the chicken

Tears and tantrums

What chaos can be caused by a puppy with a bee in his bonnet.

CeeJay is not a happy camper. He feels that he should be centre of attention... ALL the time. I don't begrudge him this, he is entitled to alot of love after what he has been through. He could do with a few lessons in sharing though.

This is CeeJay sulking. He has a toy to make him feel better, it's not working. He is being "Guantanamo CeeJay" He hasn't eaten for a day and a half as a form of protest. I was quite concerned when he didn't eat, then tried him with treats and yummy things like liver... amazingly enough he was able to force these down. Won't touch regular old dog food though, cause SHE gets that too. He wants to be special, and he is, he just isn't coping with having a cute puppy around to compete for attention.

So we will be saying good-bye sooner than expected. He will be going to a new home where he will be the only dog. This will make him happy and as sad as I will be to see him go, he deserves the very best. Little Patch will stay with us and Norm will arrive on Friday. Norm weighs in at a hefty 40kgs. He is not fat, he is just extremely large. Patch is all of 23kgs. Chicken is about 7.5kgs.

Chicken is over stalking Patch, sits there smugly as she scans the room for him before she will walk through the door. He has achieved the desired result. What he is trying to achieve now might take a bit longer... absorbing the dog treats by laying on them for extended periods of time. Either that or prevent the dogs from getting any because he is laying on them and I can't find them!

Could be a bit of both, he does have a sadistic side. Along with a delusional one, he has body dysmorphia, he thinks he is alot smaller than he is. If he was human he would be a contortionist, for a large cat he can fit in some small places.

Take this box for example.

For comparison the blue bowl is an average dog bowl. Chicken is not an average cat and yet he manages to squish himself into small confined spaces on a regular basis. I suppose it exercises his brain, trying to work out how to contort into these places and extricate himself out must take some time!

The Sky is Falling!

This morning had you heard the mournful howling and carry on from CeeJay you too would have thought the world was ending.

As it turns out, it didn't. Mr CeeJay likes attention, this is somewhat of an understatement, more like he DEMANDS attention. So today when I said hello to Patch and she walked past CeeJay to get to me all hell broke loose.

First the paw went up in the air, then the whimpering started, and escalated. This carried on until I had fussed over a non-existent injury for some time and CeeJay had successfully diverted my attention away from Patch. Very clever was of saying "Pay attention to me!" when you can't speak.

CeeJay is a master manipulator, any dog that can get Pete to go "oh, poor puppy, here, I'll make it all better" is seriously talented.

Giant sooky dog..

Patch remains unaffected by all this, she is so well adjusted. When we got home today she was so excited that she was leaping around in the air and running at 80kph around the yard, quite a feat if you take into account the size of our yard! She is a puppy at heart and just loves to play. Wasn't fast enough to get her antics on camera so just enjoyed the display.

I have been unsuccessful in keeping a bandage on CeeJays tail but it seems to have stopped bleeding all over the place which is nice. He has a forever home lined up and they will be picking him up on Saturday. Time again to say good-bye to a foster, although this time we have had an unusually long adjustment period. Normally it's a ph call to say the dog is going and they magically disappear very soon afterward. Have known CeeJay is going since the weekend. Am also in suspense as we have a new dog arriving Friday. He is called Norm.

Blood on the dance floor

Beware Jehovah's Witnesses, door to door sales people and all those who cross our threshold. Stamped in blood on our front entrance is CeeJays contribution to keeping undesirables at bay. I don't feel this was an intentional thing. He had his tail bandage taken off earlier this week, perhaps not a good idea. Mr waggy tail has bled all over the place again. Was wiping splatters off the TV screen earlier this evening. Fun and games. Couldn't work out why I had blood all over my arm when I was walking to the dog park today, or why Patch had it on her, couldn't find a cut or scratch anywhere,all became abundantly clear when CeeJays white tipped tail appeared suspiciously red...

This is what the walls by our front door look like... now all we need is a few bundles of sticks and it could be Blair Witch.

The Chicken now considers Patch to be suitably wary of him and lords his position over her by sitting on the couch watching her.  This came about after a sneak assault on poor unsuspecting Patch, heres how it happened - 

All is quiet, puppies are grateful to be lying in the air-conditioning...

Chicken plots a particularly vicious aerial assault, the hissing just isn't getting through to her so he has stepped up and employed tactics..

He launches himself at her..

Scares the bejesus out of her, and if that is not enough he adds insult to injury by backing it up with a sideswipe she can't even see coming

Behind the railing is a stairwell that Chicken likes to use as a quick escape after taunting the fosters, poor Patch doesn't know quite what to do. She now thinks twice before barreling in the front door, a quick survey to check on the whereabouts of the crazy furry thing and she will then come inside. She has also taken to using CeeJay as a buffer, the further away from Chicken she is, the happier she is.

Good news for CeeJay as prior to this she managed to take up the entire bed and wouldn't share, now she is Miss Damsel in Distress..

