Today, as I drove into a driveway, I thought i saw a German Shepherd dog attack a cat in the garden , the cat narrowly escaping under the house. WRONG .. After I told the lady of the house about it, she said, "Oh no, every time the dog hears a car coming into the driveway, he grabs the cat & stuffs it under the house to get it out of harms way." I bet that cat absolutely detests the sound of a car coming into the drive.. The dog is actually one of the loveliest gentle creatures I have ever met, with a mouth that soft I bet he could just about hold a soap bubble in it. The cat may disagree tho.
While in the Big Smoke today, I saw this most beautiful jet black Sha Pei on the back of his dad's ute. he had this slightly embarrassed look that said,"I really should be inside you know. This is all a terrible misunderstanding. My poor human has had a brainfart of major proportions to leave me out here." Then he did the most beautiful bow & scrape just like Nushie does & curled up to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. I laughed at the personalised plate on the ute.. It read WUSNME. Probably very appropriate
When I got home tonight, Herself informed me that Chloe got her butt kicked this morning, figuratively I would hazard, for licking the topping off her toast at breakfast time. Oh, & while on the subject of weird animals, what would you do with a dog that wont eat his tea unless we are soaking in the spa pool ??? True as I sit here ..
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Nush bows and scrapes like Royalty - A Royal [insert whatever here] and she, too does that "Im not eating until X occurs. Sometimes she doesn't care about when she eats, other times she refuses to eat until I go to bed and then I hear the scraping of their food tray across the kitchen floor and make note to self to turn the light on before I walk in there.
Of course Nushie would NEVER ride on the back of a ute (she thinks lol); I think that would change if it was a choice between ute tray or no rides.
OK, Flattie, being a fanatic animal lover, I have so many questions on this blog entry, I hardly know where to start:
1. Does the German Shepherd think he's the cat's mother or something? I've heard of animals doing strange things to protect another animal, but this one takes the cake!
2. What is a ute? Because Bill's such a Monty Python fan, I've heard of NEWTS for years, but I can't figure out if a ute is a vehicle, motorcycle, back patio, or what. Whatever it is, the shar pei's owner should be shot for leaving the poor dog out in the cold! Let me at 'im!
3. How does one "eat" tea? Because in my experience, it's a liquid drink that one DRINKS hot in cold weather and cold in hot weather, unless you live in Texas, where it's consumed both hot AND cold year-round, preferably sweetened.
K
Now for a story I was reminded of when I read yours about the shar pei. It's a long story, the length for which I apologize, but I'll try to condense it as much as possible. I assure you, it's worthy of your time.
About a year ago, after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the other areas of the Gulf Coast, and over 100,000 people had evacuated to the Houston area, I drove up to a fast-food place for lunch one day. In the car next to mine sat a small mixed-breed dog, with all the windows closed. The temperature was at least 100 degrees that day, and it was muggy as hell, of course...after all, this IS Houston we're talking about.
I began looking around to see if I could locate the dog's owner, and a minute or so later, a young woman (who appeared to be 19 or 20 years old and 7-8 months pregnant) came out of the fast-food place, and made a beeline for me.
I asked, "Do you know whose dog this is?" She replied, "Yes, it's mine." While thinking "Oh, these young, dumb kids", I asked "Honey, do you realize how hot it is out here, and how easily your dog could die in that hot car?"
Suddenly, she broke down in a squall of tears and blubbered, "I'm so sorry, but my family and I just arrived here from Louisiana. We had to evacuate because of the hurricane, and we have no place to live and don't know what we're going to do!"
Needless to say, I began looking around for the nearest hole in the ground that I could just fall into, never to be seen again.
After apologizing profusely and hugging her for several minutes to try to calm her, we went inside. She assured me that she totally understood why I had said what I did, and she would've done the same thing. (As it turned out, she had the motor running the whole time and the air conditioning turned on for the dog. I just couldn't hear it.)
The young woman was there with her 26-member family (parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins). They had been staying in a local motel for a week and were looking for an apartment complex that would take them all.
The saddest part of this story, though, is that she already knew that the child she was carrying would ultimately not survive, because it was anencephalic (it had no brain, only a brain stem). God, my heart just ached for her. She was a devout Catholic and refused to have an abortion. Although I may have chosen to do otherwise had it been me in that situation, I respected her tremendously for having the courage of her convictions, even it meant having to go through the physical suffering of the pregnancy and the anguish and grief of such a loss.
