Not with another animal this time (for the last 2 years, it’s been a pet a year with Bandit, then Jacoby), but with twins! The whole process of being pregnant so far (19 weeks today) has been an adventure, to say the least. Twins are an entirely different story from singletons, says everyone who’s ever been pregnant with twins. I can safely say, though, I haven’t gotten actual “morning” sickness, which I’ll be forever grateful for!
I’m mainly constantly and completely exhausted, which makes even walking <a href=”http://bunnyblab.com/”>Jacoby (our greyhound, whom joined our family/zoo December 2 of last year)</a> difficult with any regularity. I long for the days (and he does, too!) when I can walk with him again for 4 miles, but this time with 2 babies in tow! I miss those long, relaxed walks. We’ve been mainly walking just around the few blocks near our house lately. Paul walks him when he’s home, and I tend to walk him when he’s away, but I’ve been struggling to do so.
I finally hired a sophomore student from the high school across the street this week to be his dog walker, and she just loves him. Today was his second day with Jennifer, and he already got the idea that she will happily walk him around and bring him home. Yesterday, he didn’t know if she was going to dognap him or what, and made his walks very short because of his uncertainty. Today he got it and she commented about how happy he was on his walks. Which makes me happy, too, and grateful that I found Jennifer, who is a sweet, sweet girl who loves animals.
So my 40-week due date is technically April 14, but doctors almost never let mothers of twins go past 38 or 39 weeks, and twins are unpredictable in their delivery timetable, so we could meet our babies anytime after mid-February (which would be 32 weeks).
Jacoby likes to cuddle and nose-bump my baby bump and I think he’ll be an AMAZING big doggie brother to the babies. I think he’ll be one of those dogs who comes to cry at me (not bark, because barking’s beneath him! LOL) when the babies need something. And he’ll probably want to sleep in their nursery on occasion, too, just to make sure they’re okay.
Bandit will run from them and their crying at first, but she’ll eventually warm up to them when she realizes they won’t hurt her and they’re not going anywhere.
SweetPea will notice the crying, but won’t care much about anything else. She’ll get used to it, too, as she’s gotten used to so many big changes in her life so far. She’s a trooper, but aloof and kind of a loner, especially for a bunny (they’re usually very social animals). She likes to run around and sniff parts of Jacoby when he’s laying down, but mainly she chooses to hang out on her own. She’s friendly with both Jacoby and Bandit (definitely not afraid of either), but I wouldn’t say she’s buddies with them. She likes them, but doesn’t cuddle with them. That’s just her personality.
I’m happy if Jacoby comes when I ask him to. But this cat could not only teach him things, now I’m starting to think maybe Bandit’s been sleeping on the job, too!
My friend and HRC cohort Marlene Wilhelm visited Scot Haney on WFSB’s Better Connecticut on April 1, 2010 on behalf of The House Rabbit Connection. We discussed why parents should not include rabbits in Easter baskets. Rabbits can live 14 years and potential owners should be prepared for taking care of the entire lifespan of the pet.
Beckett was a frisky bunny with his new stuffed animal bunny, but this is exactly why you should fix your bunnies! HRC spays and neuters every rabbit before we adopt them out.
Marlene did most of the talking. I was trying to keep Beckett from misbehaving too much, and changing the rating of Better Connecticut from G to XXX!
And so does HRC! Bunnies are given as kids in Easter baskets, but then quickly forgotten and abandoned. The cycle makes the life of rabbit rescues very difficult.
Bunnies are cute, but they’re long-term commitments. They make great pets, but they require lots of care and devotion on the part of their humans.
Please don’t get a bunny unless you’ve done the research necessary. And please consider adopting a bunny, not buying one!
So I’ve had one bunny rubber stamp that I’ve had for maybe 8 years, but — how wonderful is the Internet?! — there’s a great store on eBay that I just found called Rubber Hedgehog and it’s got all sorts of wonderful animal stamps. If you do any kind of crafting (and stamping is about the easiest craft you can take up if you’re intimidated), go there and get lots of great supplies!
From April 23-25, greyhounds and their owners will take over Gettysburg, PA and most of the hotels in town for an annual gathering called Greyhounds in Gettysburg. And we’ve registered (you only have a few days left — registration closes 4/1) and booked our room at the Comfort Inn in town.
Highlights of the schedule (in addition to all the vendors slated to display) are ghost tours at night, a singing and dancing music and comedy greyhound review, greyhound costume contests, parades, a greyt speed run, a fun run for greys, and a blessing of the hounds. Check out the pix of years past!
