Maximus Spittimus ~ Talkie Tuesday

This week we have a different kind of Talkie Tuesday.  Maximus Spittimus has deemed to tell us his story.

I, The Emporer of The Universe and all things and whatsits and bits that are mine as all bits are, was born and hissed and spat at life, the universe and everything.

One day a Two Legs came and took me from my brother and sister. My mum hissed and spittedimuss and bit him on the leg. I hissed and spittedmuss and bit him on the hand. My brother and sister ran away - but then again...they weren't meimuss.

I was put in a cage in the Two Legs houseimuss and hissed and spat - and ate food and slept but only when The Two Legs wasn't lookingimuss.

The Two Legs said I was 'Feral'. I has no idea what that means so it must mean I am specialimuss.

When I was still little - but bigger than the little I was - the Two Legs lets me out of cage and I hissed and spits at other cats so they would knowimuss I was THE CAT.

The other cats accepted me as their leader - except when they hit me on the headimuss and batted me around the floorimuss and had the audacity to suggest I was little and should know my placeimuss!!!

I knows my placeimuss!!!!

I is Maximus Spittimus!!!! The Emporer Maximus Spittimus!!!! The reason for the universe and ALL things existing!!!

My DJ advised me and guided me and then he diedimuss....I was shocked!!! My advisor left me...but not in my headimuss!!!

DJ was oldimuss...he was 21 years oldimuss!!! That is not old that is ancients!!!

DJ told me I was destined to rule the universe...I had no idea what the universe was but I is quite hppy to rule it!!!

So I does.

I rules the universe. The Maximus Spittimus Universe. The only universe. It is THE ONE UNIVERSE as I is THE ONE AND ONLY MAXIMUS SPITTIMUS.

When DJ went to GREAT CAT, Scampi - who is 21 years old too....21????? That is not old...that is waaaaaay beyond old - said "MAXIMUS! You is great cat and you will rule all the universe!" - well Scampi maybe old and senile and daft as a brush but he knows things!!!! He knows I is in chargeimuss!!!

I as Centurions watching over me.

SCAMPI THE WISE.....

BUMBLE THE TEACHER....

STEALTH BOMBER THE HUNTER....

...and now I as Centurions around the world watching over me.

I is here immortal!!! I is here foreverimuss!!!!

I rules foreverimuss!!!...and I will be kind to ALL.....well...most all....

Two Legs who feed me are immortalimuss!!!.....Centurions who join me are immortalimuss!!!!.....even Wabbits and Dogs and Giraffes (what is Giraffe?) and Meerkats....they has Kat in their name so...er....Kat...Cat....oh I doesn't know....my Centurions protectimuss ME!!!!!

I is ONE. I is only ONE year old and I is THE ONLY ONE.

The only and immortal ruler of the universe MAXIMUS SPITTIMUS.

 ...and I has spokens.

You is the honourimuss of my speakings

Four Dinners
Aide de Camp
Maximus Spittimus

Thank you to Four Dinners & Maximus Spittimus for doing this Talkie Tuesday!

Huh?

While staying with friends in Costa Rica I had the chance to watch a family interacting with their 7 month old terrier mix pup. Duke (unfortunately pronounced ‘Dookie’ in Spanish) was everything you’d want in a dog; engaging, playful, responsive, friendly and cute to beat the band, a classic little scruffy Disney character.

My Spanish is limited and when the father of the family began to order Duke around (to show me his trick of rolling over) I realized that both Duke and I were in the same boat, neither of us understood what he was saying. I watched Duke as he tried his best, dropping to his belly, rolling onto his back, but even as the commanding voice got louder and the hand gestures accompanying it grew bigger and more expansive, Duke stayed belly up, unsure what his next move should be. Finally when the ‘roll over’ never occurred dad waved it off with a laugh and made a disparaging remark about the dog’s intelligence.

