Torean and Bond

Yes, Torean and Bond, normally two names that would not go together in a blog, but this story is too good not to share, and concerns both of our beloved critters. The other day Will took Torean out to go potty after letting him out of his crate for the day, nothing unusual there, right? Wrong. All of the sudden Will comes racing back in, Torean is nowhere in sight, so I assume that Torean has gotten free of Will. No, Will came in to tell me Bond is on the roof over the back porch. Naturally, I had to wonder how the heck he had gotten up there, since we no longer have any trees around the house, or places he could climb. So I go racing out in my bedclothes to hear Torean barking his head off, and to hear a cat meowing his heart out. Yep, Bond was on the back porch roof and trapped because he had no way down. Will grabbed the stepladder and set it up, but Bond would not come to him because Torean was barking his head off. So, while Will took Torean inside I climbed the stepladder in hopes of getting Bond to come closer to the edge so we could grab him and get him back inside. After about a million good kitties, come here butterball, that's a good kitty, come on and how the hell did you get up there, Bond finally came closer, tongue sticking out, purring his head off. As Will came out I had to make a grab for Bond before he decided to run away from me again. Bond was all teeth and claws but I had his enormously wide butt, and I was about to let him go. Pieces of the roof went flying but Bond was passed down to Will safely and escorted back into the house. As Will was taking Bond in, I felt something running down my nose, yes, Bond got me good across the nose and mouth, but he was inside where he belonged. While Bond licked his wounded pride, I had to wipe the blood off my face. Cat gratitude at its finest, but I would do it again in a second for him, or any of the animals for that matter. Once my nose had stopped bleeding, we had to figure out where Bond escaped from, and it did not take long to find out where. In our old room. We think that he was sun bathing his lard in the window, and pushed the screen out, and then decided to take a leisurely stroll all over the roof before he realized he was in trouble. If the saying is true that cats have nine lives, Bond is rapidly using up all of the lives he has. First, it was him being abandoned by some careless idiot who left him to freeze the tips of his ears off in the middle of a very hard winter. Then Bond was attacked by an animal that left him with the skin below his jaw ripped off, and now he is cavorting on roofs. Not bad for a cat who was banned from going outside ever again after he was attacked by the animal. I am thankful Torean was outside during some of the roof incident because he kept Bond from wandering off on me. Torean can't let anything happen to the cat he loves to pick on, now can he? Not that Bond would admit it, but he loves Torean to death, and delights in getting a mini spat started before he hides his lard beside the toaster and dares Torean to step into pawing range. Now Simon has taken up on teasing Bond, even though Bond is bigger than he is, and the results will not be good, but he will learn. Well...maybe....

Cleaned up and looking better.

Torean Is One

Yes, today was the big day! Torean is one!! How time has flown by! We are busting with pride at how good Torean was today, and I think he is extremely satisfied with the way his birthday went. Both he and Simon are exhausted, and haven't moved from the fan since they got to come in. Torean started out his morning with a birthday bandana, a new rope toy, and a special treat since it is his birthday and all. He and Simon got to go to the overlook and the boat launch where they played their hearts out for almost two hours. Once they were done playing Torean got a little bit of ice cream to mark his special day, even Simon got a little bit. Once the ice cream had time to settle Torean got his doggie cupcakes complete with his special candle. One burned thumb later, the candle was lit, Torean posed for pictures with his birthday hat, then he promptly devoured his cupcakes. I think he approved of them. When the boys were done goofing around, it was present time. Torean got plenty of chew toys, squeaky toys, tug toys, treats, and a new squeaky fox. Grandma even put the presents in a nice bag for him. Torean could not believe the toys he got, and spent several minutes sniffing them all over before he settled on one toy before he went to sleep. I do not know who had more fun today, us or the boys, but today could not have gone any better. If only every day could go so smoothly! So in short, happy first birthday Torean. You are one of a kind, and so very special. There aren't enough words to describe you, so I will settle with this. Love you dearly, you little monster <3

Flower and Ring Photography Play

Yesterday the weather finally broke long enough for me and Mom to go outside and take some photos. After awhile we decided to play around with my rings, and I love the shots we got. Calla lilies hold a special meaning to me as my grandmother carried them on her wedding day, Mom wanted to but hers did not survive the shipping, and my sister and I carried calla lilies as well since we all share the same anniversary day, a neat tradition for all of us. So, instead of getting mushy and rambling on, here are the photos we took.

