling their heads off almost non-stop when they're outside.
Pharaoh Hounds aren't a silent breed of dog, and barking is natural to them and normal, but honestly, I wish they'd learn when enough is enough! At least they've moved up from barking at sparrows, they are now getting back to where they came from.
Pharaoh Hounds are the national dog breed of Malta and they help farmers there get rid of the rabbits that steal their crops. So that is what our Pharaoh Hounds are trying to do, get rid of rabbits.
Unlike Maltese farmers though, we can't let our Pharaohs loose, because there are lots of cars, sheep, cows around and our dogs might end up in deep trouble. But the dogs can still let the rabbits know what they think of them, loudly and constantly when they're outside. Nena, our schnauzer, doesn't worry about the rabbits at all.
So the Pharaoh Hounds are having lots of inside time, either on the sofa or in their crate when I want a peaceful time. The joy of living with a pack of dogs!
Pharaoh Hounds aren't a silent breed of dog, and barking is natural to them and normal, but honestly, I wish they'd learn when enough is enough! At least they've moved up from barking at sparrows, they are now getting back to where they came from.
Pharaoh Hounds are the national dog breed of Malta and they help farmers there get rid of the rabbits that steal their crops. So that is what our Pharaoh Hounds are trying to do, get rid of rabbits.
Unlike Maltese farmers though, we can't let our Pharaohs loose, because there are lots of cars, sheep, cows around and our dogs might end up in deep trouble. But the dogs can still let the rabbits know what they think of them, loudly and constantly when they're outside. Nena, our schnauzer, doesn't worry about the rabbits at all.
So the Pharaoh Hounds are having lots of inside time, either on the sofa or in their crate when I want a peaceful time. The joy of living with a pack of dogs!
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