Marcus Meets Aggressive Shopping Cart

Percy:  Well, I see you have retained your passion for beating up shopping carts.  And Jan.

Marcus:  I have never beaten up Jan!

Percy:  Save your breath.  I witnessed it through the window with my own eyes this time. Plus you stomped her foot injury for the umpteenth time.

Marcus:  I had nothing to do with that foot accident.

Percy:  The original one, no.  She knocked a 19 ounce can of liquid off an overhead shelf and it bounced on her foot.  But for the past 5 1/2 weeks you have been keeping it from fully healing.

Marcus:  Wow!  I didn't realize.  Do you think I should order her a new foot from Amazon?

Percy:  I think you should let her walk on her own feet.  And what possessed you to attack the shopping cart Jan brought home yesterday with a couple of heavy items?  You didn't bother it last night when you two set out on a walk.

Marcus:  But this morning it got aggressive and growled at me. I couldn't let it get away with that.

Percy:  I didn't hear any growling.  Just a lot of screaming when you suddenly dived at a cart wheel and yanked the cart backward.  As Jan was jerked forward, you body slammed her in the shins, stomped her injured foot and tripped her with your body.

Marcus:  But she couldn't have been hurt.  She managed to stop her fall before her head hit the ground.    

Percy: Marcus, there are more ways to injure a human than splitting her head open.

Marcus:  There are?  You think that's why she was yelling at me?  I didn't think it was fair.  She wouldn't let me rush in for a second attack and she didn't take me for a walk either.

Percy:  She needed to rest so she could totter back with the cart before you tried to kill her again. 

Marcus:  Well, none of this would have happened if she had picked a non-aggressive cart to borrow.  A shopping cart must be submissive and not growl.

Percy:  Of course.  Why didn't I think of that?  It's not your fault.


Some of you might remember our original shopping cart post - and video! - from 2014. Nothing has changed. Marcus still loves to show a shopping cart who is boss, no matter what. You can view that post and video here.  Be glad Jan didn't try to film Marcus spinning/throwing the cart - and Jan - in rapid circles.  You would be dizzy too!

Many thanks to Meezer's Mews & Terrieristical Woofs for this lovely graphic for Percy Turns Fifteen.

There's A Snake Where?

Percy:  Hey, Marcus, remember this picture of us from a couple of years ago? 

Marcus:  Yes, I remember.  I still had pointy ears then.  I got such a shock yesterday, though, I almost had pointy ears again.

Percy: What happened?  You get chased by a squirrel?

Marcus:  No, silly!  Jan and I take the same route on our walks.  We walked Monday morning without any problem.  In the evening, we set out as usual at a fast pace.  Not fast for me, fast for Jan.

Percy:  I know you didn't trip her.  She returned in one piece.

Marcus:  We didn't get very far before we heard a male voice yell.

Guy: "Ma'am, there's a snake up there!"

Jan:  "There's a WHAT WHERE!"

Guy:  Just ahead of you.  It's a big ole black snake."

Percy:  He was kidding, right?

Marcus:  The guy was sitting in a pickup truck in a turnaround ahead of us on the other side of the street.  Jan and I hotfooted it across the road to the truck.

Guy:  It was over there slithering in the grass beside the sidewalk.  I can't tell from here what it is, but I saw you and your dog coming and I didn't want either of you to get bitten."

Marcus:  Jan's old eyes couldn't see anything in the grass from that far away, but that area of the mill is overgrown and the grass by the sidewalk needs a good mowing.   She really wanted to see and take a picture of that snake, but no way was she going over there.  Whatever it was, she knew it could move faster than she can.  She thanked the guy before he drove off slowly, watching that side of the road.  It was really nice of him to stop and wait so he could warn us.

Percy:  So you turned around and came home?

Marcus:  No, we took our walk on the side of the road with no sidewalk.  I think we're going to be walking on that side for a long time. That really gave Jan a scare.

Percy:  And you?

Marcus:  Not me!  Nothing scares me!   ** leaps onto the swivel chair**  EEK, it's a snake!

Percy:  I thought nothing scares you!  That was Taylor dragging a shoelace through the room. 

Marcus:  Oh ... er, I was just showing you how Jan would have reacted if she had seen the snake.

Percy:  Uh-huh.  Nice try.


I would like to thank everyone who left a comment on our blog (Farewell Merci) or on Facebook, or emailed us.  Merci's passing was not a surprise.  She was 17 years old, blind, slightly deaf (wasn't the least afraid of the vacuum cleaner any longer), and had dementia.  She'd been "in hospice" here for a while.

I nearly lost her last September at the same time Buddy died but she rallied.  I coped these past months by doing what I could for her and not talking about how she was.  Even if we think we are prepared for a death, we actually aren't.