As it's turned out, Ashley and I have become friends. She and her family were able to return home and are trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. She was able to get pregnant again shortly after losing the first child, and she calls occasionally to let me know how she's doing. Apparently, this pregnancy is going quite smoothly, and she should be delivering a healthy baby girl within the next couple of weeks or so.
Anyway, in spite of my protestation that the owner of the shar pei needed to be shot, the lesson this story taught me is that regardless of how something initially appears, one never knows what another human being is going through and should be careful about jumping to conclusions. Even if an animal is involved, which will always test me to my limits.
K
To slake your thirst for knowledge Kathy..
1. German Shepherds are a very protective dog. I remember my first Mum in law's one carrying kittens round in his mouth very carefully if he thought they were getting a bit far away from their basket.
2.A ute, to you "good ole boys" is a pickup truck. Its a Kiwi abbreviation for the term "Utility vehicle" We probably have a higher percentage of em per capita than you guys do. Mostly Japanese, although the current success symbol seems to be a monster like a Dodge Ram, or one of the bigger Ford utes. The transport of dogs on them is that common here that there is legislation covering how they may be carried. They have to be tethered in such a fashion that they cannot fall off, & anyway, I dont think I've ever met a dog, (other than this Sha Pei) who doesnt like to sit on the back with his chops flapping in the wind.
3.Tea here is our main evening repast. I've never really understood the distinction between dinner & supper. Sounds like you have two meals in the evening. We just usually have the one, generally between 5.30ish & 7.30ish. Some do refer to it as dinner time, but its always been tea time in my family, so who am I to change a tradition?
4.Thats a lovely story,& quite sad. Its nice that you have stayed friends.We have had coverage here of your esteemed leaders visit to New Orleans, his comments re what needs to be done & also about the glaring disparity with regards to which areas are getting the rehabilitation work. Seems there really is one law for the rich & one for the poor..
1. I knew that German Shepherds are considered to be one of the best guard dogs one can have, but I never knew that they could be so protective of other animals. But if I'd given it a moment's thought, I'd have realized that a shepherd, be it a human or a dog, is going to try its best to keep things corralled (duh).
2. I'll have to announce to Bill this evening that he's the proud owner of a ute. (Of course he'll answer me with some Monty Python line about a newt.) He's one of those folks who owns a Dodge Ram 2500, but inasmuch as every Tom, Dick, and Harry in Texas has one, we've never seen it as a symbol of success. It's usually driven only for the purpose of pulling our RV because of its adequate horsepower. Yes, it's a gas-guzzler (18-20 mpg), but we try to use it only when absolutely necessary.
3. Now I understand. I've always heard of "tea" but was under the impression that it was some kind of mid-afternoon snack that involved hot tea and scones.
Dinner and supper are actually one and the same. (They're served at the same time in the evening as your tea.) In the South, we have breakfast, dinner, and supper as our three meals, with dinner being the main meal of the day, served at noon. Everywhere else, they have breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with dinner again being the main meal of the day, but served in the evening. For some reason, I seem to have switched to the breakfast, lunch and dinner mentality. It's difficult to buck the east and west coast traditions, inasmuch as they control the visual media (TV) over here.
4. Yes, it's a very sad story but with a happy ending for Ashley and her husband. As for what's happening in New Orleans, Bill's sister (remember Darelle?) lived there for years and has gone back to see how it's coming along. She reports that everything is looking much, much better than it looked initially, and that people there are really pulling together to try to bring New Orleans back to some level of normality.
In my liberal perception of things, Flattie, there has ALWAYS been one law for the rich and another for the poor. New Orleans just serves as a constant reminder of it, and therein lies the TRUE sadness of the story.
K
By the way, I applaud New Zealand for having the intelligence and compassion to pass a law concerning the restraining of animals in the backs of trucks.
The legislators who run this country are idiots. No one here seems to give a damn about those poor creatures who have no say in how they're transported and whose lives and health are constantly jeopardized due to the carelessness and stupidity of their owners.
End of rant.
K
One more comment, and then I promise I'll quit.
It would seem that in order for your dog to get the proper nutrition, you will simply have to soak in the spa every evening. I realize that's an imposition and burden, but Doggy is worth it. ;-)
K
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