Scruffy The Legend

I know you have all been waiting for the rematch between Charlie and Ruby (previous post). The previous bout ended in a draw. This time was different. Unfortunately there were boos and cries from the spectators that this second fight was fixed - that Charlie took a dive! You can see one of the disgtuntled spectators leaving before the end of the fight. That spectator missed the horrific end of the fight. Charlie rolled over and played dead! Charlie was fined by both the WBC and AKF 30 dog biscuits for unKeeshond-like behavior. This will really hit Charlie hard. His whole take from the fight was only one-half a dog biscuit. I am sure he will appeal.

2009 April Charlie, Ruby

My wife posted this on her blog. I asked her to post a copy on mine.

Ruby is a beagle.  There are only 2 states of existence for a beagle - sleeping and eating.  Ruby spends about 23 hours in the first state and would spend the remaining time with her head in the food bowl.   If you are a reader of this blog, or my husband’s blog, you are already well acquainted with our gal Ruby.

We adopted Ruby in June ‘09. She had been brought to the shelter because her owner was no longer able to afford to take care of her.  She is larger than the breed standard, so we think she has another breed mixed in. When we took her home, she was a zaftig 44 pounds.

Over the past 9 months she has been on a diet and has lost 8 pounds. Her goal weight is between 25 and 30 pounds.

Given the opportunity, Ruby would spend her waking hours eating.  Charlie is her partner in crime.  Charlie has no problem jumping on the dining room table.  Darryl caught him in the act the other night.  A few weeks ago, Charlie discovered a container of peanuts on the table and with a little effort was able to remove the plastic lid.  Being the gallant boyfriend, he rolled the can off the table and on to the floor so that Ruby could share in the feast.

The next day while I was cleaning the back yard, I came across interesting dog stools.  They were shaped normally, but they consisted of 99% undigested peanuts !

A cautionary note about dogs ingesting nuts:

Walnuts can cause gastroenteritis and are considered poisonous to dogs.  Macadamia nuts contain an unknown compound, which can cause muscle tremors, weakness and paralysis of the hindquarters – luckily these symptoms last a short time.  In general, nuts are high in phosphorus and may contribute to the formation of bladder stones.

NOTE: Peanuts are a legume and considered not harmful when used in small amounts.

There are many foods which people eat without a problem, but which may cause serious complications in dogs.  For example grapes and raisin can damage the kidneys, onions can cause anemia, and chocolate can be deadly.  Read complete list.

2009, 2009 March Ruby

A cat of course. Chicken is a feral kitten we adopted when he was a few weeks old. Karen named him Chicken because he was afraid of everyone and hid under beds (Just like Sir Prize used to do when we first got him). He was kept locked in our bedroom at all times when Ruby and Snowball arrived because we thought a Beagle would certainly hunt and kill a kitten. We were not sure about Snowball who was supposed to be a Bichon. We knew Narla also would not appreciate a kitten. After we returned Snowball to the shelter because he was fixated on killing Narla (see my post of coronation of a queen ), we gradually let Chicken out of the bedroom to begin interacting with Ruby and Narla.

It turned out that, unlike every other cat I have known, Chicken had no innate fear of dogs. He immediately fell in love with Ruby and spent much time hanging under her chin by clasping his paws around the back of her neck. Ruby did not seem pleased or displeased by this state of affairs. Maybe Chicken has a remora (those little fish that attach themselves under a shark’s mouth) in his remote ancestry. At first Ruby’s expression seemed to ask us to get this thing off her – not that it was doing her any harm – but what did she need it for? As time passed, the two became good friends and played together much as an adult dog and a puppy might play. Chicken would bite Ruby about the face and Ruby would retaliate with bites to Chicken’s neck and body. Considering that Ruby’s mouth was a big as the whole cat, I was very impressed and proud of Ruby for being able to do this without hurting the cat. We did become concerned that Chicken would eventually, by accident, scratch one of Ruby’s eyes. The play periods usually occurred several times a day and did get a bit rough on occasion. Although against our usual way of doing things, we had Chicken declawed to prevent injury to Ruby. For me, declawing a cat – even and indoor cat - just doesn’t sit well with me, but I felt we had to do it.

