Funny Farm Hotel

Rusty:  Meet Puppy.  Yes, Puppy.  That's his name.  And he's the third guest to stay at the Funny Farm Hotel in less than a year.

Marcus:  I'm going to have to start charging for the use of my spare crate.

Rusty:  You do and you'll have to start paying Jan for digging it out, setting it up and breaking it down.

Marcus:  What about a tip jar in a corner?

Rusty: Puppy was a pretty cool guy.  Quiet, polite.  Nothing like you Marcus.  He never screeched once!  In fact, when we met at the back door, he lowered his head and I head-bonked and rubbed against him.  Not a good picture but Jan loves the memory.

Marcus:  I thought Jan said I was her last puppy.

Rusty:  You were, but a neighbor found Puppy at his back door Tuesday.  Puppy ate all the cats' food outside and went to sleep.  There was thunder and lightning from an approaching storm and the neighbor was afraid the pup would end up in the road hit by a car, so he called Jan.

Marcus:  Jan prepared his room and I gave him the house rules.  #1 - I am in charge!

Rusty:  I dare you to say that to Jan.

Marcus:  There's no need to mention that to her.

Rusty:  Jan took a couple of pictures and posted them to facebook.  Lots of helpful people shared her post and at 10:00 pm, she received a message from Puppy's owner.  He had gotten out that morning and wandered off.  

Marcus:  Jan played musical crates again.  Me in my room, Puppy with the run of the house for a while.  Then we'd switch.   He liked his room.  As you can see, the door is open here.  He went in on his own.

Rusty:  He was so neat.  When he peed his training pad, he'd fold it over and then wad it up.  Most of the time he went outside, though.

Marcus:  His owner had to work till 8:00 pm Wednesday, so Jan took advantage and spent time sitting out on the porch cuddling Puppy.  He had never worn a collar or been on a leash before but he did well.  Jan said good-bye to him at 9:30.  She enjoyed having him here for a day and a half, but she was glad he was able to return home to his family.  

Rusty:  When Jan asked the pup's name, she was told, "My daughter just calls him Puppy."  Although we had never met this neighbor, we did mention her house in our post Strange Plumbing Problems.  Life is full of humor. 
 

Percy:  We Funny Farmer Felines have a new interview for you this week.  Cleo from Peeballs and Poopblogs.  (Blog was named by her angel brother Orbit, not sweet Cleo.)

  Stop by Mousebreath to meet Cuddly Cleo. Mousebreath.com

Cricket Goes Home

Merci:  Well, it's about time!

Rusty:  It's about time for what?  We've already had breakfast.

Merci:  It's about time our guest left so I can have my private room back..

Rusty:  That's not your private room.  That was our guest room for the past few days.

Merci:  Well, it's mine now!  I'm going to take a long nap.

Rusty:  I hate to spoil your plans, but you had better make that a short nap.  Jan is planning to break this dog crate down today.

Merci:  Then get out of my bedroom so I can enjoy some privacy.

Rusty:  Privacy?  You really think a room with bars is private?

Some of you have asked about our guest since we mentioned one in yesterday's post.  Here she is.  She was picked up on a country road on October 29th by a young woman who reached out for help to vet her from the local humane society (not a shelter!) because the dog has an injured eye.  She could not keep the dog there too long, so last Friday this old lady came to stay with us while we searched for her owner. 

It has been an interesting few days.  As any regular reader of this blog is aware, Marcus is not a gentle soul.  He is hyper and a bull in the china shop.  We all know to keep out of his way when he's excited but this dog was old and small (6 lbs when she arrived and 8 lbs yesterday).  She would be easily injured. 

So Jan spent the time playing musical dog crates.  When Marcus would go in his crate to nap, Jan would let the guest out.  When she went back in her crate to nap, Jan would open his door.  And then there were all those trips to the dog pen at all hours for pee/poop detail.  Marcus and the guest did meet on a few occasions, with Marcus checking her out doggy style.  The times when Marcus would go hysterical because he was about to go for a walk, or eat, or go outside to play fetch, he would wake her up and she would eventually give one high-pitched yelp that to Jan sounded very much like "SHUT UP"!

Merci slept in her bed against the outside of the guest crate, but she really, really, really wanted to move in!  Jan had to keep shooing her out.

Yesterday Jan and Kay (both with Upson Humane) started a serious Found Dog campaign on Facebook and the pictures/info were shared, shared, shared.  Jan shut down about 10 pm.  At 1:30 am, the owner suddenly saw her dog "all over facebook".  Barbara, the owner, called Jan this morning. 

Jan immediately called Kay and as she was telling her the news, that quickly the daughter-in-law Michelle was at our door, with Barbara on her cell phone.  Our guest responded to her voice.  There was no doubt those two were family!  Kay "flew" here for the reunion, too. 

Cricket the dog is a Reindeer Chihuahua and is older than we thought, about 20 or 21.  She had just wandered off and her family, fearing she was dead, had been frantically looking for her. 

Now you know who was visiting with us and why.  Michelle and Kay (above) are ecstatic Cricket is safely home. We are, too, and so are a whole lot of people on Facebook.

Merci: Will you guys please type quieter!  I'm trying to nap before Jan kicks me out of my room again.

Celebrating Marcus and Taylor

Cyndi:  Oh, Marcus and Taylor, we're so sorry we're late getting your Birthday and Gotcha days post up. 

Micah:  It's all Jan's fault again, isn't it!

Cyndi:  Yes, it is.  She can't remember what she's doing or where she put anything..  That means we get less time on the computer and more time helping her find her glasses so she can read what's on the screen.

Micah:  Well, let's get this party started.  Marcus and Taylor, we're so glad you two were born or gotcha'd ...

Cyndi:  Wait, I don't think you mean born or gotcha'd.  One has to be born first, then gotcha'd.

Micah:  Oh, right.  We're so glad you were born, Marcus, and you, Taylor, were born and gotcha'd. 

Cyndi:  Wouldn't it have been easier to say, Happy 4th Birthday, Marcus, and Happy 1st Gotcha Day, Taylor?

Micah:  Yes, it would have been easier but everybody says that.  I wanted to be different.  

Merci:  Since that has been resolved, you might want to apologize to Jan.  You know she wouldn't misplace her reading glasses as often if you cats didn't keep hiding them on her. 

Cyndi:  Okay, once, maybe twice, I covered them with my tail so she couldn't see them.  But we're late today because she's been spending too much time lately playing a game.

Micah:  What game is that?

Merci:  I think Cyndi means "Musical Dog Crates".

Micah:  That sounds like a dumb game.  There aren't any cats in it?

Merci:  No, we cats don't get to participate.  Just Jan, Marcus and our temporary guest. 

Cyndi:  Should we tell our friends about our weekend guest who will be staying longer?

Merci:  No, that's another post.  

Micah:  Stay tuned and don't change the channel.