doctoral candidate in rhetoric and scientific and technical communication
animals
for love
0 
There have been many writings on what people will do for love. Many writers have taken pen to paper to note the extravagant lengths they will go to for their one true love, for their children, even for their pets.
In fact, I’ve written many times on how much I treasure my own little furry guy. I’ve written about how he knows when I’m upset and will cuddle up to me, even nuzzle me when I’m crying. I’ve written about his seeming empathy for a dying prairie dog. I’ve written about the joys about coming home to him and seeing his excitement to have me there — finally.
I don’t ever think I’ve seen a story quite like the one I’m going to share, though. This is a love story, an intervention story, like I’ve never seen.
It made me laugh. It’s heartwarming and funny and silly all at once.
An excerpt:
Lady “was really perky, and happy, and generally excited to see you when you came in the door every day,” recalls Andrew Mirsch.
But that was before the Mirsch family moved into a new house.
“We noticed Lady spending an awful lot of time down by the pond in our backyard,” Laura Mirsch recalls.
Lady would wander the area, disoriented and withdrawn, soporific and glassy-eyed.
Learn more about Lady. I highly recommend listening to the five minute audio. It is well worth the time.
worry
0
I think, sometimes, I don’t realize how much of my life is centered around Dakota. I don’t realize how much time I do spend on his care, on loving him, and on just talking to him.
This morning, as I readied for work, he could tell something was up. He was pacing and shaking. He was nervous.
I wonder if he was reading that from me.
I was having a hard time not crying while I got ready for work.
Today, Dakota had to go in for a teeth cleaning.
I know, I know. It’s relatively minor. But because he’s 10, they have to take extra precautions. That includes putting him under anesthesia. It includes giving him IV fluids. I mean, this is like surgery.
And we all know that the moment anesthesia is used, risks go up.
So, of course, being the worry-wart that I am, I start imagining the worst.
What if this was the last time I saw him alive? Him: shaking, whining a little, wondering why he’s going into a metal cage. Me: begging the vet to take care of my baby and telling Dakota that I’ll see him at the end of the day.
It’s silly, I know. But I am fond of the little guy and it would break my heart if something happened to him.
–
Update: Dakota is okay. He is having spotting bleeding this morning. He had 8 teeth removed. He also won’t let me remove the bandages from the IV. He doesn’t look like his normal self but I think he’s just hurting a bit. He’s on anti-biotics and I’ll give him an aspirin later when I get home from work.
freedom
0
Last night I was sitting in bed, reading and surfing.
I hear a crash.
I turn down the music.
Nothing.
Okay. Turn the music back up.
More loud noises.
Turn the music down.
Nothing.
Then I hear neighs. I hear hoofs.
It’s pitch black outside and I point a flashlight in the direction of the noises. I see red eyes appearing in the dark. It’s horses. They are hanging around my yard.
It’s cool but I don’t want them to get hit by a truck. Even though I live on a dirt road that isn’t traveled frequently, there are a few people who speed down the road. So I called the sheriff’s department (because that’s what the animal control message said to do). They say they’ll call large livestock. Someone will be out soon.
It’s 11:30 at night.
12:30.
1:30.
Finally I fall asleep.
I wake up at my normal time, around 5 a.m. I’m in the bathroom and I look out the window.
Holy cow. My fence is torn to bits like some monster went through it and ripped it to shreads.
So I look out closer.
Omigod. There’s a HORSE in my yard.
So I go out. I try to calm the horse down so I can look at the fence. Dakota, my sweet dog, wants to tag along.
Uh-oh. The horse is definitely riled up with another animal and a strange person approaching. We back away. I take a walk around the yard to see where all of the damage is.
She had come over a part of my fence and then crashed through another part of my fence and got stuck in another part of my yard.
I call the sheriff’s department again. They had cancelled the call. At this point, I’m in tears. I’m worried about the horse (the wire fence was torn up and I’m afraid she’s hurt), I’m tired, and I’m stressed about this. Plus, there are 2 other horses just outside my yard waiting for their buddy. Finally, I convince them to send out a sheriff so we can find the owners of the horses.
Neighbors keep stopping or hollering at me over fence lines. Everyone is a bit worried about these three horses running wild and stuck in my yard.
Eventually, we find the owner. It seems someone had unlocked their corrals (and their tack shed) and let the horses out. Not cool.
She offers to help pay for the damage. That was very cool.
The important thing, though, Stormy was okay and not hurt too badly. And she got a little taste of freedom (even if it didn’t last too long).
true love
05 years ago
If orangutans can find true love online, there is hope for me.
