Blaze is another Jay

Jay has done his job well. Blaze is another Jay, except a little younger and rowdier. He can turn himself into a little circle and fall asleep for the night. He knows his name and comes when he's called. He goes right into his kennel when the time comes. Unfortunately, he does not have a handsome zentek coat, settling instead for wearing Jay's old coats, two at a time to keep out the cold. We are very proud of Blaze for how far he has come in the 5 weeks that we've had him.

Taylor, my kitten soulmate, has turned a corner in how she handles the other pets in the house. She and Bea are unofficially non-enemies. Their fights are funny instead of angry. Taylor doesn't move when the dogs come too near, rather, those ears jet back and she hisses and swats at the dogs. We think that Taylor has stopped grieving for B.C. and that's where she's finding the energy to reject.

I sent my book off to an editor this afternoon and am glad to be rid of it for awhile. It is a short novel and I like parts of it.

The Companion Pets

We can't be alone, even if we want to be. They follow us around, their little heads tilting to one side and then another. Taylor and Jay continue to be balanced and sensible little pets, while Bea and the new little guy are holy terrors and wrecking everything they can find. Our latest loss is a new roll of paper towels. Before that, the new little foster iggy ate the first page of my book, but, of course, there's a backup.

I continue to work on my book. It goes to an editor in two weeks. There's a lot to be done but the story is there. I've met the challenges of writing a novel, which is what I wanted when I started this project. I'm happy with it in some places and not so happy in others. There's more to do with it, lots more, but that's how it goes.

Both of the pups and Kathy went to a play date on Saturday. Kathy is in 7th heaven having two dogs, giving them baths, cooking rice for them, bragging about their progress. All of the companion pets adore her, but then, who doesn't?

Blaze the Foster Pup - new pics

Blaze supervising the removal of two huge trees from his "command post"



Blaze keeping warm at the dog park:


Here's Blaze being mentored by his Iggy mentor, Gino. Gino is a 3-legged IG who runs with the fastest IGs at the dog park!

Election Day, 2008

The guys are extremely excited about the presidential election and are planning to stay up ALL night to watch the returns. Right now they are napping on Peggy so they can stay up really late.

Meanwhile, I got them to pose for a couple of pics. It's hard to get little foster dog (now we're trying out the name Augustine or Augie for short) to stay still for more than a quarter of a second, so the pics aren't a very good quality. He's busy, that's for sure.

JayJ sporting his new, custom fit Zen Tek coat




Blaze takes a break on Election Day:



Hey Mom, whatcha cookin'?


Blaze says, "FEED ME, MOM." (sorry about the poor picture quality. He doesn't stay still for very long)

A Name for the New Guy

We continue trying out names for our foster dog, who came to us as "Blaze". We are now at "Leo" which is a family name, my mother's father's family name, in fact. That's my brother's middle name, too, and since his little dachsund Fonz was given my middle name, Louise, it only seems fair to return the favor. Leo is a beautiful little iggy, with a pointy nose now, and a handsome stance.

Taylor and I have had a soft kitty girls' afternoon (yesterday) where the rough and tumble boy dogs were kept away from us. We snuggled in a white comforter and napped and read. Taylor and I are reading "How Fiction Works" by James Wood and getting some good ideas for honing the writing in our novel and also becoming literary critics.

Yesterday, Kathy and I took the boys on a car ride, first to the dog park, and then to an old neighborhood of mine, Holly Park. The boys slept all through the latter, but were very awake at dog park time. We managed to be there during the one sun break in the day. The old neighborhood has changed drastically and I felt like an outsider as we drove by my old school.

Kathy continues to take out the pups and they are making us proud, pooping all over the property. They both adore Kathy and want to sit by her all of the time. They jump on my lap and yesterday had two actual dog fights on my lap.