I did it!!!

Friends, I did it! I caught the Rattie! Me, Cobi!

Yes, this is very serious business. We have crazy-birds called Chickens living in our yard. With the Chickens live Ratties. The Ratties like to live with the Chickens because there is much free food. And right now the Ratties are busy making babies, so their numbers are growing!

We have been on Rat Patrol all week.

Our total count this week is Five. Five Ratties! We're awesome.

Okay, so it is mostly Ojo who catches the Ratties, but I am the helper! I stand at one end, and Ojo at the other, and if the Rattie comes out on my end I chase it into Ojo's mouth. So as you can see I am still a very important part of this!

This morning, however, I was amazing! I was stupendous! I was clever and swift and fast!

This morning the Rattie came out on my side, and instead of chasing it into Ojo's mouth, I chomped down with my own mouth instead.

I caught the Rattie! Me! Cobi! (This is my first Rattie ever!)

I had it by the tail and the back leg. It was fighting very hard, and I did not know what to do, but I didn't let go. I hung on!

Then Ojo came over and grabbed it from me and finished the job. (Okay, so I admit that she is useful... sometimes.)

We are a team!

And this wasn't any Rattie, but a big fat Rattie at that! After that Ojo caught another one all on her own, but it was a little one. Mine was bigger. So there.

Aren't I amazing??

UPDATE: Ojo caught another Rattie! We are now up to THREE Ratties today, and six in total this week!

Chicken House Raid

Somewhat unfortunately, we share our Yard with the creatures called Chickens.

These are strange creatures. We are not allowed to eat them. We are not allowed to poke them with our noses. We are not allowed to chase them. (Although one chased ME once. That was very upsetting.)

The Chickens dig in the gardens (why are they allowed to dig when we are not?). They eat bugs and worms. They scratch and roll in the dirt.

Actually, Ojo digs and rolls in the dirt too. And she also eats bugs and worms. Maybe Ojo is a Chicken?

But the best part about the Chickens being out in the Yard is that their Chicken House is empty. Did you know that the Chicken House makes the yummy things called Eggs?

So we are going looking for Eggs.

Did you find any? Hurry up, Ojo! The Chickens will be back soon!

Bwak!

Rake and Chickens

Today I helped with the game called "Rake".

I'm sure biting and tugging and pulling on the Rake was very helpful for my person.

Meanwhile, Ojo got to know our Chickens. Our person wants her to be calm around Chickens and not chase. This is in case we meet Chickens anywhere on our adventures.

One of our Dog-friends chased some Chickens a few weeks ago and then the man named Farmer sent him over the rainbow bridge. This was very, very sad. So we both must learn not to chase the Chickens.

This is easy for me - I am a Very Good Dog you know. But it is much harder for Ojo. There was much meat for Ojo when she was calm around the Chickens. And also for when she played the "Come" game well, too.

What are the Chickens doing, you ask? They are having baths in the dirt. And keeping cool.



This was a fun afternoon. Ojo and I both love our Yard very much. Ojo doesn't smile often, but she's happy, I can tell.

Did you know...

...that the wonderful, yummy, amazing, tasty things called Eggs come from the Chickens?

I always thought it was the little-brown-hen-house that made the Eggs, but no - it's the Chickens!

You see, for a long time we had the little-brown-hen-house and the creatures called Chickens lived in it, and each morning the little-brown-hen-house made Eggs. But then one day the Chickens went away. And so did the Eggs. I watched and watched and watched little-brown-hen-house, but there were no Eggs. This was very sad.

Then, one day, new Chickens came! But no Eggs. We waited and waited and waited. I had just about given up. So had my people.

But then, one morning - an EGG! Now we get Eggs every day. And they come from the Chickens, not the little-brown-hen-house. Huh. Who knew?

Do you like Eggs too?

New friends - chickens!

We have new friends in our yard!



But let me tell you the story from the beginning...

Yesterday Truck dropped us off at The-Place-Called-Murray-and-Heathers. This is where the Meat Man lives. He gives me lots of yummy food, all the time! Like turkey skin and chicken and beef and shrimp and salmon...