This experience highlighted for me the challenges dogs face in trying to learn what the heck we want from them. I suspect in Duke’s case he figured out what made the loud, commanding voices stop and did that. Perhaps he had done complete rollovers for his owner, but with the pressure on both dog and owner to perform, staying in a classic ‘please don’t hurt me’ position seemed the safest choice for little Duke, especially if he did not completely understand which behavior he was rewarded for (with the cessation of shouting) in the past.

The translation challenge extended to my own interpretation of Duke’s behavior. I cut up small pieces of cheese and began to teach Duke to spin. In between spins Duke sunk into a ‘down’. I thought that perhaps this was a behavior he had been reinforced for in the past and he used it as a default. I began to reinforce a ‘stand’ position, but inevitably Duke slipped into a ‘down’. I joked to his owner that he was a lazy boy and we shared a laugh about that until it occurred to me that indeed Duke was slipping down.

The floors in the house, typical to many homes in Costa Rica, has ceramic tile floors. They were so clean and shiny that on several occasions I did a double take, thinking they were wet. When I got Duke spinning again I kept an eye on his feet and could see that when he wasn’t lying down his furry paws would slide on the floor. Whether standing or sitting he constantly had to adjust his footing to keep his feet under him. When he was sitting his front paws gradually slid forward and rather than fight gravity he simply went with it and ended up in a ‘down’.

How often do we get frustrated with our dogs for not doing what we ask when they have no idea of what we want or when physical constraints prevent them from do it? I’ll guess that it’s more common than dogs not doing what we ask when they understand and are fully capable of performing a behavior, but choose to blow us off. Duke was lucky, the only punishment he received for noncompliance was some good natured name calling. And those were words I did understand in Spanish!

Debbie Jacobs is the author of A Guide to Living & Working with a Fearful Dog and the creator of the fearfuldogs.com website.

A Bowl Full Of Noodles ~ Featured Blogger

This week our featured blogger is Noodles from A Bowl Full Of Noodles.

Noodles is a 1 year old fawn pug with a sense of adventure and fun. She lives in Silicon Valley (CA) in a house with 6 humans, 1 cat, and 2 birds. She has two mommys – mother and daughter – who co-write the blog.

Who could resist that face!

Noodles loves the San Jose Sharks, too!

Some of Noodles favorite posts are poems:

A great poem, Hello Night.

Noodles ponders her beauty in Beauty Is As Beauty Does.

And a third great post, What's Fallin.

Please take some time out of your week to visit Noodles.

If you're interested in being a Pet Blogs United Featured Blogger, you can contact us at PBU at comcast dot net.

Doggie Dilemma Update

First we want to thank all of you for caring so much about our little pit bull friend.  You guys are the best and gave us lots of great advice.

I haven't seen the dog since Wednesday, but his family is home.  I have learned that there have been some neighbors that have called our township, where pit bulls are illegal, and I think that they may have come and removed him from the home.

That's just a guess and I will certainly let you know if he comes back and what happens if he does.

What I do know is that if I call my township, the dog will be removed and destroyed, which I think may be a better fate for him than a life of abuse, as horrible as that is for any of us to say.  PBU reader Caren Gittleman from Cat Chat with Caren & Cody lives in my area and has given me lots of great contacts that I will follow up on if this pup shows up at his abusive home again.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all the PBU readers who weighed in on this rough situation.  We will keep you updated.

Friendly Friday #7

<a href=" http://petblogsunited.blogspot.com/2010/11/friendly-friday-5.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z310/phoerauf/PBU/button2-2-3.png" /></a><br /> 
Hello friends!  Welcome to Pet Blog United's Friendly Friday Blog Hop.

On Friendly Friday you can copy and paste the code above into a post about another pet blog that you love and introduce us all to your friend.  It's a way for all of us to get to know each other & to be able to make even more great fuzzy friends.

Please add the link of your actual Friendly Friday post to Mr. Linky as opposed to the link for your blog's home page.  We also ask that you use the button above to link back to Pet Blogs United, so you're friends can check us out.

It's a true Blog Hop again this week, so you can copy & paste this linky into your post too!