Oh CeeJay, I am so scared and fragile, protect me from that brute you big manly dog...

Ever the gentleman he is doing just that.

War of the Plushies

What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine too! .... Patch's philosophy on plushy toys. She is a hoarder. We have lots of toys, enough to go around, but this is not part of her plan. She is going to stash and protect all the toys.

There is a basket full of toys behind her, and CeeJay is forbidden to even look at it.

She is like a hawk, watching CeeJay whilst coveting her prize. However, she can't watch all the time, and he managed to sneak a plushy out from under her.

This is just not on....

CeeJay is ambitious to say the least, having gotten one he is trying for another

Yeah, right, as if I am surrendering it!

To his credit CeeJay isn't silly, he knows when to quit, he packed his plushy and went to bed, away from Patch and her evil eye.

While this was going on Chicken got a sore neck with all the to and fro, so he retired to take a nap.

It's a tough life for a Chicken. So much responsibility on such little shoulders...

Patch is on no muzzle probation to see if she can be considered cat-safe. As long as Chicken doesn't squeak I think he should be ok. CeeJay knows the score and Patch is easily distracted. Oooh, a plushy I haven't seen yet, must steal and hide it...

Catch Patch

Patch likes to play... with toys and balls, and she would love to play with Chicken. The Chicken is not wearing that.  She gets hunkered down and wags her tail and whines plaaay with me! to no avail. Chicken just hisses. This is not deterring her, so he stepped it up a bit and swiped at her as she walked past. Possibly a victory for The Chicken as she yelped and scurried off to her bed. As good dogs should... am still keeping a close eye on her though, may take more than one ambush to kill her curiosity.

Took the puppies to the park today, have discovered that they run faster than the average camera. I have lopped their heads or tails off in many photos and totally missed them in others. Whilst I was trying to get a decent photo they ran themselves silly between Pete and I and occasionally after the ball.

Look, no ears!

                               I'm sure that ball is    somewhere round here, but who can get to it first?

Will it be Patch.. or will it be the ex-racer CeeJay?

Go CeeJay! He might get the ball but there is no way that Patch will surrender the plushy, just outside the frame is CeeJay, hence the sideways dirty look from Miss Patch

She really is quite gorgeous, lovely white stockings and a cute little face.

Note the plushy behind Patch, it is hers and god help you if you try and take it from her...

Have put Chicken into training camp, he has until Sunday to sort out little Miss Patch as we are getting a new foster. No, not another grey, another cat. It has fallen on Chicken to get her cat-safe so his transition into our mad house is a little easier. We are taking on this new cat, I don't even know his name! Apparently he looks like a little tiger, has green eyes and a pink nose and is some sort of oriental cross breed. Thats all good, can't be having run of the mill moggies amongst our collection of unique babies. Not that we are elitists.. well, maybe the dogs are, but thats a greyhound thing!

Things my dogs have taught me

#1 Private medical Insurance with extras cover has its merits

We had a fabulous day at the beach. The part where CeeJay bolted with me dangling hopelessly behind him was comical, and somewhat painful. It resulted in me having Tuesday off work as I couldn't turn my head to the left. Whilst the rest of the nation was watching the Melbourne Cup I was face down on a massage table in excruciating pain. Lovely.

#2 Always check the gate is shut before you let the dog out.

This would seem self explanatory, however sometimes fate conspires so that when you look the gate is shut, by the time you have ushered 2 excited puppies out the door the gate has been opened. This happened at 6.30am today. So the start of my day was sprinting madly down the main road yelling like a banshee to try and get the attention of Mr CeeJay and our new foster Patch. Lucky for me CeeJay loves us, so he paid attention to the insane lady running after him and stopped before he got hit by a car or something lovely like that. Patch doesn't know her name yet, always handy when trying to get a dog to respond!! She came up to me tail wagging as if to say "What fun!" NO, not fun. Heart failure for breakfast isn't how I like to start my day.

Patch is our new girl. She came straight from the kennels. Never quite know how they will take to the house pet thing. She is a fast learner.

She walked up the stairs, into the house, onto the bed and has pretty much been there ever since (apart from the little escapade this morning!) CeeJay is being a gentleman and allowing her to sleep on his bed, but not if she sleeps on him. He is particular about his personal space, doesn't give a hoot about anyone else's, but needs to have his own.

Patch is a cutie, when she has come to the realization that Chicken is the boss and not to mess with him she will be allowed to have the plastic muzzle off. She has a beautiful face under there, and to protect it from a homicidal cats claw she must keep the dreaded muzzle on. She is just a bit too curious when she should be cowering by now. Chicken must be going soft, either that or he is drunk..

I'm going for drunk...

Sand & Babes and Butts!!

What a day. Given the torrential rain on Saturday it was unsure that the scheduled walk on Sunday would be a dry one. Incidentally it wasn't, but not because of rain. We went to the beach! And we played in the water, and sniffed butts and had a great time!

