I moved our bird feeder to the front yard this year, so we can watch the birds from the living room. Actually my main motivation was so that the cats could see the bird feeder.
In an effort to get the cats to be more active, rather than like this.
The woodpecker is named Woodrow. There is probably more than one, but we call them all Woodrow. Except for the time when it was obvious that a male and female came to feed. She was known as Mrs. Woodrow.
And yes, the cats did take an interest in birdwatching. So did Zekie!
Zekie was a good boy yesterday. Here he is, resting up.
Zekie has a new job. He chases geese off of our neighbor’s pond! Our neighbor called on Thursday to ask if I could come over with a dog and try chasing the Canada Geese from her pond. My husband had spoken with her previously and suggested it. He knew I would be happy to give it a try. So, I took Baxter and Zekie over to see what we could do.
I knew that Baxter was the most obedient of the two, but Zekie had the intensity that I thought might be needed for the job. Both dogs enjoyed running the perimeter of the pond. I kept instructing them to “get those geese” and pointing at the birds.
Walking around, I could see why our neighbor wanted to be rid of the birds. That was a lot of poop! She had already tried a pair of swan decoys, to no avail.
The dogs seemed to catch on to the idea, but the geese swam into the water and kept away from us. The dogs both went in the water up to their ankles, but that was it. We finally gave up and went home. We reported to our neighbor that we didn’t have much luck and she thanked us for trying.
On Monday, our neighbor called and asked if I could bring the dogs back. Turns out that the geese left later on the day we had been there and the pond was goose-free for a few days. We thought maybe just the scent of the dogs had keep the birds away. So after lunch, I leashed up Zekie, and took him and Baxter for our second attempt at goose removal. Baxter doesn’t need a leash. He responds to voice commands.
Baxter didn’t have much interest in the geese this time, but he did enjoy running around the pond. When I let Zekie loose and told him “get those geese” and pointed, he began frantically circling the bank and jumped in the water up to his knees. I keep praising and encouraging him to get the geese. I could tell after a few repetitions that he had figured out what we were doing. Zekie kept running the shore to where the geese were and jumping in the water towards the birds!
Finally Zekie jumped in the water up to his shoulders and the geese took flight! Our neighbor was on her deck near the house and began clapping. The geese flew away toward the tree line and Zekie chased them the entire way. They crossed the tree line and flew out of sight. Zekie was still chasing them at a full sprint. Finally, he reached the trees, and realized I was calling him and turned to start back. He had the biggest smile of joy on his face.
I knew Zekie’s intensity would have a use. We only had to find it.
Dog parking lot.
Everybody is tired after their walk. Nikki, in the back row, didn’t even walk.
A tired dog, is a good dog.
What do I do when I’m staying at home to avoid the coronavirus? The same things I normally do!
We walked dogs of course. That goes without saying.
But I also baked bread. This was a Pinterest recipe for Italian bread. I wanted something a little heartier, so I replaced one of the cups of flour with whole wheat flour.
It was quite delicious, especially warm from the oven with butter and strawberry-rhubarb jelly.
This is what happens in our house when someone tries to eat a banana.
You must pay the banana tax to the canine collectors.
Orange Kitty (the big O.K.) remains unconcerned.
Spring is the season of rebirth and hope. We know that warmer weather, sunshine, and growth are not so far away.
It was so nice this afternoon, nearly 60 degrees, that I took all six dogs outside to sit on the patio and soak up some sun. Zekie took the opportunity to sniff scents in the air.
He also spent time just enjoying the sun.
And here we have Cassius and Baxter on border patrol, guarding the fence.
Shelby and Nikki spent most of their time sleeping in the sun too. Just a preview of things to come as the weather warms.
It’s been a while since I’ve given an update on Zekie. I realized recently that it’s because he hasn’t been as much trouble.
In fact, if we don’t take him on walks, he’s barely any trouble at all. We do have the mega security crate for when we go away and leave him home. I wouldn’t want to chance this without that crate. It has been a life saver. Literally.
But when we are around home, Zekie’s worst behavior is licking the floor, or the dog bed, or my pants. His insecurity manifests this way. You can’t scold him for licking. Since it is a result of insecurity, the more you tell him to stop, the worse it gets. A squirt bottle does help a little. Both result in our house getting wet though.
Zekie has improved to the point where we can go outside for bits of time and leave him loose in the house. If my husband goes to his workshop or to get wood, he takes Zekie with him since he is good on these trips. He can even spend hours in the workshop with power tools running.
Zekie is still leash reactive during walks. He does pretty well with walkers now, but still barks ferociously at other dogs. Even though he is fine with other dogs coming in our house.
Whenever we are inside, Zekie causes no trouble. He no longer gets into things. He doesn’t chew inappropriately. He doesn’t steal our things. He no longer jumps onto the dining room table to watch us through the window when we go outside. He does lay on the back of the couch beside the door to wait for our return, but this is rather endearing.
We first noticed Zekie’s improvement when we got our new foster dog about a month ago. It was the new dog stealing and chewing things and barking at us. When someone improves their behavior ever so slightly over a long period of time, it is not readily noticed. This has been the case with Zekie. He’s not perfect, but what an improvement.
Good boy, Zekie!
Sometimes dogs know how to use furniture as well as people do. Our dogs all try to get the best seat. The best seat is generally considered to be beside mom on the couch. The next best snoozing real estate is considered to be one of our two giant, cushy dog beds, followed by the second couch in the family room.
Last choice is the couch in the other room or on the rug. They will try to make another dog move by standing over them or trying to fit into a space so small that they end up partially laying on one of the others, before they will lay on the rug.
It’s fun to watch the dynamics play out and see who ends up where. The outcome varies and you just never know what will happen.
Foster girl Claire has made good progress in her relationships with cats. At first she found them to be exciting and something to be run after. She soon moved on to standing and watching the cats run by, but not giving chase.
Orange Kitty has been instrumental in this new behavior. He is so laid back that he doesn’t even move now when Claire approaches. She seems to seek him out for company.
You can never have too many friends.
Sanctuary Acres 