If the paw print doesn’t fit…you must acquit!

Murder & Mayham in my garage!

Pooka and Cro`i for some time have been allowed to play both in the basement and garage as it gives them a change of scenery since they are not allowed outside. They also have a bevy of little toy mice: some felt, some rabbit fur covered, which they just adore. We have gone thru quit a bit of toy mice over the course of the years, their most prized one being a pink yarn one with fur tail on a string called Seymour Collin. (Because everyone, ok every red-blooded girl wants to see more Collin Farrell.)

So last night as I sat down to have a cup of tea with mom, the garage door was opened a crack as the cats were in the garage playing. Blaze was sitting near us gnawing on a baby carrot (one of her favorite treats), and we noticed Cro`i running in and out of the garage like a looneytoon. I finish my tea and go to try and get Pooka inside, as it was freezing and I wanted to close up for the night when I stumbled across a strange sight. A few feet in to the garage is Pooka sitting on the floor, looking down at a little gray object. So I start to approach to get him and his toy mouse when I stop. I stop because something about the toy mouse doesn’t site quite right with me. “Pooka…what is that?” I ask, as if he’s really going to answer me. Blaze then comes in to investigate, and Pooka runs out, with Cro`i taking place sitting watch over their ‘toy’. I can’t take my eyes off their mouse, as it seems to look longer than normal. Then I realize the mouse’s tail IS longer than normal!

That isn’t their toy mouse…I’ve stumbled upon a murdered field mice! My cats, after 4 years killed something to my knowledge. “Help! I need help!” I call, as I stare in horror, trying to decide which of my mckittens were the murdered, keep Blaze back from rushing the carcass and using it as a chew toy, and decide how the hell I was going to dispose of this dead, furry little thing. Mom finally comes in, and is asking me if it’s twitching, and if I am sure it’s a real mouse. So GREAT, now I have to somehow get close to examine this. (And a few months back, I was mocked for having a fear of the mckittens catching and putting dead crickets on me.) So as I stood over this dead mouse, start to blow at it, hoping the breeze would somehow revitalize it enough to let me know if it was all the way dead or not. But the poor little mouse victim was a total goner.

Still the question of who was going to remove the mouse remained and my mother went to get a broom and shovel as I went and got a bag and gloves. Double rubber gloves on my hands, (Hell, I don’t need any bubonic plague) on each hand, I use the plastic shopping bag to pick up the murdered mouse, and felt compelled to study him. Upon my visual inspection (‘visual autopsy’ as I wasn’t going to do anything else) note that there were NO teeth or claw marks on the little mousie. THANK GOD! But that still doesn’t exonerate Pooka and Cro`i from the mouse’s death. Because why were they sitting watch over him?

Like the late Johnny Cochran had said, ‘If the glove don’t fit….you must acquit.’ I have to wonder about the murder that took place in my house last night. Did the little mouse venture in to the garage, and die of natural causes or perhaps mouse poison from another house? Did Pooka and Cro`i scare the mouse to death or maybe just bat him to death? Mom thinks that Pooka and Cro`i were giving us the mouse as an ‘I love you’ gift, as cats are wont to do. No matter what, I still feel that my two mckittens are turning in to hunters.

Blaze the wonder pup

So I’ve been a greedy little bugger. I have news that I have been sitting on since January 6th, and have kept it to myself. I withheld it from you…my blogger friends and readers. Please don’t be sad, as I hadn’t done so intentionally. It’s just that between the hectic work pace in the office, and the holidays, and post holiday season, I haven’t had time to sit and type it out. So now I am FORCING myself to do so.

I got a puppy! I got a puppy! I got a puppy! *Does little dance of* joy? exhaustion? A bit of both? Instead of buying a pure breed, which we were about to do, I looked at the Bide-A-Wee shelter and fell in love with a little puppy by the name of “Faith”. She was 8 weeks old, and listed as a German Shepard/Rotti mix. After showing her photo to mom and Ida, called the shelter and asked if she was available, then filled out the application over the phone. We got the call stating she was spayed, healthy and ready to be looked at on January 6th, so after I got out of work, we took a ride out to Westhampton. On the way there, mom kept saying ‘don’t get over excited, we’re just going to look at her.’

Well! They brought the little pupster in to the get-to-know-you room, and we all gushed over how cute she was. Then she ran to each of us to give us kiss, and then snuggle. Actually snuggle. Mom proclaimed ‘This is our puppy! This is our Blaze!” And from that second on, we knew we had found our pup and took her home with us.

Blaze is now 3 months old, (her birthday is October 15th) and she is truly a force to reckon with. She can sit on command, and I am trying to teach her to stay. She gets along ok with Pooka and Cro`i…but she wants them to play with her, and they think she’s too wild. The three do share water, although I keep the cat’s food higher so she can’t get to it. If Blaze had her way she’d eat both her food and the mckittens. To make it fair, I don’t chase the cats away from her food…although they really don’t care for pup food.

On January 27th we start going to puppy school…and I hope she will not be too scared of the other dogs. I had brought her over to Nelson’s one night and she had a hoot playing with his five dogs. Blaze still likes me to pick her up to snuggle under my chin, and I’m getting scared. Because she can grow to be 65 pounds, and there is NO way I could lift her at that weight. Everyone thinks she is beautiful and I happen to agree. So without further ado….meet our new puppy Blaze:

Puppy Pandemonium

Never in my life did I EVER have a hard time getting a pet. I may have had a difficult time convincing mom to let me get a pet. But the actual pet picking and ownership...not a problem. Until now that is.
Being that we wanted to find a puppy who needed a home, we opted to look on sevral different sites such as petfinder.org, and rescue sites as well as local shelters. I had come to find an American Staffordshire Terrier, by the name of Vixen who needed a home. Filling out the application, was approved and and told that for $250.00 we would get our pup spayed, micro-chipped, and all vaccinations. Anyway, we would have gotten her (Vixen on January 8th which was earlier than we were supposed to) but the plan fell through.
I have called shelters, combed puppy listings and rescue sites. Spoken to countless people and treated like crap. One woman who rescues Schnauzers spoke with my mother and demanded to know who was going to feed the dog lunch if she and I both worke? Another woman screamed at me that I shouldn't be getting a dog to amuse my cats. Who are these people and what right do they have to treat someone as such? Mom tried to get us puppies from a friend's daughter's friend whose dog just had a litter of pups. Yeah, lets not even go there. The girl wouldn't even let us come to just LOOK at the pups.
What the hell is going on? Why is it so difficult for us to get a puppy? Saturday I have to come in to the office to work a few hours, and then may have the chance to look at a pup out in Bide-a-wee shelter. So that MAY be our puppy....but the way things are going. Who knows. Dows anyone have a puppy they want to entrust to a good home?