Finally, Tank is vindicated!

At 3am, Yes, THREE am, I woke to a strange sound. At first, I thought it was one of the pets drinking VERY loudly. As I became more aware of my surroundings I realized it was not drinking..... it was PEEING!!!

A while back, one of the dogs peed on LD's toy box. I suspected Dad's dog Camper because, well, several reasons:

1. The sheer volume of liquid was FAR too much for little Jinxy, and unless he'd gone more than once, it was quite a bit for Tank.

2. Camper is not neutered so he has a tendency to "mark" things more often than Tank.

3. Tank has been housebroken for a long time, so long that I can't recall the last time he peed inside.

4. Camper has peed inside on something at least once that I caught.

Naturally, I assumed it was Camper. However, there was NO convincing Dad of this. So, I took all of LD's toys out of the toybox, determined that the bottom was ruined and we found an old wooden footlocker to use as a replacement.

Now, fast forward to this morning. The first thing I actually heard was the sound of dog claws clicking on the wood floor. After nearly a year, I can tell right away which dog it is just by the sound they make. This was Camper. Then the water noise. I said, "Camper! get out of that" yet the water sound didn't stop. I hopped out of bed and heard him sprint in the other direction. I turned on the light and there it was.... GIANT puddle next to the "new" toybox.

Well... isn't that peachy??? I told Dad that I now know who the pisser is... it's Camper. He questioned it of course, asking where Tank was when the alleged peeing took place. I told him, "right there asleep on the chair" which is exactly where he was. Ok, he was more like IN the chair - wedged between the backrest and the back cushion..... but anyway, there was no way Camper was getting off the hook this time. Tank has been vindicated and is no longer considered the "indoor pisser" which was a lot like being a suspected serial killer.

Let me tell you... There is NOTHING.... and I mean NOTHING.. quite like cleaning up a lake of dog pee at 3am to wake you up. Ok, well when dad got sprayed by the skunk, well that was worse.... But, aside from that, there's nothing quite like it. I'm awake now and will probably collapse around 5pm. Good thing there's left over chicken & dumplings from last night.

Cleaning the kitchen sink.

Wait, why is this in the pets section you ask? Well, that's because of what happens every week BEFORE the sink gets cleaned. Hector gets some sink time. Fore everyone who's freaking out right now about salmonella you can stop. After he's had his sink time, it gets thoroughly scrubbed with Soft Scrub w/Bleach... plus a rinse of bleach just for good measure.

This whole thing does two things: First, it ensures that I have some time each week to check Hector over - examine his shell, beak, eyes, feet, claws etc - and can identify if there are any issues. Otherwise he pretty much hides all the time!! Second, I have a clean sink regularly.....

Today, Hector enjoyed a lunch of a small, deformed strawberry, some sort of caterpillar and a dandelion leaf. And let's not talk about my hideous grout lines.... That's a project for another time!!

He ate the strawberry first - surprisingly, turtles have very good vision. So things with contrasting shapes and colors/textures get their attention.

He gazed longingly at the caterpillar, but couldn't seem to quite figure out how he was going to get it - each time he'd move forward the leaf would move away.

Then he wandered around till I dumped the poor caterpillar off it's leaf into the water. As soon as it started wiggling he hat it - two bites and it was gone.

I love bleach. Without it, Hector could not enjoy his weekly buffet and bath sessions.

The Chewies

Every so often, our dogs get "chewies" as a special treat. They're "chips" or squares of rawhide. Tank usually gobbles his down. However in the last few months I've noticed that his behavior - overall - has mellowed considerably. He is no longer rushing in and inhaling his food at dinner time, nor is he gobbling down his chewie like he used to.

Tonight however, was yet another change to his normal excessive behavior. He'll often steal one of the other dog's chewies if he gets a chance. He did this tonight. But, instead of eating it like a crazy dog, he did this. Muzzle on one chewie, paw on the other. Oh and PLEASE, please don't mind the dog hairs on the rug... They're just a fact of life around here.

I am quite surprised. He didn't want EITHER of the chewies - the one that was his OR the one that he stole from Camper... but he certainly wasn't going to let anyone else have them. Shortly after taking that picture, he fell fast asleep.

Extreme Home Makeover: Turtle Edition

Over the last couple of days I've been reading up on box turtles. I learned so much that I'm going to be re-reading everything several more times to retain it all. First I learned that clear glass sides on the enclosure are a no-no - the turtle sees wide open spaces and will spend all day trying to get away. Second, a box turtle is NOT a tortoise - so, the sand he was living in, despite being covered in vitamins, was the last thing he should have been living in.

This explained why he would spend so many hours submerged in his little water container.

Today, I decided enough was enough. We were going to remodel his little tank, adding more water and less sand/dry spaces. Ultimately he will someday get a MUCH larger terrarium where we can have real plants growing, more wooded space etc. For now though, this is what we were able to do with the things we already have.

The first step was to take everything out of the tank and clean it out - it went from sandy and dry to clean & clear:

This also included placing Hector in his little travel tank with some grass so that he can be outside while we do the work. He immediately began burrowing under the grass. 

Then came the process of making it something that would suit him better than what we had before.  First, I had to pile in rocks to get his heat rock up high enough that it wouldn't be IN the water. I also salvaged a small water pump from a table top fountain. The rubber hose had disintegrated so the pump was free for another use.

After that I mixed some of his old sand with some loamy soil, cut up grass and dried leaves, then mixed in a little water to make it something I could work with.

I added it around the edge of the heat rock. and then I went and dug up some dandilions, no clue if they'll actually keep growing, but since they're on the list of box turtle foods, I figured it was good to put them in there anyway.

After that I went out and cut some tall grass and covered one end of the tank.

Finally, I added water

All that was left was to plug in the pump

And add Hector back into his newly remodeled digs:

He seems MUCH happier now... so far he's spent a lot of time on top of the pump. My guess is that after spending so much time in such a dry environment he's grateful for some running water.

Now I'm really looking forward to getting him a larger tank etc... For now at least he won't be constantly all dried out!

Lord of the Flies

I want to apologize in advance for the quality of these shots... it was one of those moments where I didn't have time to change settings, adjust focus or anything. I grabbed the camera which was NOT set for action and I couldn't get in close enough to have the auto focus really do it's job - it kept wanting to focus on the arm of the couch....Ok, so I'll be honest... I'm just not feelin' it today LOL!

Two flies had gotten in the house - not tough, it's a beautiful day, and I had the door open to enjoy it.

So I present to you, Lord of the Flies, or is it lord of the dance, or fly dance, or.... well, see for yourself:

And this, ladies and gentlemen, concludes my performance for the evening.

Autographed programs are available from the ushers as you leave the auditorium. Thank you for coming! I'm off to my dressing room now for some ice cold milk and warm chicken.

Couch licker.... sort of like a glass licker.....

Our kitty Chloe, well, she's special.... Little yellow bus special, as in she's so special we're gonna call her Ed. I think she fell asleep licking the couch... I had to take this with my phone because I was afraid the camera would wake her up and blow the shot:

It's a dog's life....

Ever had one of those days? Ok, so I did NOT have one of those days today. Today was really a pretty good day. After spending so many of my days stacking wood lately, today was a much needed day of doing nothing.

Much like what Tank does every day....

Sigh.... if only to be a dog!

Ok, so it wasn't JUST a dog's life. Even the cat was in on the lounging today. 

Here's to hoping everyone got in a little relaxation, even if for just a moment!