It is really hard to get good photos of greyhounds in motion, I was a little busy trying to stay on my feet as CeeJay propelled me at high speed through the shallow water. I was sure that if he had chosen to stop suddenly I would have face planted. Inelegant to say the least.

After the walk the greys all retired to their mats to await stray sausages "falling off" the BBQ, as they are prone to do. With sunset approaching the off-leash park was empty. Enter Ceejay, Flo, Amie and Tamale. I wish I could have captured their utter glee and full pelt sprinting on camera. Watching a greyhound in full flight is one of the most amazing things, getting to see 4 at once is just awesome.

CeeJay has become quite the man about town lately. Have bed, will travel. He has been to see my mum. She was somewhat concerned about his tail, not anything of hers, just that he wags it with such abandon it looks highly painful! Next was Cooper's place, Cooper is a German Shepard, CeeJay decided he wasn't interested in her, promptly sat on his bed and went to sleep, when he woke up he discovered her toy basket... methodically carried each toy from the box to his bed and lay back down again. As you do. Yesterday he went to visit Tamale and Katy, they fostered him back in February before he went to his not forever home. A bit of peeing, lot of sniffing, fair amount of steals Tamale's humans attention... all good. Will be a quiet week in terms of outings for Mr Socialite CeeJay this week but with any luck we will have an additional foster to keep us busy.

Oh, too many butts, where do I sniff?..

CeeJay's big day out

CeeJay has been a darling since he arrived and The Chicken seems to be tolerating him well. They even share toys...something I didn't expect as my boy does not play well with others, CeeJay on the other hand loves any and everyone...

Play dates are not just for children, they are for greyhounds too! And a good excuse for their owners to get together to have a chat and a bottle of wine.

CeeJay had the pleasure of running madly round the yard with three gorgeous girls today. Of course two laps and they were all back to doing the usual, only they had to swap beds on a regular basis, in case one was better!

Flo, Blaze and CeeJay, post running.  (Amie was on the other bed and didn't quite fit into the picture) as with kids, when you take your grey out you pack a bag of essentials, bed, toys, treats and most importantly, the bed, forget that and you will have one unhappy puppy, lying on grass or concrete is just not an option thank you very much!

All the dogs were well behaved and apart from a bit of a scuffle and a few nasty green ant bites fun was had by all. CeeJay is now looking forward to seeing the girls in their swimsuits at the beach next week. What could be more fun than a whole group of greyhounds, sand, sun and surf? The odd bottle of wine for the owners while the dogs have a sniffing session after the walk will be good too.. check out greytwalks.

Chicken got his groove back!

The Chicken got his meow back! Not that you'd really call it that, it's more of an odd croaking.  I think it may be due to the fact that I have banished Bleh from the house. Not Blehs fault, purely that I have evicted his owners and until they move out he is under room arrest to save my carpet and my Chicken from fur balls. I once had a sales assistant try and sell me cat food specifically designed to reduce hairballs in cats, after I told her I had a Devon Rex. Call yourself a small animal specialist?! Rex's don't get fur balls, they have no hair...

So Chicken is happy, only one grey to deal with, and CeeJay knows his place. As usual Chicken is top of the pecking order, just that he is more relaxed now he doesn't have so many below him to keep in line.

Still a cranky cat when you wake him up by taking photos but..

Woe is me... My tail hurts...

CeeJay has a sore tail, broken in 2 places actually. To avoid blood all over the walls, or at least, CeeJay spraying blood all over the walls, we took a trip to the vet today. They are old breaks, but because he is such a happy dog (well, happy to be living with us!) he constantly wags his tail with abandon, bumping the hairless bit by the break and making it bleed. He is now bandaged up and is being very good about not trying to chew the bandage off.

Doesn't hurt his cause that a bandaged dog gets more cuddles than usual... he is relentless in his quest for human kindness. Makes me a bit sad that he feels he has to try so hard to get as many cuddles as he can, it's like he believes that if we stop it will be forever and I don't think he could deal with that.

Chicken seems to have accepted CeeJay into the house, has only given him the initial "Don't mess with me or I'll claw your eyes out" speech and they ignore each other now. Chicken is an ice-cream slut, he managed to get over his dislike of greys to sit next to CeeJays bed while Kim sat in the middle of them with a bowl of chocolate ice-cream. They paid no attention whatsoever to each other, all eyes were firmly fixed on the coveted bowl... if only I'd thought of that with our first foster it may have saved some of the dogs from being beaten by The Chicken....!

Chicken has lost his voice, may have worn it out through over-use or might have a respiratory infection, will have to see if he recovers in the next few weeks, is very quiet without him talking like he used to, is also scary for those he attacks as you used to get a warning. See, it's not just the greys that get stalked, he doesn't discriminate on who is fair game. Walking down the hallway at night in the dark is perilous if you happen to have bare legs. He looks innocent enough, but is capable of bailing a grown man up in the toilet at 1am with his lethal paws.

Appears studious and calm, which is exactly what he wants you to think.