Doggie Dreamin'

Okay, so like I said in my previous post, I can't stop wanting to adopt a dog. I took Caleb to the pumpkin patch and there were all of these families with their dogs on the hay ride and in the pumpkin patch. It just seemed like their families were so complete. Maybe that is what I feel like I am really missing is a complete family...

I just think about all of the places I would like to take my dog. I'd like to take her up to the mountains to play in the snow, and into the woods for a nice Autumn hike. A foggy late morning stroll, or a romp in the hay-filled field behind my parents house. When I took Caleb trick-or-treating there were so many families out with their dogs dressed up in funny little costumes.

It makes it a little harder since my brother got a puppy right when I was starting to break down and actually look for a dog. I know that a dog is a bad idea for me right now. I am still living with my parents and not only do they have a dog, but my sister who lives here also has a dog. The house would be full of dogs, full of hair, loud, and on top of all of that my dog would learn bad manners from my parents' dog and learn to do nothing from my sister's dog. I'm also working full time and I just don't have time to give a dog all of the attention and exercise that they really deserve.

So I am stuck somewhere between loneliness and logic. Right now, logic is definitely winning, but there is still a little empty spot in my life where a dog belongs, I think.

Impulse Puppy

I want a puppy. I don't have time for a puppy, I don't have the funds for a puppy, I don't have the patience for a puppy, and yet, I want a puppy.

I don't even really have to have a puppy, a dog would do. Someone who is already house trained, altered, and dewormed. A dog that is done being so hyper and just wants to be a dog. That would be nice....

But, I digress... I don't really think its a good idea.

Cat Bath

I was feeling brave and I gave Darth Kittius a bath. It wasn't so bad, now that I know I can live through it. He hated it the whole time, but he only fought me for the first 60% and the last 10% of the time. The rest of the time he just sat in the tub plotting my demise. He's fluffy and clean now. I rate it an overall success.

Fixing The Fish

oday I fixed the fish situation. I got a replacement beta, moved the pregnant guppies into a 3-way breeder, and got Caleb a nice new goldfish name Mr. Wigglesworth. Here are the pictures...

Here is the new beta. I haven't named him yet because I didn't think he was going to live very long. I moved him from his tiny little container into his new home and he... sunk. Yes, he sunk to the bottom and sat there. He sat there; I'm serious. He sat on his tail with his face looking upward. After he settled in, I fed him and he struggled, swimming vertically, to the top of the water to eat and then sunk again. My brother had a beta that did the same thing and he said it was because the fish was kept in such shallow water while in the pet store that he had to bend unnaturally to stay submerged. After being this way for so long his back was permanently deformed. I thought about taking the fish back, but knew they would kill him if I did. Since the only thing wrong with him was the swimming thing, I decided to keep him. Bad news: I saw him jumping in the bowl earlier. I will have to try to find a way to cover the opening of the bowl Good news: I saw him swimming horizontaly this evening after about 6 hours of being able to stretch out. Soon I will give him a name.

So, here is the guppy tank. It's just a little 2 gallon thing on the kitchen counter. Lemme tell ya, every time I get guppies they give me nothing but grief. Someone remind me of that next time I try to buy some. The first time I got guppies was to cycle a 30 gallon tank. I got attatched to them after a month of cycling and when it came time to put in my tropical fish, I decided to keep the guppies. They killed everything. They killed fish ten times their size. I saw a sunburst guppy bite and hold onto the eye of a powder blue gourami. The poor gourami spun around and around trying to shake the guppy. I should have flushed that little jerk right then and there, but I kept him and he eventually terrorized every fish in the tank to death. This time, I am going to end up with at least 2 tanks. One for the adults and one for the fry until they are big enough to feed to the turtle. Heartless I know, but just sing The Lion King song to yourself. If everything goes well, I might keep a male and breed them again. Comander Turt Turt loves to chase these little suckers.

Last, but certainly not least is Mr. Wigglesworth. He is definitely my favorite fish besides the emperor plecostomus in the turtle tank. We call little baby goldfish "wiggles" because of the cute wiggly way in which they swim. That is how Mr. Wigglesworth got his name; from wiggling around all cute-like. He is bigger and brighter than a guppy and so he is a lot easier for Caleb to see. He is also a lot more active and that makes him more fun to watch. Tonight when I put Caleb to bed he just rolled over onto his side and watched Mr. Wigglesworth swim around. No fussing, no crying, no complaining... just silent watching until his eyelids get heavy and he goes to sleep. I took a short video so that you can see for yourself how cute and soothing Mr. Wigglesworth is as he swims in his tank.

Love,

Crazy Fish

y fish is missing... What? Yes, my fish is missing. I was feeding Caleb his lunch at the dinner table, where my fish lives. This is normally the time when I would feed the fish his food. I sprinkled a bit of food in his bowl and quickly noticed that he did not come around to gobble it up. My first thought was that he was sick. OH NO! I checked the bowl and... It is empty!!! Seriously.

Empty Fish Bowl

I have heard someone say, if your beta hasn't jumped out of the tank yet, he just hasn't gotten around to it. That's the kind of fish I had, he was a beta. This must be it. He must have jumped out of his fish bowl. I checked the table for fish prints. Nothing. I checked the floor. Nothing. I can only suspect that the fish jumped from the bowl, suffered a bit on the table and then flopped onto the floor where he was eaten by a dog. Probably this one. -->

So what is going on with fish these days? Caleb's guppies keep eating eachother. My beta has committed suicide. I don't know what to do about it. I am planning on getting Caleb a nice goldfish that can live alone without any tankmates aka victims. I'd like to replace my beta with another one. Maybe a red one. I did see a pretty crown tail beta at the pet store the day we bought the killer guppies. What will I do with the guppies? I'm feeding them to the turtle. This one. -->

Love,

Bane's Bane

I've never had a dog who was afraid of fireworks. Deca was about 7 months old on her first 4th of July, and we didn't think anything of it. We brought her to Ft. Vancouver to "the biggest fireworks show West of the Mississippi". (I don't know if that claim is true, but that is what they call it. It is a very large show though, I have to admit.) Deca acted completely normal through the whole fireworks show. She laid in the grass and chewed whatever insanely expensive patriotic themed toy I'm sure we got her that year.

4 years later, we got Sammy. He was 13 months the first time we spent the 4th with him. I thought that he would be scared because he was such a skittish dog when we adopted him, but he wasn't. In fact, we opened up our glass sliding door to the backyard and he watched the fireworks like a little kid. His head would move upward as he traced the trail of fireworks into the sky and the look of joy on his face when they would explode was not just me personifying my pet.

This is Bane's first 4th of July holiday and he is 10 months old. Fireworks went on sale last night and tonight is the first time that our nearby neighbors have been lighting them. I let Bane outside to see them and he didn't like them much. He barked at them and hopped around like he was some kind of tough guy, but I know it was all due to his lack of confidence because I watch The Dog Whisperer.

The only thing I can think to do is to keep exposing them to the fireworks in a [hopefully] nonthreatening way. Perhaps tomorrow Deca will be awake during the neighboorhood fireworks and her calm attitude will show Bane that there is nothing to worry about. Last year, Deca and Sammy not only watched the regular fireworks, but also stayed outside while some people lit off m-80s. They didn't show a desire to go inside, but I was worried it would hurt their ears and put them in anyway. They just sat at the back door and watched the fireworks from inside the rest of the night.

I'll always miss Sammy...

Love,