 Thank you, Ann of Zoolatry, and

Ingrid, Pipo & Dalton from Meezer's Mews & Terrieristical Woofs

... for the lovely graphics.

Five Directional Dogs

Cyndi: It's been boring around here this week, Marcus. We need some excitement.

Marcus:  Perhaps you do, Cyndi, but it's been an overly exciting week for me and Jan. And now we have to look at least five directions when we're walking.

Cyndi: Five directions? I've only heard of four - north, south, east and west.

Marcus: No, left, right, ahead, behind and underfoot.

Cyndi: Underfoot?

Marcus: You mean you haven't heard of our run in with the short dog with the big mouth?

It happened Wednesday when we reached the end of our first lap. A yappy little dog across the street and down a few doors started yelling at us and then he charged. I could have stomped on him but Jan wouldn't let me. She kept trying to turn me around to retrace our route, but every time we started to turn, the dog charged, and he was close. When we turned back toward him, Jan would use the spray bottle she carries. He would run back in the street. Cars would stop. We would start to turn and he would charge again. I begged Jan to let me chase him home, but there we stood with the dog charging and running into traffic until someone blew a horn and scared the dog away.

Cyndi: Wow, that was a bit of excitement. I'm glad I missed it.

Marcus: Oh, that was just the beginning. The next day, Thursday, the great dane mix the neighbors from hell keep tied in their back yard got loose and came over to taunt me. He wouldn't leave, just kept rushing my dog pen barking and then he would stand and watch me race frantically back and forth trying to chase him away. Jan tried to stop me and I ran headfirst into her shin. He finally moved on.

Cyndi: Yes, that was the wrong kind of excitement.

Marcus: There's more. A couple hours later Jan and I started a walk. We didn't get past the porch before Jan saw a black dog walking across a lawn across the street. Guess who owns two black dogs that size? Yep, the neighbors from hell. Was that one of theirs? We'll never know because Jan rushed me back into the house. I didn't get a walk Thursday.

Cyndi: I'm sorry, Marcus. I know how much you need your walks.

Marcus: I'm not done yet. Just before sundown Friday, we set out on a walk. We crossed the street and stopped. Jan gave me my treat for being a good dog. (As in, not stopping to play tug in the middle of the intersection.) She started to unwrap a peppermint for herself. I gave a low rumble of warning to let Jan know there was something behind us. She spun around so quickly she hurt her back.

There was the neighbor's great dane mix. We barked insults at each other. I tugged at the leash. He kept coming. Jan squirted him in the face with the water bottle. He stopped. Jan pulled me back a few steps. He started forward again. We were almost nose to nose yelling at each other. Jan squirted him again in the face and he stopped, then started forward. A car crossed through the intersection, stopped, and the driver leaned on the horn. The dog turned and left.

Jan was shaking so hard I had to lean against her to hold her up. She needed to sit down but she was terrified to come home since that's the direction the other dog had gone. We had to walk away to find somewhere to rest, then we went home on the other side of the street. We didn't get a walk that day either.

Cyndi: I guess the reason Jan was shaking was because she thought she was about to be in the middle of a dog fight?

Marcus: A dog fight? Oh, in the heat of the moment that never occurred to me. I think I need to sit down for a while. My knees are shaking.

Cyndi: Well, this week has to be better. No more scary encounters.

Marcus: Want to bet? We started on a walk Sunday afternoon. We got to the corner and stood there watching a man walking what looked like one of my relatives come into view from around the curve. No, he wasn't walking his dog; he was jogging with his dog. Oops, they weren't jogging; they were running. The guy was chasing the dog,

Jan whipped around and we started walking as fast toward home as she could manage. As soon as we reached our lawn, I stopped to poop. I'm sorry but when nature calls, I need to answer. Jan turned to see how close the dog was. She was just in time to see the guy capture the dog at the corner. That guy is probably still walking bent over since he walked the dog away holding onto the collar, and it was at least several blocks to home.

Cyndi: You must be exhausted after all that in just a few days.

Marcus: I am! I think I'll just stretch out here and rest. Wake me for dinner.

A Tipsy Wheelbarrow

Merci:  I had my first good walk in three years yesterday.

Buddy:  What are you talking about?  We all walk Jan just about every day.

Merci:  Yes, but you-know-who goes with us.

Buddy:  Marcus?

Merci:  Yes.  He leaps at my face and screeches in my ears.  I can barely see any more and it's terrifying when he does that.

Buddy:  You and I had a good walk yesterday with Jan.

Merci:  Jan didn't want you to go.  She wanted you to walk with Marcus since the two of you can walk faster and further than I can now.  She put Marcus in his crate and you kept pushing your way out the door demanding we not leave without you!