If you have any questions about participating in Friendly Friday send us an e-mail and we'll get back to you soon.

A Doggie Dilemma, We Need Your Advice

There is a problem with a dog in my neighborhood.  This dog has been beaten by his people on more than one occasion that I have seen.  He wears a very large & powerful shock collar and I have seen him dropped to the ground after being zapped.  They walk him off leash & when he goes too far they just shock him or beat him.  Currently he is tied outside without shelter in 32 degree weather & all of this breaks my heart.

Here is the view of him today from my window.

Here's my problem.  This dog is a pit-bull.  Here in Oakland County, Michigan we have BSL or Breed Specific Legislation.  If I call the authorites this dog will be destroyed.  I sit and watch this poor dog being abused feeling like there is no way I can help him.

Talking to the owners is not an option.  I have tried and been cursed out and had them threaten harm to Oskar, these are not reasonable or responsible people.

Look at how cute he is.  The day this picture was taken he was able to go into the garage for some shelter.  Does anyone have any advice for me?  It just seems like a lose-lose situation to me, any input is appreciated.

Talkie Tuesday with A Giveaway ~ Author Laurel Hunt

This week for Talkie Tuesday we are thrilled to feature Laurel Hunt, author of Angel Pawprints: Reflections on Loving & Losing a Canine Companion and Angel Whiskers: Reflections on Loving & Losing a feline conpanion, and the blog Bark, Wag, Love.  Laurel has been kind enough to offer one Pet Blogs United reader a copy of Angel Pawprints.  Entry information will be at the end of the post.

On your website, you say that your personal mission is to further understanding of the human-animal bond. Tell us more about that, and how that came to be your mission.

I think my interest in the human-animal bond began when I was first impacted by pet loss. I had two dogs die of cancer within weeks of each other. The first dog, Marmaduke, was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma, which is an aggressive cancer of the blood vessels, but with the help of an oncology veterinarian, she gained several months of good quality life. During that time as her caregiver, I bonded very closely with her. When she died, I had no previous experience with the loss of a close loved one, and I was devastated. Then just a few weeks later, one of our other dogs, Molly, was also diagnosed with an abdominal tumor, and she died from surgical complications. So it was a double whammy.

I learned quickly that people do not talk about pet loss and grief, and at the time (early 1990s) there were few resources available to help. My boss actually said to me, “You spent a lot of money on that dog!”

Canine Cancer: What You Need To Know

7 Things You Need to Know about Canine Cancer

1.) Cancer is the cause of nearly half the deaths of older dogs (10 years and up), according to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).

2.) Early detection is vital. You should routinely examine your dog for any physical or behavioral abnormalities and bring your dog in for regular veterinary exams. Things to look out for include: abnormal swellings, lumps under armpits and under the jaw, sores that won’t heal, foul breath, weight loss/poor appetite/difficulty eating, difficulty breathing, or bleeding/unusual discharge from any orifice on your dog’s body.

The Life & Times Of Dozer & Coop ~ Featured Blogger

This week we want to tell you about Dozer & Coop.

Dozer is a 6 year old Pembroke Welsh Corgi that was adopted from the paper.  Cooper is a 13 year old American Cocker Spaniel that was adopted from the Humane Society when he was 9 years old.  Dottie was a 14 year old Cardigan Welsh Corgi that was adopted when she was 12 years old. She went to the Bridge this summer.



Dottie

Dozer believes the world revolves around him and that if it is edible, it should be on his plate. He lives to play and be the center of attention. He is impatient, loud and the killer of all stuffed toys in the house. We love him to pieces.

Cooper is very calm, gentle and quiet. He writes Haikus in his spare time and always bows and says "Namaste" (I honor the Spirit in you which is also in me) to everyone he meets. His patience with his younger brother is astounding but we believe it is because Coop was so badly abused in his previous homes (he was beaten and had his jaw broken). Cooper has a very old soul and is so thankful for his home with us that he makes us feel undeserving of his constant thanks.

