Time Marches On

 Nothing like a pandemic to knock you off your game/blog.

Sadly, this will be the last post under the 4 Dogs and a Cat tag. Starsky passed during the pandemic. He lived a long and full life and I didn’t have the heart to put a post up concerning his passing until now. 

Will we get another cat? We discussed it and honestly, Starsky left a huge set of paws to fill. So no new cat for the foreseeable future. 

We still have our 4 dogs and totally enjoy watching their antics. They still do their business on command. I introduced one of those little bells that you see dogs ring when they want to go outside. They’ve actually trained ME to ring it. Smart canines! 

Seriously, when it’s time to go outside I ring it and they all come running. Reilly and Fionn will ring the bell but it’s often is more a ploy for a piece of kibble - their reward. Time will tell if the bell will catch on. It’s seriously easier to take them out together on schedule.

Lining Up at the Door

 Please forgive the doggy nose art on the glass. 

The Green Bean Thieves

This is why we don’t get to eat nearly as many green beans as we grow. Also Blogger is on my last nerve today!

Waiting in Line for a Place in the Sun

Starsky the cat almost always beats the dogs to this sunny spot. He does it by anticipating and getting there before the sun does. Not bad for a half blind cat. He’s certainly earned his spot in the sun.

The dogs aren’t much in the way of being planners so they end up lining up to wait for their chance. Sometimes they get and other times they don’t but they never complain.

Hutch has Self Quarantined

He actually just has a strong Denning instinct.

Bad Hair Morning after a Tough Night

Fionn didn’t actually have a tough night. He’s just the dog equivalent of Pigpen from Peanuts. I wish I had caught the toothie grin he shot me a second before I snapped the picture.
Yes, we brush him, he loves it and 10 minutes later? Yep, he looks pretty much like this picture. It’s just who he is and we love him!

Look What Happened Yesterday

Reed was walking Fionn and Reilly on the Treadmill when Fionna decided she wanted to join in on the fun. Note she has no lead. She spontaneously jumped on and continued to walk for 20 minutes. She's a high energy little dog and would run and walk 6 times a day if you let her. She may have also been angling for another breakfast but was happy with a doggy biscuit.

Reilly wasn't sure he was too happy with the change. He's our Dandy and is pretty sure the world revolves around him. As you can see, by the time I was able to film them he got over it.

Tired Dogs

Another older post I found: Play hard in the snow, rest easy by the woodstove, then rinse and repeat!

Old post alert:

This why the dogs look so tired when they're relaxing around the wood stove. Yes, we do leave our lawn furniture out all winter. It's LLBean all weather furniture and it's worth its weight in gold. The chairs have been wintering out for 18 years without any noticeable changes.

PS: The furniture still looks great 20+years and counting. 

Napping With Her Babies

Fionna by the woodstove. She gathered her favorite toys and bones up and situated them within easy reach prior to settling down.

Practicing Their Stay

From left clockwise, Hutch, Fionna, Reilly

The dogs have gotten good enough at staying on their lounge to be able to have three of them together at once.

They'll ignore a stick I toss and can be counted upon to stay there if I run in the house for a few seconds. However if a chipmunk runs by all bets are off.





Eventually I'll add Fionn to the mix but he tends to get silly in a group. On his own however, he's great - and cute as can be. Wanted to add that Fionn isn't kept away from everyone else all the time! Just during these stay practices.

Fionn (pronounced Finn)

Here are a couple more pics from today's session.

First Treadmill Session

It was time for the pups to take their second walk of the day but the sky had opened up and rain was hammering our metal roof.

What to do? What to do?  It seemed like a great time to orient them to our treadmill. I thought they'd get on it and down a few times and maybe get used to the beeps and other noises. They clearly had other ideas. I was so stunned that Fionn actually walked that I wasn't ready to catch a short video of him but caught the other three in action.

First up the fair lady, Fionna

Then it's little Reilly. Here's a better video of him.

And closing out our session Hutch who is not half bad considering he has the shortest legs!

Except that Starsky the cat just had to get in there.  Immediately after Hutch got off the treadmill Starsky hopped on. No walking for him though, he just sat on the belt.
I caught a picture of it but my kindle won't let me post it for some reason.

Updating this post.  It's still pouring today so the dogs each did 12 minutes on the treadmill. They were smoother today than yesterday.Fionna discovered that the lead was long enough that she could walk forward, sit down and ride back until she felt the lead get tight then she repeated the entire process until she bored herself. 

Hutch, Fionn and Reilly kept wanting to get on and once again Starsky made his cameo appearance once the last dog was done. He walked up and down as if wondering what's the big deal. Hmmmm I wonder if a cat could be trained to walk on a treadmill?

You can find a TM Update HERE.

This is what you get...

...when you leave one cat and four Connemara Terriers to their own devices while you go to the post office to pick up the mail. Yes, there is no mail delivery in the boonies. No trash pick up either but that's another blog post.

I should have taken a picture of the yarn woven in and out of the living room furniture but I didn't think of it in my hurry to put an end to the frivolity.

Starsky the cat had to be the instigator. The yarn was too high for the dogs to reach. Hutch probably stood around ringing his paws exclaiming that this was a bad thing to do. (He's the oldest dog and a rule follower.) The other three most likely shared gleefully in the misdeed, though they managed to look quite innocent when I walked in the door - happy to allow the cat to take the fall.

I tell you there's never a dull minute. But we wouldn't have it any other way.

