This is for our friends Vanessa and Kevin. We will miss Theo, too.

"...Grieve not,
  Nor speak of me with tears,
   but laugh and talk of me
   as if I were beside you.

I loved you so --
   'twas Heaven here with you!"
                        ~Isla Paschal Richardson





photographs: http://haleypoulos.com/

This weekend, we welcomed a new member to our family! Meet, Hank, my new bunny. 
        
He is a French Lop rabbit and his birthday is January 7, 2010 (3 days before my b-day!). At four months-old he already weighs about 6-7 pounds (guessing) and will probably mature to approximately 12 pounds. Yes, he's going to be a big, big boy! Hank is a very sweet, affectionate rabbit and loves to have his long ears stroked while sitting on my lap. He's also a good snuggler. I flip him over and cradle him like a baby and stroke his cheeks and he closes his eyes and relaxes. He has the softest fur and his coloring is called Chinchilla.

I had a pet rabbit for a few years when I worked at the Humane Society of North Texas. Hunny Bunny was my education rabbit and I'd take her to classrooms to talk to kids about homeless pets. She died in 2001 and I've wanted another pet bunny ever since because she was so loving and gentle.

The plan is to house Hank with the chickens in their outdoor run during the day and he'll have his own hutch to sleep in at night. Lots of people keep rabbits and chickens together and I think Hank will enjoy having the chickens for company. More on Hank as he grows!

My beautiful horse is four years old today. His registered name is DCA Toby's Picasso and he is a foundation bred Appaloosa gelding. What's all that mean? Well, he is registered with the Appaloosa Horse Club, which means at least one of his parents had to be registered with the same club. To be eligible for registration, the horse has to display the coat, skin or hoof characteristics  of an Appaloosa horse. The other parent has to also be registered with a purebred horse club, but doesn't have to be an Appaloosa.

When his breeder, Dream Catcher Appaloosa  (DCA) registered him at birth, she chose the name Toby's Picasso. "Toby" is for the famous Toby line of Appaloosas coming from the Palouse  Indian tribe of Washington/Idaho/Oregon. "Picasso" is because he is a work of art.

The term "foundation bred" used when describing an Appaloosa horse is a very special designation. To qualify, the horse must  be 7/8ths Appaloosa, by pedigree, in the fourth generation, and 75% Appaloosa in the fifth generation. My guy is even more Appy than that. He has nothing but the breed in his pedigree. His sire, Toby's Nootka (http://dreamcatcherappy.tripod.com/id116.htm, and his dam, Krystal Moon , have the famous Toby line all the way back to the beginning. (Oh, and "gelding" means he has been castrated.)

My Toby is a goofy, inquisitive, affectionate and calm sweetie who loves to eat! His best friend is Dave's 35 year-old horse, Sonny, and Hamish, our 12 year-old sheep, is his favorite playmate. They chase each other around the pasture every chance they get. I'm really looking forward to having a chance to ride Toby this summer and getting some good trail miles on him. I've included a couple of pictures of him below.

The weather was lovely for the MD weekend and we got so much done outside! My chickens have a new play yard courtesy of Dave and we got some fencing done in the horse pasture. I also had time to do some gardening, finally getting our vegetables in the ground. Sunday started with nice presents for me from all the four-legged kids, including Max, Duncan and Charly, who are all staying with us at the moment. I'm the substitute mom for them until they go home.
The mom I like to honor on Mother's Day is a beautiful girl with 27 babies. Velvet whelped three litters of service dog puppies for Canine Companions for Independence and was a devoted mama dog to each one of them. Now one of her daughters is a mom herself and Velvet is a grandmother! Time sure flies in the lives of our dogs, doesn't it? Much too quickly, I think. Here's wishing every mama dog out there an extra helping of love on Mother Dog's Day! The pictures below are of each of Vel's litters.
 

It's Tuesday, so that means it's Goodie and Blue day! Fun-loving girl and very serious guy. He's in charge, scoping out the play ground for intruders and she's free as a bird, no cares in the world. I've often thought that if Blue wanted to change his name it should be Scout, because that's exactly what he looks like he's doing...scouting the horizon for trouble. Goodie might change hers to Daisy...flower child, blowing in the wind. It's definitely a case of opposites attracting. Normally when these two come for daycare  we have more dogs here, but today it was just them. Although, it doesn't matter who is here. These two only have eyes for each other. Oh, Blue tries to act all cool and detached, living up to his "Fonzie" nickname. But, he's smitten. Goodie likes to flirt and try to get him to play and be silly with her and to not be so serious. Today it worked and they were nutty with each other. Goodie can fly like the wind across the yard. She can be there and back before you even blink! It's fun to watch Blue calculate her distance and trajectory so that he can spring just at the right moment to catch her as she flies by. They wrestle and play fight for a while and then settle down for a short nap together, content and satisfied. We'll definitely do all we can to keep this friendship going. Sometimes Blue's daycare day has to change because of his Mom's school schedule and Goodie's Mom is always happy to have her girl's day change, too, just so the two friends can see each other. I love how our clients really want to make their dogs happy. I'm sure it's apparent who is who in the pictures below, but Blue is the cattle dog mix with the red coat and Goodie is the sleek black labby girl.
                