Here are three of their favorite posts:

A Fairy Tale From Dozer

Bad Cooper (Hee Hee), by Dozer

No Camping This Weekend

Dozer & Coop are super cool, so try to take a minute this week to stop by & say hello!

Friendly Friday #6

<a href=" http://petblogsunited.blogspot.com/2010/11/friendly-friday-5.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z310/phoerauf/PBU/button2-2-3.png" /></a><br /> 
Hello friends!  Welcome to Pet Blog United's Friendly Friday Blog Hop.

On Friendly Friday you can copy and paste the code above into a post about another pet blog that you love and introduce us all to your friend.  It's a way for all of us to get to know each other & to be able to make even more great fuzzy friends.

Please add the link of your actual Friendly Friday post to Mr. Linky as opposed to the link for your blog's home page.  We also ask that you use the button above to link back to Pet Blogs United, so you're friends can check us out.

It's a true Blog Hop again this week, so you can copy & paste this linky into your post too!

If you have any questions about participating in Friendly Friday send us an e-mail and we'll get back to you soon.

Frankie Furter Price ~ Talkie Tuesday

The week for Talky Tuesday we have the privilege of talking to the Mayor of Blogville, Frankie Furter Price, from Frankly Speaking.

Frankie, why don’t you give our readers a little background information about yourself and your family?

  Well, I live with my mom and dad.  They are both Be-Tired so that they are home all day EVERY day with me.   I am an Only Dawg.    I do have two cussins, Sarge and Francine.   They are kinda… Different… if you get my drift.  Hehehe

  I live way out in the country on 2 acres.  I have a garden and a four-wheeler for fun.   I have lots of chipmunks (ground squirrels) and some rabbits and now and then a REAL Squirrel.   I LOVE to Chase all of them.   I would never really hurt one though.

Frankie doesn't hurt the bunnies

  I’m just sayin’.   Now the Ground MOLES are a different story.. They are really bad and dig holes that my dad’s furend John the Deer keeps running into.  THOSE guys Gotta GO and I’m the guy to get em.  I call it Gwalk A Moley.   That is my favorite Frankie Funny beclaws I KNOW that is not how the green food kind of gwalk a moley is spelled.  Hehehe   



Bye-bye mole



You know you are one of the most admired dogs in the pet blogging community, for being lucky enough to be married to two of the most beautiful ladies, Ruby & Penny.  Can you tell us a little about your love story and share some pictures of your wedding?

Frankie & his wives

    Of course you know that I am married to the bestest and mostest beautiful dachshund wimmen in ALL of Blogville.  Ruby and Penny make me soooooo happy.  When we met Penny was waaaaay too young to think of Love and stuffs so we all three just kind of waited around until she “grew up” and I matured enough to take on the responsibility of being married.   You know I just could not choose one of the girrrrls over the other.   They are both so special.   I just didn’t know what to do so… being as how we are DAWGS and NOT silly two leggers… I did a little research and found that we dawgs had always lived in peaceful and loving Packs so it was all right for the three of us to share our lives.  I can tell you one thingy for sure… the day that I chose to pawpose to them… ON MY BLOG… I was one scared pooch.   I had no idea what they might be going to say.   Whew.. I took a real chance with that.  

  Then when I chose to go into Pawlitics..  they were sooooo supportive of me and my Successful bid for Mayor of Blogville.   They are now the First Ladies of Blogville.  They have several projects that they are going to be involved in.   Like Safety and stuffs like that.   I think Nursing and stuffs are in their blood. 

You’re working on a couple of events for this upcoming holiday season, would you tell us about those?

    I am going to host the Thanksgiving Day Post project called …   What you want to buy your MOM & (or) Dad for Christmas.. AND  WHY  …   I have kind of shortened it to Presssies for your Parents.    I am asking that everybuddy just write a list of the thingys that they would love to give their peeps and then tell WHY that is for each thingy.  We will all be able to read those on each other’s blogs… so it’ll take a few days to do all that reading which makes it nice not to have to do a post on “Black Friday” and stuff.