Buddy:  I think we did pretty good together.

Merci:  Yes, but you didn't want to go home.  And then you had to rest a while before you and Jan walked with Marcus.

Buddy:  Oh, that's why we guys walked first yesterday and then she went walking with you.

Merci:  Yes, it was so nice.  Just the two of us, like the old days before you and Sam and Marcus came along.  It was so peaceful.  I didn't have to struggle to keep up or walk twice as far twice as fast because my legs are so short.

Buddy:  It's hard to believe we've grown old.  I guess it won't be much longer before I'll have to walk with you because I won't be able to keep up with Marcus.

Merci:  And then we'll have to get a wheelbarrow for Jan because she's too decrepit to keep up with Marcus.

Buddy:  I hope you mean a wagon.  I can't imagine Jan riding in a tipsy wheelbarrow pulled by Marcus.

Merci:  The way Marcus dashes about, anything pulled by him would be tipsy. 

Buddy:  I know!  Do you think we could borrow the Budweiser Clydesdale wagon?

Taylor:  Excuse me, Buddy and Merci, but this is Friday and we Funny Farmer Felines are on the schedule.

Rusty:  We interview the kitties from the Four-Legged Furballs blog.

Micah:  We love getting to meet new friends.

Cyndi:  They have quite an interesting story, especially the handsome Evan.

Percy:  You can Meet the Four-Legged Furballs  - Evan, Thimble and Eddy - at Mousebreath.com.


We are joining the Pet Parade hosted by Rascal and Rocco, Basil the Bionic Cat, Barking from the Bayou and Owned by a husky.  
 

Obedience School for Jan

Cyndi:  That doesn't look like a Funny Farmer.  What is it doing in today's post?

Merci:  We saw it on our walk last week.  We thought it was kind of a neat shot.

Cyndi:  What's neat about it?  It's a broken down old building, a pile of rocks and a big truck.

Merci:  Ah, but that truck is finally carting off some of the rock piles on the mill property.  There wasn't any work done there for about a year but they are finally back to trying to clean it up.

Cyndi:  How long will that take - about a week?

Merci:  I think it's going to take a lot longer than that.  You ought to help us walk Jan one day and you could see the mill for yourself.

Cyndi:  No, thanks.  I'm allergic to mills.

Merci:  You must mean pills.  You can't be allergic to mills.

Cyndi:  Okay, I'm allergic to walking with you dogs.  I've heard Jan's a handful.  Pulls on the leash, wanders off in the wrong direction, stops at the most inconvenient times to breathe ... I mean, who needs to breathe while walking?

Merci:  You're right.  She needs to go through Obedience School.

Cyndi:  Good luck with that.

Merci:  We tried once.  The receptionist asked questions such as is Jan housebroken, well-socialized, does she get into the trash,  does she bark at passersby, and does she know basic commands? 

Cyndi:  And?

Merci:  She said Jan sounds like a good prospect.  Then she asked if Jan howls when an emergency vehicle passes with siren blaring, and we had to admit she doesn't.  The receptionist cleared her throat and asked does Jan have any strange quirks.  I asked if howling at the answering machine counts and the woman hung up the phone.

Capital Hockeysticks

Cyndi:  Who is this dog?

Merci:  Do you remember when we dogs were attacked on a walk about three weeks ago?  (Rescued)

Cyndi:  Yes.  Was this one of the dogs?

Merci:  At the time Buddy and I were too terrified to remember anything, but the next day Marcus reminded us that this dog was often tied in the front yard when we walked on the other side of the street. And it had gotten to where it was so highly excited when it saw us, it would keep racing to the end of it's tether and leap into the air barking like crazy.  A day or two before, Jan commented that she hoped the dog would never get loose because we seemed to upset it.

Cyndi:  It's a funny looking dog.

Merci:  Yes, it is.  It's been moved to the back side of the yard.  There's a drop there and he can hear us but he can't see us unless he jumps.  So when we get about half a block away, he starts leaping into the air.  He looks so funny appearing and disappearing.  Jan had to take the pictures with the zoom and of course she can't see what she's taking a picture of, so out of three photos, we have 1 3/4 pictures of him.

Cyndi:  You three have too many adventures for me.  I'm happy to stay home.

Merci:  He seems a bit calmer back there.  Perhaps all that leaping exercise tires him out.  He has a family and the kids love him (or her), so we hope he and Marcus never come face to face again.  Jan sure hopes that.  She is old and as she has said, it hurts like "capital hockeysticks" to be yanked around like that.

Cyndi:  I think we would all be in agreement if I say what we're thankful for this week is that we're together, our tummies are full, we have heat, and our phone and internet are working.

Merci:  Unless they're broken again.  What?  I'm just saying.


