Heart Like a Dog

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Stalked on a Walk – Thursday’s Barks and Bytes

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Stalked on a Walk

It’s no secret we live in an area chock full of wild life.

In fact, we’ve encountered a couple of different animals.  Some on our wood walks and others just out and about in the neighborhood.  For the most part I am on high alert watching for potential threats and diverting my dogs (hopefully) before they see it.  Most of the animals we have encountered look at me, look at the two big dogs and head in the opposite direction.

That was until last weekend.

Last weekend we were actually stalked.  And I have to tell you, I was completely terrified imagining what would happen if the dogs were to spot the stalker.  It was challenging getting the photos but luckily my dogs are used to the Pupparazzi and don’t usually look to see what I’m taking a photo of.

I will let the pictures tell the story and then you will see why I was utterly and truly terrified.

I noticed him when he was high up on the hill and I watched him move down to duck behind the tree.

Can you see it? Right there behind the tree.

Can you see it? Right there behind the tree.

Can you see him?  Need help?  How about a clue?

It's there, I promise you.

It’s there, I promise you.

He left the safety of the tree and moved down behind this bush.

Surely you see it now?

Surely you see it now?

From there he darted down to the driveway, where he peeked out at us.

Does the arrow help?

Does the arrow help?

I know the pictures are hard, but it’s a little point and shoot camera!!  Here he is where I originally spotted him.

King of all he surveys.

King of all he surveys.

 

You can understand now why I was terrified of the dogs seeing him.  In fact, shortly after the photos were taken Delilah spotted him and I had a hell of a time getting her to keep walking.  Nothing in my treat bag was as enticing as that kitten.

Believe it or not seeing this kitty actually makes me a wee bit sad.  Not too long ago there was another cat that lived at that house and I haven’t seen him around lately.  I watched the other cat catch a chipmunk once, but having an outdoor cat in our area is risky business.

Speaking of chipmunks

You may remember when we met the cat that wouldn’t budge?  That cat was nothing to Honey Chipmunk.  

 

This chipmunk is now in the witness protection program. He's seen too much.

This chipmunk is now in the witness protection program. He’s seen too much.

This happened on a morning walk.  From about 50 yards away I saw what I thought was a chipmunk sitting on the side of the road.  Since I wear glasses I can’t always tell what exactly I’m ‘seeing’ from a distance.  (For instance I mistook the sign at the bottom of the hill for a small white dog, that is until I got close enough to really see it.)

So when I first noticed Honey Chipmunk who apparently just doesn’t care that two big dogs are bearing down on him, I thought, “Hmm, I wonder if that’s a chipmunk?”  At about 25 yards away, the dogs took notice of Honey Chipmunk.  At 15 yards, their demeanor changed, their ears perked up, their body’s stiffened.  At 10 yards away they began pulling me.  At 5 yards I was straining to hold them back and saying, “Run Honey Chipmunk, run!”

Finally seconds away from contact, Honey Chipmunk darted down the sewer grate.  I’m not sure Honey Chipmunk knew how lucky he was.  

Delilah’s been itching to catch a chipmunk.  She says they taste like chicken.

Heart Like a Dog

Welcome to Thursday’s Barks and Bytes Blog hop hosted by 2 Brown Dogs and Heart Like a Dog.

The Barks and Bytes hop is for anything at all and all bloggers are welcome. You don’t have to be a dog blog to join.

For new blog hoppers, a blog hop is list of links that is shared on multiple blogs. In order to be fair to all participants we ask you to please use the linky list. If your blog does not support a linky list, please link back to your hosts.

Cat People…Is This Normal?

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Our encounters with off-leash dogs, e-fence dogs, and DADO’s are the stuff legends are made of. Okay, maybe that’s just in my mind, but some days, I feel like a God damn gladiator maneuvering my neighborhood with my dogs.

Last Friday we had an encounter with a neighborhood cat, and when I started looking through my dash board, for a post to reference this particular cat, I realized, we’ve also had a fair share of cat encounters as well.

One in particular is the cat two houses up. His name is Simba. You may recall him. When he was just a tiny kitten, he stalked my dogs on one of their walks.

Then there was the time Delilah treed him. **Side note, I recently found out from that neighbor that she paid someone $50 to get the cat out of the tree. I thought he came down on his own. Oops.

Delilah likes chasing cats

.

Simba is a born hunter. Honestly, I see this cat catching all kinds of small rodents. I even saw him with a squirrel once. The dang thing was bigger than he was, but there he was dragging it home.