What was I talking about again?

Oh right, the special place. It also has a wonderful Yard with grass to run on, rocks to climb, and forest to explore.

I was so busy exploring and playing and eating that I didn't notice when Momma C snuck out. When she came back, all the people went outside to look at Truck. At first I wasn't sure why - were we leaving? We hadn't even had Dinner yet!

But no, there was a strange and somewhat familiar smell in Truck.

Then we went back inside the house. There was Dinner, and then Dessert which had yogurt that I got to lick.

Then it was time to go home.

But something was wrong.

I am NOT a floor dog. I am a seat dog. But the people forgot that.

I had to sit on the floor because someone was in my seat! Four someones! Look at them!

Oh Momma B, really? This place is very squished. It's not fit for a Dog.

After a very long amount of time (fifteen whole minutes!) of having to sit in that terrible place, Truck finally got us home. The new friends were making quiet gwok-gwok noises. It was dark and they wanted to go to sleep, so the people tucked them into the little house.

This little house has stood empty for a long time, since the terrible-horrible thing happened to our last chicken family. Momma C has been sawing and hammering and cutting and doing all sorts of things to the little house for weeks. The people now call it "Chicken Fort Knox". What does that mean?

This morning Momma C opened the door and our new friends came out to explore...

I'm supposed to tell that our new friends are blue and black ameraucanas. Whatever that means. Also the people call them "pullets", which means that they are young and not making eggs yet. So I ask, what good are they if they don't make eggs?

But still, I watched them for a little bit. It's nice to have friends in our yard again!

This chicken is thinking hard. She's trying to decide if the people are nice, or scary.

Right now she thinks they're a little scary, but the people have been bringing the chickens lots of the yucky-for-birds-only-food called "scratch", and also mushrooms, blueberries and greens. Soon the chickens will be less-shy.

Only one thing is missing. Our old chickens had friends called ratties. These new chickens haven't made any rattie friends yet. I watched carefully today, just in case...

Oh, the people also want me to tell you that there will not be any ratties because the chickens now live in "Chicken Fort Knox". There's that word again. What are they talking about? Why no ratties?

Welcome home to our new chicken family!

While you're here, why don't you check out the blog of my friend Muppet? She's a Victoria Adoptables rescue dog just like me. Unlike me she likes to fetch, even though she's really, really tiny. She had a really bad life for a while, but now she has found some awesome people to take care of her. Now she gets to be a real lady! Go visit Muppet by clicking here!

Something very bad

Over the past two nights something very bad has been happening.

We had three chickens living in our yard. When the people got up yesterday morning, Brown Chicken was not alive any more. Her body had been mostly eaten and there were many feathers everywhere.

Brown Chicken wasn't very well so the people thought that maybe she had died and the ratties had tried to have chicken for dinner.

But I knew better. Something scary had happened. I wish I could have talked to the people and told them this.

Because last night it happened again.

This morning when the people got up one of the Black Chickens was not alive any more. The scary thing had tried to take her body away for eating but couldn't get it out of the chicken's little house and chicken run.

The people are very sad. The chicken named Crooked Toe is the only chicken left. Momma C is trying to find her a new home because Crooked Toe is sad and lonely without her friends. She is also very scared. She even got scared of me when I got close to her, and the chickens have never been scared of me because I am calm-good-dog around them.

Today Crooked Toe gets to hang out in Momma C's garden and eat all that she wants. Tonight she needs a new home.

I was scared too. I know that something very bad happened. My nose can smell it. This morning I didn't want to go near the chicken's house. I stood on the back porch with my tail down. And then I sat beside Momma C and kept her company while she was sad.

As I sat beside Momma C, we watched the little birds that live around our house. They were swooping into the chicken run and picking up the soft feathers that used to belong to Black Chicken. They carried the feathers away to their nests to help keep their baby birds warm.

This is Nature.

The Escape of Crooked Toe

Today the chicken named Crooked Toe escaped.