We are joining the Thankful Thursday blog hop at Brian's Home. 

A Bop on the Nose

Cyndi:  This is the scene from our back steps last Tuesday as the sun went down.  Wet, foggy, but so pretty.

Buddy:  Pretty?  You can say that because you didn't have to go out in it to pee.

Cyndi:  Speaking of pee, why did Marcus come home from your walk tonight smelling like poop?

Buddy:  That's an unusual story.  Are you sure you want to hear it?

Cyndi:  Of course!  I think.

Buddy:  You know how hyper Marcus is.  He's such a baby, he always has to have something in his mouth, so he kept chewing up all our leashes on our walks.  Jan finally broke him of it and he hasn't bothered my new leash for two or three months.  She was going to replace Merci's duct taped leash next.

Cyndi:  That isn't answering my question.

Buddy:  Actually it is.  You've read what Jan posted on our blog Saturday about Marcus and those two dogs that tried to start a fight.  (Rescued)  Marcus puts on a brave act but he's actually timid and insecure, which is why he's crated when Jan isn't here.  He was so hyped and nervous on our way home that he ground my leash between his teeth and now my leash has holes in it.

Cyndi:  I still don't see any connection.

Buddy:  Hang on.  I'm getting to the point.  Marcus has reverted to his leash chewing habit. On our walk tonight, she caught Marcus grinding new holes in my leash.  She didn't have an extra hand to stop him, so she bopped (oops, I thought bop meant a light tap) him on the nose with something soft - the bag of poop she was holding.  Guess what happened?

Cyndi:  Oh, no!

Buddy:  Yep, the bag broke.  Marcus looked down at the mess, then up at Jan and said, "I didn't make that mess. I'm not cleaning it up."

Cyndi:  So who did?

Buddy:  Jan, of course.  That's what we pay her to do.

Cyndi:  I didn't know we pay her.

Buddy:  We don't, not in cash, but we keep her busy and give her lots of stories to tell her friends.

Cyndi:  I don't think she's going to be telling her friends the poop bag story.

Buddy:  Neither do I.  That's why we're telling it for her.

I Have Leash

Marcus:  Nobody leaves here for a walk without me!  Seriously!

Jan was about to hitch us dogs up for a walk when the phone rang and she got distracted.  When she finally got off the phone, it was getting dark. The leashes were missing.  Guess where they were?

Yep, I'd moved them all into my Private Dining Car and was guarding them with my life!

Buddy grumbled and said he didn't want to go out into the cold night and Merci pretended she didn't hear Jan calling, so no one did leave for a walk without me.  In fact, I was the only one available to take Jan for a walk.

We had a lot of fun.  Or at least I did.  I'm not so sure about her, although she did say I behaved better than I usually do. 

I'm ready to go again, but Jan seems a little reluctant to go walking in the dark.  Guess she needs a pair of night goggles.  And a sense of adventure.

I have leash.  Would anyone like an escort?

Marcus Meets Armadillo

Taylor:  What is that strange looking thing in the photograph?  Is it wearing armor?

Buddy:  Yes. That is an armadillo.  We used to see this one before sundown when we walked Jan.  Had we known then what we know now about them, we would have allowed Marcus to introduce himself to it.

Rusty:  Why?

Buddy:  Because we were just reading that when an armadillo is startled, it leaps straight up in the air.  That's one reason we sometimes see them dead in the street.  You just don't leap in the air underneath a car..

Taylor:  But what does that have to do with Marcus?

Buddy:  You know Mr. OverlyExcitedMarcus.  He sees something and he wants to drag us all over to meet it.  In fact, he tried his best to do so.  But had he succeeded in reaching the armadillo, he would have done the same thing he does to scare Merci.  He would have leaped into its face and given that shrill screech that scares Merci every time, and the startled armadillo would have leaped into the air and scared the poop out of Marcus.  It might have taught him a lesson.  Or not.

Rusty:  But how would Marcus ever get close to it?

Buddy:  It has poor eyesight so it wouldn't see him coming and it would be so focused on finding bugs to eat, it wouldn't hear us, even though they have good hearing. In fact, it was so focused on running around searching for food, it didn't know Jan, Merci, Mr. FranticallyPullingOnTheLeash, and I had approached and were standing there watching it. 

Taylor:  Wow, that must be one deaf and dumb armadillo if it didn't hear Marcus.

Rusty:  Or hungry.  Deaf, dumb and hungry. Marcus invites everything he meets to lunch.  Do you think he wanted to invite the armadillo to lunch?

Buddy:  I doubt it.  If Marcus invited it to come to lunch as a guest, he'd have a hard time feeding it.  If Marcus invited it to lunch as lunch, he'd have a tough time eating it.