Everyone who has seen our property knows that we have a huge old barn that was built in 1906. It hasn't had much renovation since that time, but it meets our livestock and storage needs well. It also meets the needs of a family of barn owls who have apparently been living there for quite a long time. When we bought our place in 2007, they were already here and have stayed to raise their babies in the loft every year since. This year there are five owls total in there with two being babies of about one month in age. We always know when the babies are at a very vulnerable stage because the adult owls become much more territorial then. About two weeks ago I was in the barn after dark to feed Sonny, Toby and Hamish. The baby owls were really screeching loudly, I suppose because they were hungry, and the adult owls were just outside the barn hunting. (It's really a beautiful thing to see the silhouette of an owl gliding through the night sky looking for prey.) As I was preparing to go into the horse stalls to feed the boys, something caught my eye to the side and one of the big owls came flying toward me from about 20 feet away and dive-bombed me, barely missing my head with the dead rat that she had in her talons which she threw at me! I immediately ran out of the barn and came inside to tell Dave that if the horses and sheep were going to get fed that night, he'd have to do it because I was not going back out there with such a protective Mama Owl flying around! The two baby owls left the nest yesterday for the first time and we got a few pictures of them. I'll share a couple of them here. See if you can find all three adult owls in the rafters.

We also have to be careful after dark with taking the smaller dogs outside to go potty. The owls like to sit on a perch on the side of the barn which is directly over the play yard. They peer down on the dogs and a couple of times they have started circling the yard as if to decide which one of the dogs to grab for a snack! I especially worry about Mambo, Diego, Max and Harvey, so I take them on the other side of the house for their business. There are more trees for cover over there and I don't get as nervous.  There's always something exciting going on here!

                    

We are lucky to be on the other side (almost) of a rash of pet illnesses and emergencies at our house. It started last Friday evening about 11:30 p.m. with my horse, Toby, the almost-four year-old appaloosa gelding. I had fed him and Sonny, Dave's 35 year-old horse, their dinner of grain and alfalfa pellets about 7:30 p.m. Our routine is for me to feed them in the early evening and then Dave gives them their hay at about 11:30 p.m. when he comes home from work. When he got into the barn that night, Toby wouldn't come in, which is really unusual because he is definitely a chow hound and loves his hay! Dave went out into the pasture to get him and discovered he had green snot all over his nose and discharge both from his nose and mouth and was wheezing. Dave ran into the house to get me and we immediately determined he was choking on the alfalfa pellets which I had given him earlier. We had been warned several times by knowledgable horse people about the danger of these pellets with a horse who eats too quickly. That's definitely Toby. He thinks any meal he is eating is going to be his last. The pellets are much safer if they are soaked in water before consumption.

Luckily for us, our horse veterinarians' office is close and the vet on call that night was able to get to us within 20 minutes. Dr. Zuver took one look at Toby and confirmed our fear; he was choking. I'll just tell you right now that I'll be thankful for the rest of my days that my horse is as calm as he is. Dr. Zuver did slightly sedate him, but Toby stood there calmly while she threaded a 5 foot hose down his nose so that she could pump water through it and dislodge the wad of food in his esophagus. This procedure lasted for at least 30 minutes while the blockage slowly made it's way to his stomach. It was a very bad blockage and at one point it was truly like a roto-rooter operation with the hose moving in and out of his nose. Both his nostrils eventually started bleeding and by the time it was all over and the mess was out of his throat (and I was covered with snot and blood), my horse was hoarse! At 1:30 a.m. we said goodbye to Dr. Zuver and she was able to get home in time to feed her brand new baby his 2:00 a.m. meal.

The outcome of this episode is that we have discontinued feeding our horses alfalfa pellets. We started doing it for the first time last Fall so that Sonny would be able to keep his weight up over the winter. He eats slowly and has done just fine with the pellets. However, it certainly isn't worth the risk to continue to use them. We will adjust their grain ration and switch to a different food for them which includes alfalfa and other roughage in the feed and continue to give grass hay and let them graze in the pasture at will. AND, we will start listening to those who are more knowledgable about something than we are.

 We are finally joining the blog world! Here is where you will learn all about what's new at Scooter's Bed and Biscuit and maybe get a chance to see your favorite doggie featured, too. Check back often and let us know who you'd like to see and what you want to hear about.

Right now, all is quiet as everyone is settling in for the evening after the final romp in the play yard. Paige is at my feet and Gus, Riley, Suzy and Thistle are passed out around the room on beds and the sofa. Harvey and Velvet are in their spots in our bedroom waiting for lights out. I love how everyone konks out as soon as I turn the lights down after a long, fun day of play. Sometimes it's not so quiet because of the snoring (Paige!), but no one seems to mind too much. Wouldn't it be great to sleep like a dog?!