Momma C has asked the chickens to stay inside their little cage area (called "chicken run") right now because she has planted seeds in the gardens to make plants. If the chickens go in the garden they like to dig for worms, which makes the seeds upset and then they won't grow. So the chickens need to stay inside.

But today the chicken called Crooked Toe decided to go outside.

Crooked Toe had the whole yard to explore, but she didn't explore it. She stayed very close to her friends. At first I thought this was strange. Why wouldn't she want to see the whole yard? But then I understood, because I like to stay very close to my person. So Crooked Toe wanted to stay close to her pack too.

Also, today there was a rattie in our yard. I saw the rattie, and I decided that I would be like Rat Hunter Dogs Dixie and Brody. I bunched up my body, and then I jumped high into the air. But by the time my front paws landed, the rattie was already gone. This Rat Hunting thing is harder than I thought!

Put your own chickens away

Yes, there are chickens in the yard. Yes, I can see that they are digging up your garden. Yes, I know they are not supposed to be escaped when your plants are still small and fragile.

You want me to what? Herd the chickens? Make them go back in their little house?

I don't think so. I do not herd. You can put your own chickens away.

Eggs from chickens? Really?

My people told me that it's not the little brown house that makes the eggs. They say that it's actually the chickens.

I'm not sure if I believe this because I have never seen them take an egg out of a chicken, but they take them out of the little brown house all the time.

I will watch the chickens now. I am very hopeful. I love eggs.

Where might I find an egg?

My littlest person is excited because soon a large bunny will be bringing eggs to our house. I do not like large bunnies. They sound very scary. But I do like eggs, especially on my breakfast.

However, I am not sure it is a bunny who brings the eggs. I think it is actually the house that belongs to the chickens that makes the eggs.

The chickens don't need the eggs so we take them inside of our big house and sometimes they go on my breakfast.

Tonight I watched the chicken house, waiting for an egg to come.

But no luck. No eggs came.

Excuse me, but do you know where I might find an egg?

She's not telling...

New old games

Today I still feel tired from yesterday. Instead of going for a walk, we played in our yard. Momma B brought out some games that we haven't played in a long time.

This game is called WeavePoles. I need to go around the funny sticks in the right way to make the click sound happen. Then a treat happens.

The sticks are the colour yellow. I can see yellow really well, so it's easy for me to see the sticks. The hard part is figuring out how Momma B wants me to go around them. She showed me many times. I think I have it mostly figured out now.

Is this a jumping game?

I guess so!
I will jump for you, Momma B!

Momma B was very pleased with how I did today.

The chickens wanted to try WeavePoles too. They were not as good as me. No clicks. No treats.

Wind and an itch

Last night it was very windy. I cuddled into my crate-den, but the wind was only outside. Our house kept us warm. I wonder how the chickens did last night? Did their feathers blow in the wind, or did their little house keep them warm?

I have an itchy spot on my back. Momma C got out a special brush and scratched it for me. This felt very good.

Today was a forest day again. The rain has started.

Bones

This morning was mostly boring. I spent much time in the house, sleeping in my crate-den.

In the middle of the day, amazing smells started to come out of the oven.

Last time I smelled this I stayed very close and made lots of whining noises to let my person know that I could smell this wonderful thing. My person didn't like this. I got sent to another room. I didn't get to share any of this wonderful smell.

So this time I was very quiet. I was GoodDog. I lay in my crate. I waited. And it worked! The oven door opened. The things that were making the wonderful smell came out. They were BONES! Bones from a cow, cooked, just for me. My person gave me one. It was still warm. It was very wonderful.

Later in the day we went to our park. I met a new dog. She liked to chase a ball. She was very, very fast. I ran with her a few times, then I couldn't keep up any more. Maybe Vet was right. Maybe I have too much weight on me.

 

The day was very sunny. My person says we are lucky, that usually it is very rainy by now. I am happy that it is sunny. The chickens are happy too. They like to scratch in the ground, especially where Momma C has put hay.

Now I will go back to my bone.