Rusty:  Okay, I understand why Marcus would have a tough time eating it, but why would he have a tough time feeding it?.

Buddy:  Because Jan doesn't keep a fresh supply of bugs in the pantry.

A Trash Mover

 Marcus:  (sung to the tune of ... I have no idea!)

Here I come walking down the street.
Leading Jan by the hand with two mismatched leash.
Throw it down, plastic bottle or can.
Take it back, I'll bite your hand.

I'm a trash mover, yes, a trash mover.
Whoo hoo, I'm a trash mover!

I can't believe how many people throw their trash down and keep going.  Our walks are a gold mine of trash - and broken glass - but Jan will only allow me to move a plastic bottle from Point A to Point B.  She said it keeps me out of other trouble.  I have no idea what she's talking about. 

Half Mile Run

Marcus:  Please bow your heads and talk softly.  We don't want Jan to hear us plotting against her.

Merci:  I'm not sure about this.  One of us could get hurt.

Buddy:  We all agreed it's for her own good.  Jan needs the exercise. 

Merci:  Yes, but she's old.  We're old too.  I don't think I can keep up with the rest of you.

Marcus:  Sure you can, Merci.  Just keep those short legs pumping.  And, Buddy, breathe from your diaphragm. 

Buddy:  How can I breathe from something I can't spell and I don't know what or where it is?

Marcus:  It's a muscular partition separating the abdominal and thoracic cavities.  It functions in respiration.

Merci:  I don't know anything about that, but I sure hope my lungs still function so I can breathe.

Buddy:  I used to have stamina, but I lost it on one of our extended walks.  I'll do my best.

Marcus:  If we all go together, Jan will follow one way or another.  On her feet or on her face.

Buddy:  I hope it's on her feet.  I forget how to dial 9-1-1. 

Marcus:  On the count of three.  One ... two ... RUUUUNNNN!  Hey, why are you both lying down?

Merci:  We just finished a half mile run.  I'm exhausted. 

Marcus:  Half mile?  You ran three steps.  Jan isn't even winded. 

Buddy:  That's okay.  We are. 

Merci:  This was a good workout, Marcus.  We'll have to try it again some day.   

Dedicated Determination

Percy:  Hey, Marcus, I heard you were baby bird sniffing again yesterday. 

Marcus:  Yes, and they were singing for us when we approached.  Jan put her ear down to the pipe to listen to their tiny voices. 

Buddy:  She got some exercise!  On our morning walk, Jan discovered she'd left the camera on the desk.  She had to come home to pick up the camera and drop off the old timers - Merci and me.

Marcus:  I get so excited when we approach, I run up, stand on my hind legs, sniff, and lick the top of the pipe.  I'd really like to invite those birds to lunch but Jan said their mom probably told them not to talk to strangers.  I'm not a stranger.  Everyone knows I'm Marcus.

Percy:  The sun was shining this morning.  Was Jan able to get a better picture than last evening?

Buddy:  That's debatable.  Jan has a very small camera but the pipe is narrow and the "handle" over the top makes it next to impossible to take a picture.

Percy:  There isn't any handle showing in the pictures she took, most of which we watched her delete, so how did could she even try to get a shot? 

Marcus:  The camera will barely fit under the handle.  She slides it under, then turns on the camera so the lens will open and blindly tries to change the zoom setting and just as blindly aims down the pipe.  Then she has to turn off the camera to slide it back out.

Buddy:  She made a third trip to see if she could get anything better than what she had.  I insisted on going along. 

Marcus:  This is the best she could come up with.  It's from trip #2.  The bright yellow strips are tiny slivers of sunlight inside the pipe.  (Can't use a flash in there.)  The gray circle area is the nest and in the nest are the birds.  It's just amazing how tiny they are!

Percy:  And it's amazing Jan was able to get even that little bit of detail out of this.  It's the original picture (looking down the pipe at the nest) before she cropped and played with the picture.

Buddy:  While Jan maneuvered the camera under the handle, Marcus stood up and begged to get his face in the picture.  The camera was pointing down a pipe and Marcus still tried to photobomb.  Now that is dedicated determination!

Marcus:  For those of you who asked for updates, when Buddy and I took Jan on our evening walk (4th of the day), I licked the top of the pipe.   Jan not only heard the low singing but saw and heard bird wings flapping in the pipe.  What kind of bird could be so small?

Percy:  Since this is Thankful Thursday, we would like to thank a sweet blogging friend for sending us some kitty and some dog Science Diet.  Jan says it is such a blessing.  We say let's eat!

Note:  Perhaps you have already figured out this is not Thursday.  It's been a hectic week and we just learned we lived through two Wednesdays.  Please ignore that this is Friday and pretend it's part 2 of yesterday's Thankful Cat in Hat with Scarf post.

