Calamity or just Klutz?

It's becoming rather routine, if there is an accident happening, Mommy is going to be involved. I may have hit on something when she first arrived as my "accidental" rescue, having turned out to be a Jack Russell Terrier instead of a Rat Terrier. She has been the victim of one calamity after another.

The first was when she stuck her head under the board fence in pursuit of a toad and got stuck. While she was constrained, the pack, quick to fall upon the helpless, attacked, biting her mercilessly. This incident was very nearly the end of her, she spent a couple days in the doggy hospital and was on meds for weeks to combat the infections. For a while Mommy wore a sock on her neck and head to cover the huge open wound that developed from tissue damage done by the fence. Amazingly, she recovered completely, the wound pulled together and she was left with only a narrow scar around the back of her neck.

After healing, she went to spend a week with my father, whose old dog died last spring, to see if she would be a good pet for him. She proved to be more than he could handle but while visiting, she wrapped her lead around a cedar tree while out to potty and most likely impaled herself on a broken branch. She returned with a quarter sized lump on her chest from infection around the hole. Back on antibiotics and wound cleaning to deal with this injury which quickly healed.

Today, Mommy played in the side yard for a while, seperate from the other dogs so there would be no disputes. When she came in to eat, she romped in as usual, racing to her crate to wait for her bowl. On delivering her meal, this is what I encountered.

She is now on Benadryl, working to reduce the allergic response. It's unlikely I will ever know what she reacted to, although I can rule out toads. She killed at least 6 of those this summer with no visible effect on her. Being a tireless hunter, she will go after almost anything. Wasps have been particularly bad this year. I'm sure she will learn nothing from this lesson, the toads taught her nothing.

Although Calamity Klutz Mommy is a real character and has a certain charm about her, I suspect that Jack Russells are not the brightest pups in the pack.

Demolition crew

Another major project was begun on Sunday, the demolition of about 6 square yards of concrete slabs from the back yard. When undertaking a big demolition job, it always pays to have a good crew on board. What my crew lacks in size, they make up for in sheer cuteness and entertainment value.


There is always someone willing to join in the digging. Getting dirt out of the way, so cement can be smashed, is a big step. Scooter and Triki tag teamed on the digging while Badger just blew through the work site hoping for attention.

Everyone has quickly learned what "OUT" means so they back up and watch while the hammer is swinging. Sadly, the digging crew lacks persistence so when no small critters were dug up during their efforts, they decided to go pursue other interests, leaving me to handle the rest of this project on my own.

Pointack? Jointer??

Zoey "Mommy" fancies herself a Pointer apparently. Granted, what she points is my caged cockatiels but she would garner high marks for style. Mommy has been fascinated with the birds since she arrived here. Sadly, I must report she has nibbled toes on one bird who foolishly climbed the side of the cage.

Every day Zoey spends much of her time circling the birds' flight cage, jumping as high as she can, hoping to catch a juicy bird. By and large, the birds ignore her efforts, with the exception of when she grabs at their little toes. Some of them actually have become pretty arrogant, having apparently figured out that climbing the cage is not wise and they will go to the ground to forage despite Zoey's attempts to get at them.

Zoey doesn't actually point that often but on this day "Killer" the attack bird was really working it. He walked around the ground for a while then he took a leisurely climb, by way of the branches, back up to the top of the cage. Throughout this performance, Zoey's nose was mere inches from his. I don't think she knew what to do, other than to point at him. She couldn't even muster a bark until he got back to the top, then off she went, streaking around the cage, barking at this insolent feathered thing who dared taunt her.