    On the SAME DAY… Minna Krebs is hostessing… Tell us your ADOPTION STORY.  And the bestest pawt is… you can put BOTH thingys in ONE Post.   Easy Peasy.  I did the Adoption Story thingy Last Thanksgiving and it was grrrrreat.   Everybuddy told wonderful stories and even said how THANKFUL they were to have been adopted by their peeps… even if our peeps DO give us some grief at times.    Now there are ALWAYS New dawgs moving into Blogville and they will not have heard our adoption stories before.  Some of us Did hear them last year… butt guess what???   They are stories WELL Worth hearing about 87 times. 

   So those are the two holiday thingys that are going on.   I really appreciate Minna Krebs for doing the Adoption Thingy. 

You’ve recently begun a blogging etiquette column with the lovely Puddles, how is that going?

    Oh My Dawgness…   that thingy just took off like a Rabbit.   We have had some of the most Interesting and Very much Needed questions asked.   It is hard work butt Puddles is the bestest Pawtner and she really does the hardest pawts.  

Anything else you want to share with our readers?

  I would like to say that I really ENJOY everybuddy in Blogville.   They are the bestest furends and neighbors in the world.   They are funny and bright and loving and caring and I am soooooo happy to be a very small pawt of the community.  

    I think it is very much sad that there isn’t something like Blogville out there for Two Leggers.   Those poor thingys Need what WE have.   I think their lives would be much lighter and brighter.   Too bad for Them. 

We'd like to thank Frankie for being the subject of our second Talkie Tuesday.  If you're interested in being featured on Talkie Tuesday, send us an e-mail at PBU at comcast dot net.

The Princess Daisy of Alberni ~ Guest Post!

Hello!  My name is Daisy.  Actually, my human calls me "The Princess Daisy of Alberni".  I'm honoured to have been invited to write a guest post here at PBU.

I wasn't always a Princess.  For the first eight and a half years of my life I lived in a puppy mill where I became one of the dogs used for breeding.  Every time I came into heat I was impregnated.  I tried to protect my puppies and be a good mom for them, but couldn't keep them from being taken away much too soon.  I hope they had happy lives.

Daisy after being rescued, treated & cleaned up

A treat is in the ball!

A beautiful Dai

My life in the mill was cruel.  I never seemed to have enough to eat and would have loved a nice warm bath and some love from the people.  I guess I was lucky that I wasn't kept in a cage all my life like some of the places I've heard about.  I shared a big barn with a lot of other dogs so always had to be on my guard not to be attacked - especially when I was able to grab some food.  I withdrew deep into myself to survive the terror and pain.

This is the kind of place most of those cute puppies you see in pet stores come from.

One day, some different people came for me.  They took me to a vet, (which was scarey) and a new home (which was scarey) and finally to my forever home (which was scarey) where I've been since March of 2008.  I was so scared all the time I couldn't stop shaking or hiding.  When I got to my forever home I ran under the car and wouldn't come out.  For the first week I ran every time I saw this new human.  I wouldn't eat or drink and just cringed in the corner waiting to see what new pain would come.

I felt so much better when I was invisible,  so my human bought me a crate where I could make a little refuge.  It even had a nice soft bed in it.  Eventually I would grab some kibble and run to my cave for safety.   My human said it seemed like an eternity before I started eating from my bowl and acting more confident.

All the dogs my human lived with before were "rescues",  but hadn't been abused.  So she had a new challenge in me!  One of the things suggested to her was to keep a journal.  That would help when she got discouraged.  She decided to keep the journal as a blog so my rescuers at fureverafter.net could also keep track of me.  They are a group of volunteers who work really hard to help us dogs in troubling circumstance.  They are my angels and heroes.  You can link to them from my blog which is at: http://fur-licity.blogspot.com/.