PS - Quinn's mom Carol from Catitude blog asked if we would let bloggers know their internet is down until at least next Thursday.  The modem died.  Also, she's recovering from a bronchial infection and would appreciate your prayers.

Join Pepi Smart Dog and friends for the Thankful Thursday blog hop.

Cat in Hat with Scarf

Buddy:  I wish you would dress more appropriately in public, Marcus.

Marcus:  I'm always well-dressed, one leash for my collar and one leash for my harness. 

Buddy:  Have you noticed one of those leashes is torn and ugly?


Marcus:  Torn and ugly are my trademarks.  I have razor sharp teeth!

Micah:  Can you argue that later?  I want to hear about your second walk Wednesday.  I heard it was more interesting than the morning one when Merci was with you. 

Marcus:  Why did Jan take this picture?

Buddy:  I think she was trying to get you, me and the yellow pipe in the same shot, but you were too busy trying to catch flying bugs to stand still.

Micah:  Why did she want the yellow pipe in the shots she took of you two?

Marcus:  Because a young woman walking ahead of us suddenly stopped.  Then she peered down a yellow pipe with the help of her cell phone light.

Buddy:  As we were walking by, she said, "There's a baby bird stuck in here, about a third of the way down the pipe.  It was making noise or I would never have known it was here."

Micah:  So did you rescue it?

Buddy:  Actually, it was not a baby bird stuck in the pipe, but a family of tiny baby birds nesting in the pipe.

Marcus:  The pipe has a "handle" across the top with only a small opening on either side, so Jan had a hard time holding onto our leashes and aiming the camera through the small opening to illuminate the opposite side of the inner pipe with the flash.  This is a terrible picture but that is part of the nest with the babies between the yellow and the black.

Micah:  Oh, I see it.  The nest looks sort of like a cat face with eyes and a nose peering out between a black knit hat and a yellow scarf.

Buddy:  Seriously, Micah?  When is the last time you actually saw a cat dressed for winter?

Marcus:  Forget the cat in the hat with a scarf.  Let's get back to the story.  I could reach the top of the pipe with my nose if I stood on tippy toe paws.  From there I could smell the birds but Jan wouldn't pick me up so I could look down the pipe to see them.

Micah:  I wonder what kind of birds they are. Do you suppose they could be hummingbirds?  Hummingbirds here are the size of a bumblebee.

Buddy:  I wonder how many times we have walked by the nest and not known they exist?

Marcus:  I knew they were there.  I just didn't tell anyone.

Micah:  Uh-huh.  Are you aware your ears will grow if you lie?

Marcus:  They will not!

Buddy:  If you say so, but they sure do look a little taller from this angle.

Update:  Oh, dear, this has been such a busy week, we thought today is Wednesday.  We just wrote our Thankful Thursday post for tomorrow and then realized it IS Thursday.  So we're going to celebrate twice this week with a two-part post.  

Join Pepi Smart Dog and friends for the Thankful Thursday blog hop.  

Best Behavior

Buddy:  How can any dog so guilty look so innocent?

Marcus:  You mean me?  But I am innocent.

Percy:  No, you aren't.  Jan is very upset with you.

Marcus:  Now what does she think I did?

Buddy:  You ruined her video!

Marcus:  I did not!

Percy:  Whenever you so much as suspect you might be going for a walk, you act like a crazy dog.  You run around yelling at all of us that you are going to take Jan for a walk.

Buddy:  You grab the leashes, push Merci and me out of the way, and try to make Jan leash you first.

Marcus:  What's wrong with that?

Buddy:  I'm not done.  When you are leashed, you run around with them (two) in your mouth screaming, I'm ready, let's go!

Percy:  And then you race through the door.  Buddy tries to hide behind the storm door.  Merci hangs back afraid to go outside because you tug on her leash and scream in her ear.

Marcus:  I -

Buddy:  I'm still not done!  You leap around screeching at the top of your -

Marcus:  I don't screech, I bark.

Percy:  You screech.  We all hear you.  It's high-pitched, annoying and hurts our ears.

Buddy:  You act like a total jerk.  All the neighbors can testify that you screech.

Percy:  You photobomb most of our pictures because you are such a ham.  Yet, when Jan finally remembered to take out the camera to video your excessively excited antics, you sat down and quietly stared at her.

Buddy:  She put the camera away and opened the door.  You went bananas.  She took the camera back out and all she got were short videos of Merci staring back at her.  You weren't even in the videos.  Poor Merci looked like she was waiting for the porch roof to fall on her, so Jan deleted them.


Buddy:   I don't understand.  If you could behave while the camera was on, why can't you behave the rest of the time?

