Adventures with Wally

Next up in my menagerie is Wally.

Eight years ago, when Marin Humane sent me on an errand to the Berkeley animal shelter, little did I know I’d be meeting my next dog. Now don’t get me wrong; I had no intention of looking for nor finding another canine. But as fate would have it…

When I pulled up to the facility, a man passed by walking an adoption dog, a black dachshund-spaniel mix. I’m partial to spaniels so he caught my eye. But I told my eye to quit looking, reminding myself I have more than enough pets. Well, plain and simple, my eye refused to look away.

Continue reading

Savannah and Dash

So where were we? Ah, yes…continuing the countdown introducing you to my 4-legged menagerie and their various personality traits that either drive me nuts or endear me to them even more. We’ve finished with Skip, Oliver and Fat Jack. So let’s tackle Savannah and Dash next, shall we? (Yes, we shall).

Continue reading

Oliver and Fat Jack

Three weeks ago I blogged about my dog Skip’s quirks and endearing idiosyncrasies when I actually intended to mention all 10 of my animals…the good, the bad and the ugly. So much for brevity. I guess you can say it’s not one of my strong suits. So I’ll try again.

Let’s see…Oliver is my oldest pet. I don’t know exactly how old because he was found as an injured adult taking refuge in a dog house in someone’s backyard in early 2011. Marin Humane asked me to foster him. Thus I inherited my first failed foster.

Oliver with his neck injury
Continue reading

My Pets’ Abundant Quirks and Endearing Qualities

We all have our quirks and endearing qualities that help make us well- rounded individuals. For instance, one of my quirks is if I see something on the floor that one of my pets dragged in from the yard, even the tiniest twig, I have to stop and pick it up. No pretending it’s not there. So with 10 pets, my quirkiness is a daily occurrence inside my home. An endearing quality of mine? I’d say…

Turns out pets also have certain idiosyncrasies, as you well know if you have pets. I happen to find their quirks are much quirkier and their endearing qualities, well…downright endearing. Take Skip, my oldest mutt. He has so many quirks I could fill this entire post with them and still need a Chapter 2.

Continue reading

A Chatty Cat

(This blog was originally posted on October 6, 2013 and Oliver is still as chatty as ever.)

There’s a snake loose in my home. I know this because my chatty cat, Oliver, informed me. I heard him calling me from clear across the house. So naturally, I went to see what all the chatter was about.

Actually, Oliver brought me two snakes, but luckily I managed to grab one and rush it across the street to “Rodent Knoll.” That’s the area where I generally release the gifts my cat so graciously brings me. Math is not my strong suit but I believe that means one snake is still slithering aimlessly inside my house.

Rodent Knoll
Continue reading