Our Little Zoo

 
But it's such a lively little zoo,

and always something to do.

The entertainment is fierce, 

and the barking can pierce.

What was I thinking , my dear!!!

Yes, it's true. We are up to 3 dogs, a cat and some strays that hang nearby for sympathy feedings. How did this happen? Well let me introduce them while I explain.

ANNIE, a Black Mouth Cur was adopted in Florida and has been a faithful companion. She is currently 9 years old with a reported life span of 12-16 years. Rescued at age 1, Annie had a rough start in life. It's obvious she was either shot at, lived through a hurricane on the street or just treated badly by humans, but our loving home has healed her heart for humans, ... storms, fireworks and gun fire, ... not so much. She is in fact a fierce opponent to animals that run. She is fond of chasing anything that will climb a tree and she will sit at the bottom until the cows come home. 

We didn't know she was a Black Mouth Cur until a couple years ago, when a visiting Floridian identified her breed. After researching the characteristics of that breed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackmouth_Cur) it all began to make sense. 

Bless her heart, all this time, she has been treeing prey and waiting for her hunter to come & kill it for her, but since we didn't know that's what she was doing she has lived a very frustrating life. 

She has learned not to attack "select" indoor cats. Wifi taught her that. No, Wifi belongs to a friend of ours in Hopkins and she has her own story, but we'll save that for another time.

KHAN, as in Genghis Khan. Yes this big boy is a Rotterman (Rottweiler- Doberman Mix). A local boy brought him to us when he was 4 mos old. He couldn't afford to feed him. We indeed had been looking for a large breed guard dog so Charles became his master. He is currently almost 3 years old. The first year he grew in height & length, the second year in girth and this coming year is when his head will widen and more closely match the size of the rest of him. WHAT A POWERHOUSE!! He is still a puppy and has no idea how big & powerful he is. 

He loves the water and if allowed will spend hours stalking and chasing fish. Our front gate is 5 feet tall and from a standing position he can jump straight up til his head and part of his chest clears the the top of the gate. Needless to say, we don't have trouble with strangers approaching the gate.Good thing he can't get a running start!! His musculature is massive and I wouldn't want to be caught in the grip of his jaws. 

As protective and loyal as he is, he has his loving side. Every night he wants his "puppy massage". It starts with the muscle on top of his head and the back of his neck (we spend a lot of time there), then down his spine. By the time I get to his hips, his knees get weak and he slithers to the floor. He has the softest most expressive eyes. He's a talker too, in a variety of sounds he will carry on full sentences. Usually pertaining to, "But why can't I come on the porch?" and "I just need one minute alone with the white fur ball, just one minute, P-L-E-A-S-E!!!"

BRUCE LEE - Yeah, he's just a big dog in a little Toy Poodle body!! Bruce belongs to some friends of ours that left Belize (but promise to come back for him). We consider him our canine house guest. His papers say he's a Toy Poodle, but I think he's got a wee bit of Terrier in him. OH, & he speaks Spanish. That's right, his female human owner taught him all his commands in Spanish, so to stop his barking, jumping, licking & pestering, the command is "THAT"S ENOUGH" In Spanish it's "YA" (pronounced JA)!! Works most of the time. "AFUERA" means OUT. That's about all you need really. We taught the others SIT, STAY & DOWN. Bruce doesn't know any of those commands, but he's only a house guest, right??  

He does get his biweekly bath and grooming, courtesy of moi. Such a tolerant dog, it really is a pleasure and he smells so nice afterward. I wish there was a real groomer around here. I would love to see him trimmed like a REAL POODLE.  Bruce thinks he can take on Khan, which is hysterical, growling & showing teeth, running to hide or getting caught by Khan and being bulldozed into the bushes. Khan doesn't hurt him, just puts him in his place from time to time. Annie has no patience with Bruce, he's way to high energy of a dog and she's an old broad that doesn't like to be disturbed!!

SIMON - Our most recent acquisition. Simon is a stray, Siamese mix Belizean kitten, probably no more than about 3 months old. He was rescued by Charles from the bushes outside our gate where he was starving and scared. In the week that we have had him, he has doubled his weight and looks like he will survive, so off to the vet we will go to get shots, etc next week.We have needed a mouser for a while now and Simon will serve well in that respect.

In the mean time he has Charles & I perfectly trained already. His cries usually mean, "feed me" or "help me find my litter pan because you moved it again, stupid human!!" Well, in my own defense it's usually only in one of two places. On the porch or inside the sliding glass door (because Khan is on the porch). Simon's advantage is being small enough to fit into a mouse hole, or other similar small space and his ability to jump to high places. This is particularly helpful when Simon is tired of playing with Bruce Lee. It's true!! 

Bruce Lee & Simon have a great ol time playing Chase, Stalk & Pounce. Most of the time Simon has the upper hand. It's quite entertaining! None of this escapes Khan's watchful eye though. Through the screen doors he watches as they run through the house and just doesn't understand why he can't join the fun. 

Actually, he did on one occasion and I thought he was going to devour poor Simon. It was all I could do to pull him off and drag him out the door with a stern punishment for attacking what is mine. I told him, "NO Khan this is MINE! Of course since then he has made it his life mission to "EAT THE FUR BALL" the first chance he gets.

The others,..... well there have been several stray and locally owned (but not well cared for) dogs that know they can find safe harbor and a cup of food from time to time. In gratitude they assist with guarding the outside of the gate. 

Two at the moment have started collecting frequent visitor points. Red (the local hotel dog) and Lela (don't know who's dog she is these days). They are not any trouble but we will certainly be happy when the pack of 10 dogs hanging out with a female in heat breaks up. It's loud and upsetting to everyone, including Our Little Zoo!!