Pets – Unfiltered Thoughts

Tiny Weekend

It’s time for another Getaway. After binging on Tiny House Hunters (“I need a 100 square foot house with a tub, a chef’s kitchen and a tanning bed”), Virginia had declared she would never live in one and I had declared I thought it was a good idea. Then, we realized we could never own a tiny house because we don’t have any family or friends close by where we could mooch off their land, power and water.

So, much like our earlier RV weekend experiment, we decided to rent one. Amazingly, there are a number of places to rent a tiny house around the Metroplex.

We eventually chose Getaway Dallas which is in LaRue – a few minutes from Athens, in the Piney Woods. So, a tiny house with the possibility of snakes and wild boars. I like Getaway because they have locations all over the place, so if this works, we can travel around for long weekends – and we could visit the Ohio location with the grandkids (one at a time, I would think) to give them a sense of adventure. For a flat fee, you can bring a dog. So, this will be another vacation for Rocky. As a bonus, I’ve always meant to visit Athens. (We’ve been to Paris and Italy, so we need to visit Athens and Dublin. European Vacation without ever leaving the State.)

We were going to do Memorial Day weekend, but they were sold out (you snooze, you lose), so it will be a couple of weeks afterwards. This should be interesting.

Feed the Neighborhood

“Let’s feed the birds”, she said.
“They all look cold and hungry.”
This meant more than day-old bread.
This became an industry.

The poles went up across the lawn.
They held the many feeders.
Different birds were ever drawn.
Some of them were breeders.

Birds cannot a secret keep.
Someone told the squirrels.
We watched the varmints learn to leap,
To feed based on the bird’s referrals.

The squirrels told a rabbit.
Bunny Mom brought her babies.
Now, there were holes in the lawn.
I hope they don’t have rabies.

The bunny attracted a cat.
Cats don’t want to eat seeds.
The cat will kill little bunnies.
One of some very evil deeds.

The cat never came back,
After the bunnies fled the nest.
It really was a shame it left,
Since rats were our next guests.

Squirrels, bunnies, cats, rats.
All because we fed the birds.
I think we’ll put the food away.
You can mark my words.

Rats

This Spring, there are rats.
They run around my yard.
I know that I can’t chase them.
It’s really, really hard.

Mom called some guy.
He put little boxes around.
I don’t know what’s in them.
They don’t make a sound.

I want to taste the boxes.
I think they have some treats.
Dad won’t let me sniff them.
That means it may be sweets.

There’s a rat on the porch.
I think he’s playing dead.
I thought he tasted funny,
When I crunched his little head.

Dad made me drop the rat.
“Leave it!”, he squawks.
I think the rat smelled funny.
He smelled like the little box.

Dog Messaging

Just leave me a message.

Under the tree,
I smell pee,
I think it’s me.

In the morning dew,
I smell poo,
I think that’s you.

Rocky’s Saga

Ten year ago today, Rockford J Gilhooly ran away from home and met a car. Then, he met us.

Rocky went for a walk one day.
A perfect time to run and play.

He went out for adventure all alone.
He decided to run away from home.

Rocky had never run so far.
He never looked up to see the car.

He lay in the road a broken pet.
A stranger took him to the vet.

The doctor said, “He’s really ill.”
Crazy Dog Lady said, “Send us the bill!”

A doctor helped him through the pain.
The doctor said, “He’ll never run again.”

He recovered with a new Mom and Dad.
He thought his new life wasn’t bad.

Nothing in his new world was the same.
He even found he had a different name.

Rocky found that running really wasn’t hard,
If there are squirrels to chase across the yard.

Rocky’s been at home for ten years now.
He’s spoiled as much as Dad will allow.

His painful crash had a happy end.
Broken bones will sometimes mend.

All brave adventurers will roam.
Sometimes they find their perfect home.

You never know whom you will meet.
But look both ways when you cross the street.

