Beasties

Have I mentioned my grandpuppy yet?  Well, he lives with my son and daughter-in-law, and visits with us occasionally.  He is a humane society rescue dog, and I believe he was a pretty wild puppy before they adopted him.  His name is Boston, and he is a combination of beagle and hound.  He has longer legs than Uno, the beagle who won Best in Show in the  Westminster Dog Show in 2010.  Boston is essentially a nose with jowls and a waggly tail.  He loves fuzzy things to chew on, going for walks and playing with other dogs in the leash-free park.  He hates being crated and has chewed his way through 2 heavy duty metal crates, half a hollow core plywood door and several batts of fibreglass pink insulation with no apparent ill effects on his digestive system.  He has made his point, however, and is now a crate-free dog.

Boston is the life of the party at the off-leash park.  He runs and sniffs and rolls, and plays chase-me-til-I-catch-you with any other dogs present.  When we take him to that park, he disappears into the undergrowth with the other dogs, and then doubles back to check on us occasionally before leading his posse on another game of tag.  After a strenuous visit to the park, Boston is ready to go home and stretch out on his sofa for a long nap.

He shares his home with two cats, amicably.  Pekoe is orange and white.  He is the senior member of the family, and ignores Boston unless he is in the mood to play with him.  Chai is a gray and white teen aged cat, who alternately teases, washes and plays with Boston. 

We also have two cats.  They are both humane society rescues who have only been with us for a few months.  Chester is an orange tabby cat.  He is approximately 2-3 years old and  very outgoing and calm with people, but he really doesn't like dogs very much.    Poor Boston is totally confused by Chester's reaction to him.  He likes cats, and believes he speaks cat fluently.  After all, he has an orange cat at home and they get along well.  Chester drapes himself on furniture that is out of reach, and then descends to Boston's level to growl at him and box his ears.  Once he has established who is boss, he will stalk regally over to his spot on the sofa so he can glare at the dog.  Boston will stick his butt in the air and wag his tail enthusiastically, trying to make friends.  Chester will ignore him. 

Tugby is our teen aged kitten.  He is a stocky little soul who is totally black and he purrs like a tugboat.  Like all teenagers, he has a comment for every situation, and shares his opinion frequently.  He is still growing and has an appetite that never stops.  As a result, he has started to earn the nickname "Tubby".  He spent his kittenhood living with siblings in a pet store, waiting to be adopted, so he is used to seeing all kinds of dogs.  He and Boston get along well, and he doesn't quite understand Chester's attitude.

After the first few days, Chester and Tugby have adjusted to each other happily.  Tugby cuddles and washes our big orange guy, and they play together.   Some days they are bookends on the sofa, but usually they are closer than that.  They love to cuddle with us, and compete to see if they can both fit on the same lap at the same time.  This is easier to accomplish with my husband because he is nearly a foot taller than me so his lap is bigger.  Although we have had cats since 1984, this is the first time we have had two cats at the same time.  At first I was afraid that they would never get along, but this has not been the case.  We are really enjoying their company and the way they treat each other.


I have just finished Seanan McGuire's book "An Artificial Night".  It certainly was action-packed, and for several chapters I was afraid that Toby Daye would not survive!  All of McGuire's books are named from a verse in one of William Shakespeare's plays, and it was very interesting to fit the storyline of the book into the context of the quotation.