So true

The canine ability to deliver Silent But Deadlies never ceases to amaze me.

I attribute the peeling wallpaper and flaky paint in Baskerville Manor to the deadly emissions released by The Elder Statesman (bless his stinky little back end, and hoping that farting is welcomed in doggy Heaven),   Princess Chloe the First, The Diva and The Big Guy over the years.

From Off the Leash

Daily Prompt: Smitten

Daily Prompt: Smitten

Magpies for Margaret Rose

Newsflash:  Baskerville Manor has an international audience!
Over on Occasional Stuff, Yours Truly Confused  has been following a series of blog challenges, one of which involved a guest post from a Baskerville Beastie – Perspective: Little Jet-Black. 
Following a comment from Aussie MR at Margaret Rose Stringer, Yours Truly Confused provided a census of the complete population of Baskerville Manor.  Anyhoo, the entire menagerie was totally thrilled when MR asked could she reblog the entire list – which she did, in All Creatures Are Beautiful (yes, indeed they are, MR!).
So when this lovely lady asked for pictures of the local magpies to compare them with Aussie magpies, we dug out the most recent ones we have.  Unfortunately these were taken through a bedroom window on a dull November day with a phone camera, so they are not very clear, but we promise MR faithfully we will be lurking in the back yard with a proper camera over the weekend to see if the little guys will venture out into the cold.
If anybody can come up with a reason why these magpies are attracted to the TV satellite dish, we would love to know.

Ooops, YTC forgot Boris the spider who lives in the laptop – here he is, checking out Twitter.

Michelle’s Weekly Pet Challenge: Mini-mutt

 

Duby the Shitzu is a regular guest at Baskerville Manor.  Whenever he visits, he likes to hang around with Izzy.  Height-wise, he is about knee-high to Izzy when he is standing on his tiptoes.  When they both have their full coat and he is tucked up beside her, he practically disappears into the  background of her luxurious tresses.

Typically of his breed, he is quite the little Napoleon and does not seem to realise exactly how diminutive he is compared to the full-time residents of Baskerville Manor.  Poor Shiloh gets quite fed up when Duby stands his ground instead of moving politely out of the way, because the big guy simply sees him as a tripping hazard.

While Izzy is a very sweet-natured lady, with seemingly endless patience, Duby’s been known to demand that she back off from her dinner.  He does this by standing right in front of her as she is dining, and barking at her with his tiny head practically inside her mouth.  Anybody who has an Old English Sheepdog in their life will know that they have an impressive voice, and Izzy is no exception.  On one occasion, it all got too much, so she drew back, took a deep breath and let out a deep, powerful, basso bark that could have done duty as a foghorn.  The force of it was such that Duby’s ears blew backwards and he sat down with shock. Still barking, of course.

 

Michelle’s Weekly Pet Challenge

 

 

Things animal guardians do

This evening I noticed that every time I close a door, I first pause, open it a little further, and then close it properly.  Is this the beginning of OCD? Nope – there is a tail involved.  And that is not a typo.

Think about it, if you have an animal in the house, you need to take care of it. That means not closing a door on Fluffy or Fido’s tail, or otherwise injuring them inadvertently.   So I got to thinking, how many things do I do more or less unconsciously and at least automatically for the benefit of the Baskerville Beasties?

Here goes:

1. Pause before closing door
2. Stand back when opening doors to allow the posse through (so I don’t trip)
3. Never leave an upstairs window open if I’m not in the room
4. Take small steps to avoid stepping on tails or paws
5. Purchase stuff specifically for them to pooh in so I can throw it away
6. Separate onions, raisins and other animal toxic stuff from food waste in case they manage to get at the bin (they are all master criminals – there is an ongoing power struggle in relation to bin access and they can all see the difference between 5 and 1)
7. Tuck my legs under the chair so they have access to under the table
8. Sit on one corner of the sofa so there is room for them
9. Always point aerosol sprays away from them
10. Since the cats arrived, always close the lid on the loo
11. I play Angry Birds on my tablet so the cats can chase them

Does anybody else do stuff like this?

TheJournal.ie: Aaron McKenna: We’re a nation of mass dog murderers

Hi,

I spotted this article on TheJournal.ie Android app:

Aaron McKenna: We're a nation of mass dog murderers

About 5,500 dogs are euthanised in Ireland every year – most are perfectly healthy. The only reason they have to die is because otherwise ordinary people are happy to turn a blind eye to the appalling consequences of their actions.

http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/we%e2%80%99re-a-nation-of-mass-dog-murderers-1269371-Jan2014/

The arrival of Mr Kit-Kat and Little Jet-Black

 

The story of why Mr Kit-Kat and Little Jet-Black came to live with me can be found in Why Cats Came to Baskerville Manor.

After I made the decision to adopt cats, the questions I had to ask myself were:

• How will the Princess Chloe the First, The Diva and The Big Guy take it? (2 are large breed, 1 is quite big ,  and only one of them with a known good cat relationship)
• Kitten or cat? Well, given the size of the dogs, a kitten who had not had time to develop a sense of self preservation might not do to well.
• One cat? Might feel outnumbered.