From CBSNews.com
Online Dating Is Planned for Orangutans
THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Aug. 15, 2006
(AP) Single male (red hair, long arms, interests include hanging in trees and grooming) seeks female for long-distance relationship and possibility of meeting up in future to help save species.Zookeepers in the Netherlands are planning to hook up Dutch and Indonesian orangutans over the Internet and believe the link could at some stage be used as an online dating service where apes could get to know one another and keepers could work out whether they would be compatible mates.
First things first: A romantic dinner for two.
“We are going to set up an Internet connection between Indonesia and Apeldoorn so that the apes can see each other and, by means of pressing a button, be able to give one another food, for example,” said Anouk Ballot, a spokeswoman for the Apenheul ape park in the central Dutch city of Apeldoorn.
She said the chance of two orangutans actually mating as a result of the online interaction was small due to the problem of transporting them between the Netherlands and Indonesia. “But I wouldn’t rule it out completely,” she told The Associated Press.
Ballot said the primary aim of the computer link between Apenheul and an orangutan center on the Indonesian part of Borneo was to raise public awareness of the apes and their plight. Activists say that the spread of palm oil plantations, coupled with logging, especially on Malaysian and Indonesian territories on Borneo island, is threatening animals such as wild orangutans with extinction by chewing up their native jungle habitat.
Ballot said that, in the past, captive orangutans separated by a wall have communicated with one another via a mirror placed in front of the two enclosures. Using Web cams and computer screens is an extension of that, she said.
She stressed that only orangutans who show a natural interest and aptitude will take part. The Apenheul park has 13 orangutans among its collection of apes.
There is still work to be done to set up the Internet connection. “We need to find ape-proof cables and screens,” Ballot said, adding that the zoo hopes to have the orangutans online by the end of this year or early 2007.
So next time you run into someone in a chatroom and think “what a baboon,” think twice: it just might be.
pets and animals
0
What animals and pets are part of your childhood memories?
There are several animals that are a part of my childhood memories.
The first, and most important, was Smokey. She was our terrier and was a part of our lives for many years.
Smokey had a temper and would snap at people – but never at us, luckily. We kept her away from most people because she was so protective of us. She had puppies that I remember. One set of them was poisoned by someone with antifreeze. Smokey was killed when I was in the 8th grade. Someone shot her and it broke my heart. I cried all day at school.
Other animals were typically horses…other peoples’. I wanted a horse so badly but we were the poor family in the neighborhood and couldn’t afford one. In fact, one day I even brought a shetland pony home and begged my mom to buy it. It was $100. I learned an economic lesson then. I found out how much horses eat and how much more expensive that horse would be.
The one animal that I didn’t know but that would become a part of family folklore was the five-legged calf in the county fair in Missoula, Montana. It was the coolest thing we had ever seen and we couldn’t stop talking about it.
We even talked about it one night over dinner when we had guests and they were disgusted by it. We thought it was hilarious that other people didn’t talk about such cool things during dinner.
prickly situation
0
I am a mommy. My kid just happens to be the furry type but he’s no less my kid. He is entrusted into my care. I have to make sure he is provided for, that he gets all of the things he needs and that he lives a happy life.
Of course, I understand that it’s not the same as actually birthing a child. I know this. I also know it’s not the same as having a human child.
But he is my child. I adore him. I do all that I can for him. When he is ill, I worry about him and fret over it. I feel helpless when I can’t make everything right for him.
He’s been sick the last two days. Really ill.
I’ve taken time off of work to care for him but I feel guilty about it.
He’s my kid but will others see it that way? If someone else had a human child that was ill and they had to stay home, would anyone question that?
No one has questioned it. These are the thoughts that are running around in my head. My co-workers and supervisors are pretty understanding about most things.
I just stress about them.
And I think I’m more stressed because my baby isn’t feeling good.
purge
0
I think I write one of those notorious “mommy” blogs without even being a “mommy.” I write about my beloved Dakota, my nieces and nephews, my work, my school, and my love life. I’m way too normal. I need to shake it up.
Today will NOT be that day, though. I have to share a few things from yesterday that were great.
First, Dakota did not pee in the house. YAY!!! He was such a good boy. And he wasn’t as crazy as he’s been the past few days when I got in to let him out. I am still going to take him to the vet, though, to make sure he’s okay and not ill.
My friend, Simon, began his application to go back to university for some graduate work. He didn’t seem to think it was a big deal. It is, though. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say that they’d like to go back to school – but they don’t make it happen. 6 months, a year, 3 years, 5 years go by and they never go back. Simon, after 10 years, is going back to achieve a goal he has set for himself. And to that, I say, congratulations!
