The Little Ones in 2009: The Second Half

Inside

	Pout All You Want Ellie, You Can't Get in the Cat Tree A forlorn Ellie watches Sam and Emma play in the cat tree. She often relaxes this way with her front legs splayed wide. Don't feel too sorry for her, she got some gifts from the pet store as well.
	No, Go Ahead, You Play with Scout, I Don't Mind "I'll just lay over here quietly until you finish. Take your time. I'm not bored at all. No please, don't worry about me, I'm fine. Play with Scout, she deserves your time too." (LOUD SIGH) "It's a good thing baby hedgehog loves me …" You might have noticed that this pose is an Ellie specialty. She carries the little hedgehogs all over the house to make sure she doesn't miss a moment's opportunity for hedgehoggery.
	The Running Dog While we're on the subject of pathetic poses, this pose that I've dubbed The Running Dog is another Ellie favorite. I had been playing with the cats on the cat tree and she just wanted to be nearby, so she plopped down on the floor and waited quietly until we were finished.

Mac OS X 10.7 I'm pretty excited. It's not often that I get to break big news here on the blog, particularly not in relation to my favorite computer company. But today I get to announce the code name for the next release of Mac OS X. As you probably know, Apple has been using cat names since they first introduced OS X: Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah Mac OS X 10.1 Puma Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar Mac OS X 10.3 Panther Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard So it comes as no surprise that they are continuing the theme for 10.7: Mac OS X 10.7 Sam You might question Apple's thinking, going from the big predators to sweet little Sam, but only if you've never had to give him his flea treatment. I understand it's not pleasant to have something squirted on your back, but Sam reacts as though I'm pouring battery acid down his spine. The claws come out and my blood flows.

At Least One of Us is Sleeping We arrived home late at night after a week-long trip to visit family in Mississippi and I knew I wasn't going to get much sleep. Whenever I return from a long absence, Scout wakes me up throughout the night in 30 to 60 minute intervals to pet her and reassure her. Even though we had a friend pet sit while we were gone, Scout doesn't like strangers or disruption in her life and stayed hidden for most of the week. That first night back, however, she let me sleep more than I expected. She made up for it the next couple of nights and by the weekend I was pretty worn out. After she was satisfied that life was back to normal, she returned to her favorite haunts like the window seat and slept a peaceful sleep.

Dogs & Typography I've been trying to write a description of Ellie to go along with this picture but it keeps coming out wrong. She's obviously a black lab, but whenever I type it out she comes across as huge and gray with big floppy ears and large white tusks. I couldn't figure out why, then it dawned on me: I was writing with an Ellie font!

The riverdog came tumbling down,
Now a cone adorns her crown.

Ellie’s training has advanced far enough that this summer I’ve been letting her off-leash in appropriate areas. One of our favorite things to do is to head to nearby Kelley Point Park, where the Willamette River gently flows into the Columbia. There are a number of places along the trail with beach access, so Ellie can (dog) paddle the rivers that Lewis & Clark once paddled.

The last few visits I’ve brought a tennis ball and our riverdog just loves to chase it, either in the shallow water next to the beach or out into the deeper water where she can swim. We weren’t able to go a week ago because of a Hempfest (she’s already got a permanent case of the munchies), but this past Sunday we took advantage of the lovely afternoon for another visit. After about an hour of play, she came up limp so I decided it was a good time to head home. She does this whenever her foot lands on something unexpected so I wasn’t concerned, she was soon walking normally on the path back to the car and played vigorously in the evening.

By morning however she was limping noticeably and constantly licking her paw. My wife took her to the vet and it looks like she may have rather painfully sprained her ankle, she’s on painkillers and has to wear this cone to keep her from licking the troublesome paw. Ellie joins some fine company of pets in cones, Templeton wore a similar hard plastic one while Emma’s was flexible cloth. This picture exaggerates the size of the cone, it doesn’t stick out much farther than her nose, but it reminded me of a radio transmitter, sending out Radio Free Ellie on all channels.

Cone Free After a week of house rest Ellie was feeling better and definitely ready for the cone to come off. While Ellie wanted to jump right back to her normal routine, we followed the vet's advice and slowly ramped her up to her normal activity levels. This meant her toy hedgehogs had to be hidden for a few days after the cone came off to reduce the temptation for too much running and jumping, two staples of hedgehog play. Soon enough she was fully recovered and the house was once more filled with the joyful squeaking of hedgehogs at play. Squeaking, and squeaking, and squeaking …

But when we adopted Sam and Emma after Templeton died, in addition to the dry kibble we leave out all day, we started treating them with Tiki Cat wet food. As I prepare my breakfast, Sam and Emma circle underneath like ravenous sharks, knowing the treat they are about to receive. Sam like a noisy, ravenous shark driven so mad by hunger that he risks his paws on the forbidden counter. After portioning out equal amounts into their bowls, I walk to the edge of the kitchen were I feed them a few feet apart, careful not to step on them as they swarm about my legs, then step away quickly from the frenzy that ensues. Tiki Cat comes in a variety of interesting flavors, the one pictured here is Hawaiian Grill Ahi Tuna, but we haven't found one yet that they don't devour like they haven't eaten in weeks.