Now Chicken has grown into a very large cat. However without his claws, he is totally defenseless. Enter Charlie. Charlie is still not sure exactly what to make of Chicken. He is not exactly sure what is the difference between Chicken and a squirrel or between Chicken and a squeaky toy. I don’t really like the way Charlie looks at Chicken or the way he chases him. It is different from the way Ruby does these things, but thankfully also different from the way Snowball would have done these things. Charlie is not fixated on the cat and does not want to kill him. I am just not sure how rough his play will be once he really decides to play with Chicken. I am not sure he knows how to bite a cat playfully and softly the way Ruby does. Chicken notices the same things I do, and does not attempt to do anything like hang from Charlie’s face.

Chicken is cautious with Charlie, but still is unaware of any real danger. Chicken, again unlike other cats I have known, has no apparent innate ability to or desire to protect himself (with or without claws). He has never hissed, taken a strong swipe at someone, arched his back, or raised the hair on his back and tail. Even when Charlie is right over him, giving him a predator’s stare, Chicken only playfully extends a paw onto the dog’s nose.

2009, 2009 February cat, Charlie, Chicken, Ruby

Leo and Jade

Leo and Jade are Keeshonden living in Japan. Their mother is Yoshimi. A daily diary about the dogs can be found at http://keeleojay.blog64.fc2.com/. You can also find translated pages of Scruffy the Legend into Japanese on this website. Daily recipes for home-cooked dog food, stories about dog health, dog rescue and links to other Keeshond websites also appear. Those of you who have read my book may recall the silly chapter about dogs’ noses. I think a picture of Leo’s nose was used to illustrate some points that I was making in the book on this website. This is great stuff folks. I wish online translators really worked. If you happen to understand Japanese and love Keeshonds, you will enjoy Yoshimi’s blog (even without reading the Scruffy parts). If you don’t understand Japanese, you will still enjoy the pictures of the Keeshonden.

2009, 2009 February Japan, Ruby

POINT Charlie

COUNTERPOINT Ruby

Charlie:
When Darryl calls, you come immediately, no matter what you are doing.

Ruby:
When Darryl calls you evaluate the situation. Does he have a treat in his hand or not? If not, then it is appropriate to consider what you are doing at the moment. Chewing a rawhide strip, certainly means you are not going to run to Darryl.

Charlie:
When Darryl asks for your paw, you give it immediately.

Ruby:
You only do tricks if treats are being offered

Charlie:
When Darryl goes upstairs, you follow immediately.

Ruby:
When Darryl goes upstairs, you wait a few minutes. He usually comes right down again. If after a few minutes, he is still upstairs, then he may be waiting for you to jump on a bed with him or he might even have a treat, so then you go.

Charlie:
A rawhide chew strip is not the world’s most important thing. Darryl can take it away from you and you should give no reaction.

Ruby:
A rawhide strip is the most important thing in the world. If Darryl tries to take it away from you, you bite him hard (OK, I admit I haven’t done this lately, but I still give him that stare that makes him ask me in a nice way to give it up).

Ruby:
I wouldn’t talk if I were you, buddy - You bit Darryl’s daughter on the leg when she came to visit yesterday.

Charlie:
I only bit her when she was ready to leave. She probably thinks it was because I wanted her to stay longer – So what’s the problem?

2009, 2009 February Charlie, Ruby

Major and Jeremy

Television has become so annoying to me that I watch nowadays with the sound muted. This way I don’t have to keep muting or channel changing every time a commercial comes on. I really only occasionally glance at the screen to see if anything catches my eye. Suddenly, a few months ago, it happened. The local news was on. I see two dogs being led into a large cage. One is a very fat Beagle-like dog, wagging its tail like crazy. The other is a small white dog that appeared to be more concerned about what was going on, and not quite so happy. I clicked on the sound. This was a story about people giving up their dogs for adoption. The Beagle dog obviously thought that it was going into doggy day care or some really fun place; the white dog knew otherwise.  I also knew otherwise and knew that they were both possibly going to the gallows.  The Beagle was so ugly – big and fat with a head that was too small for the body, and was obviously not very astute.   The dog reminded me of Major (Karen and my first dog – and predecessor of Scruffy).  Major was always simply the best dog in the world.  Needless to say he has his own chapter in my book.  Major would never hurt a flea.  He was the type of dog that if a child were to run and leap and land on him, he would just wag his tail and move to some other spot.  Somehow, I knew that the Beagle had the same demeanor.  I was so reminded of Major, even though the clip only ran a few seconds, that I decided to find the Beagle and adopt it.