Marcus:  I had to be on my best behavior while the video was recording.

Percy:  Why?

Marcus:  Because I have to live up to my reputation of a well-behaved gentleman.  

Percy:  Come to think of it, this sounds familiar.  Buddy, you used to do the same thing.  You would go crazy with excitement but as soon as the camera was turned on, you were the model of obedience.

Buddy:  Oh, yes, I forgot how much fun I had when I was young.  *pats Marcus on head*  Good job, Marcus.  Keep up the good work.

Still Raring To Go

BUDDY:  It isn't fair!  You got to go for a walk today, Marcus.  We haven't been on a walk in two days.

MERCI:  Yeah  how come you rated a walk and we didn't?

MARCUS:  I guess I'm just more fun to take walking than you guys are.

SAM:  Baloney, Marcus!  How could you be fun?  You're always into mischief.

MARCUS:  My point exactly.  I'm more fun.

PERCY:  Relax guys.  I asked Jan when they returned and she collapsed onto a chair.  She said Marcus is so full of energy, she just had to do something to try to curb it.

CYNDI:  Did it work?  Will Marcus be calmer this evening?

RUSTY:  No way!  Jan walked him till her legs are falling off and he is still raring to go.

MICAH:  In case you're wondering why the dogs haven't been walked in a couple of days, these pictures were taken in May, but this is pretty much what our dog pen looks like again. 

MERCI:  Anyone in the path of the rain, stay dry.

CYNDI:  And be thankful the weather is mild.

UPDATE by BUDDY:  Well, after we set this to auto publish as we slept last night, the sun came out and Jan did walk the rest of us dogs.  (Now just to be clear, we set this yesterday afternoon to auto publish during the night.  We did not physically set it to auto publish while we were sleeping.  That would be weird.)  Marcus was in a huff we left without him since it was his regular time to walk and wanted a second trip.  

Tomorrow is Blog4Peace Day 2015.  Don't forget to title your post "Dona Nobis Pacem".  And send Mimi Lennox a link to your peace graphic on FB at BlogBlastForPeace.  

A Cat Being A Cat

MICAH:  We have a good laugh for you today.  Two Sunday Smiles, actually.

MERCI:  They aren't related but they go so well together, like two sides of a door.

RUSTY:  Heehee, Merci.  Two sides of a door. That's a good one because that's exactly what they are.

MARCUS:  Except these are "opposite" sides of two doors.  How can that be, you ask?

CYNDI:  When you have cats being cats, you have to expect the unexpected.  Did I say that correctly?

BUDDY:  Yes, Cyndi.  I have lived with you and other cats cats since I was 2 or 3 weeks old and I can speak from experience you will always do the unexpected!

PERCY:  These are both very short.  This is what happened after someone installed a cat door and the cat used it for the first time.  Here is Part 1.


If the video doesn't play, click here.

SAM:  And here is the view from the other side of the door.  Even though it isn't the same door, it's ... Well, it's Part 2 of a cat being a cat.


If the video doesn't play, click here. 

Jan:  Now that you've had a couple of laughs, I want to get serious.  If you own a dog, please LEASH him.  If you live in this area and you don't think the leash law pertains to you, you are a pompous moron. My dogs have been the objects of more attacks than I can count and I have had more injuries than I want to remember since I adopted Merci in 2003 and three dogs attacked her two months later.  A neighbor once gave me a golf club for protection from a very persistent and aggressive territorial doxie but the heft was wrong and wasn't any protection. 

Last night when Marcus and I topped the parking lot hill and headed for the sidewalk, three - not one but THREE!! - dogs came racing at us, barking and growling.  All I had for protection was an almost empty water pistol.  Marcus and I stood still until the first one, a doxie, crossed the street and came within a foot or so of us.  It turned back when I squirted it.  The two across the street stopped just long enough for the biggest dog (a hound mix about Marcus's size) to tear up some turf with his back paws to mark his territory (with the scent glands on his paws), and then all three came charging across the road.  If we had been on their side of the road, they would have torn into Marcus before that doxie had reached us the first time. And because of his breed, Marcus would have been blamed as the one who started it.  At the last moment,  the asinine S.O.B. who owns the dogs called them home.  I never saw him, only heard his voice, so I don't know if he was in the house while his dogs ran loose, or if he was sitting on his front porch watching and waited till I yelled at the dogs to go home.

The last time a dog came after us (2 or 3 weeks ago), Marcus nearly killed me yanking me around so hard trying to protect us that I was bent double with chest pain, struggling to breathe.  I had to resort to trying to kick Marcus's legs out from under him to get his attention.  Once I had his attention, he alternated between checking on me and looking back to check on the dog, and we somehow made it home with the other dog following most of the way, but with no further incident.  

