SHADOW AND THOR

Readers have heard about Thor by now, the new kitty in Shadow our granddawg's family.  He's a tiny thing, but has grown so fast, as kitties do.

Thor has no fear of anyone or anything!  He arrived owning the place, and thinks he's the same size as everyone else, be they human or animal.  He and elder patriarch Shadow have come to some sort of truce, it seems.  Thor isn't above jumping on the other animals' heads, biting them . . . Shadow seems to have put him in his place--in the photo, anyway. 

Both are very cute and lovable pets.  The other two cats, Piper and Aslan, tolerate Thor's antics quite well, but he does drive them nuts sometimes.  Such are kitties.

Dachshunds--you gotta love 'em.

FUR BABIES

This collage is of our granddawg Shadow with two of our grandkitties Aslan and Piper.
Aren't they adorable?

Shadow loves both of them, and they love him, too.  In fact, Aslan gives him a cat bath every night.

They each have their own distinctive personalities, too.  Shadow is 100% dachshund, and although he's now 12, he still gets excited when there's food around or the doorbell rings.

Aslan, being a young kitty, is hyper and curious about EVERYTHING and EVERYONE.  He's also a true flame point Siamese.  He's sneaky, too.

Piper, as the picture suggests, is a laid-back Norwegian forest cat who is easy to get along with and is playful.  He's a tad shy when folks visit he doesn't know, and they don't ever see him.  When he and Duke were kids, they used to play together incessantly.  Now, Duke still wants to play with him, but Piper doesn't seem inclined to do so.  Perhaps Duke's loud bark hurts his ears now?

In any case, I have two other fur grandbabies:  Tate, an orange tabby, and Joey, a silver Siamese.  They are equally sweet, but live in Arizona, so we don't see them often:

 

Tate loves everyone and is friendly and playful

 

Joey is shy until he knows you, but he and Tate

are good buddies, playing and hoodwinking!

 

 

I haven't included a picture of Duke in this post because he is not a granddawg, but our baby :).  He rates a post all to himself, and he's had several in the past.  Perhaps it's time to take more pictures of his antics and post.  Will do it soon.

 

By the way, all of them are in THE DACHSHUND ESCAPADES series of books.  Tate and Joey are in Book 1, I AM SARGE; Duke and Piper come along in Book 2, I AM DACHSHUND; and Aslan makes his debut in Book 3, DACHSHUNDS FOREVER, still awaiting publication. 

SHADOW THE DACHSHUND: TO SLEEP OR NOT TO SLEEP?

Looks like his flame point Siamese buddy

Aslan has the upper hand (er, paw)

 

 

Shadow our "granddawg" is now 12, but he's still going strong--below are pictures of him enjoying his family.  Well, actually, he's enjoying SLEEPING with family members.  He's been seen sleeping with any of the children, both cats, or alone.  Being the elder statesman of the family now (he's 84 when calculated in dog years), he can pretty much sleep when and where he wants.

 

And he does.

 

 

 

Sleeping with "sister" Alexa

 

 

Resting with Piper, his Norwegian

forest cat pal

 

Sleeping with Aslan, his flame point

Siamese buddy

I dearly love watching animals interacting and playing together, especially if they are different types.  That dog-and-cat thing doesn't matter to Shadow and his pals.  Good.

ONE CAT'S TAKE ON FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY

Philip and Holly's cat, Piper, who is Shadow the doxie's buddy, isn't too thrilled with flash photography! 

Below are pictures Holly took of him yesterday--he's such a typical cat in many ways, but is also very sweet and loving.  He gives affection freely IF he's in the mood to do so :).

DACHSHUNDS FOREVER: ALMOST FINISHED!

People have been asking about my WIP (work in progress), entitled DACHSHUNDS FOREVER, the third book in THE DACHSHUND ESCAPADES series.  As of today, I have 80,000 words, or 243 pages. 

When will I be finished with it, you ask?  Soon--very soon.  I have about six chapters to go, but for those who don't write, or for those who do write but stick closely to a detailed outline, that's not my method of writing at all.  I begin with a basic outline of sorts--more like notes, divided into chapters, with notes about what I hope to cover in each.  Since this book will be the third one in the series, I'm already well acquainted with the main characters.  Oh, new supporting characters are added in this book, of course.  There's also traveling involved, and since the tale is told from Sarge's viewpoint, readers might find his thoughts on the places he visits and the people he comes in contact with very interesting, humorous, and especially insightful for a dog :).

LOOK OUT, WORLD: HERE COMES KITTY ASLAN!

Here I am holding Aslan, a one-month-old foundling kitten belonging to our daughter and her family.  Our son-in-law Philip found him beside the home of friends when he had checked on their cats while these friends were out of town.

Apparently, one of their cats found Aslan in the nearby woods and brought him up to the house, but nobody could find out where he came from or if he had siblings.  He appeared to be less than two weeks old, dehydrated, and flea infested. 

Clark and me with Philip,
Holly, and grandchildren

So Philip brought him home, of course.  Holly bathed the pitiful little kitten, coaxed him to eat some kitty formula (yes, they do make such stuff) from a tiny bottle, and he now weighs one pound!  He's a feisty little fella already, too:  he will bite, swipe at, and pounce on anything he wishes, including feet, hands, dog or cat backs, much to the amazement of our grandchildren, who have been at the other end of that kitty's shenanigans!  He is still small enough to get inside one of my hubby's shoes as well.

He took a liking to lying around my neck like a purring fur collar--if I moved him to my lap, he climbed right back to lie on my neck again :).

Grandson Asher
loves Aslan

Piper, His Majesty

Piper, their adult cat, watches over Aslan like an indulgent uncle, never allowing Aslan out of his sight.  Shadow, their doxie, has even been seen licking Aslan, an unheard of action by this dog who has never interacted with Piper (it's been beneath his dignity to deal with a cat).  Our doxie Duke simply did not know what to make of the little bundle of white fur when we visited last weekend. 

Times are a'changing in Philip and Holly's household!

CATS ARE STRANGE CRITTERS, AREN'T THEY?

Yes, I write books from the dog's viewpoint, but these cat posters were just too good to pass up--I had to share them. 

Cats ARE strange critters, and one can never truly know what's going on in those feline brains.  Dogs, on the other hand, are so open and obvious, an endearing trait to us dog lovers. 

ABOUT THOSE CATS: MY FAIRNESS DOCTRINE

Piper, who belongs
to Shadow's family

Although I write books and stories from a dachshund's viewpoint, many friends are cat lovers.  I have owned cats, so I really have nothing against them--I just happen to like and understand dogs more.  My doxie Duke regularly plays with Piper, who gets the best of him most of the time, but Duke keeps coming back for more, anyway!  Therefore, in the interest of fairness, I have included this post about feline behavior.

The cartoons below just seemed to characterize so well the various actions, a.k.a. contortions, that cats have in their repertoire, and I've seen actually such in real cats.  My personal favorite is the last one on the right.  Which of them do you like the best?