Squirrel Life

Hey! We’re going up the fence!
No! We’re going down!
Wait! Is that a nut?
Up the tree! Hurry!
Run the fence!
Let’s go in the yard.
DOG!
Up the fence!

Hoping

I was changing the dogs’ water last night.
Carefully washing out the bowl.
I realized that Rocky never drinks from it.
He uses the one in the kitchen.
There is also water in his food.
Katie used the bowl I washed.
She crossed the bridge this month.
Maybe if I washed her water bowl,
She would come back.

A Bit of Concern

Death and destruction from a very small dog.

A small crunchy snake.
A multitude of birds.
Three little rats.
A baby bunny.
My Chihuahua has killed them all.

So, now, I wonder.
When he leans over to lick me,
Is is affection? love? respect?
Or measuring me for a death shake ?

A Marriage in Dogs

In my wedding vows, my wife insisted that I promise to have a dog. “A” dog. Over the years, I have kept that promise many times over. The chart doesn’t even mention Max, who was with us such a short time, he didn’t make it over an anniversary.

I will have to update this chart each year. I thought about it after I had to update the spreadsheet I have because Katie left us the day before my birthday in 2022. When you need a spreadsheet to track your pets, you have kept the promise to have “a dog.”

It was an interesting project building the spreadsheet, because most of the past twenty-two years is a blur, and all the dogs seemed to be here at once. I really couldn’t tell who knew whom or shared the house. So, I put together a spreadsheet with approximate birth dates (i.e. the date we told the pharmacy for their prescriptions), the date they actually joined the household, and the date they crossed the bridge. I then added a function to show who was in residence on any given date. That’s how I built this table.

We know Bubba’s actual birthdate because he was a wedding gift. We know Flower’s because my Mom-in-law got her from a breeder. Yes, mistakes were made. All the rest are rescues, so birthdates were approximate. Flower was actually older than Bubba, but she didn’t move in to the house until my mother-in-law moved in with us.

Anniversary	Bubba Elvis Gilhooly	Ripley J. Gilhooly	Sparkplug Ulysses Gilhooly	Flower “Pot” Pesce	Murphy James Gilhooly	Kaitlin Renee Gilhooly	Rockford J. Gilhooly
2/11/2000 (Wedding)
2/11/2001	Bubba
2/11/2002	Bubba	Ripley	Sparky
2/11/2003	Bubba	Ripley	Sparky	Flower
2/11/2004	Bubba	Ripley	Sparky	Flower
2/11/2005	Bubba	Ripley	Sparky	Flower
2/11/2006	Bubba	Ripley		Flower
2/11/2007	Bubba	Ripley		Flower	Murphy	Katie
2/11/2008	Bubba	Ripley		Flower	Murphy	Katie
2/11/2009	Bubba	Ripley		Flower	Murphy	Katie
2/11/2010	Bubba	Ripley		Flower	Murphy	Katie
2/11/2011	Bubba	Ripley		Flower	Murphy	Katie
2/11/2012		Ripley		Flower	Murphy	Katie
2/11/2013		Ripley		Flower	Murphy	Katie	Rocky
2/11/2014		Ripley			Murphy	Katie	Rocky
2/11/2015		Ripley			Murphy	Katie	Rocky
2/11/2016		Ripley			Murphy	Katie	Rocky
2/11/2017					Murphy	Katie	Rocky
2/11/2018					Murphy	Katie	Rocky
2/11/2019					Murphy	Katie	Rocky
2/11/2020						Katie	Rocky
2/11/2021						Katie	Rocky
2/11/2022						Katie	Rocky

Katie

I am not a Princess.
I am a Queen, Dammit.
Hear me roar.

Where is my food?
Where are my subjects?
Where are my snacks?

I am waiting.
Do you not hear me?
I can be louder.

This is my castle.
Quake before me.
But first, snacks.

RIP Kaitlin Renee (2006-2022)