Marcus, the dog who has been attacked without provocation so many times on our walks, was such a brave dog last night.  He stood quietly beside me.  He never so much as barked when those dogs came at us.  I was so proud of him!  Terrified but proud.

Carrying pepper spray doesn't work.  I learned the hard way it clogs and doesn't work when needed.  I read somewhere an air horn will scare off dogs, but someone gave me one and ... no way will I carry it!  I am, however, wondering how I can get my hands on the liquid from a jar of some VERY hot chili peppers to put in my water pistol.  

Anyone have any suggestions on how to protect myself and my dogs without having to carry around a sledge hammer?

My Better Side

CYNDI:  The dogs usually come home complaining about a boring walk.

RUSTY:  Do they go on the same walk as Jan? 

MICAH:  Just keeping her in line has to be a full-time job.

PERCY:  We hear she is always stopping and trying to wander off.

SAM:  We have very little excitement on our walks.  Tuesday morning we saw this as we passed the place where Jan took the photos of Marcus Houdini last Friday.  Someone tied a sack of fast food trash to a tree on mill property.

MARCUS:  It was gone when we walked by a few hours later.

BUDDY:  On Wednesday morning's walk, we met a short tan and white dog we didn't recognize.  He was trotting down the sidewalk as if he had an important appointment.

MERCI:  He was quite friendly.  We all introduced ourselves and visited for a while and then he trotted off.

SAM:  He was wearing a collar and a tag so Jan wanted to leash him so she could locate his owner.  But she couldn't since she had her hands full with us.  All she could do was watch him trot away and head up the hill toward Ingle's grocery. We hope his owner found him and he wasn't picked up by Animal Control.

MARCUS:  Then, when I walked Jan in the evening, she was unhappy to find this in the same area the trash bag was tied to the tree on Tuesday.  Deep ruts torn around the lawn. 

MARCUS:  Hey, here I am, down here.  Jan promised if I kept my big head out of the photos, she would take some pictures of me.  Big head?  Well, look at her little pinhead in her shadow. 

MARCUS: A side view.  And yes, this is the same harness and leashes (2) I slipped out of last Friday.  (Marcus Houdini)

MARCUS:  Another side view.  Do you think this is my better side?

MERCI:  *sigh*  How does everything end up being about you?

PERCY:  So what are we thankful for this week?

CYNDI:  I think we're thankful Jan and the older dogs finally met a friendly dog on a walk so Jan wasn't "beaten up" during the encounter.

Stop by Pepi Smart Dog for the Thankful Thursday blog hop.  (There is always something to be thankful for!)

And stop by Ruckus the Eskie, Love is being owned by a husky, and Barking from the bayou for the Thoughtless Thursday blog hop. 

Packing Jan's Brain

RUSTY:  What's this about you dogs needing to be sure Jan has packed her brain before you walk her?

MICAH:  I evidently missed something while I was in the kitchen snacking.

BUDDY:  Well, we took Jan for her morning walk yesterday and thought everything was okay.

SAM:  But about a block and a half from home, we stepped off of the sidewalk onto the grass for a young woman to pass.  Three or four yards past us the woman called out, "Do you have three dogs?"

BUDDY:  Jan thought it a strange question since she was so obviously walking three dogs, but turned and said, "Yes."

SAM:  "There's the other one," the woman laughed, as Merci came around the bushes dragging her leash.

MERCI:  We can't check out the bushes on the corner from the sidewalk, so when Jan dropped my leash, I  grabbed the opportunity to sniff around on my own.

BUDDY:  We arrived home.  Jan threw away our poop bags from the morning, carried sticks to the curb for pickup, and walked around the back of the dog pen to the opposite side of the house.

SAM:  We strolled across the yard and the sidewalk.  Merci whined her, "Oh, look, I see someone" whine.  Jan looked up and there was a strange dog coming around the bushes - the route we usually take.

PERCY:  Oh, this is my favorite part of the story.  I wish I could have been there to see this.

MERCI:  But then Jan thought the dog looked familiar, so she turned to count dogs and there were two of us and an empty harness attached to a leash. 

BUDDY:  Jan left my harness loose so I could be comfortable, but when it became too loose, she kept forgetting to tighten the straps. I can't believe it but Jan just walked off and left me behind.

MARCUS:  Oh, that sounds like fun.  I wonder why things like that never happen when I walk her?

CYNDI:  From what I've heard, Jan has to keep a constant eye on you.  And you tend to walk in front of her, not in back. 

MARCUS:  Oh, no wonder Jan continually tells me I'm such a good boy on our walks.

BUDDY:  Continually?  For real?

MARCUS:  Well, maybe not continually.  But at least she hasn't lost me ... yet.