We've offered it to Scout as well but she won't touch wet food and hasn't since she was a kitten. I'm not sure if she naturally would have or not, but her hero Templeton wouldn't and that seemed all the justification she needed. But we have discovered some treats to feed her while Sam and Emma gobble down theirs. We've long treated the cats with tuna flavored Greenies, a Templeton favorite, but just recently discovered that Scout is the only one who will eat the salmon Greenies shown here. I never would have believed that there is a cat food in this world that Sam won't eat if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, but it's true, he won't touch them. So Scout gets those to herself, she impatiently waits for me to feed Sam and Emma and then I walk her a little ways away for her treats.

And then there's the recent discovery of Wildside Salmon, little chunks of freeze-dried salmon caught wild in Alaska. Heed my words and dispense with care — these fluffy treats really should be considered a controlled substance — all three cats go bezerk for them. Even mild-mannered Scout devours them with such passion that I worry she might cut me when I run out of treats. When all three cats get them, she'll even pull a Sammy and eat them out from under the others if they aren't quick enough, a first for her. I've learned in the mornings to get these ready before I feed Sam and Emma their wet food, as otherwise Emma will get distracted when I open the bag and follow me to Scout while Sam sneaks over and eats her Tiki Cat (not a first for Sam).

But you can't hide a treat from Ellie's nose, which doesn't much care if they are treats for cat or dog. When she got a little close to Scout's salmon treats our normally shy girl got right in Ellie's face and shouted "Back off dog!" That's what her hiss meant and both Ellie and I knew it. To keep my little salmon junkie from getting too agitated, I make Ellie wait a safe distance away until Scout has finished eating. If you know how food-crazed Ellie is, you know the strength of the temptation she resists, so her reward for waiting so patiently is one of her favorite treats, the charcoal dog biscuits we keep in a glass container. A sealed glass container, one that neither paw nor jaw can defeat.

And then I sit down to enjoy my breakfast. As much as I can with a black lab staring at me a few feet away with a hedgehog in her mouth, encouraging me to get a move on. Chop chop!

A Riddle With black-and-white the colors fall, With little orange the cold winds call, With black the white will cover all. Ancient riddle

Mr. Snuggly Never has a more snuggly creature walked the earth than our little Sam. He's nearly always sleeping on me when I fall asleep and sleeping on me when I first awake. He sleeps on me in the evenings as we curl up in my chair, as he is now, his legs tucked under the laptop and his pink nose inches from my hands. He also loves to snuggle up with both Scout and Emma. Yesterday when I woke Ellie had her head on my chest and Sam and Scout were curled up together on my legs.

Outside

	A Cheer for the Ages Two, three, five, eight, All our pets are really great! Three, four, six, nine, Next year they'll be just as fine! Snuggle buddies and flower aficionados Sam and Scout enjoy my favorite flower in our garden, the purple coneflower. Sam and Scout play the role of two and eight in today's cheer, Sam turned two last month and Scout turned eight in the spring.
	Il Leone More than any of the other cats, Sam has developed a love for hiding in our plants as he watches wildlife moving about the neighborhood. Here, the little lion hunkered down in our strawberry patch to watch a squirrel dining on a ripened nut atop the neighbor's fence. He could have joined his sister Emma much closer to the squirrel but preferred his secret spot.

Labrador Receiver On fall weekends throughout the years, we've heard the names of many great passer and receiver combinations. Bradshaw to Swann. Montana to Rice. Aikman to Irvin. Manning to Harrison (and now Manning to Wayne). But this fall, a new pair arrived on the scene that some think could be the greatest to ever play the game. Cameron drops back … rolls to his right … finds Ellie all alone downfield! No one will touch her! No one will catch her! Touchdown! Touchdown! Touchdooooooooown! The greatest pair of all time? I'll let the pundits decide. My detractors will point out — fairly I think — that unlike Peyton Manning, I haven't had to face the complex blitzing schemes of the modern NFL. I can't argue the point. On the other hand, Peyton has never had to deal with Reggie Wayne drooling all over the ball. We all have obstacles to overcome.

It's Not A Ball Game Until Your Uniform Gets Dirty Oh how I love this dog!

Better to Give than to Receive Along with the glory of being a world-class receiver comes the responsibility to give back to your community, especially your young fans. Over the past nine months Ellie has picked up two young admirers. One morning when I woke up with Sam and Ellie beside me, Sam got up and started rubbing his head all over Ellie's. Ellie looked at me with an expression that seemed to say "See how good I'm being? See how I'm not eating him?" and then proceeded to lick him about the face, which Sam tolerated in good humor. But it is Emma who is most fascinated with the dog, whenever Ellie and I play hedgehog Emma comes tearing down from wherever she is in the house and tucks in close beside me. As I pet her and toss the hedgehog to Ellie, when Ellie takes a break and sits down Emma will saunter up to her and sniff her face, especially her ears. She also gets licked in the face for her troubles and tolerates it as graciously as Sam. Ellie can't be long distracted from hedgehog; a couple of times she even dropped the hedgehog in front of Emma and bent down as if she expected Emma to toss it across the room. But Ellie soon learned that, no matter how strong her affections, there are certain things Emma just can't do.