Monday, July 16, 2012

Rufous...a mean lil hummingbird



You cannot tell by looking at this little guy that he is MEAN.
Gorgeous but  nasty when it comes to other hummingbirds.
\
When he flashes his throat colors he is even more beautiful.......ever tried to catch a hummingbird in flight with a camera that does not "get it" ?
That being said I love them...all of them. You can sit and watch a Mama bird come and literally "fill her belly" and watch said tiny tummy get bigger and bigger.  Bless her lil heart. The Red Devil (male, 'natch ) chases all the other humming away.
Mean
Dominant.
Sigh

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Mani/Pedi....Rottie style



As you can see, Schatzi has grown....while Stryker is a pretty big boy at  113.7 lbs, Schatzi is an itty bitty 67.1 lbs. By comparison she is almost a Pom. Ok..not quite but still smaller than Thud. They have killer nails/claws, as is evidenced by the constant scrapes on my legs and arms. Not intentionally mind you....they just dont know they have razors on their paws. Most of the time they are very laid back and calm. Not so much when it comes to clipping said claws.

I tried to do it myself ( snortgigglelaugh) but unfortunately Stryker has decided he prefers NOT to have his nails " done ". No , I do not paint them although with Schatzi ( dare I even admit this ? ) I have been tempted since they do make polish expressly for dogs and she is not the most feminine lil thing. The only time since we got him that Stryker literally scared the snot out of me was the last time I tried to clip his nails.

After the scare I took him to the Vet who managed, just, to get the job done several weeks ago. OK, says I to me, I will take both for Mani/Pedi again, since John is gone and the cost ($12 per dog ) seemed worth not risking life and definately limb to do it myself and the nails are long again.

Let me just mention our Vet is a woman who makes me, at 5'4", look tall. And she is in a walking cast as a horse had the bad manners to step on her tiny little foot, breaking who knows how many bones.

I separated the double leash and sent Stryker into the bowels of hell ( or so one would have thought ) to have the evil, nasty, horrible Vet clip his claws. Have I mentioned that he is a TOTAL wimp ? Wussie ? Ok...just let me say it..he is MALE and has absolutely no tolerance for pain or even the suggestion of it ? Sexist ? You betcha!!!! But all too true.

The exam rooms at the Vet's office have swinging doors...kinda dumb unless you only deal with Poms or Chihuahuas. While Schatzi sat in the waiting area, and her head swung back and forth like Obama reading off a teleprompter, the doors kept flipping open, closed, open, closed and he was crying ( yes, crying ) like a little girl.

Soon thereafter the Vet appeared and informed me that to have Thud's claws clipped, she would have to put him under anesthesia to accomplish the clipping. Wow....really ? Not exactly suprised...I DID try and tell her it was not possible but what do I know.

Schatzi went in after he did and with nary a whimper or whine, got her nails done. Still thinking about the polish but I know I would have to explain to John why her nails are pink or purple and probably wont do it....probably.

Here is the kicker...Stryker will let me FILE his nails ( have you any idea what kind of file or effort that takes....just sayin' ) so for the next several days, since he will only let me file one or two at any given time, I will probably be found sitting on the floor, filing dog nails. I'm thinking he deserves to get HIS nails painted some obnoxious color just for being such a wuss.

Good thing they are sweet and otherwise gentle dogs.