So, with two adult cats on the shopping list the next task was to find out what they would need.  Much Google activity and repeats of “My Cat from Hell” later, the list had extended to cat trees, food, beds, bowls, litter boxes, toys and baby gates.  My plan was to follow the wisdom of the internet and house the cats in the attic for the first few days because the dogs don’t like the stairs – to allow them time to settle down, let them have their own space, and so on. The baby gates were for the bottom of the main staircase and the staircase to the attic, so cats could escape enthusiastic dogs if necessary.

Next was to find a pair of adult cats.  There are so many animals needing a new home out there, it’s heartbreaking.  What I couldn’t do was bring traumatised cats into Baskerville Manor which is already full of special-needs dogs, especially when I had no previous feline experience, so true rescue cats were not an option.   I answered an ad from a family who needed to re-home their cats.  Their reasons are their own and very valid, suffice to say that the two boys were cared for, healthy and well-adjusted. Bonus:  they are proven mousers.

After several conversations with the owners, a date was arranged for their move to Baskerville Manor.  The Baskerville Beasties will relate their individual impressions and experiences on their own blogs over the next while, if you are interested, the related stories will all be labelled “The Arrival”.

Happy Xmas from the Beasts of Baskerville Manor

 

 

If you click this picture, you can see the whole gang performing their Christmas dance for you on Elf Yourself.

The night before Christmas

 

I am happy to report that for the first time in many years, on the night before Christmas 2013, all through the house, not a creature stirred, not even a mouse.

Picture from Flickr by Gemma Corell

Dublin Pet School

Here’s a Linked in recommendation I wrote for Siobhan Owens of Dublin Pet School.

Her visit to Baskerville Manor was my 2012 birthday treat to myself.

After adding a The Big Guy to my family I called in Siobhan to advise me on how best to get the three Baskerville Beasts to live together peacefully, share the couch without argument, not squabble over food and to take them walking without a major riot as soon as they saw their leads coming out.

It only took one visit for Siobhan to understand all three of them (and me). She followed up with a clear, detailed, written report with advice on how to proceed.

On top of this Siobhan also spotted that the The Big Guy’s behaviour was affected by two different health problems that I had not recognised, which meant I was able to get both of them addressed quickly.

As I write this recommendation I am squashed between all three beasties on the couch and the only problem is that Shiloh the very large labrador wants to sleep with his head on my laptop.

Thanks, Siobhan, I can't recommend you highly enough.

Couch Wars

House guest Duby Wai has muscled into The Diva’s  place on the couch, and she is just not impressed.
Princess Chloe the First looks on with interest, while The Big Guy steadfastly ignores it all in case he is disturbed.



After pondering the problem for a while, The Diva gives up and steps down. She’s such a wimp.

NB, in all this, Yours Truly Confused gets to sit on the floor.

Halloween

It’s just past 11 pm on Halloween night and fireworks are still going off.
This year I have my three wuffs, plus Duby the visiting ShitZu and the newly-arrived Mr Kit-Kat and Little Jet-Black  to comfort.
I’ve fed them all to the gills, dosed their water with Rescue Remedy and Calm-Eze for the past three days and still the poor canines have spent the evening huddled together under a blanket, afraid to move.  It’s difficult to spot where one dog starts and the other ends. They are doubly upset because the dog next door has not been brought in and he is howling miserably.  So I say it again, I HATE HALLOWEEN!
Thankfully the cats are more insouciant, they are still so curious about their new surroundings that the noises outside have not really caught their attention.

Not getting up today…

		we'd rather have a lie in VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Duby–still in residence

To complicate the arrival of Mr Kit-Kat and Little Jet Black, Duby is still at Baskerville Manor.  Duby’s mum and dad were involved in a traffic accident abroad and will not be fit to travel home until some time in November.

True to his feisty Shit-Zhu personality, the strange things going on in the attic have resulted in him beating a wastebasket to death and also taking a slipper hostage.

More animals

As well as the live, furry and finned critters in Baskerville Manor, there is also a collection of models, mainly turtles.

Being a mature adult I was unable to wait until Christmas day to open the parcel which came along with the Best Christmas Picture Ever and Best Christmas Card Ever.  Inside, I found the Glass turtle and dog, who have now joined the menagerie on the windowsill.

The best Xmas card ever

 

 

And this card came in the same package as the picture, from 7 yo nephew, and co-Prof Layton fan, Rohan.

The best Xmas picture ever

 

This arrived in the post today from 5 yo nephew. 

Daisies in December

 

Out  with the dogs today I found these brave (optimistic?) daisies poking their heads up through the grass in the park.

On the way to meet Shiloh

		at Dollymount VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Today we have a blind date set up for Princess Chloe The First and The Diva.  They don’t know it yet, but they will be meeting their new brother, The Big Guy.  To be sure of a nice peaceful meeting, I brought them along early and gave them a good walk along the causeway to Bull Island, so they have used up their energy and feel nice and relaxed.