It'll soon be three years since I came to my forever home.  I have never barked but my human says that just fine with her!  When there are monsters in the night I stand protectively over her like I did with my puppies.  I'm just learning to play and starting to enjoy people touching me.  I've discovered that people are also a source of treats and I don't have to hide when I get one.  I love being chauffeured around in my car but don't like getting out - especially in unfamiliar places.  And I hate loud noise.

The people at Furever After do a really good job matching people with dogs. My human and I are made for each other. We both like to live quietly, and both have a gentle side.  We both like to have fun too.  We are learning together that fear can cripple both dogs and people and we have to hold our tails high over our backs.

Thank you for letting me share some of my story with you.  I hope it will convince you not to buy a puppy at a pet store, and to carefully screen people selling puppies in other places like newspapers and internet ads.  There are lots of wonderful dogs like myself  waiting in shelters for someone like you to come and give us a good home.  There are also good breeders who act respectfully and responsibly.  For more information visit  http://tinyurl.com/2elhsrw

Two Special Wires Worldwide Movement

Two Special Wires

Let's all join in!

Katnip Lounge ~ Featured Blogger

This week our featured blogger is Katnip Lounge.

We are twelve Cats living in Las Vegas...two of us are originally from Illinois...and the rest of us gradually showed up at Mommy & Daddy's door.  OK, some of us were adopted at the vet's office...but we are all "dumped" Cats at one (low) point in our lives.

Mommy, take it from here!

The Baby is a diva and escapes outdoors every chance she gets.  Her full name includes the "The"...she's pretty picky!  Her nickname is Old grizzled Whitey, which sort of says it all.

The Baby

Johnson is The Baby's nemesis.  He wants to eat her.  However, what he has in bulk (20#) he lacks in brains, so The Baby outwits him nearly every time.  Johnny's also a little nearsighted and a lot clumsy, poor guy.

Johnson

The feral twins, CC & Scouty, love Johnson.  They follow him around and Scouty even allows Johnny to (AAAACK!) hump him.  Scouty does Not Allow humans to touch him, though his twin CC is a love sponge and especially enjoys a good butt spanking.



CC



Scouty

Maui is Johnny's rasslin' partner of choice...they are well matched in size but Maui is much trimmer.  Maui is truly a crazypants Cat, if he's startled he'll go three feet straight up, flip, and take off running sideways.  And sometimes he does this when he isn't startled!

Maui

Rupert, the Thin Grey Duke, is Maui's whipping boy.  Poor Rupert has to watch out for Maui, but mostly the persecution is in his head.  Maui's bored with the game after two years.  Rupert is a Mommy's boy and he's happiest sitting next to his Mom and chittering away.

Rupert

Grayce is our other gray cat.  She had bladder stones and a change of diet last March...she lost 3# and she is an entirely NEW cat!  She's an instigator and loves to play, as well as monopolise laps, or any horizontal Human part.

Grayce

Salem, our little Tuxie girl is an absolute sweetheart.  She has a (smart) mind of her own and she will play with everyone, at any time.  She's the little peacemaker in our crowd.

Salem

KonaKitty & Sweet Pea are our shyer Cats.  They enjoy being around people but are happiest in the background, watching the goings on.  Although, if the Nip or a Feather Toy appears, all bets are off!  Then they're all ready for a rousing session.

Kona

Sweet Pea

Sweet Pea and May Ling do NOT get along.  They swap off as to who wants to eat whom daily.  May Ling is our little chatterbox and she has tons of things to talk about...all the time.  She's also very affectionate and loves a cuddle.

May Ling

Felix.  How to describe a curmudgeonly, crabby, ORNJ cat?  Felix lives to the beat of a different drummer.  He's very independant, yet needy.  He's incredibly athletic, and he's the reason I started blogging...I reached out to the Cat Blogosphere for advice on his knee injury...and they sucked me in!

Felix

The first post features the six ManKats.

The second, the six LadyKats.

And the last, the Catio where we love to play!

Thanks so much to MomKat Trish for the great information about all of her awesome cats!