We can’t wait to meet new friends, buy a nice springtime martingale collar, and play with other greyhound lovers and their pups! We’ll post pictures after the event.
Did you know it’s illegal for cats in International Falls, Minnesota, to chase dogs up telephone poles. Now, I ask ya, when’s the last time you saw a dog up a telephone pole?! Check out Springtime Inc.’s list of ridiculous animal laws. Come for the humor, stay for the vitamins!
And try not to think of the actual stories that prompted lawmakers in these towns to develop these laws to begin with!
So I just played the video in the last post of Jacoby rooing and he was cocking his head all funny when his Daddy was rooing, then when he heard me chime in and himself start to howl, he rooed right along with the music.
One of the unexpected joys of having a greyhound is having him sing to me. Sometimes it turns into barking, but it’s mainly singing. And I think it’s lovely!
Bandit and SweetPea had a very normal Valentine’s Day. Bandit got a few extra cuddles, but all was normal on the kitty and bunny front.
Fonya, John Boy and Jacoby take a break
Jacoby, on the other hand, had a very busy day with me. First, we went to our first Greyt Fun meetup. I thought that maybe it would just be he and I walking in Callahan State Park, as Jini had told me she may not be able to come with Fonya (who I deemed Jacoby’s Valentine). But it turns out that Karen and Mitch showed up unexpectedly (LOVE when that happens!), so Jacoby met their John Boy and it turned out to be a party! John Boy had run 100 races (won 15 of them) and just retired in November ‘09, so he’s a newbie to the spoiled rotten lifestyle, but apparently taking to it very well.
So we walked in Callahan for about an hour and we talked about our greyhounds, which was a lot of fun. John Boy and Jacoby, both being boys, had a peeing contest to see who could pee on the most things. I’m not sure who won, but they had fun competing!
After our walk, it was off to some pet stores in Framingham/Natick to post some flyers advertising our new playgroup. PetSmart actually didn’t have any Community Bulletin board, but PetCo and Pet World both did and were very nice about me pinning a bunch of flyers up.
So that was a lot of jumping in and out of the back of my Highlander. But also a lot of opportunities for Jacoby to pee on things right outside the store, where countless other dogs have peed before. So that was fun for him.
Then we were going to go home, but on the way we passed right by Butter Worth Park, where Paul had placed a geocache. I thought it was a great opportunity to check on the dryness/winter steadfastness of said cache, so we parked and headed across the park to the trees, Moto Droid in hand, GPSr and camera hanging from my belt loops. I was so geeked out; Steve Ballmer would have been impressed.
We’re almost to the trees when an unleashed black lab comes running at full tilt up to Jacoby (unhindered by the weak “come back here” by his people) and slams on the brakes a few feet away. Jacoby freezes, trying to instill calm in this frantic dog. So sniff sniff happens. Labby gets all up in my boy’s junk, but Jacoby’s okay with that. Then out of nowhere, the lab decides to (are you sitting down?) mount Jacoby, which is frankly tough, because the lab isn’t a huge dog and Jacoby kinda is. The instant this happens, my marshmallow of a 76-pound dog turns surprisingly fierce and I don’t even have time to get in the way before Jacoby’s growled and warning-snapped his way out of trouble. This is the second time I’ve ever heard Jacoby growl (I got a growl from him once for taking his Greenie away in mid-chew, but I body blocked him and cut that right out) and first I’ve seen him snap at anything.
I was all tuckered out after my big day!
I was so proud of my boy. He really handled it beautifully. He was nice until it was clear Labby wasn’t going to be, then he wouldn’t take any guff, dog-style. Needless to say, Labby ran back to his family. I praised Jacoby all the way to the cache, which was probably another 25 yards or so. Jacoby certainly kept an eye on where that dog was the whole time we were in the park. Labby actually ran at us again when we were on our way to the car, but I positioned myself between the two dogs, and Labby decided about 20 feet away to make a circle and run back to safety. I bet he was thinking, “If the dog is that mean and the person praises him, how mean must the person be?!”
So good dog owners and bad, Jacoby had seen them all on Sunday. And he had enough excitement for a whole week. “Home” sounded like a really good destination when we got back in the car. Alas, he is a dog. So the next time I get my keys and tell him he’s going somewhere with me, he’ll be just as excited. God love canines and their endless sense of adventure!
This podcast truly does season well. I just ran the numbers from the BunnyBlab Podcast series and here’s the latest (consider that most of these are 3 1/2 years old, but the content still resonates and educates).
Episode
Downloads
1: What kinds of homes are best for bunnies?
4561
2: How much does keeping a bunny cost?
6829
3: So you’ve decided… now what? Where to get, etc.
