Dogs & Cats

I read in a book, "Every good farm needs to have good farm dogs." If this statement is true, I can safely blame any lack of good farming on our canines. We have been adopted over the years by three very bad dogs. At least, in the sense that they are almost completely useless for anything "farm" related. They are champions at getting out of their play yard, chasing our cats, barking and playing among themselves. W-O-R-K is a four letter word, though.

Angus Og McDuff is a Cairn Terrier. Sonja adopted him in 2005, back in the days when she ran a home child care, from a local animal shelter. Angus is a sweet boy with the kindest eyes. He loves to be pet and loved on. He loves to go swimming. And, he has the habit of wanting to groom anyone in the vicinity of his mouth by chewing on their hair. Yes, that is right. He chews on hair, if you let him. We don't.

Mostly, He is Tasmanian's dog. Much to Angus's dismay, Tasmanian refuses to act like a cat and run from Angus like the other cats will. Instead, Tas will curl up and lay with Angus, anywhere he is resting. Angus growls and snaps his teeth at Tas, but it doesn't change the resulting snuggle. I have seen this happen, causing Angus jump off the couch to come to me to whine as if to say, "Make him stop! He won't fear me!"

Because of his breed, he has hair instead of fur and requires fairly frequent grooming or he becomes a stinky, grease ball! At nearly 8, now, he is our oldest dog. Angus is allergic to standard dog food, so feasts instead on Rachel Ray's Just 6. We have found that other commercially prepared dog foods cause him to scratch most of the hair from his tail region, which looks horrible and is not very comfortable for the little mop.

Buster Brown is a 7 year old Pomeranian/Jack Russell mix, who was adopted from a fellow work mate of Sonja's two summers ago. He is very definitely Sonja's dog. Besides being completely protective of her personal space, he insists on sleeping under Sonja's covers wherever she might be, on her feet. He is not aggressive, but he has "little dog syndrome" and feels that he needs to make up for his 15 pound stature by growling menacingly at any dog bigger than he is. He gets on well with Angus; they tussle and play until Angus tires and lays down, refusing to continue.

Our little Houdini can slip under the dog play yard and will if he is not carefully watched. He loves to get out and chase the cats, who occasionally make him happy by playing along by running away. Most of the time, they either ignore Buster or make themselves big and Buster retreats.

Fenris is a Siberian Husky. He came to us about 6 months ago when Sonja's cousin needed to find a home for him. Fenn is Sean's dog...

Sean here.  In the unusually balmy Winter of 2011, my wife called me at work to tell me that she had just left her cousin's home and had met a runaway dog that the cousin had taken in.  Unfortunately, they were going to be moving soon and couldn't keep it.  I said that was very sad and hoped they could find it a good home.  There was a long pause, and I knew something was very wrong. My wife suggested that we could try to take the 50 lb husky on a trial basis to see if he would fit into our household.  I said that the only problem with this plan is that as soon as I saw him, I would want to keep him, despite any failings on his part.  Of course, this is exactly what happened.
Well, he is still here.  How to describe Fenris...  He is whiney.  And fluffy.  And fast.  But mostly fluffy.  He has very intelligent eyes and wonderfully expressive ears.  His tail is ridiculous and could double as a windsock.  He never stops smiling and loves to wrestle with the other (much smaller) dogs.  He'll even be a good sport and crouch down so they can be on more even ground.



Written by Meaghan Sanders

Tazmanian: Tasmanian Devil is a orange and white stray cat that loves Doritos. He is an amazing hunter. He likes to bring his catch inside. Mom doesn't find this funny. I do. Tasmanian Devil is the most beautiful cat I've ever seen!




Zoey:
Erikye: Erikye is a black and white cat that loves to sleep on top a the freezer. He enjoys taking long naps on his little spot. Erikye looks just like his mother. They have the same spots. They could be twins. Erikye is only three years old.

Machias: Machias is a gray and white cat that loves everyone. And I mean EVERYONE! He'll rub up against you or lick you. He's not a good hunter like Tasmanian. He'd probably just try to lick the prey. Not joking. He's not as pretty as Tas, but he's still pretty. I like him like that.