As you can probably tell, our zoo of fur has grown again, this time it is the addition of Phineaus George. Phineaus is a Husky Mix from Texas who found his way to a rescue here in NY. From there he found his way directly into Mom's heart, and he had no trouble finding his way in this crazy house of ours. He adores snow, leaping like a rabbit when he is excited, and he adores Torean deeply. Torean would hate to admit it, but he is rather fond of the black furball, in the odd moments when he thinks nobody is watching, he will lower himself to play with Phineaus. If you have followed my blog before, you will know what method Torean uses to play with Phineaus. Yep, you guessed it, it involves backing up and farting in Phineaus's face. If that fails to soothe the savage little beastie, Torean then resorts to sitting on him, Phineaus has yet to be wise to Torean's trick, and recently he fell prey to both attacks. Torean is not a super playful dog, he is very much a play on his own terms kind of Elkhound, but when the mood does strike him to play, he takes it very seriously as Phineaus found out. To set the scene, we had recently had a snow storm so there was plenty of nice, white fluffy snow to play in. Torean was feeling extremely silly and Phineaus was being his usual self, bouncing around Torean trying to tease him into playing. Torean apparently did not feel like sharing his play time and backed up to Phineaus to launch a stink bomb in his face, then he spun around and hit Phineaus, knocking him down and giving Phineaus a face full of snow before he ran off for a leisurely roll in the snow. Phineaus meanwhile sat up and looked around trying to figure out what had happened to him before he bounded off to pester Torean some more. Like he was with Simon, Torean is incredibly good with Phineaus, I have never had to worry about making sure he was too rough with him, and in return Phineaus is very good about realizing when he needs to back off. Phineaus recently celebrated his first birthday with a trip to Tractor Supply to pick out his own toys and treats. Of course Torean and Simon each got a toy of their own, which they promptly destroyed, decorating the living and dining room with a stuffing massacre. Torean has taught Phineaus well, Phineaus has now graduated from gently using his toys, to destuffing them so he can smack himself in the face with the flat toys. He has also followed Torean in the path of what his favorite toy is. Torean has always adored the squeaky pig toys that he can grab by the snout and smack himself in the face with, and it didn't take long before Phineaus discovered the same love and copied Torean. Phineaus is silly, loving, hyper, and he makes Torean a very happy dog. I don't think the cats have yet to recover their indignance about the new invader preferring to take the high spots and glare down at the dogs getting a few slaps in here and there when Phineaus races by.
Torean and Phineaus breaking in Phineaus's pool filled with balls to play with.
Phineaus waiting with me to pick up Mom from work. He is such a good rider!
As for Torean, he will be turning six in July, and I already have a day of adventure planned for him complete with toys he and Phineaus can merrily destroy to their hearts content. Sometimes I sit back and I can not believe how fast time has flown with him. Torean is still the same pain in the butt, loving, farking, shed monster we have all come to know and love. Like any Elkhound Torean has his little quirks, but I have to admit that the one he picked up this winter may be his oddest, and funniest one yet. As most of you Torean is a passionate hater of rain, and wet snow, and he will go to great lengths to avoid being out in it for very long. To solve the bothersome task of getting his paws wet, he has decided that snowbanks are the only appropriate place to fart and poop, even if it means getting a cold butt. His favorite snowbank is the one behind the house that accumulates from snow coming off the roof and from the driveway being blown out. Now that the snow is melting, Torean will spend a great deal of time climbing the bank, spinning and adjusting until it is just so, and he can complete his masterpiece. It is silliness like that, that makes Torean so special to me, and he definitely keeps life interesting. While he fancies the cold, I can not wait for it to warm up some more so we can get back into taking our daily walks to the river in the morning. Pretty soon he will be able to show the bothersome geese on the river that his honking is more impressive than theirs. I am pretty sure the geese could care less about his form of honking but we will let him think they do. It is highly likely that he honks way more than they do as well. With spring approaching it is very likely some of his walks will turn into impromptu grooming session so he doesn't look like a perpetually exploded Qtip, one of the many joys of owning a perpetually shedding furball. If only Torean could harness the power of his farts to blow off his loose fur, it would save me so much time, something I know he would do if he could. He is truly a nut of an Elkhound, one of the things I love dearly about him. Simon and Phineaus are very special as well, in their own completely different ways and that is why we love them so much. I hope everyone enjoys this blog post and I will post another soon. Have a wonderful week!