Parties and Patches!

   Torean's first birthday is rapidly approaching on the 21st and we are in full swing trying to get ideas and a little party for him planned. If the weather is good I am thinking about taking Torean out to get a doggie sundae or even being bold enough to make a cake for him myself. Either one I think would make him incredibly pleased. In the past couple weeks we have noticed a change coming over him. Little by little his baby fluff is leaving him, and he is getting  more mellow and loving. His patience with Simon is never ending, but he also loves his little alone time at night when he gets his walk and a little walk time around the yard to sniff to his hearts content. During that time, Simon is hopelessly deprived of his chew toy and completely lost, and when he sees Torean coming back in, he will literally bounce to him, and then starts the growling and romping until bedtime, then starts the whining from both boys because they don't want to be apart. Right now the current battle is over the fan, and I hate to tell them, but they are going to have to share with me because the humidity in the house is killer right now. At night Torean gets his own fan, so does Simon, but apparently the fan in the living room must be better for them by the way they fight. Last night Torean was determined to win going so far as settling on Mom's lap to get the air grinning down smugly at Simon who then proceeded to hit the fan so that he got the air and won the battle. Too bad they don't do any of this when a camera is handy...

   Simon is still growing like a weed and doing very well with his vision impairment aside from getting panicked when something is right up in his face which we are working on. Because of that I have been looking on the internet for a vest for Simon to wear that warns people of his vision. Thanks to some excellent advice from the Elkhound group I am in on FB I found some patches that can be added to a vest or harness so I think that is the route to go for him. Simon had his first outing in Petco the other day, and he did phenomenally well sucking up attention and meeting different people and dogs. We met a younger couple there with two absolutely adorable boys who train service labs, we got to explaining about Simon and while we were talking they were more than willing to let their boys play with Simon. Simon did so well with them petting his head, playing with his ears and feet, rubbing his stomach and fussing with him. We were immensely proud of Simon, and we got some tips for him too. Simon seemed to love the floor most of all, frogging his heart out and beating on the stuffed elephant we bought him for being so good. Nothing beats a puppy to get people talking, and we hope to keep doing this with Simon to keep his world open, especially around different dogs. Simon was thrilled about all of this, but he was even more thrilled when he got home to chew on big brother Torean for awhile. Simon loves playing with Torean a bit too much though, which is why potty training him is a bit more difficult than it was with Torean but we are confident Simon will get the hang of it with plenty of patience and diligence on our part. When Simon does get outside he is usually more interested in sitting in the grass and killing those evil grass blades, once he focuses though he is great about sticking to one area to potty unlike his big brother! When Torean was a puppy he thought that the leaf pile we made for him to play in was an excellent potty spot, and left us shaking our heads. Puppies can be so fickle sometimes and it makes us laugh must of the time. I have so much more material for this blog, but I think this is enough for tonight.

   On a side note, thank you to everyone who has been reading this blog, and thank you to the people who have left some very kind words for me. When I started writing this, I never imagined that I would get very many page views, let alone be on the verge of hitting a thousand page views. I hope to keep writing this blog for a long time to come, and I hope you all will stick with me through it. Thank you again, from all of us <3

  

How Long Can He Go?

Simon had a vet visit yesterday, and we were relieved to find out that he is not blind as first thought. Simon does have some peripheral and light distinguishing sight and that is enough for us. The vets don't know what caused his vision problems but it doesn't matter. We love the little terror just the way he is, although today Simon was proving he has a hard head like his big brother. As you all know, learning from Torean, we started crate training Simon sooner and so far he is making his displeasure about it very well known. When crying does not get him freedom Simon will either whine his way into giving up or he will chew at the bars of the crate until he thinks he has told us off thoroughly and go to sleep. Torean may have a piercing bark but Simon's is incredibly shrill and can make you wince. Eventually Simon will realize that none of this will get him out of crate training and he will grudgingly accept it like Torean did. Until then we will laugh at his determination and refuse to give into his whimpering demands because crate training is for his own good. Especially because he has a very hard time seeing in the dark...and because a puppy left to his own devices is nothing but trouble! Nothing is safe when it comes to his teeth and puppy mischief...bare footies beware...Simon is here!