Simba is a typical cat. Curious. Apparently being treed didn’t stick with him, because about two months ago, I walked outside and found him on the roof of my mother’s car, attempting to jump onto my small porch. You know, the one with the sliding door I keep open for the dogs in nice weather?

Go ahead, I’ll give you a minute to picture what would happen if Simba managed to make it onto the porch, and continue inside to the house.

Anyway, about that cat. He’s pretty bold. I mean, I know cats are supposed to be independent and all, but I thought there was a cat gene, that told cats to stay clear of dogs. If there is, Simba is missing this cat gene.

I was walking Delilah. Due to her Endothelial Decompensation, she doesn’t see as well as she used to. I can’t say with certainty, but based on my observations, I suspect she sees shadows. Because of this, she tends to walk a lot with the curb of the road on one side of her. She still wanders off onto grass, etc…but there have been many a time when she’s walked right into a small branch or stick in the road.

So there we were, walking up the street, when I see Simba getting ready to cross the street about 75 feet in front of us. Delilah was sniffing so I said, “Go Simba, go. Cross the street.”

What did the damn cat do? He sat right the fuck down, right there on the side of the road, and he stared at me.

Siriusly.

Delilah usually crosses to the Simba side of the street, (we walk against traffic), but I managed to keep her from crossing, and we passed the damn cat without her noticing. I kept my eye on that little shit, because I think he was really considering a challenge.

Don’t throw down the gauntlet to Delilah, Simba, you just might find yourself up another tree.

We’ve had cats in our house before, and the cats have always tried to be friendlier to the dogs, than the dogs are to them, but I was totally surprised that Simba didn’t seem to have any fear of Delilah.

So please, those of you with cats….is this normal cat behavior?

Hope For Paws

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Week Seven in Kathleen Gage’s Community Challenge Post.

When you write a blog about pets, when you love animals, there’s bound to be a time when an animal in need comes your way.  I see so many animals that have been abused and neglected, and I try to help when I can because they all touch my heart.

And I applaud those folks who work in rescue. They are out there everyday seeing the worst of humanity, I mean some of the cases they see are truly horrific.

Every once in a while, you get the opportunity to meet someone who is really making a difference. Someone who talks the talk, and walks the walk. That happened to me at BlogPaws.

For a while now, I’ve been following Hope for Paws, a Los Angles, California based rescue, founded by Eldad and Audrey Hagar.

Hope for Paws records their rescues, and shares them on their YouTube channel, and Facebook page.

Honestly, some of these rescues are truly amazing.

Like the one where Eldad actually crawled 18 feet into a crevice, with a rope attached to his feet, in order to rescue a litter of nine puppies.

It’s a bit hard to watch at times, as the puppies are obviously scared, and stressed, but to leave them there would only lead to certain death. (FYI, it’s close to fifteen minutes long, so watch it after you read the post.) 🙂

For a while now, Eldad and his rescue have been on my radar. I mean, they’re on my wish list of people/organizations I want to donate to and support.  If you watch some of their earlier rescues, you’ll note that you typically don’t see Eldad in the videos. So when Chloe announced that Eldad was in the audience at BlogPaws, I had no idea what he looked like, but I knew I just had to meet this man who saves so many animals.

I also knew I would probably cry, because truthfully, I usually cry when watching the videos, just because I’m so amazed at how dedicated he is to helping these abandoned babies and seeing the transformation of these precious beings, just touches my heart.

At the conference we would get to see some of these amazing rescue videos during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Apparently Eldad has been at every BlogPaws but one, and I never knew.  His goal is to work with bloggers in spreading the word about Hope For Paws. Due to the way Facebook continues to change their Algorithms, Hope for Paws has over a million fans, but only a very small percentage actually see the videos.

Truth. I stalked him. Everytime they showed a video, I’d look to see where he was so I could meet him, but he was ALWAYS surrounded by people!

Finally, Friday afternoon, I saw my opportunity and I took it.

I’m not gonna lie, I fan-girled all over him. I got very emotional and he was surprised that there were so many tears at BlogPaws. But I told him they were happy tears, and I thanked him for all the work he did to help rescue these precious beings.

I also told him, when I win the lottery, he’s on my list for a million dollars.

I got to hug him, and then I asked to have my picture taken.

Eldad Hagar, Hope for Paws

Shut up! That’s me with Eldad Hagar!! Seriously.

How can you help Eldad and Hope for Paws? Subscribe to their YouTube channel, and their Facebook page, and share the videos. Oh, and if you want to give up a coffee, any amount helps. 🙂

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