And my weeo…my girl…she…ohhh. Last night I call up to ask her Dad something and she says she needs to talk to me. She tells me that she’s reading the books that I bought her for Solstice. I tell her that I’m excited to hear all about them. She tells me that she loves chapter books and I bought her the best gift ever. But, she says, my brain is very full and I’m not sure I’ll be able to remember the stories to be able to tell them to you.
Ahhh. Your brain is full. I understand, I tell her. Mine gets that way, too. She says that school makes her brain full. When she gets home to read, it’s hard to remember. Again, I tell her that I understand. I told her that sometimes I even have trouble sleeping because my brain is so full of the things I’m learning in school.
So then she tells me, “Dawn, that’s why I talk. I empty my brain so I can fill it some more.”
I didn’t laugh but I wanted to. THAT’S the reason she talks so much?
Shadow gets on the phone and I relay this conversation to him. He says to me, “Her brain must be VERY full. She doesn’t quit talking.”
I love that girl.
And to empty my brain, I do the equivalent. I come here and share with you, gentle readers, longtime companions of this writing world.
heartbeat
0
“My little dog – a heartbeat at my feet.”
~ Edith Wharton ~
Dakota and I are working through some issues right now.
In recent months, he has become unmanageable. He has started getting into the garbage when I’m gone. He has never done this before. He tears the entire trash apart and drags it all over the house.
He has begun peeing and pooping in the house, as well. In the same place over and over again.
He drinks and drinks and drinks until he makes himself sick and he throws up.
I have spent hours scrubbing floors, picking up garbage, soaking up vomited water, vacuuming, and going around to find where his mess is.
I’m not sure if he is upset with me being gone so much or if he’s just getting old or what.
So, I have made him a nice little hovel in the laundry room. He has soft bedding, toys, bones, food, and water. I even set up a radio.
He refuses to go in. Yesterday I had to physically put him in there and he howled like I was killing him. It was breaking my heart. I had trouble not crying over it.
This morning, I took his pig’s ear in with me and sat down on his bedding. He came in and crawled into my lap. I talked to him and loved on him and told him that it was a good place for him. I closed the door and stayed in there with him for a few minutes so he could see it wasn’t such a bad place to be.
He curled up on the bedding with his pig’s ear.
Let’s hope it’s a good day for him.
We both need that.
the secret language of animals
0While I was out watering my flowers and trees this morning, one of my neighbors drove by with her horse in a horse trailer. The horses next door went running up to the fence calling out. The horse in the trailer starting neighing back to the corralled horses. This went on for the entire time she was driving by (which takes a few minutes because it’s a very potted dirt road).
My neighbors dogs run up to our fences every time Dakota and I go outside. Dakota will run the length of the fence with them, tails a-waggin’ and you can tell they are having a great time doing this.
The llamas are interesting. They chirp…loudly. There is a black llama that chirps whenever the females are in his sight. In fact, my neighbor had to separate the llamas because he would get so aggressive with the females and it would cause fights.
The funniest thing, though, is when my brother brings his Great Pyrenees over. They will roam around my property and the llamas go bezerk. They start chirping up a storm. I’m not sure if they think the dogs are llamas or if they are calling out warning but they don’t retreat. They run up to the fences. The dogs mosy on over to check them out and then move on.
I love hearing the animals and watching them engage in this communication. The horses are typically so quiet until they see another one and then they become lively. The llamas, likewise, are very quiet.
I smile when I hear this and stop to watch how it all works out. They are all a bit excited for a bit afterward and it’s fun to see them so lively.
silly
0Dakota, my beloved beagle, usually hates fruits and vegetables. That doesn’t stop him from begging, though. Sometimes I’ll just give some to him just to see his expression.
So, I’m laying in bed, feeling sicker than a dog (heh) today and I decide I need some grapes. I need the juice and the vitamins from them. I’m thinking they’ll make me feel better.
I’m propped up on pillows, big bowl of grapes in my lap, and up jumps my baby.
He sits there, looking at the bowl, looking at me, looking at the bowl…and I can’t resist. I give him one.
He rolls it in his mouth, drops it on the bed, picks it up, rolls it again, and does this about 10 times. Finally, one of his teeth punctures it and he gets the juice.
Plop!
Out comes the broken grape.
But he plays with it…picking it up, tasting it, and putting it down again. He does this about 5 times until the entire skin of the grape is empty of flesh.
He leaves the skin on my bed!
Then he looks at me and wants more.
So I give him one. This time, he’s smarter and punctures it right away and cleans it out of the skin much faster.
He makes me laugh. When I went to pick up the skins, he had to check them out one more time just to make sure he had gotten everything he wanted.
Silly boy.