After doing some research and making some calls, I found the dog in a rescue shelter.  It was a 4-year-old female, and her name was Ruby.  She had lived her whole life with the white dog, named Snowball who we were told was a Bichon.  I adopted them both, not wanting to separate these life-long friends.

The first couple of weeks were a break in period.  The main problem was our cat, Narla, who, as described in my book, is partially paralyzed.  Both dogs obviously wanted simply to attack and kill the cat.  It also was obvious that Snowball was the main problem.   From the start, he was totally fixated on the cat (who we kept in the cat carrier when in the same room as the dogs).  You could not pry Snowball’s face away from Narla’s direction.  If left loose he would run to the cat carrier and begin trying to tear it apart to get to the cat.  Looking at his face, I decided he was probably a Bichon- Jack Russel mix.   Ruby was showing signs of learning to accept the cat and was certainly not fixated on the cat.  Getting the cat became Snowball’s entire existence while in the house. Outside, he was a really great dog and a pleasure to walk with Ruby.

After a month or so, we made the dreaded decision to bring Snowball back to the shelter (a no-kill shelter).  If you have read my book, you know how much this hurt.  Perhaps the main theme of my book is about the commitment I think should be made to an adopted dog.  We all should understand that a sudden change of circumstances such as trying to live with a new family or losing the one family you have been a part of all your life, is quite traumatic for a dog.  The dog will almost certainly demonstrate very bad habits at first, no matter how good he once was as somebody else’s pet.  I honestly was convinced that we would never be able to change Snowball’s behavior toward the cat.  I am quite sure that Snowball has a lot of terrier in him, and killing small animals is in the terrier genes.  The decision to return Snowball is one I will never forget.  It hangs over me like a dark cloud right now. Couldn’t even a Russel be eventually trained to accept a cat as his friend –even if it might take months or years? We will never know.

On a happier note, Ruby seemed to adjust quite well to losing Snowball, probably because of the tons of attention we made sure to give her.  She is our new queen and she knows it.  She will always be my queen and number one dog in my life – that is my commitment to her.  As you know, we know have a second dog – Charlie. He is still new. I am sure he will eventually mean as much to me as Ruby.  Still, I will always make sure Ruby knows she is number one.  Of course, Charlie (unbeknownst to Ruby) is also number one.  Thus we have Queen Ruby and King Charles – rulers of my household.

2009 January Jeremy, Major, Ruby

There was a little snow today and Ruby and Charlie had a great time chasing each other around the yard. Ruby especially enjoyed rolling over in the snow and having her belly scratched.

Charlie would drop down in “play position” next to Ruby and bark. She would then start running across the yard with Charlie in hot pursuit. Ruby would turn and catch Charlie by grabbing hold of the long fur on his tail with her teeth.

2009 January Charlie, Ruby, Snow

A friend asked my wife if she would knit a camouflage hat for her niece. She went to Michael’s Craft Store thinking she would need to buy 4 - 5 skeins of green and brown yarn. While scanning the yarn aisle for possible color combinations, she spotted Bernat yarn in of all things, camouflage. Not only was there the traditional forest color, but there were desert and arctic varieties as well.

On the label was a photo of a Schnauzer wearing a camouflage coat. You can guess where this thread is headed.

We adopted Ruby the Beagle in June. As Ruby is of the hound persuasion and therefore a hunting variety of dog, it only makes sense that she has a camouflage coat. The pattern listed sizes from S-XL. The XL was for a dog with a chest measurement of 24 inches. The coat must be meant for small breeds of dogs, because there is no way the large size would fit a Labrador or Golden, let alone Ruby. Bernat offers the pattern free on their website: Camouflage - Dog Coat With Cargo Pockets (knit)

Our gal Ruby is zaftig, with a chest size of 25 inches. When we brought her home, she weighed 44 pounds, about 20 pounds more than she should weigh. She’s on a diet and has been loosing about a pound a month. That said, my wife had to finagle the pattern so that it would fit her. This is her first attempt at making a dog sweater AND modifying a pattern.

Any hunting dog worth her kibble should have a camouflage coat for those brisk early morning hunts. The rabbits and squirrels won't see Ruby in her new jacket - she blends into the brush.

2009 January Knitting, Ruby