Why the bed didn't get made on time

Who could resist that face?

Cute Dog Drawing

Our son Beau created this pencil drawing for Reed for his birthday. Beau used one of our favorite pictures of Reilly and Fionna plus a couple of other pictures for reference to create it. The picture actually doesn't do it justice mostly because I'm no photographer!

 

Puppy Play from the warmer months

This is a very short video clip of three of our four pups with two, Hutch and Fionna doing one of their favorite things. Water Play! Fionn is thinking about joining them but isn't sure about the whole thing. Reilly was off to the side watching. He has the longest hair of the four dogs and thinks twice before he messes up his "fur style" by getting it wet.

 

 

Hmm looks like there may be technical difficulties. I'll have to check into it later.

 

 

 

Doggy Antics

Sunday was quite a cool day. We haven't been using our heater yet. That meant for chilly little dogs. When they're chilly the dogs will let me know by constantly wanting to be picked up and held.

Soooo I got out all of our doggy sweaters and coats and proceeded to see who fit in what. Fionn is so huge compared to the others that there was only one sweater he could wear. The other three being more of a similar size fit into quilted coats that Velcro under the neck and stomach.

Once they were suited up and looking all dandy I went upstairs to finish some chores. Imagine my surprise when I came down a few minutes later to find all the coats lying scattered around the living room. Fionn was still wearing his sweater.I decided I'd put them back on everyone and surreptitiously see how they got out of them.

Fionn proceeded to make the rounds and undress everyone. First he would reach under their belly and grab the Velcro tab and pull it loose. Then he'd pull it up over their head and they would assist him by backing out of it. He went from dog to dog until all three coats were once again lying strewn on the floor and he stood there grinning, tail wagging, as if to say, "Wasn't that good mom?

At that point I decided to get a blanket, gather them onto the couch and share some snuggles. After all, what are Sunday afternoons for?



 

Remodeling - with help

Remodeling is always a challenge - even if you're simply replacing worn appliances and cabinets as we are. Luckily for us we have a full crew of Connemara Terriers at the ready to assist with the finer points of the project.

 First a picture of three of the four on a regulation break from construction.

Fionn seems to be the dog that takes to home remodeling most. Here he is doing a consultation on a difficult aspect of a cabinet installation.

 His attention to detail is amazing. He double checks everything!

His approach is often non-traditional. This is how he checks for a level cabinet. Apparently if he doesn't slide out - it's level enough.

And finally a shot of Reilly - who loves to lavish praise for a job well done - whispering, "Good job Dad!"

Where is Starsky the cat, you might ask? He was actually sitting on a stack of cabinet doors watching the proceedings from a very safe distance. He likes the job of foreman.

 

Puppy Update

Isn't Fionn a handsome boy? He's also huge!

I've been really bad about putting up puppy updates. Everyone is doing well. It feels like a major miracle but everyone gets along. There are minor squirmishes but no outright fighting and often a squirmish quickly turns to play with eveyone jumping into the fun. There is never a dull moment. There are quiet moments with dogs and cats in laps or around the woodstove but never it's never dull and we are really loving that. So far this has been a great decision. Not a decision for everyone perhaps but it's definitely working for us.

Fionn and Fionna

I tried to get a good shot of Fionna but she runs like the wind. She loves running just to because she can. You can't tell from this picture but she's still quite petite. Not that it stops her from mixing it up with her brothers! Yes, this little lady will very soon rule this roost. LOL!

Here they all are - same pose I took them in when the pups were tiny. Fionna still looks bigger than she is. She's a fly weight but that doesn't stop her for a minute.

Here's an action shot of all four. Poor Reilly
ended up in a full on butt pose when I snapped the shot.

Puppy Update!

Reilly and Fionna after Reilly cleaned her face.
"Look mom I did a good job. Her face is nice and clean!"

We're now at the point where we can't really remember what it was like to not have 4 dogs as part of our household. Reilly has gotten over any resistance he had and all four canines play and sleep together as if they were always together. We're really enjoying having a canine family of four and are really very happy we made the decision to move ahead with our plan.

Fionn delights in plunging headfirst into the
first available snow drift!

It's quite amazing how different from one another the dogs and pups are and yet it's just as amazing how many ways they are similar. Fionn (pronounced Finn) is still our big bumbling puppy yet he is as smart as a whip. I've extended my morning workouts to 50 minutes. The first time I did this Fionna was content to occupy herself and didn't seem to even notice that the time was longer than the 30 minutes I was taking previously. Fionn on the other hand was accutely aware. He wasn't unhappy about it but wanted to let me know it hadn't gotten by him. Around the 45 minute mark he walked over and sat down and alternately stared at the TV and then at what I was doing. He seemed to be thinking, "It's that same T-Tapp lady and Mom's doing the same kinds of movements but man this is taking forever!"

DH, the man who longed for a pile of little Terriers is in his glory. Saturday naps have never been this good. I'm enjoying searching for the perfect mode of travel to allow us all to go on vacation together. I've discovered some of the most interesting trailers and travel vans, some more affordable than others. I'll share some of them in the future. Starsky and actually my son's cat Sky who is visiting both seem to enjoy watching the antics of the dogs. The both obviously consider themselves superior to the canines in the family yet everyone gets along without issue.

 

Pups are now reliably housebroken, sitting on command, staying for increasingly longer on command. Fionn has the most trouble with this. He is more excitable than Fionna but he's getting better over time.